As we enter into the mystery of Gods’ wisdom, let us be mindful of
his great love for us.
When gentility is absent from our lives, Lord have mercy
When anger seems to be all we have, Christ have mercy
When resentment keeps us trapped, Lord have mercy
May our gentle, loving, generous God have mercy on us, forgive us
our sin and bring us to a new life. Amen
Joshua 5:9-12
The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I have taken the shame of Egypt
away from you.’ The Israelites pitched their camp at Gilgal and kept
the Passover there on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening in
the plain of Jericho. On the morrow of the Passover they tasted the
produce of that country, unleavened bread and roasted ears of corn,
that same day. From that time, from their first eating of the
produce of that country, the manna stopped falling. And having manna
no longer, the Israelites fed from that year onwards on what the
land of Canaan yielded.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old
creation has gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God’s
work. It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and
gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation. In other words,
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding
men’s faults against them, and he has entrusted to us the news that
they are reconciled. So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as
though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in
Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the
sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of
God.
Gospel Acclamation
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
I will leave this place and go to my father and say: ‘Father, I have
sinned against heaven and against you.’
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of
Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes
complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with
them.’ So he spoke this parable to them: ‘A man had two sons. The
younger said to his father, “Father, let me have the share of the
estate that would come to me.” So the father divided the property
between them. A few days later, the younger son got together
everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered
his money on a life of debauchery. ‘When he had spent it all, that
country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the
pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who
put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have
filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one
offered him anything. Then he came to his senses and said, “How many
of my father’s paid servants have more food than they want, and here
am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father
and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no
longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid
servants.” So he left the place and went back to his father. ‘While
he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with
pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him
tenderly. Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven
and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the
father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put
it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring
the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a
feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come
back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to
celebrate. ‘Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way
back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing.
Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. “Your
brother has come” replied the servant “and your father has killed
the calf we had fattened because he has got him back safe and
sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came
out to plead with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these
years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders,
yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with
my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after
swallowing up your property – he and his women – you kill the calf
we had been fattening.” ‘The father said, “My son, you are with me
always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should
celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has
come to life; he was lost and is found.”’
Prayer of the Faithful
Lord God, your love for us creates an unbreakable bond between us.
We praise you and thank you. Lord hear us
Lord Jesus, as the Living Word of God, you challenge us to see each
other as you do. We praise you and thank you. Lord hear us
Holy Spirit, you are the power of God’s reconciliation, calling us
to let go of our resentment and grant forgiveness. We praise you and
thank you. Lord hear us
Lord we feel saddened and angry at the loss of life in places around
the world where violence, hunger and war reign. May we be a source
of peace and reconciliation for the world.
Lord hear us
Lord God, help us to abandon violence forever; to appreciate our
differences and allow them to be a source of enrichment and not
division. Lord hear us
In silence we remember those in need of our prayer and
support……………………Lord hear us
Reflection
When the gentleness between you hardens and you fall out of your
belonging with each other, may the depths you have reached hold you
still.
When no true word can be said, or heard, and you mirror each other
in the script of hurt, when even the silence has become raw and
torn, may you hear again an echo of your first music.
When the weave of affection starts to unravel and anger begins to
sear the ground between you, before this weather of grief invites
the black seed of bitterness to find root, may your souls come to
kiss.
Now is the time for one of you to be gracious, to allow a kindness
beyond thought and hurt, reach out with sure hands to take the
chalice of your love, and carry it carefully through this echoless
waste until this winter pilgrimage leads you towards the gateway to
spring.
John O’Donohue
Remembered this weekend
Susan Culbert (Month’s Mind)
Jane & Patrick Timmins and Son Paddy (4th A)
Winifred Callan (9th A)
Alice Finn (6th A)
Marie Dolan (10th A)
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