Daily Liturgy
SUNDAY February 7
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
-
Healing for the Brokenhearted
-
Crying Out Our Pain
Greeting (see Responsorial Psalm)
In this Eucharist
let us praise the Lord, for he is good;
he heals the brokenhearted
and binds up all their wounds.
May this Lord Jesus be with you all. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
- Healing for the Brokenhearted
Our world is full of suffering and pain, many people are in agony and distress and are victims of exploitation and injustice. We feel powerless in the face of all this. Today we are reminded that we are not alone: God does not want us to suffer: in his son Jesus he showed us that he commits himself against death and misery, for Jesus went around healing people and overcame death by rising. We, disciples of Jesus, have to follow in his footsteps and bring healing to one another and to our world. We ask Jesus here among us to give us that insight and commitment.
- Crying Out Our Pain
Today we are reminded once more that long ago the very Son of God cried out his anxiety and pain: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” We know that God has made us for happiness and yet we also have our crosses to bear. We do not always see the reason for our misery and pain. We also see Jesus heal some people, but what were these among so many? We remember that the cross led Jesus to life and resurrection. We express our hope and trust today in a Savior who suffered with us and for us.
Penitential Act
- Healing for the Brokenhearted
We now ask the Lord to heal us from all sin,
so that we can become healers of others.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you bore our sickness
and endured our suffering:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, people brought the sick to you
and you cured many:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you heal the brokenhearted
and you bind up their wounds:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Lord, we look for you to heal us
from all sin and evil.
Forgive us and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
- Crying Out Our Pain
Why does it not pain us more
when we bring misery to one another by our sins?
We ask forgiveness from God and one another.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you cried out in the garden,
“Take this suffering away from me,
but your will be done, Father.”
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, on the cross you asked,
“My God, why have you abandoned me?”
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you have left us the sign of the cross
to remind us of your suffering
and to look up to in hope.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us
the pain we have caused one another
and the suffering of your Son.
Let him lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
- Healing for the Brokenhearted
Let us pray to our healing God
that he may cure us from all our ills
(pause)
Compassionate and loving God,
when Jesus healed those who were ill
from all sorts of diseases
he revealed you as a God of life and happiness.
Let Jesus cast out of us
all evil of fear and hatred, of sin and death.
Fill us with his tender love and concern,
that we too may follow him
in bringing his healing power
to all those who suffer.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
- Crying Out Our Pain
Let us pray to our compassionate God
who is near to us in Jesus Christ
(pause)
Tenderhearted God,
when we cry out to you
in our weariness, our sorrow and illness,
remember how your Son too
called on you in his suffering unto death.
Keep us from shutting ourselves up in self-pity
and strengthen us in the conviction
that you are to be found in our pain
as well as in our joys,
and that you always care for us
through him who showed us how much you loved us,
Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading: Job Cries Out His Misery to God
Here a man who is sorely tried cries out to God his misery and loneliness. He is a man of faith, but he struggles for an answer: why suffer?
Reading 1: Jb 7:1-4, 6-7
Job spoke, saying:
Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?
Are not his days those of hirelings?
He is a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for his wages.
So I have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.
If in bed I say, “When shall I arise?”
then the night drags on;
I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind;
I shall not see happiness again.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
(cf. 3a) Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Second Reading: For the Weak I Made Myself Weak
For the sake of the good news of Christ, Paul became everything to all, even weak with the weak.
Reading 2: 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23
Brothers and sisters:
If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast,
for an obligation has been imposed on me,
and woe to me if I do not preach it!
If I do so willingly, I have a recompense,
but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my recompense?
That, when I preach,
I offer the gospel free of charge
so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
Although I am free in regard to all,
I have made myself a slave to all
so as to win over as many as possible.
To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak.
I have become all things to all, to save at least some.
All this I do for the sake of the gospel,
so that I too may have a share in it.
Alleluia: Mt 8:17
Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Jesus Healed Many Who Were Suffering
Jesus healed many as an invitation to have faith in him.
Gospel: Mk 1:29-39
On leaving the synagogue
Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.
They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.
When it was evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons,
not permitting them to speak because they knew him.
Rising very early before dawn, he left
and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come.”
So he went to their synagogues,
preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.
