TOTAL SELF-GIFT
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: The liturgy reminds us that the heart of Christianity is love. Jesus tells us that we must love one another as he has loved us. This is demanding; perhaps, therefore, he calls it a commandment. Let us pray that we may grow in this genuine love.
Penitential Rite
L: We are still far from loving people the way Jesus wants us to love them. We ask the Lord and one another to forgive us.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you have loved us as the Father has loved you:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you loved us to the extent of giving your life:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you loved the weak, sinners, those hard to love:
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: God of all nations,
in the gift of your Son
you have embraced the world
with a love that takes away our sin
and bestows perfect joy.
Grant to those have been reborn in baptism
fidelity in serving you
and generosity in loving one another.
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 Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Psalm Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
Response The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
or: Alleluia.
Reading 2 1 John 4:7-10
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord,
and my Father will love him and we will come to him.
Gospel John 15:9-17
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine you are with the disciples when Jesus talks about the Father’s love for him and his love for us; when he asks us to remain in him/ his love; when he calls us his friends and commands us to love one another as he has loved us. What are your thoughts and feelings?
Sunday Snippets
In his book Love is a Costly Thing, Dick Hillis describes a mother he encountered during a trip to Africa: “She was lying on the ground, holding a tiny baby in her arms. I put a cooked sweet potato into her hand; it was all I had. Her strength was almost gone, but her tired eyes acknowledged my gift. Taking a bite, she chewed it carefully. Then, placing her mouth over her baby’s mouth, she forced the soft warm food into the tiny throat. Although she was starving, she used the entire potato to keep her baby alive. Exhausted from her effort, she dropped her head on the ground and closed her eyes. I later learned that during the night the mother’s heart stopped, but her little girl lived.”
Love is costly; it cost that mother her life. Her love was a self-sacrificing love, which mirrored God’s love for us that Jesus speaks about in the Gospel and John writes about in the Second Reading.
God manifests his love for us by gifting us his only beloved Son (second reading).
In the gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that he has loved them as the Father has loved him and gives them the new commandment of love: “love one another as I have loved you.”
That last part is the toughie: “as I have loved you.” How has he loved us?
He loves us gratuitously. The gift of God’s love is just that—a gift, not a prize won, not a reward for service.
He loves us as a friend. Servants work definite hours, and often do things only because they receive an order. Friendship goes go beyond; it entails mutual fidelity and loyalty, it is open-ended.
He loves us totally. Throughout his life, he lovingly served his fellow human beings. He gave his body and blood at the Last Supper and sacrificed his body and blood at Calvary.
For Jesus, love is not a mere liking for another; it is a total self-gift. And he exhorts us to love in the same manner.
Will I love gratuitously, as a friend without counting the cost, and totally?
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: Do I listen to the Holy Spirit on a regular basis, or now and then? How does the Spirit speak to me? Are there some areas that are off limits or do I invite the Holy Spirit into every part of my life?
Reading 2: How was “the love of God revealed to us?” What is my response to that revelation?
Gospel: When have I felt God’s love most strongly? How can I love others as Jesus has loved me?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: Jesus says: “Whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.” In his name, we ask the Father for the needs of our world, and pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that we, whom Jesus has called friends, may remain in his love and be instruments of love and healing in the world, we pray…
R: For the world: that people and leaders work to breakdown all that divides us according to race, language, culture, and social status, we pray…
R: For all who lay down their lives for others each day – those who care for the sick and dying, parents, those who serve in public safety: that God may strengthen them and keep them safe, we pray…
R: For the people of Gaza and Israel: that love overcome hate, that peace overcome warfare, and that all God’s children in that troubled land can live in harmony with each other, we pray…
R: For greater awareness of our responsibility for the earth and its resources: that the Spirit may strengthen our resolve to care for creation and ensure resources for future generations, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that we may imitate God in his total and self-sacrificing love for us, we pray…
L: God our loving Father, your love appeared with a human face in your Son Jesus Christ. He showed the depth of your love and his by laying down his life for us, his friends. Strengthen us to love especially when it is hard to be faithful and when love demands much sacrifice. 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,
you challenge us to love another
as you have loved us.
It is, perhaps, easy to love
my friends,
my relatives – at least some or most of them –
like-minded people.
And then I can conclude that I am a loving person
and I am measuring up to your command to love.
But what about the people
whom I avoid and who avoid me,
whom I resent,
with whom I am at odds,
towards whom I feel suspicion, coldness, anger,
whom I am unable to forgive and perhaps do not want to forgive?
These are the people you want me to love;
and this is the litmus-test for Christian discipleship.
Lord, strengthen me to pass this test.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: Ever loving God,
you revealed your love
when you sent your Son into the world.
Through Jesus, who calls us his friends,
make our love strong and steadfast,
May we always remain in your love
and love one another as Jesus has loved us,
who is Lord for ever and ever.
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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