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EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 19, n. 45)

October 1, 2023

“JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to Belong to His Kingdom”

 

 

(+) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(A moment of silence)

 

SONG: A suitable Eucharistic hymn or any other appropriate song may be sung.

 

WORDS OF SAINT CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

The doors are open for all who sincerely and wholeheartedly return to God; indeed, the Father is most willing to welcome back a truly repentant son or daughter … Genuine conversion, however, means ceasing to sin without any backward glances. God pardons what is past, then for the future we are each responsible for ourselves. By repenting we condemn our past mistakes and beg forgiveness of the Father.

 

SILENT ADORATION

OPENING PRAYER 

Leader: Father,

you show us your almighty power in your mercy and forgiveness.

Continue to fill us with your gifts of love.

Help us to hurry toward the eternal life you promise

and come to share in the joys of your kingdom.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Assembly: Amen.

 

Part I

JESUS MASTER TRUTH

Listening to the Word

 

ALLELUIA - GOSPEL READING: Mt 21:28-32

PERSONAL REFLECTION

In light of the Parable of the Two Sons, the French theologian Yves de Montcheuil asserts that the only sign of belonging to the kingdom is faithfulness to the will of God. He remarks: “This parable alludes in the first place to the Jews and the Gentiles; but it also applies to each one of us. We said yes when we recognized the legitimacy of God’s law and promised to submit to it; but very often we go on living as before without troubling ourselves about the will of God. We think we live in the kingdom because our yes was once sincere yet the force of daily habit eludes the will of God who is calling us to the kingdom … Entry into the kingdom requires of us a continuing and living desire to accept God’s will for us at each moment of our life. It is a yes said over and over again.”

  

SONG: Any Eucharistic hymn or suitable song of praise may be sung.

 

Part II

JESUS MASTER WAY

Confrontation with the Word

 

POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

 Leader: We open our hearts to listen to the promptings of the living Word. Let us ask ourselves with limpid honesty:

1, With regards to God’s invitation to work in his vineyard, can we compare ourselves to the first son who initially refused, but changed his mind and finally abided by the divine saving will?

2. Does the positive response of “tax collectors and prostitutes” who were pushing ahead into the vineyard of God’s kingdom inspire us to a spirit of repentance and conversion?

3. Are we convinced that entrance into the kingdom requires a living and continual will, a constant and present acceptance of God’s will for us, a continual renewal of our “yes” to God?

  

PRAYER

(Cf. The Grail)

 Leader: Lord Jesus, I give you my hands to do your work.

I give you my feet to go your way.

I give you my eyes to see as you do.

I give you my tongue to speak your words.

I give you my mind that you may think in me.

I give you my spirit that you may pray in me.

Above all, I give you my heart

that you may love in me your Father and all mankind.

I give you my whole self that you may grow in me,

so that it is you, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me.

Assembly: Lord Jesus, help me to respond “yes” to the Father’s invitation

to go and work in his vineyard.

May my “yes” to the Father’s saving will

be constant and true.

  

SONG: Any suitable song may be sung.

 

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

Leader: Let us pray to God who cares for all, and with earnest humility say: 

(R.) LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.

1. For the Holy Father’s General Intention for this month of October – for the Synod: We pray for the Church, that she may adopt listening and dialogue as a lifestyle in every level, and allow herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit towards the peripheries of the world. We pray: (R.)

2. That St. Therese of the Child Jesus, patroness of the missions, may continue to intercede for us that we may obtain all the graces we need to live out our vocation as disciples of Jesus and as missionaries of the Church. We pray: (R.)

3. That we may truly belong to the kingdom of God by our faithfulness to God’s will; we pray: (R.)

4. That we may serve the Lord and labor in his vineyard with personal dedication; we pray: (R.)

5. That our continuing “yes” to the divine saving will may be a source of inspiration for others; we pray: (R.)

6. That those who have been unfaithful to their “yes” to God be given the grace of conversion and repentance.

7. That our “yes” to God be expressed in concrete service to the poor, the marginalized and the underprivileged of our society. 

(Other prayers may be added.)

 

THE LORD’S PRAYER

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Leader: God our Father,

whose law is a law of liberty,

grant us wisdom to use aright the freedom that you have given us,

by surrendering ourselves to your service.

We know that,

when we are your willing and faithful servants and laborers in your vineyard,

then only are we truly free.

May the “yes” of our commitment to work in your kingdom

be faithful and true.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. 

Assembly: Amen.

 

FINAL SONG: Any suitable Eucharistic hymn or song of praise may be sung.

 

 

 

 

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EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 19, n. 46)

October 8, 2023

“JESUS SAVIOR: He Sings the Song of the Vineyard”

 

 

(+) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(A moment of silence)

 

SONG: A suitable Eucharistic hymn or any other appropriate song may be sung.

