Celebrant: With the deepest confidence, inspired by the Word of God that we have heard, we now pray to the Father for all our needs. Deacon/Lector: That all who are ordained to preach the word of God, and all who assist in the task of religious education, may always grow in faithfulness to the one and only Gospel message of Christ, we pray to the Lord... That the assistance which nations give each other may always be marked by policies that protect life from the first moment of conception, we pray to the Lord… That many young men and women may hear the call to public service by seeking elected office, we pray to the Lord... That media professionals may seek to serve the truth and to meet the needs of those to whom they communicate, we pray to the Lord... That the Lord may look with favor on all immigrants, particularly those in most need, we pray to the Lord... That the sick may be strengthened and that all who have died may be admitted to the glory of heaven, we pray to the Lord... Celebrant: Father,
Your Word is eternal
And your compassion infinite.
Hear these and all the prayers in our hearts
And give us grace to serve you faithfully.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Never Grow Accustomed to Evil! "Jesus takes upon himself the evil, the filth, the sin of the world, including our own sin, and he cleanses it, he cleanses it with his blood, with the mercy and the love of God. Let us look around: how many wounds are inflicted upon humanity by evil! Wars, violence, economic conflicts that hit the weakest, greed for money, power, corruption, divisions, crimes against human life and against creation! And our personal sins… Jesus on the Cross feels the whole weight of the evil, and with the force of God’s love he conquers it, he defeats it with his resurrection. Dear friends, we can all conquer the evil that is in us and in the world: with Christ, with the force of good! We must not believe the Evil One when he tells us: you can do nothing to counter violence, corruption, injustice, your sins! We must never grow accustomed to evil! With Christ we can transform ourselves and the world." -- Homily of Pope Francis, Palm Sunday 2013.
1 Kgs 8:41-43
Gal 1:1-2, 6-10
Luke 7:1-10 Watch and share this video with homily hints One of the reasons why, as Paul passionately declares in the second reading, there is and can be no other gospel than the one that has been handed on to us, is that this gospel is universal. It is given by the God of all the universe, and is the last, best offer of everything he has to all of humanity without exception. There can be no other gospel because not even God Almighty can offer more than he has already offered us. This universality marks the Church's mission of evangelization, as the first reading and the Gospel indicate. Nobody is to be excluded from the offer of salvation in Christ. And this universality on the supernatural level is rooted in a universality in the order of nature. We are all created with the same human nature. Even before being incorporated into Christ by faith and baptism, we share that common human nature, and so are already brothers and sisters on the natural level. It is from that basis that the Church reaches out to all humanity with the urgent plea to protect life. The pro-life mission of the Church reaches to this natural level, this common basis, which the further announcement of the gospel presupposes and depends upon. This is why the urgent task of protecting life, in its first and natural rights, can never be separated from the Church's mission of evangelization and catechesis.
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