EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 3, n. 11)
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
February 11-17, 2007
“Those Who Trust in the Lord”
(+) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(A moment of silence)
SONG: Any Eucharistic hymn or any appropriate song may be sung.
INTRODUCTION
(Cf. Anthony Bloom in Meditations on the Sunday Gospels, Year B, ed. John Rotelle, New York: New City Press, 1998, p. 84-85)
We must remember that all we possess is a gift. The first beatitude is one of poverty, and only if we live according to this beatitude can we enter into the kingdom of God … We possess nothing which we can keep … Although none of these things are ours in such a way that they cannot be taken away from us; yet we are in possession of them … We are rich, and everything which we possess is a gift and a sign of the love of God and the love of men, it is a continuous gift of divine love; and as long as we possess nothing, love divine is manifested continuously and fully … This is the kingdom, the sense that we are free from possession, and this freedom establishes us in a relationship where everything is love – human love and love divine.
SILENT ADORATION
OPENING PRAYER
Leader: Lord our God, help us to love you with all our hearts and to love all men as you love them. May we experience the beatitude of the poor and always trust and hope in you alone. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.
Assembly: Amen.
Part I
JESUS MASTER TRUTH
Listening to the Word
FIRST READING: Jer 17:5-8
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
GOSPEL READING: Lk 6:17, 20-26
PERSONAL REFLECTION
(As a tool for personal reflection, please visit the PDDM Website: www.pddm.org // www.pddm.us for BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD [Series 5, n. 11]: A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy. The Biblico-Liturgical Reflections are an aid for a deeper understanding of the Gospel reading.)
SONG: Any Eucharistic hymn or song of praise may be sung.
Part II
JESUS MASTER WAY
Confrontation with the Word
POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. What is our fundamental choice as Christian followers: to be like “a barren bush in the desert” or to be like “a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream”? Do we opt to trust in the wealth and power of this world or to trust in the power of God alone? Is God our sole refuge and is he our wisdom and our strength?
B. What does Luke’s version of the beatitudes say to us? How do we uphold the dignity and the rights of the poor and downtrodden? How do we alleviate the lot of the poor? Do we endeavor to live a life of poverty and simplicity in order to be more prepared and effective in our ministry to the poor? Do we consciously strive to be part of the anawim - the poor of Yahweh whose poverty inclines them to depend on God - by our simple lifestyle and interior poverty?
C. Do we realize that we are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs, and that we are prophets of the future? Do we believe that of ourselves we can do nothing, but that with God we can do all? Do we effectively show in our lives that wealth is a relative value and that the Kingdom of God is the absolute value? Do we see Luke’s version of the beatitudes as an inspiration to trust in the grace of God and Luke’s statements of the woes as wise exhortations to change, rather than mere condemnations to chastise and daunt us? Do we endeavor to be permeated by the spirit of the beatitudes?
PRAYING WITH THE WORD
(Adapted from Archbishop’s Romero’s exhortation and Jer 17:7-8)
Leader: O loving God, we plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted knowing that they will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between you, the Master Builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders, ministers not messiahs. We are prophets of a future that is not our own.
Assembly: We trust in you alone, O God. Blessed is the one who trusts in you, whose hope is in you. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream. It fears not the heat when it comes; its leaves stay green; in the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit. May you be blessed, O Lord God, the font of our beatitudes, now and forever. Amen.
Part III
JESUS LIFE
Acting upon the Word
PERSONAL PRAYER
CONTEMPLATING WITH MARY THE FACE OF CHRIST: The Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary may be prayed in part or in full.
THE WAY OF SOLIDARITY: PRAYER OF INTERCESSION
Priest: Let us present our petitions to our loving God with trust and confidence and say to him:
(R.) LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
1. For the Holy Father’s General Intention for this month of February: That the goods of the earth, given by God to all people, may be used wisely and according to the criteria of justice and solidarity. We pray: (R.)
2. For the Holy Father’s Mission Intention for this month of February: That the fight against diseases and great epidemics in the Third World may find, in the spirit of solidarity, ever more generous collaboration on the part of the governments of all nations. We pray: (R.)
3. That the beatitude invoked on the poor, on those who hunger and weep, on those who are excluded and marginalized in the society may truly be realized in them: we pray: (R.)
4. That those who work for social justice and alleviate the plight of the poor may trust only and absolutely in the power of God and his saving help: we pray: (R.)
5. That in our work to proclaim the Good News and to promote the Kingdom values, we may not be deterred by lack of results and that we trust that it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest: we pray: (R.)
6. That we may all be like a tree planted beside the waters and bear fruit abundantly: we pray: (R.)
(Other prayers may be added.)
THE LORD’S PRAYER
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Leader: Almighty God,
every good thing comes from you.
Fill our hearts with love for you,
increase our faith,
and by your constant care protect the good you have given us.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Assembly: Amen.
FINAL SONG: Any Eucharistic hymn or song of praise may be sung.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
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Website: WWW.PDDM.US