Third
Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A
General Intercessions
Celebrant: With the conviction
that the light of Christ conquers every form of darkness, we can now pray with
confidence about all our needs.
Deacon/Lector:
That the Church may proclaim effectively
the Good News of Christ to those who live in the darkness of oppression and
division, we pray to the Lord...
That government leaders may have the
grace to rise above factions and place the common good as their top priority, we
pray to the Lord...
That nations may heed the Gospel's call
to reform their lives by eliminating abortion, euthanasia, and capital
punishment, we pray to the Lord…
That all those who teach students may
find wisdom in their work and joy in the call to shape the lives of the young,
we pray to the Lord...
That those who are ill may find in their
weakness a new understanding of the redemptive power of Christ, we pray to the
Lord...
That those who have died may be led to
the light of the resurrection, we pray to the Lord...
Celebrant:
Father,
we have seen your salvation
in your Son Jesus Christ.
Fill us with his light
And transform the world with his grace.
We ask this through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bulletin Insert
Finding Forgiveness
Linda is a woman who had an abortion. She writes, “My breaking point with …[my
former] Church was when I was feeling truly guilty because of what I had done, I
knew it was wrong, but people were trying to justify it to me. I didn’t need
justification, I needed to know how to reconcile an already fragmented
relationship with the Lord I desired... but I was too weighed down and no one
seemed to see the need of forgiveness and reconciliation, at least until I came
into contact with the Catholic Church. The funny thing is, so many people seem
to see the Church as uncompassionate and uncaring, it was where I found love,
acceptance, and forgiveness...”
Homily Hints
Is 8:23—9:3
1 Cor 1:10-13, 17
Mt 4:12-23 or 4:12-17
When Jesus begins to preach, he starts
by saying “Repent” (today’s Gospel). When John the Baptist began to preach, he
said, “Repent” (see Mt. 3:1-2). When Peter began to preach on the day of
Pentecost, he said, “Repent” (see Acts 2:38). The readings talk today about
light breaking into darkness. Repentance, whose Greek words means a change of
the mind, is enlightenment that what one may have thought was right is actually
wrong, and what one thought led to happiness and fulfillment actually does not.
The imperative to repent, furthermore,
comes about precisely because light has broken into darkness. Jesus says in
today’s Gospel passage that the reason, motive, and basis for repentance is that
“the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” A kingdom has broken into the world;
therefore, we see its light, are attracted by it, and begin to move in its
direction. This means breaking from sin and from all that leads us away from the
light.
The great darkness of our day is the
myth that some human lives, particularly those in the womb, just don’t count. To
so many, these lives are not worthy of constitutional protection, not worthy of
our public witness, and not even worthy of discussion.
Often, this is because of the very
phenomenon Paul describes in the second reading. “I belong to this political
party.” “I belong to that organization.” “I follow this particular philosophy or
theology.” Based on many of these false divisions among us, some try to justify
“the right to choose” abortion.
Yet Christ breaks through these false
divisions. If all are one in Christ Jesus, it is because he has united all human
life to himself and given us all an equal call to salvation and eternal life.
Raising human life to the heights of heaven, he has raised men and women, born
and unborn. There is only one human nature, and by the Incarnation and the
Paschal Mystery, everyone who shares that human nature now also shares access to
the very life of God. Because of that, we uphold the dignity of every person.
This indeed is the light that has broken into our darkness, the Kingdom of God
that ushers us to repentance.
Liturgical Resources
