Celebrant: In union with saints, angels, and all creation, we praise the God of all life, and we ask him to meet all our needs. 

Deacon/Lector: 

That the Successor of Peter, Our Holy Father, may have continued strength to tend the flock that Jesus has entrusted to him, we pray to the Lord...

That we may all work to change unjust laws that permit abortion, taking courage from the apostles' word that we must obey God rather than man, we pray to the Lord… 

For Christians in places where they cannot proclaim the name of Jesus, that religious freedom may be restored, we pray to the Lord... 

In thanksgiving for the countless blessings bestowed upon our families, our parish, and our community, we pray to the Lord... 

For the poor, the sick, the lonely, and those who feel they are not accepted by their community, we pray to the Lord... 

That God may give eternal rest and joy to all whom he has called from this life, we pray to the Lord... 

Celebrant: 

Father,
as we present you our petitions,
may we also declare to you our love.
Keep us faithful throughout life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Pro-Peace and Pro-Life

“On receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta had the courage to say to the leaders of political communities: ‘If we let a mother kill the fruit of her womb, what is left to us? It is the principle of abortion that endangers peace in the world’. It is true! There can be no true peace without respect for life, especially if it is innocent and defenseless as is that of the unborn child. Elementary coherence requires those who seek peace to safeguard life. No pro-peace activity can be effective unless attacks on life at all its stages, from conception until natural death, are as energetically opposed.” (St. John Paul II To The Members Of The Italian Pro-Life Movement, 22 May 2003) 

Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41
Rv 5:11-14
Jn 21:1-19 or 21:1-14

Watch a video with homily hints

Today’s readings make it clear that Jesus’ resurrection does not only bring life to him. Rather, it begins a process whereby, through our obedience, life comes to us and extends through us to all the world. 

The theme of obedience to the Risen Christ comes through in the Gospel passage where the fruitless, all-night efforts of the fishermen-apostles are contrasted to a simple act of obedience to one command of the Risen Lord. The 153 fish, as some commentators have pointed out, represents the number of known kinds of fish in that day, and therefore symbolizes that people of every race, nation, and language are called to acknowledge the Lord and will be brought into the Kingdom by the preaching of the Church. As the second reading mentions, “every creature” will worship before the throne. Obedience to God and to the Lamb is the call of everyone.

In the first reading, the apostles obey the Risen Lord rather than the misguided commands of human authority. More fundamentally, they point out that obedience to the Lord yields the fruit of the Holy Spirit, who gives life to all through repentance and faith. 

This overarching theme of obedience that leads to life contrasts powerfully with the attitude of the culture of death that real freedom consists in forging our own way through life, insisting on our own choices, and arranging both our private lives and public policies in such a way that protects absolute, or nearly-absolute, personal autonomy. That is simply not the way of salvation or even of earthly happiness. Instead, the only way to both is a resounding “Yes” to life, in obedience to the one who conquers death and gives life abundantly.