Eucharistic Celebration

Opening Prayer:
God is calling us to be messengers.
God invites us to share the divine life with others. Let us listen to the ways in which God called others,
the ways in which God may be calling us.

Hymn:     'Drink Living Water' ~  Colleen Fulmer & Rufino Zaragoza, OFM (As One Voice, Volume 2, CD)

Rite of Reconciliation (from Mark Link, SJ)

The LORD says, 'Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you clean as snow.' Isaiah 1:18

John Powell tells a story of a woman who decided to swim out into the ocean, beyond the point of return. But before doing so, she walked along the deserted beach, to say her tearful farewells to the world. Suddenly a voice seemed to say 'Look back!' She did and saw her own footprints. While she watched, a wave erased them. Then the voice seemed to say, 'As that wave erased your footprints, so I will erase your past.' That event was the starting point of a new life for her.

How deeply do I believe that God wants to erase the errant footprints of my past and lead me into a sun-filled future?

            Lord have mercy ...

            Christ have mercy ...

            Lord my mercy ...

Psalm 95

        Chant your joy to God,
        our rock, our safety.

        Come shout and sing to
        the presence of God,
        more than matching idols,
        ruling them all,
        handling depths and heights
        of ocean and peaks,
        owning the sea, shaping
        the earth by hand.

        Come worship the Lord,
        bodies bowed,
        sheep to God our maker,
        flock to shepherd.

        Hear God speak today:
        Do not stiffen
        your hearts as at the Quarrel
        or at the Test,
        that day in the desert when
        they doubted Me
        though they saw My work,
        your two-faced kind.

        I stood them forty years,
        that perverse lot.
        I said, they will not have Me.
        I swore in anger,
        they will not reach My land.
                        Larry Gillick, SJ

        Glory to you ...

Reading I         Ex 17:3 - 7

         'Is the LORD in our midst or not?'

Gospel                 John 4: 6 - 15, 39 - 42

'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'

                    Key in words and phrases from the gospel:
                            a woman         of Samaria             to draw water             living water
                                                            will never thirst            ...

                    Keying in to a focus:
                            What are we really thirsting for?

                    It is not something found in a bucket.
                    The Samaritan woman thought she was thirsting for water;

                    Christ gradually reveals to her that she is thirsting for living water,

                    the Christ, "the love of God ... poured out into our hearts"

Quiet Reflection and Sharing
 

Intercessions:
    Let us seal ourselves in the Word of God through the symbol of this water, just as Jesus accepted the drink of water from the woman at the well. As we are now bound together, let us take a moment to pray for our collective needs as your people Lord:

R/ Praise the Lord Jerusalem!
For the Church, that it will be a source of living water for all who thirst for meaning and purpose, R/

For openness to a change of heart and persevere in prayer and good works, R/

For the grace of commitment: that we may grow in our commitment to God’s covenant with us and strive to place God at the centre of all our decisions, R/

For the grace of conversion: that the Church may be continually converted and transformed into the Body of Christ, R/

For all who teach and preach: that they may faithfully proclaim Christ crucified and lead others into the mystery of God’s love, R/

For all who suffer injustice: that our hearts may be stirred to take action to free those bound unjustly and lift the burdens from those who are oppressed, R/

For the preservation of peace: that God will help all government and military leaders to work to protect human life and to use all means to resolve conflicts non-violently, R/

Lord, receive our prayers and offerings. In time of danger, protect all your people. We ask this in the name of Jesus our brother. Amen.

Closing Hymn         'Who Will Speak' ~ Marty Haugen  (As One Voice, Volume 2, CD)

 

Br. Nick Morris (Rome)