LOVE HAS NO BORDERS
INTRODUCTORY RITES
Gather as a family/ community; create an environment appropriate for prayer (dress appropriately - switch off your phones...).
We cannot gather as usual for the Eucharist. But we are conscious that Christ is present not only in the Blessed Sacrament but also in the Scriptures and in our hearts. Even when we are on our own, we remain part of the Body of Christ.
Place lighted candles, a crucifix, and the Bible on a covered table. These remind us of the sacredness of our time of prayer and could help us feel connected with our local worshipping communities.
You may sing or play an appropriate hymn. For instance:
The Sign of the Cross
Greeting and Introductory Words
L: The Lord invites us to the table of his Word: let us bless him for his goodness.
A: Blessed be God forever.
L: Someone said: “True love knows no boundaries even though it crosses many.” This is what today’s liturgy challenges us to do: to love all people especially those in need irrespective of language, race, religion. We ask the Lord of Love to give us the grace to love beyond all barriers and boundaries.
Penitential Rite
L: For the times we have put barriers to our love, we ask the Lord to pardon us.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you reached out to the least and the lost, the sinner and the outcast:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you reached out to the Samaritan woman, the Roman Centurion,
the Syro-Phoenician woman:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you had compassion on the crowds
because they were harassed and helpless:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
Gloria
Opening Prayer
L: In Christ you draw near to us,
God of mercy and compassion,
lifting us out of death,
binding up our wounds,
and nursing our spirits back to health.
Let such a tenderness as yours compel us
to go and do likewise.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
A: Amen.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
The readings are those assigned for the day in the Lectionary.
Preferably use a Bible/ Lectionary for reading.
Reading 1 Deuteronomy 30:10-14
Psalm Psalm 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37
Response Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
Reading 2 Colossians 1:15-20
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
Gospel Luke 10:25-37
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine you are present when “the scholar of the law… stood up to test Jesus.” What are your thoughts and feelings when you hear him ask “And who is my neighbour?” and when you hear Jesus’ reply through the parable of the Good Samaritan?
Sunday Snippets
In July 2003, the successful heart operation on two-and-a-half-year-old Noor Fatima, a child from Pakistan, put the spotlight on Dr Devi Shetty and his Narayana Hrudayalaya (in Bangalore). Patients from several countries continue to visit this hospital. Dr Shetty says: “Pain has no language… reaction to pain and suffering is the same, so our response to the problem is also the same.”
Through the parable of the Good Samaritan, this is what Jesus tells the scholar of the law who asked him: “Who is my neighbour?” The scholar asks Jesus the meaning of Leviticus 19:18 (which he has just quoted). For the Jews, one’s neighbour was the people in one’s own group, camp, area; it had a restrictive meaning.
But Leviticus 19:33 reads: “The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself.” So the command to love one’s “neighbour” extended to foreigners, immigrants, and sojourners.
Love has no borders and knows no barriers. Love reaches out to anyone in need. Love gets involved, regardless of who the person is and regardless of the cost.
This is what the unlikely hero of the parable does. The Samaritan goes beyond the boundaries of religion and nationality; he reaches out to the wounded man in need, gets involved in his life, spends time with him, and pays the innkeeper to minister to him. Recall that the Jews considered the Samaritans half breeds, thieves, and heretics. The Samaritan—the one least likely to keep the law—is the only one who keeps it.
Jesus gives the “man” no name, no religion, no nationality… in times of need, these are irrelevant. Further, he reverses the question: it is not important who my neighbour is, but to whom am I a neighbour!
In an era when we build “gated communities” with religious, ethnic-racial, socio-economic fences, when we want to build walls and fences on borders, Jesus challenges me to live the commandment of love by going beyond all barriers and to build his kingdom as a neighbourhood with no frontiers.
How do we respond to people in need: are we moved with compassion and do we reach out to them with mercy or do we walk on pretending they don’t exist? To whom and how will I be “neighbour” in the week ahead?
May our love be across borders and boundaries.
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: Do I find myself relying on codes/ guidelines more than on the underlying spirit of the commandment? What if that “love” guideline were the basis for all created laws?
Reading 2: Christ reconciled all things, making peace by the blood of his cross. What still needs reconciling today? With whom do I need to be reconciled?
Gospel: Think of the Good Samaritan story in terms of today’s world. What groups need the Samaritan? Jesus said “go and do likewise.” Whether it is large or small, what can I do to help any of these?
Consider the reasons the priest and the Levite might have had for not helping the man. Do I see any of these attitudes in myself?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: Let us present to our caring God our concern for the people whom he has placed on our road of life, and let us pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that we continue Jesus’ mission of reconciling others to God and to one another, we pray…
R: For the world: that political leaders may listen to opposing views, respect the dignity of those with different ideas, and strive to find a path that will promote the welfare of all, we pray…
R: For all who have been the victims of crime: that God may restore their loss, heal their wounds, and help them to trust others again, we pray…
R: For all who care for those in need: that those working in healthcare, outreach, shelter homes, or refugee services may continue to bring God’s love and compassion to those whom they serve, we pray…
R: For those who are ill: that they may know the tender touch of God through the care of their families and communities, we pray…
R: For greater stewardship of the earth: that we may work to honour and protect all creation as a sign of God’s love for all people, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that we may allow the pain and suffering of others to move our hearts and spirits to a loving response, we pray…
L: Lord our God, you want us not to seek security in observing the letter of the law but to seek the insecurity of committing ourselves to you and to people. give us the courage to make the sacrifice of giving ourselves to you in our neighbours in need, of sharing in their joys and sorrows, that we may know and love them as you know and love us. Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
The Lord’s Prayer
Spiritual Communion
A: Jesus, I know and believe in your real presence in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is you I desire to love and receive above all things. As I am unable to receive your sacramental presence now, come and be with me in heart and soul. Let my entire self be united with you as I welcome you again and know your loving embrace. Amen.
Post Spiritual Communion Reflection
Lord Jesus,
You teach us in your parable that there are two kinds of people:
those who bend down to help and those who look the other way.
Which kind of people will we be?
We say, “Yes, Lord, I will love you and love my neighbour.”
But then we ask:
The migrant... is she my neighbour?
Those in poverty...are they my neighbours?
Victims of war across the world... are they neighbours?
One who faces racism… is he my neighbour?
Those disabled or elderly... are they my neighbours?
You remind us: Yes. All of us neighbours.
Show us how to love, Lord.
May we open our eyes.
May we emerge from our comfortable isolation.
May we build a world of compassion and dignity.
Lord Jesus, who was neighbour to all,
Help us to persevere in love.
Help us to restore dignity to the suffering.
Help us to build a society based not on exclusion, but on community.
Prayer inspired by Fratelli Tutti, 64, 67, 70
Copyright © 2021, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: Tender and merciful Father,
you did not let your Son pass us by
in our poverty and pain,
but you let him make himself our neighbour.
Make our heart go out
to those who lie wounded by the roadside
and give us the courage
to lose time on them to lift them up
and to care for them until they are healed.
Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
Blessing
L: The Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and lead us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
L: Go in the peace of Christ.
A: Thanks be to God.
Conclude with a hymn. For instance:
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