Our God is a God of openness and generosity. As we begin our
celebration let us call to mind that openness and generosity.
You make us poor in spirit. Lord have mercy
You make us mindful of all in need. Christ have mercy
You make us bearers of your vision for the world. Lord have mercy
May the God of generosity and openness fill us with compassion,
forgive us our sin and bring us to life everlasting. Amen
Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord seated on a high
throne; his train filled the sanctuary; above him stood seraphs,
each one with six wings. And they cried out one to another in this
way, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. His glory fills the
whole earth.’ The foundations of the threshold shook with the voice
of the one who cried out and the Temple was filled with smoke. I
said: ‘What a wretched state I am in! I am lost, for I am a man of
unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes
have looked at the King, the Lord of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphs
flew to me, holding in his hand a live coal which he had taken from
the altar with a pair of tongs. With this he touched my mouth and
said: ‘See now, this has touched your lips, your sin is taken away,
your iniquity is purged. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’ I answered, ‘Here I
am, send me.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
In the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself,
namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the
scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on
the third day, in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared
first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more
than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are
still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and
then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it
was as though I was born when no one expected it. but what matters
is that I preach what they preach, and this is what you all
believed.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Follow me, says the Lord,
and I will make you fishers of people.
Alleluia!
Luke 15:1-11
When Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the
crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he
caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone
out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the
boats-it was Simon’s-and asked him to put out a little from the
shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he
had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and
pay out your nets for a catch’. ‘Master,’ Simon replied ‘we worked
hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will
pay out the nets for a catch.’ And when they had done this they
netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so
they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and
help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking
point. When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus
saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his
companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so
also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s
partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it
is people you will catch’. Then, bringing their boats back to land,
they left everything and followed him.
Prayer of the Faithful
Father, Son and Spirit, you are a community of active love. May we
too be such a community. Lord hear us
Lord, in a world where so much is uncertain we look to you to guide
us on our journey. Lord hear us
The Spirit of God is challenging our church to change direction; to
become a church where there is room for everyone’s gifts and
abilities. Help us Lord, to face the challenge. Lord hear us
We are mindful of all who have gone before us to the heart of God.
We mourn their loss but in a spirit of hope, looking to the day when
we will be united again. Lord hear us
As Jesus rejected violence, so may we choose the path of peace and
reconciliation. Lord hear us
In quiet we put aside our own needs and remember those who need our
prayer and support …………………………………...Lord hear us
Reflection
Our world desperately needs to come in from the lost islands of
desiccated individualism and learn to stand again on the fertile
earth where vibrant and vital interaction can happen between people.
Our world is facing so many crises ecologically, economically, and
spiritually. These cannot be overcome by isolated individuals. We
need to come together. There is incredible power in a community of
people who are together because they care, and who are motivated by
the ideals of compassion and creativity. When such a community
develops and maintains its own vision, it will not fall into the
trap of being prisoners of reaction and beginning to resemble more
and more the opposition. It will not play power games, but maintain
its care and critical focus. When such a prophetic community is
nourished by prayer and animated by Divine Longing, the harvest of
creativity and belonging which it can bring is unlimited.