Intercessions
As people who have experienced suffering, let us bring all the needs and pains of people before God whose Son suffered and died, and let us say:
R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
– For all who preach the gospel, that they may bring the Good News of Christ to people in their full human realities and with all their needs, let us pray:
R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
– For the leaders of nations, that they make justice and service the foundations of the social order and in this way bring to all a sense of dignity and human fulfillment, let us pray:
R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
– For the victims of discrimination, for all those in search of security and love, for all those lonely and despairing, for the sick and the handicapped, that they may encounter the Lord in people who give them love and hope, let us pray:
R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
– For all those who care for the sick, that they may never tire of treating them with personal attention and infinite respect, as they would do for the Lord himself, let us pray:
R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
– For this and all Christian communities, that disappointments and failures may not embitter us but draw us closer to the Lord; that we may be of one heart and soul and not allow anyone among us to be in want, let us pray:
R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
Our living and loving God, you are familiar with our needs and cares and see our pains, for you know us by name. We rely on you because of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
in these signs of bread and wine
we remember your Son Jesus Christ.
Accept our disposition to become like him,
and so, fill us with his Spirit
that we too may become weak with the weak
and servants of one another.
May your Son thus live in our midst
as our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
We thank God for showing us the power of his healing love in Jesus. Through him, our Father in heaven brought us friendship, forgiveness and strength. Let us give him all thanks and praise.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
Our heavenly Father loves us in Christ.
And so let us pray to him
the trusting prayer of his Son: R/ Our Father…
Deliver Us
Perhaps it is part of your plan, Lord,
that our faith be tested in trials.
But deliver us from discouragement
and from the spirit of rebellion
that complains and sours.
Give us the serenity of knowing
that we live in the palm of your hands,
even in moments of hardship and pain.
Help us to support one another
as we prepare with hope and joy
for the full coming among us
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom…
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, the Lamb of God,
who took upon himself all our ills
and sacrificed himself for us
to set us free from death and all our fears.
Happy are we that he invites us to come to him
with our pains and burdens. R/ Lord, I am not worthy…
Prayer of Acceptance (Charles de Foucauld)
The following prayer could be slowly said by the prayer leader in thanksgiving, or by all together if the people have the text.
Father, I entrust myself to you.
Do with me what you want.
Whatever you wish to do with me,
I thank you.
I am ready for everything,
I accept everything.
Provided your will be done in me
and in all your creatures,
I desire nothing else, my God.
I place my soul into your hands,
I give it to you, my God,
with all the love of my heart,
because I love you,
because it is to me a demand of love
to give myself,
to commit myself to you without reserve,
with an unlimited trust,
for you are my Father.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
no one except you can fully understand
the pains and joys we experience,
for your Son became one of us.
By the strength he has given us here,
may we reach out to one another
and share in each other’s laughter and pain.
And when words fail us,
let us just be near to those who suffer
in respectful silence,
on account of him who is near to us
and heals us from all our ills,
Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
Suffering will always remain a scandal
or at least a mystery.
We can try to act as if it doesn’t affect us,
to deny that it exists
or to run away from it,
but there is no real escape from it for a Christian.
It is written into our existence
since Christ died on the cross.
We will never understand it fully,
but we know that it is meaningful and saving.
May we learn to bear our pains with Christ
with courage and hope
and with the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go with Christ to bear one another’s burdens.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Commentary:
Jesus walked into Peter’s House and there healed his Mother-in-Law, who had a fever.
It was not just any house but it was the house of Peter. The house of Peter in the gospels has a symbolic meaning: it represents the Christian community; it is the Church. In that house, there is a woman who is sick. The Church is the new Israel – the woman. It is this church that is sick and Jesus wants to cure.
Once he heals the Church, he comes out of the House of Peter – to the outside world who were waiting for him, and he meets with the sick humanity – heals them of their physical and emotional illnesses. Today, as we read and reflect on the Gospel, allow the Lord to walk into our lives – and let him know of our infirmities. When we feel lethargic and without charisma, when we do not want to get out of the comforts of our beds and refuse to care for the needs of the Church, we are in need of healing. Remember the call of Pope Francis to the young people during the Panama World Youth Day to denounce our “sofa culture” to reach out to our brothers and sisters in need. Only when we are healed of our laziness and sluggishness, we the Church can heal this wounded world. Our world still stands in need of healing, liberation from the forces of evil.
Another important theme of the Gospel today is a huge lesson on prayer. Jesus begins his days: with prayer; and prayer is not a simple gesture of a sign of the cross that we do before meal or before we start a job. Of course, it is a nice gesture because it reminds us that we are disciples of Christ. Morning prayer means seeing with the Lord the day that awaits us and is about to begin.
It means listening to him how we have to live this day and maybe we should tell him: ‘today
I’m going to meet my boss who is a rude guy, who is always nervous’… and I will listen to the
Lord how I have to behave if I want to be a disciple of Christ, even if my instinct tells me that
I have to answer him back because he deserves it. I have to listen to what the Lord tells me; if I don’t pray then I behave like everyone else, but not as a disciple of Christ.