FAILING TO SEE THE LITTLE ONES
INTRODUCTORY RITES
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:
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: Have you ever walked past people and failed to see them? Have people greeted you and you failed to hear them? In the busyness and business of our daily lives, we fail to see people, especially the little ones.
The readings of today challenge us to be aware of the people in our lives. We ask the Lord to give us eyes that see and ears that hear.
Penitential Rite
L: For our failure to see and hear people in our lives, we ask the Lord to pardon us.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you saw in sinners their hunger for acceptance,
and forgave them:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you saw the silent need of the poor
to share in the life of the community:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you saw the need of the sheep without shepherds,
and had compassion on them:
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: O God of justice,
hear our cry and save us.
Make us heed your word to the prophets;
rouse us to the demand of the gospel
and impel us to carry it out.
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 Amos 6:1, 4-7
Psalm Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
Response Praise the Lord, my soul!
Reading 2 1 Timothy 6:11-16
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
Though our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, he became poor,
so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Gospel Luke 16:19-31
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine you are with Jesus when he speaks to the Pharisees. What are your thoughts and feelings when you hear the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? With whom do you identify?
Sunday Snippets
A botanist was observing heather-bell (a tiny flower native to western Europe) through his magnifying glass. A shepherd approached and asked him what he was doing. Rather than explain, the botanist invited the shepherd to observe for himself. When the shepherd saw the wonder of the flower, he exclaimed: “My gosh, and I have been tramping on them all my life!”
With his eyes blinded by the cares of his world, the shepherd had failed to see the tiny flower; it took a special lens to see it.
That was the sin of the rich man in the gospel parable. He was not cruel to Lazarus. His life of luxury blinded him from seeing the nondescript Lazarus lying at his door. Dogs noticed Lazarus, the rich man did not.
In torment in Hades, he sees Lazarus. It takes the lens of suffering for him to see Lazarus. But even in Hades, the rich man clings to the illusion of his superiority and “commands” Abraham to send Lazarus with water to cool his tongue! Even in his misery, the rich man saw Lazarus only as a servant.
Like the upper classes in Jerusalem at the time of Amos (see first reading), the rich man cannot grasp the reality of his situation and persists in thinking that he can secure his family’s future.
The parable does not condemn the man for being rich; remember that Abraham was wealthy, and he isn’t in the place of torment. The parable condemns him for being blinded by his luxurious lifestyle, for being an untrustworthy steward, for his apathy that neither Moses nor the prophets nor even the one who rises from the dead can penetrate.
In our busyness and in our pursuit of our wants and expectations, we become adept at shutting the world out, not seeing or hearing the Lazaruses in our lives.
Who are the Lazaruses that I fail to see in my life? What is it that blinds me to them? What lenses do I need to see the tiny and nondescript people in my life and stop “tramping” them?
May we have the eyes of Jesus who saw the poor and reached out to them, who saw the sick and healed them, who saw the little ones and blessed them, who saw the crowds and had compassion on them.
May we see…
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: What’s missing in a person’s life if all possible time and effort is consumed with caring for his or her needs and desires?
Put the people in this reading at one end of a self-indulgence spectrum and Mother Teresa at the other. Where do I fall?
Reading 2: What do I do that bears witness to the truth? How do patience, gentleness, and love relate to my bearing witness to the truth? How would I measure my gentleness, patience, and love?
Gospel: Where would I find the poor person today? Do I recognize and care for him/ her as God’s beloved child, or do I want to roll up my window or shut my door when I see him/ her coming? Or am I somewhere in between these alternatives?
What can I do to answer the “cry of the poor”?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: My sisters and brothers, encouraged by Christ’s word that the Father never forgets those who depend on him, we bring our prayers before him in hope and trust as we pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that we may put on the mind of Christ and open the gates that isolate us from all who are suffering or who disturb our complacency, we pray…
R: For the world: that God may touch hearts and open minds so that leaders may advance through the gates of peace and end the abyss of bloodshed, terrorism, and destruction that divides the human family, we pray…
R: For all who are chained by their possessions: that God may free their hearts and open them to value life, relationships, and service, we pray…
R: For all affected by illness or natural disasters: that God may comfort them, give them strength to cope, and open the hearts of many to assist them, we pray…
R: For all who are suffering the effects of climate change: that God may guide us in finding ways to stabilize the environment and protect those who are at risk, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that we may see and hear the sufferings of our sisters and brothers who are enslaved by poverty and sacrificially respond to their need, we pray…
L: Lord our God, free us from everything that makes us withdraw into ourselves. Let us never remain indifferent to the human and spiritual misery of our sisters and brothers in need. Accept the poverty of our own hearts and be our only lasting riches. We ask this 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,
don’t let me lounge
in comfort on my couch,
feasting and taking great care of my needs.
Do not let comfort lure me
where I cannot hear others cry.
Help me to see Lazarus
in my daily life.
Don’t let me step over him
or look the other way in my busyness.
Rouse me and us to action that change the customs
that leave our friends lying somewhere
eaten up by sores and hunger.
Point out to us what needs fixing,
and move us with your love
to help mend the things we can.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: Our generous and loving God,
you urge us to see the needs of the poor
and to give them food and drink.
You have filled us with good things.
Make us poor of heart,
that we may understand the poor,
generous enough not to measure our gifts,
and grateful for all you have given us
by bringing joy and liberation to the needy.
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:
