Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary
Time, Cycle B
Celebrant: We gather strength
from the example of Jesus and his disciples. As a people of faith, we join
together to ask the Father's help and to bring him all our needs.
Deacon/Lector:
That all members of the Church
may be strengthened by the Spirit to be ever-faithful to their baptismal calling
to proclaim Christ to the world, we pray to the Lord...
That bishops, priests and
deacons may continue to lead us to encounters with God in the Scriptures and in
the sacraments, we pray to the Lord...
That world leaders may
recognize God as the source of true authority, and may seek mercy and freedom
for all people, we pray to the Lord...
That the Church may preach
with compassion the need of repentance from all sins against life, and point the
way to a new reverence for those who are poor, weak, unwanted, and unborn, we
pray to the Lord...
That those gathered in our
community of faith may embrace God's message of compassion and forgiveness, we
pray to the Lord...
That those who have died may
have peace and joy in the presence of God, whom they served on earth, we pray to
the Lord...
Celebrant: God our
Father, as we bring you these petitions, grant that we may grow in appreciation
of the beauty and wonder of your creation. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Bulletin Insert
Click here for this bulletin insert in Spanish
Choosing Life
“This is the
ultimate meaning of the Cross: not to seek life for oneself, but to give
one's own life. …"I command you this day, by loving the Lord
your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his
statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live" (Dt 30: 16). At first sight we
may not like this, but it is the way: the option for life and the option
for God are identical. The Lord says so in St John's Gospel: "This is
eternal life, that they know you" (Jn 17: 3).
“Human life is a
relationship. It is only in a relationship, and not closed in on ourselves, that
we can have life. And the fundamental relationship is the relationship with the
Creator, or else other relations are fragile. Hence, it is essential to choose
God. A world empty of God, a world that has forgotten God, loses life and
relapses into a culture of death. Choosing life, taking the option for life,
therefore, means first and foremost choosing the option of a relationship with
God.” – Pope Benedict XVI, March 2006.
Homily Suggestions on Pro-life Themes
Am 7:12-15
Eph 1:3-14 or 1:3-10
Mk 6:7-13
The apostles were
called to “to preach repentance,” as is the Church today. This is a key aspect
of being a “prophet” (First reading). It’s not so much about telling the future
as it is about telling the present, pointing out to God’s people how fidelity to
Him today means we have to change.
A key aspect of
repentance in our present circumstances is suggested by the Second Reading,
which is all about God’s choice. He chose us in Christ before the world began.
That in itself is a subject for profound reflection. Before anything ever
existed, before the first event that any history book relates, we were already
chosen to exist, to believe, and to be holy. God knew us, wanted us, and loved
us.
What this reveals
is that God’s choice is primary. Human choice is secondary. “It was not you who
chose me,” Jesus teaches elsewhere, “But I who chose you” (Jn. 15:16). “This is
love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Since God first chose each human person
to exist, no human can choose for them not to exist. “Pro-choice” is a mentality
that puts our choice above God’s, and therefore is contrary to the lesson of
these readings. “Pro-choice” essentially says that we have responsibility only
to those lives for which we choose to have responsibility. Scripture teaches, on
the other hand, that we have responsibility for others before we choose, and
that in choosing, we have the duty to take that pre-existing responsibility into
account. Here lies a key aspect of repentance, for us personally and for our
culture.
Liturgical Resources