 

WORDS OF CARDINAL JEAN DANIELOU

God’s patience has been strained to its farthest limit in this tragedy of Christ, the Lord of the vineyard’s son, rejected by the tenants, crucified, treated by his own people as a stranger and an outcast. But from the lowest depths arises a sudden hope: He will let out the vineyard to other vinedressers, who will pay him his due when the season comes. The tragedy of Good Friday, when Israel rejected him that was sent, becomes in God’s plan the means whereby the vine planted in Israel was to break out in a new and vigorous growth. In fact, it was to bring forth for the first time the fruits expected of it. Now through the passion and resurrection of Christ stems the true and faithful vine … The true vine appeared in the person of Jesus Christ. The grace of God bears its plenitude of fruit in him.

 

SILENT ADORATION 

OPENING PRAYER

Leader: Loving Father,

we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ

whom you have sent into the vineyard of your Kingdom.

United with him, as branches to the living vine,

we are able to bear copious spiritual fruits

and yield an incomparable harvest of holiness.

Grant that we may always remember

the message of the “Song of the Vineyard”

and thus avoid the disastrous destiny

of the wicked tenants in your vineyard.

May we bear fruits abundantly in your Son

and remain faithful in the tasks of your Kingdom.

We ask this through Christ, the true and living Vine, now and forever.

Assembly: Amen.

 

Part I

JESUS MASTER TRUTH

Listening to the Word

 

GOSPEL READING: Mt 21:33-43

POINTS FOR REFLECTION

Today’s Gospel parable (Mt 21:33-43) presents the drama of man’s wickedness and God’s faithful and patient love. As a “parable of contention”, it is originally directed against the smugness, vanity and self-seeking of the religious leaders of Israel. The parable of the Lord of the vineyard, for all its ominous content and warning, contains a note of hope.

The true vine is Jesus Christ, the son of the Lord of the vineyard. The grace of God bears its plenitude of fruit in him. Jesus saves us from destruction - the harsh destiny of the wicked, abusive tenants in the old vineyard. By his sacrificial obedience to the Father’s saving will, the “Song of the Vineyard” is transformed from a tone of reproach to an exultant song of praise and thanksgiving. United with Christ, the Church exults in the fruitful harvest of “life in the Spirit” that the “new vineyard” produces.

 

SONG: Any Eucharistic hymn or suitable song of praise may be sung.

  

Part II

JESUS MASTER WAY

Confrontation with the Word

 

POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

Leader: We open our hearts to listen to the promptings of the living Word. Let us ask ourselves with limpid honesty:

1. What are the feelings and emotions that the “Song of the Vineyard” evokes in us?

2. Is the ancient drama of man’s wickedness and God’s fidelity also replicated in the vineyard of our lives? How do we resolve the conflict and challenge in this intense drama of God-man relationship?

3. What is our attitude and response to the presence of the new and living Vine, Jesus Christ? Do we resolve to be united with this Vine and bear abundant spiritual fruits? Do we endeavor to produce an incomparable harvest of holiness in the vineyard of God’s Kingdom?

  

PRAYER

(Cf. Commission Francophone Cistercienne, Tropaires des dimanches, 121)

 Leader: O my Church, how shall I love you more?

I have planted you as a choice vine.

For you my Son’s blood has flowed, new sap in your branches.

Where are the fruits I was hoping for? 

Assembly: Master of the vineyard, do not reject the work of your hands!

Leader: If you mark faults, who will stand?

But with you is forgiveness.

Our sins are stronger than we are,

but you, you blot them out.

Visit this vine and protect it;

your right hand has planted it.

Your wrath lasts but an instant;

your mercy endures for life.

Assembly: Master of the vineyard, do not reject the work of your hands!

 

SONG: Any suitable song may be sung.

 

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

Leader: Let us pray to God who cares for all, and with earnest humility say: 

(R.) LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.

1. For the Holy Father’s General Intention for this month of October – for the Synod: We pray for the Church, that she may adopt listening and dialogue as a lifestyle in every level, and allow herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit towards the peripheries of the world. We pray: (R.)

2. That we may be fruitful vines and dutiful workers in the Lord’s vineyard.

3. That our charitable works on behalf of the world’s poor be fruitful.

4. That our Christian life be marked with copious fruits of virtue and holiness.

5. Christian believers and yield a rich harvest of material, moral and spiritual assistance.

6. That God spare us from the disastrous fate of the unresponsive and obstinate tenants. 

(Other prayers may be added.)

 

THE LORD’S PRAYER 

That the victims of natural and man-made disasters evoke forcefully the compassion of

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Leader: God our Father, the Lord of the vineyard,

you call us to be fruitful in the living Vine, Jesus Christ.

Make your saving love the foundation of our lives.

May our love for you, our benevolent Master,

express itself in a fruitful life laden with joy

and marked with compassionate service for the world’s poor.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Assembly: Amen.

 

FINAL SONG: Any suitable Eucharistic hymn or song of praise may be sung.

 

 

 

 

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Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang, PDDM

 

 

PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI

SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER

3700 North Cornelia Avenue, Fresno, CA 93722 (USA)

Tel (559) 275-1656