Celebrant: In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah spoke of a world free of hunger and filled with God’s peace.  Let us offer our prayers for all those in need of God’s abiding presence.

Deacon/Lector:

That all Church leaders will minister to the people of God in generosity and self-sacrifice, we pray to the Lord…

That governments of the world will recognize that their power comes from God and may exercise their duties according to His law, we pray to the Lord…

That we, the People of Life, may always proclaim and defend human life as a gift from God, who destroys death forever in Christ, we pray to the Lord...

For those in our community who are lonely, sick, and suffering, may God shower them with his love and compassion, we pray to the Lord…

For the prayers we hold in our hearts, united with Mary, the mother of God and all the saints, we pray the Lord…

Celebrant:

God of life,
hear the prayers of your people
voiced in the name of Jesus Christ your Son,
who is Lord forever and ever.

Life is Primary 

A major Vatican document reminds us that the right to life is primary: “The teachings of Pope John XXIII, the Second Vatican Council, and Pope Paul VI have given abundant indication of the concept of human rights as articulated by the Magisterium. Pope John Paul II has drawn up a list of them in the Encyclical Centesimus Annus…The first right presented in this list is the right to life, from conception to its natural end, which is the condition for the exercise of all other rights and, in particular, implies the illicitness of every form of procured abortion and euthanasia” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Vatican City, 2004).

Is 25:6-10a
Phil 4:12-14, 19-20
Mt 22:1-14 or 22:1-10

View a video with homily hints

(Further info at www.priestsforlife.org/preaching)  

The readings assigned for today speak about the banquet to which God – in the old and new covenants – calls his people. The homilist can point out that this is a banquet of life. The prophecy of Isaiah tells us that God is in the business of destroying death. “On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all people, the web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever.” This is the same mountain on which he will provide the choice foods and wines. 

God did not make death; rather, he destroys it. He does so in Christ, for whom the wedding banquet (the marriage of Christ the Bridegroom with the Church his bride) is celebrated. To stand with Christ is to stand with life, and to stand with life is to stand against whatever destroys it. Nothing destroys more life than abortion. 

We are on the holy mountain now – in the Eucharist, where the Church, and each of us individually, renew our vows to the Lord, and receive (not simply recall) his victory over death. It remains for us to “proclaim, celebrate, and serve the Gospel of Life” (as John Paul II put it in Evangelium Vitae), to apply that victory to every sector of society.