LEAN YOUR WEIGHT ON GOD
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: The liturgy today invites us to trust God completely and to lean our weight on him. We pray for such child-like trust.
Penitential Rite
L: For our failure to trust our God, we ask his mercy.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you sent the seventy-two to announce the kingdom of God:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you sent them with no resources other than your power:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you assure us that nothing will hurt us and that our names are written in heaven:
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,
your saving power is boundless,
your harvest reaches to the ends of the earth.
Fill our hearts with zeal for your kingdom
and grant us perseverance as heralds of the gospel.
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 Isaiah 66:10-14c
Psalm Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
Response Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Reading 2 Galatians 6:14-18
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
Let the peace of Christ control your hearts;
let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Gospel Luke 10:1-12, 17-20
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 sends them out “like lambs among wolves”. What are your thoughts and feelings when you hear his instructions to them?
Sunday Snippets
A missionary, after working several years in the South Pacific Islands, was translating the Gospel according to John. He couldn’t translate the phrase “to trust in” because there was no word for ‘trust’ in the language; nobody trusted the other!
Just then an islander entered. Sitting at his desk, the missionary raised both feet off the floor, and asked: “What am I doing?” The islander used a verb which means “to lean your weight on.” That’s the phrase the missionary used throughout John’s Gospel to translate “to trust in.”
The Word of God today invites us to lean our weight on the Lord.
In the Gospel, Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples to proclaim the kingdom. His instructions are striking: “carry no staff, no money bag, no sack, no sandals.” No one in his/her right mind travelled the Palestinian roads without staff, sack, and sandals. Without a staff, one was defenceless; without a sack, one could not carry money, food, clothes; without sandals, one wouldn’t be able to walk on the rocky terrain or run from danger. Anyone thus travelling would communicate, through attention-getting behaviour, this message: we lean our weight on God; we trust in God for our defence and depend on his providence for sustenance.
Paul concludes his letter to the Galatians with a similar thrust: “May I never boast except in the cross of Jesus Christ.” For Paul, boasting is an expression of absolute confidence, not in himself, but in Jesus.
In the first reading, Isaiah looks to the restoration of Jerusalem, not by human achievement but by God’s grace. He invites her to lean her weight on God, who nurses her as a mother nurses her infant and who comforts her as a mother comforts her child.
How often we think that the success of our tasks depends on us! We need to lean our weight on God; we need to depend on him.
May you and I “travel light,” lean our weight of God, and live a little more trustingly in him, his grace and his providence.
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: Isaiah speaks of the joy following the restoration of God’s people from exile. Do I experience joy whenever I return from “exile”?
Reading 2: Paul boasts, not in circumcision as his opponents do, but “in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”. In what do I boast?
Gospel: Jesus sent the seventy-two “like lambs among wolves… [with] no money bag, no sack, no sandals”. Today, can I succeed in my mission of being “sent” without no resources? Why/ why not?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: God offers comfort, consolation, and hope to all people. With confidence and trust, we turn to our loving Father with our prayers for all in need, as we pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that we may hear God’s call to discipleship and seek first the reign of God in our lives, we pray…
R: For the world: that the Lord may bring peace and reconciliation to the troubled regions of world and restore unity to all who suffer from violence and conflict, we pray…
R: For peace: that we may share the peace that God has placed in our hearts with all who fearful, worried about the future, or burdened by life’s challenges, we pray…
R: For all who are called to bear prophetic witness: that God may inspire them to effectively and dynamically share the Good News with all people, we pray…
R: For those who are ill: that the Spirit may bring them healing, restore them to their activities and responsibilities, and help them to be strengthened through the care and companionship of family and friends, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that the Lord may help us rely more fully on his providence and less on ourselves, we pray…
L: God of mercy, send us forth as disciples of hope, proclaiming your kingdom and bringing your healing presence to those in need. May our words and actions ignite the flame of hope within the hearts of the hopeless. 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 sent the seventy-two
on a challenging preaching mission without resources.
When I think of the stuff I take when I travel,
I understand how difficult their mission was!
But you don’t leave them helpless; you give them your power.
You continue to send your disciples.
Remind us that
like a mother who bears her babe in arms,
so you cradle us in your endless love.
Teach us that the only resources we need
are your grace and your love.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: Our God of peace and joy,
you want all people to live
in your covenant of peace and mercy.
Keep sending your disciples
and every one of us
to bring to the world a message of peace
and of restored love and justice.
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:
