General Intercessions
Celebrant: With readiness to welcome Christ, who comes each day by His grace, we
now present our needs to the Father.
Deacon/Lector:
That the Church, like a herald's voice in the
desert, may never cease proclaiming what is true and just, even when unpopular,
we pray to the Lord...
That God, the source of all patience, may enable
the nations of the world to live in harmony with one another, we pray to the
Lord...
That our nation may heed the Gospel call to
reform our lives by ending the practices of abortion, euthanasia, and capital
punishment, we pray to the Lord…
That our troops, who defend our freedom and
peace, may be strengthened by the God of all encouragement, we pray to the
Lord...
That the Spirit of the Lord may rest upon the
poor, the sick, the lonely, and the dying, we pray to the Lord...
That all who have died may be raised to new and
eternal life, we pray to the Lord...
Celebrant:
Father,
we hear your call to repentance
and rejoice that our salvation is near.
Make our hearts and our world
ready for the coming of Christ your Son
Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
Bulletin Insert
Disposable Children?
"The so-called right to abortion has pitted
mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and
discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships...It has portrayed
the greatest of gifts - a child - as a competitor, an intrusion, and an
inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the
independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters...The right
to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the
pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign." – Blessed Mother
Teresa, 1994.
Homily Suggestions on Pro-life Themes
Is 11:1-10
Rom 15:4-9
Mt 3:1-12
Preaching on today’s readings to bring out the
theme of life would focus on two themes of the readings: justice and welcome.
The promised Messiah brings justice. The first
reading and the psalm indicate that this involves “deciding aright for the
land’s afflicted.” It means that the negative “judgment” imposed upon some,
whereby they are deemed less worthy of protection or of other human goods, is
reversed. Now, with right judgment, their dignity is recognized and they are
treated accordingly. This justice is accompanied by peace. “There shall be no
harm or ruin…” The obvious application to the culture of death in our day is
that the coming of the Messiah, the preparing of the way of the Lord, the making
straight of his paths, and the demands of repentance involve restoring the
rights of all who are marginalized, most notably the unborn and the disabled.
Closely connected to this theme of justice is the
theme of “welcome,” stressed by St. Paul in the second reading. “Welcome one
another as Christ welcomed you.” Welcome means that we recognize the dignity of
the other person and make room for that person whether that person was
anticipated or not, planned or not, convenient or not. This stands in contrast
to the concept of “wantedness.” When someone is “wanted,” they meet some need or
expectation of somebody else, and the temptation is to think that their value
rises and falls with their degree of “wantedness.” Welcome, on the other hand,
recognizes that their value is intrinsic to them. They are welcomed whether we
want them or not. While some (like Planned Parenthood) say “Every child a wanted
child,” we say, “Every child (and every person) a welcome child.”
