+ Wednesday 24th June – Midweek Mass – and Year 5 students in the church
24 June 2020
Dear friends –
The image on the cover of our Parish Blog post today is a desert portion of the Jordan River. This is the birthday of John the Baptist in the cycle of our worship. No doubt this environment would’ve been very familiar to John, who, as we are told in today’s gospel, lived out in the wilderness until the day he appeared openly to Israel to begin his special mission.
Today we welcome the students of Year 5 from our Parish school who will celebrate the Liturgy of the Word in the church before participating in the Liturgy of the Eucharist which we again will live stream and insert into this Wednesday liturgy format.
WELCOME TO MASS ON 24TH JUNE – THE BIRTHDAY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
INTRO TO MASS
and penitential rite
>>>Click on the triangle play button to activate the voice recording<<<
OPENING PRAYER (included in the recording above)
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING
A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah (49:1-6)
Islands, listen to me,
pay attention, remotest peoples.
The Lord called me before I was born,
from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.
He made my mouth a sharp sword,
and hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me into a sharpened arrow,
and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel)
in whom I shall be glorified’;
while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain,
I have exhausted myself for nothing’;
and all the while my cause was with the Lord,
my reward with my God.
I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord,
my God was my strength.
And now the Lord has spoken,
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
to gather Israel to him:
‘It is not enough for you to be my servant,
to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;
I will make you the light of the nations
so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 138(139):1-3,13-15
Response>I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
(image credit: Unsplash collection)
I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
O Lord, you search me and you know me,
you know my resting and my rising,
you discern my purpose from afar.
You mark when I walk or lie down,
all my ways lie open to you.
I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
For it was you who created my being,
knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I thank you for the wonder of my being,
for the wonders of all your creation.
I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
Already you knew my soul,
my body held no secret from you
when I was being fashioned in secret
and moulded in the depths of the earth.
I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
SECOND READING
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (13:22-26)
Paul said: ‘God deposed Saul and made David their king, of whom he approved in these words, “I have selected David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out my whole purpose.” To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. Before John ended his career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal.”
‘My brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of salvation is meant for you.’
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
(cf: Lk 1:76)
Alleluia, alleluia!
You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.
Alleluia!
(image credit: Unsplash collection) John the Baptist announced Jesus – who lived for and preached a kingdom of belonging, oneness and dignity
GOSPEL
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke(1:57-66,80)
The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.
Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’, and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.
Meanwhile the child grew up and his spirit matured. And he lived out in the wilderness until the day he appeared openly to Israel.
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
HOMILY SHARED BY FR PAUL
>>Click on the triangle play button to activate the voice recording<<<
PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL
You are invited to take some moments now to compose and pray some Prayers of the Faithful. The following themes might assist your own reflections:
thanks for someone who is a prophetic person among us
thanks for parents (like Elizabeth and Zechariah) who encourage their children’s unique pathways – even if different to the norm
thanks for opportunities for mission and purpose in each phase of our lives
thanks for those extending generous care in places in the world where COVID-19 is overwhelming and on the increase right now
?
?
And so we now bring the bread and wine to the altar – as we now stream the second part of today’s Mass from Our Lady of the Way church
THE LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
>>>Click on the triangle play button in the middle of the picture<<<
Prayer after Communion
Let us pray.
Having feasted at the banquet of the heavenly Lamb,
we pray, O Lord,
that, finding joy in the nativity of Saint John the Baptist,
