GOD LOVES AND FORGIVES
INTRODUCTORY RITES
Gather as a family/ community; create an environment appropriate for prayer (dress appropriately - switch off your phones...).
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: We just blessed ourselves in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is this mystery that God is Father, Son, and Spirit that we celebrate today. More than trying to understand this mystery, we need to live this mystery. The core of this mystery is that God is love, God loves, God forgives. We pray that we may imitate our Trinitarian God in loving and forgiving one another.
Penitential Rite
L: For not loving and forgiving one another as our Trinitarian God does, we ask the Lord’s pardon.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you came to reconcile us to the Father:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you have given us the consolation of the truth:
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: Father,
you sent your Word to bring us truth
and your Spirit to make us holy.
Through them we come to know the mystery of your life.
Help us to worship you, one God in three Persons,
by proclaiming and living our faith in you.
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 Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9
Psalm Daniel 3:52-56
Response Glory and praise for ever!
Reading 2 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;
to God who is, who was, and who is to come.Gospel John 3:16-18
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Pick a phrase or sentence that strikes you. For instance: The Lord is a merciful and gracious God/ The Lord is slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity/ God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…
Silently repeat the phrase. Meditate on what this phrase means to you; or what God is telling you through his word.
Sunday Snippets
Thomas Edison was working on his crazy contraption: the “light bulb”. It took his team twenty-four hours to put together each bulb. Once, after the team finished crafting a bulb, Edison gave it to a boy to carry up to the storeroom. The youngster took each step with extreme and watchful caution. At the top of the stairs, he dropped the priceless piece of work. When the team finished the second bulb, after twenty-four hours of work, and it had to be carried upstairs to the storeroom, Edison gave it to the same boy!
Why would Edison forgive someone who destroyed his handiwork? It’s bizarre. It defies understanding.
So does the reality that our God always forgives us though we constantly and repeatedly destroy his handiwork.
The readings on Trinity Sunday are not incomprehensible theology explaining the doctrine of the Trinity. They highlight something more incomprehensible and yet deeply consoling and hope-filled: God’s forgiving love! His love is not a sentimental love but a non-condemning and forgiving love.
The first reading describes the incident after the debacle of the golden calf. God is willing to renew the covenant with Israel despite its incessant infidelity. Why? He tells Moses that he is “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” This succinct poetic description of God is an oft-repeated statement of Israel’s belief and describes God’s relationship with his people, one which is portrayed right through the Old Testament.
The gospel is a summary and the core of the Good News! Jesus tells Nicodemus that God sent his Son not to condemn the world but because he loved the world. Through his entire life and ministry, Jesus lived out this core of the Good News – he sought out the sinner and the outcast.
Grappling with the mystery of the Trinity – three persons, one God – is tough. It’s tougher to live out the mystery of the Trinity: to love as God loves, to forgive as God forgives. And yet this is what God calls us to do.
In the second reading, Paul gives us a program to imitate our Trinitarian God: “Encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace.”
Do I forgive and love like God does? Whom will I forgive and love in the week ahead? How will I encourage and live in peace?
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: God forgives us when we are stiff-necked. Do I forgive others when they have that malady? How do I respond to a God who is “merciful and gracious… slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity”?
Reading 2: “Encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace…” Do I encourage others? Is Paul talking about agreeing on everything or on basic truths? What do I need to do to live in peace?
Gospel: “God so loved the world…” What is my response to God’s immense love for the world and for me personally?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: Through the Son, we learn of the love of the Father, and are drawn into the communion of the Spirit. Through the Son, we come to the Father with prayers inspired by the Spirit, and pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that the unconditional love of the Trinity may deepen our love for one another, and help us to witness God’s love and mercy to others, we pray…
R: For the world: that all people may learn from the mutuality of the Trinity and make relationships more life giving and of greater service to others, we pray…
R: For families and communities: that the unity of the Trinity may inspire us to cooperate and collaborate more fully with those with whom we share life each day, we pray…
R: For all who are ill: that God may renew and restore them to health, we pray…
R: For greater stewardship of the earth: that we may care for and protect God’s handiwork, we pray…
R: For students and teachers beginning a new academic year: that this may be a year of greater learning and holistic growth, we pray…
R: For all of us: that we may be freed from individualism and grow in our appreciation of each person and his/her role in the family of God, we pray…
L: Eternal Father, receive the prayers of this people, filled with the Holy Spirit and offering Christ, your only Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
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
The hymn This World You Have Made celebrates God’s love for us manifest in his creation, which includes each of us! We rejoice in the beauty of his and our world and thank him for creating it and us.
or pray:
Lord,
like the people of Israel,
we are stiff-necked.
But, as you did with them,
pardon our wickedness and sins.
Lord,
you so loved the world that you gave your only Son.
We can only stand in awe-struck silence before such love
that is beyond boldest expectation, beyond all telling.
Help us love one another
in pale imitation of your love.
Make us one in your Holy Spirit.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: God our Father,
we praise and thank you
for the gift of your Son and the Spirit.
Help all of us
to be a reflection and sign to all people
of your tender and faithful love.
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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