Celebrant: We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Gathered in union with the whole Church, let us pray for our needs and those of all God's people.

Deacon/Lector:

That God may bless our Holy Father and keep all bishops and all the faithful in union with him and with his teaching, we pray to the Lord...

For all believers who are without a Church building, that they may soon have the blessing of a beautiful and secure place in which to worship, we pray to the Lord...

For all who lack the freedom of religion, that their governments may recognize their right to worship God in public and in peace, we pray to the Lord...

For the Bishops of the United States, as they meet this week, that God may bless and guide their deliberations, we pray to the Lord...

For the poor, those who suffer discrimination, and all the marginalized and forgotten, we pray to the Lord...

For all who have died, especially those who did not know Christ in this life, that they may be received by God's mercy, we pray to the Lord...

Celebrant:

Father, As you answer our prayers, Make us ever grateful for the gift of the Church. May we be living stones, Built into unity with Christ And with one another. We ask this through the same Christ our Risen Lord. Amen.

Leadership and Life

“We are blessed in the 21st century with crystal-clear photographs and action films of the living realities within their pregnant mothers. No one with the slightest measure of integrity or honor could fail to know what these marvelous beings manifestly, clearly, and obviously are, as they smile and wave into the world outside the womb. In simplest terms, they are human beings with an inalienable right to live….They are not parts of their mothers, and what they are depends not at all upon the opinions of theologians of any faith. Anyone who dares to defend that they may be legitimately killed because another human being “chooses” to do so or for any other equally ridiculous reason should not be providing leadership in a civilized democracy worthy of the name.”--Cardinal Edward Egan, Archbishop of New York (Press release, August 26, 2008).

Readings each year are taken from the Common of the dedication of a Church, Lectionary nos. 701-706.

See a video with homily hints.

On this feast, the liturgy’s focus on the unity of the Church throughout the world as the living Body of Christ and Temple of the Holy Spirit can lead us to reflect on how that unity implies solidarity, and the obligation to care for one another’s lives. God has entrusted us to the care of each other. The second reading, pointing out that we are each individually a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, draws the conclusion that one who destroys a human life destroys God’s dwelling. This recalls the striking lines in Pope John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae in which he writes, “[L]ife, especially human life, belongs only to God: for this reason whoever attacks human life, in some way attacks God himself” (EV #9), and “It is precisely in the "flesh" of every person that Christ continues to reveal himself and to enter into fellowship with us, so that rejection of human life, in whatever form that rejection takes, is really a rejection of Christ” (EV #104).

The Church is the sign and stimulus of the unity of the human family. The supernatural unity expressed so strongly by today’s feast presupposes and fosters the more basic unity on a purely human level – starting with the respect and vigorous defense of everyone’s right to life.

The theme of the waters of life in the first reading likewise reinforce this reflection.