Opening Prayer:         Memorare to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Remember Jesus, that none who have had recourse to Your Sacred Heart, implored its assistance, or called for mercy, have ever been abandoned. Filled, and animated by this same confidence, O Sacred Heart, Ruler of all hearts, we fly to You, and prostrate ourselves before You. Despise us not but grant us, we pray, a closeness to Your Sacred Heart. Sustain us in all our daily tasks and be with us now, and at all times. 0 gracious One! 0 amiable One! 0 loving Jesus! Amen.

 

 

Reading: Ecclesiastes 3: 1- 11

There's an opportune time to do things,

a right time for everything on the earth:

A right time for birth and another for death,

A right time to plant and another to reap,

A right time to kill and another to heal,

A right time to destroy and another to construct,

A right time to cry and another to laugh,

A right time to lament and another to cheer,

A right time to make love and another to abstain,

A right time to embrace and another to part,

A right time to search and another to count your losses,

A right time to hold on and another to let go,

A right time to rip out and another to mend,

A right time to shut up and another to speak up,

A right time to love and another to hate,

A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I've had a good look at what God has given us to do--busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time--but he's left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he's coming or going.

Quicksand under me, swamp water over me;

I'm going down for the third time.

I'm hoarse from calling for help,
bleary-eyed from searching the sky for God.

I've got more enemies than hairs on my head;
sneaks and liars are out to knife me in the back.

What I never stole
must I now give back?

Rescue me from the swamp,
don't let me go under for good,

Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy;
this whirlpool is sucking me down.

Don't let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole
swallow me, its jaws clenched around me.

Now answer me, GOD, because you love me;
let me see your great mercy full-face.

Reading:     Ezekiel 47: 1, 8-9

Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple, south of the altar.

He told me, "This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish--great schools of fish--because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds.

Let us pray to Jesus Christ, in the mystery of his most Sacred Heart, who was tempted in every way but did not sin.

Lord Jesus, you wept over Jerusalem: grant conversion of heart to all those who have rejected you. R/ Listen to your people’s plea!

Lord Jesus, you wept over the death of Lazarus; comfort those who mourn. R/ Listen to your people’s plea!

Lord Jesus, you knew the suffering of loneliness and distress: abide with those who are alone this evening in their pain and suffering. R/ Listen to your people’s plea!

Other intercessions ...

May the God of all grace who called us to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us after we have suffered a little. Amen. (cf. 1 Peter 5:10)

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on me.

O God, forgive me for all the sins of my life;
The sins of my youth and the sins of my age,

The sins of my body and the sins of my soul,
The sins I have confessed and the sins I have forgotten,

The sins against others in thought, word, and deed,
My sins of omission.

0, my God, I am sorry for all my sins, because you are so good;

and I will not sin again with the help of God.

God be merciful to me, a sinner.
Divine Heart of Jesus, convert sinners, save the dying,
Deliver the holy souls in purgatory.

Amen.