Fifth Sunday in Lent,
Cycle B
Celebrant: With the hope that comes from the death and
resurrection of Jesus, we offer our prayers to our heavenly Father.
Deacon/Lector:
That the members of the Church
may grow in faith and live more fully in God’s love, we pray to the Lord…
That our government leaders
may be blessed with the strength and wisdom they need to carry out their public
service, we pray to the Lord…
That as Jesus laid down His
life for us, so we may find strength to sacrifice ourselves for others,
especially the poor, the weak, the unborn, and the unwanted, we pray to the
Lord...
That those who suffer from the
effects of war and natural disasters may be relieved of their suffering, we pray
to the Lord…
That all those preparing for
baptism may experience the joyful welcome of the Christian community this
Easter, we pray to the Lord…
That all who have died may
rest from their labors in God’s loving care, we pray to the Lord…
Celebrant:
Almighty God, answer our
prayers,
and grant that we may live more fully in your love each day.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bulletin Insert
Wisdom of the
Ages…
Tertullian, a
Christian writer who died in the third century, wrote the following: ‘Thus, you read the word of God, spoken to
Jeremias: "Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee." If God forms us in
the womb, He also breathes on us as He did in the beginning: "And God formed man
and breathed into him the breath of life." Nor could God have known man in the
womb unless he were a whole man. "And before thou camest forth from the womb, I
sanctified thee." Was it, then, a dead body at that stage? Surely it was not,
for "God is the God of the living and not the dead."’- De Anima 26.5
Homily Suggestions on Pro-life Themes
Jer 31:31-34
Heb 5:7-9
Jn 12:20-33
The Gospel of
Christ is the Gospel of Life, precisely because when the “grain of wheat falls
to the earth and dies, it produces much fruit.” The paradox of the Gospel of
Life is that life is poured out on the world precisely when life is given away
for the good of others. In Evangelium Vitae we read:
“He who had come
"not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk
10:45), attains on the Cross the heights of love: "Greater love has no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). And he died for
us while we were yet sinners (cf. Rom 5:8). "In this way Jesus proclaims
that life finds its centre, its meaning and its fulfillment when it is given up.
"At this point our meditation becomes praise and thanksgiving, and at the same
time urges us to imitate Christ and follow in his footsteps (cf. 1 Pt 2:21).
"We too are called to give our lives for our brothers and sisters, and thus to
realize in the fullness of truth the meaning and destiny of our existence” (EV
#51).
Christ is the
grain of wheat that falls to the earth, but is also “lifted up from the earth” –
both on the cross and in the Resurrection and Ascension. And the fruit is that
he “draws all people to himself.”
We have here the
powerful themes of life-giving fruitfulness and unity. The Culture of Death
denies both. It embraces, through “pro-choice” rhetoric, the “loving of one’s
own life” that Christ rejects in this Gospel teaching. The words “This is my
body” are used with opposite meanings: “I control my life” or “I give my life.”
As we approach
Holy Week and meditate on the Passion, it is a perfect time to call our people
to a renewed commitment to give themselves away to defend the vulnerable,
particularly the most oppressed, who are the unborn.
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