WORK FROM THE INSIDE
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 began the season of Lent with the call from the Prophet Joel on Ash Wednesday: “Rend your hearts not your garments” – an exhortation to focus not on external practices but on internal conversion. As we enter the last week of Lent, the liturgy reminds us that we need to work on and from the inside.
Where has my focus been this Lent: on externals or on the inside? We pray that we may allow the Lord to work on the inside.
Penitential Rite
L: For the times we have been happy with external practices, we ask his pardon.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you remind us that a grain must die to bear fruit:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you invite us to serve you and follow you:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you draw us to yourself by being lifted up:
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 our hearts, O God,
you have written a covenant of grace,
sealed by the obedience of Jesus your Son.
Raise us up with Christ,
the grain fallen to earth
that yields a harvest of everlasting life.
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 Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15
Response Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Reading 2 Hebrews 5:7-9
Acclamation
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.
Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord;
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.
Gospel John 12:20-33
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine you are with Philip and Andrew when they approach Jesus. Would you also “like to see Jesus”? What are your thoughts and feelings when you hear Jesus speak about a grain of wheat needing to die, about hating one’s life, about drawing everyone to himself?
Sunday Snippets
A little boy asked: “Why is it that when I open a marigold it dies, but if God does it, it’s so beautiful?” Before anyone could respond, he said: “I know! It’s because God always works from the inside.”
The little boy was wise to God’s way of working! Whether it’s with nature or with people, God works from the inside as today’s readings indicate.
In the first reading, God announces the new covenant he intends making with his people. The earlier covenants had external elements: the sign of the covenant with Noah was a rainbow; the covenant of Sinai was inscribed on tablets. In this new covenant, God will put his “law within them and write it upon their hearts”. All will then “know” him. This “knowing” is not an external keeping of laws; it’s an inner relationship with God.
The Lord assures the Jews in Babylon, uprooted and in exile: “I will be their God and they shall be my people.” God is not restricted to their home territory or to an external structure; God is with them wherever they go.
In the gospel, Jesus takes this covenant relationship further. He uses the analogy of the death of grain to produce fruit to emphasize that – beyond an inner relationship – the covenant involves a dying to oneself and a rising to eternal life. God always works from the inside!
Growing in relationship with God and becoming persons God calls us to become, begins with a dying to our immaturity, to our doubts and fears, to our prejudices, to our self-centred wants, to our plans and our will.
This inner work takes time and patience. After a farmer sows the seed, he/she does not dig up the ground to check whether it is growing! He/she knows that growth takes time and facilitates it by tending the seed, then the seedling, and then the plant.
So often, like the little boy, we force growth, we force change in behaviour in ourselves and in others. Like his marigold, we die. But this dying is not like the dying of the grain! It does not produce fruit; it produces frustration. We need to work from the inside with patience. We need to allow God to work from the inside.
Will I allow God to write his law upon my heart? Will I – like Jesus – fall into the ground and die to myself so that I can produce fruits of the kingdom? Am I willing to let the divine gardener nurture me with his never-ending love?
Let me allow God to work from the inside and “create a clean heart in me.”
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: “I will make a new covenant… I will write it on their hearts.” What covenant has God made with me and what has he written in my heart?
Reading 2: “In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears.” Pope Francis asks if we are capable of crying as Jesus did. What might be the outcome of my tears?
Gospel: “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” In what ways do I need to die to myself? What fruit can my life bear for God and for others?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: Just as Jesus raised his voice in prayers and supplications, so too we raise our voices on behalf of those in need, and pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that God’s covenant, written upon our hearts, may help us know the Lord more deeply and guide us in serving him each day, we pray…
R: For our human family: that all will turn from hatred to love and from violence to reconciliation, we pray…
R: For all who desire to see Jesus: that they may come to know and develop a relationship with Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, we pray…
R: For all who lay down their lives for others: that God may guide and strengthen parents, caregivers of the sick, and uplifters of the marginalized to be instruments of God’s love and compassion, we pray…
R: For the sick: that God will send healing and strength to all who are ill or recovering from surgery, and fill their hearts with hope and courage, we pray…
R: For our common home: that we may efficiently use the natural resources entrusted to us and work to share them with those who are in need, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that God may guide us to give ourselves in loving service to others, we pray…
L: Father, you are our God, we are your people. Draw us ever nearer to you during these holy days. Sustain a willing spirit within us and transform us with your love. 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
O God,
you write on my heart,
not on a stone tablet.
You are our God and we are your people.
You are with me wherever I go and wherever I am.
Lord,
your Son calls us
to grow in relationship with you and with him.
This needs me to die
to my immaturity,
to my doubts and fears, to my prejudices,
to my self-centred wants, to my plans and will.
But I am afraid of dying, Lord.
And I will die without bearing fruit
if I force myself to change.
Change my heart, O Lord,
and help me to be patient with myself
as you transform me
so that I might become an abundant field of wheat for you.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: God our Father,
you planted your own Son
as a grain of wheat
in the furrows of our earth
and from his death grew
the abundant harvest of a new humanity.
Give us the courage to follow him,
so that our love too
may bring life and joy to many.
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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