Year A
Discover the deeper meaning and connections found in this week's readings, through these great commentaries written by our priests.
Explore this week's readings and hear what God is saying to us through His Word.
Find out more about how we can mark this special day in our liturgy.
See our music recommendations for the liturgy.
My life has been full of terrible misfortunes … most of which never happened.
Michel de Montaigne
What worries you? Some people carry the world’s worries.
Some find that all their worries become fulfilled.
Others, with apparent reason to worry, lead blessed lives; nothing worries them.
The more we trust God, the less we worry: the less we trust God, the more we worry.
St Paul writes from prison, not knowing if he will be released:
There is no need to worry. If there is anything you need, pray for it,
asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving.
Note that: Ask with thanksgiving. Not ask, receive, thank. Just ask, thank.
Today’s opening prayer says this: Almighty ever-living God, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask.
God gives what we don’t even dare ask for!
Julian of Norwich, a mediaeval hermit, wrote that Jesus said to her, in her prayer:
All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
If ever you worry, say that.
Not worrying isn’t the same as not caring.
Not worrying doesn’t mean failing to manage well.
Not worrying is not about avoiding planning.
Worrying is what people often do instead of caring, managing and planning.
The Dalai Lama said: If a problem is fixable, and you can do something about it, there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, there is no help in worrying.
If you have a worry:
1. Mention it to God.
2. Thank God.
3. Stop worrying.
This becomes habit-forming. Paul encourages positive habits, dissolving away the worry habit.
Fill your minds with everything that is true,
everything that is noble,
everything that is good and pure,
everything that we love and honour
and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise.
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Catholicism of the Catholic Church References:
CCC 755: the Church as God’s vineyard
CCC 1830-1832: gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit
CCC 443: prophets are the servants, Christ is the Son
I have one thought which may be helpful and link in with the theme of Prisoners' Sunday.
The Collect Prayer, though it is difficult to say let alone make sense of, would seem to mean:
Eternal, all-powerful God,
your tenderness knows no bounds
and you grant your gifts to those who implore you
way beyond what they deserve or desire:
pour out upon us your mercy,
FREE OUR CONSCIENCE FROM WHATEVER MIGHT BE TROUBLING US
and give us more than we would ever dare to ask;
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Our consciences ought to trouble us as followers of Jesus when we see the vast numbers of men and women who are in prison.
For today's Intercessions focus on Prisoners' Sunday. Paul says 'If there is anything you need, pray for it' so pray for all those in prison not forgetting those unjustly imprisoned in various places, for prisoners' partners, children and families, for those working in prisons. Don't forget those on Death Row. Pray for an end to capital punishment. Pray for a change in our penal system and in the notices advertise the Prison Reform Trust and the Howard League which work for change.
These hymns have been picked and chosen from different sources.
Now thank we all our God (CFE512, L945, LHON497)
From heaven you came (The Servant King) (CFE187, L749, LHON267)
My song is love unknown (CFE503, L752, LHON487, TCH65)
This is my will, my one command (CFE732, L921, LHON682)
One bread, one body (CFE578, L832, LHON538)
Key
CFE - Celebration Hymnal for Everyone
L – Laudate
LHON – Liturgical Hymns Old and New (Mayhew, 1999)
TCH – The Catholic Hymnbook (Gracewing)
Do you have questions about the liturgy and how we are called to participate in it? Explore how the Church councils, saints, and popes have answered this key question and many more.
Every movement of the Mass is rich in meaning but we can become over-familiar with it. Rediscover the Mass and explore how it relates to the Exodus story, where many of its rituals come from, and how it makes Jesus present to us today.
