Daily Liturgy
Friday 25 June
TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
A COMPASSIONATE HEART
Introduction
God renews his promises to Abraham.
Immediately after the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew gives us a series of miracles of Jesus, the first of which is narrated in today’s Gospel, the cure of the leper. Jesus had spoken with power, now he acts with power; Jesus had spoken of the law of love, now he himself puts it into practice in an act of compassionate help to an outcast. Note that in the Bible, leprosy is closely linked to sin and like a physical sign of sin. Let us honor our Lord in his compassion and forgiveness.
Opening Prayer
Lord God, our Father,
your Son, Jesus Christ, revealed to us
your compassionate, healing love.
Let his presence here in our midst
fill us with his power of sharing
in the miseries of our neighbor.
Let our words be like balm
on open wounds in their hearts
and let our deeds bring healing
to all those around us.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Reading 1: Gen 17:1,9-10,15-22
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said: I am God the Almighty. Walk in my presence and be blameless.
God said to Abraham: For your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages. This is the covenant between me and you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.
God further said to Abraham: As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. Her also will I bless; she will give rise to nations, and rulers of peoples will issue from her. Abraham fell face down and laughed as he said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at ninety?” So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael could live in your favor!” God replied: Even so, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son, and you shall call him Isaac. It is with him that I will maintain my covenant as an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him. Now as for Ishmael, I will heed you: I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation. But my covenant I will maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you by this time next year. When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God departed from him.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R: See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
A song of ascents.
Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
and who walk in his ways.
What your hands provide you will enjoy;
you will be blessed and prosper:
R: See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your home,
Your children like young olive plants
around your table.
R: See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Just so will the man be blessed
who fears the LORD.
May the LORD bless you from Zion;
may you see Jerusalem’s prosperity
all the days of your life
R: See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Alleluia: Mt 8:17
Alleluia, alleluia
Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.
Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel: Mt 8:1-4
When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”
Intercessions
– With all who seek pardon and reconciliation, we cry out to you Lord, and with all who have found and grant forgiveness, we thank you Lord:
– With all who are rejected by their communities, we cry out to you Lord, and with all who accept people and restore their dignity, we praise you Lord:
– With all who hide their suffering, we cry out to you Lord, and with all who share with others and uplift them, we praise you Lord:
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
you are good to us.
With these gifts of bread and wine
we offer you the sacrifice of Jesus
that brought us your forgiveness.
Reconcile us with you and each other
and keep cleansing us from the leprosy
of pride and hard-heartedness
that mar in us the face
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
your Son Jesus, has spoken among us
his words and deeds of healing.
He has answered our plea
for forgiveness and fresh hope in life
with the gift of himself.
Make us too, capable
of stretching out our hands
to those in sorrows and pain
and of touching them with our love.
And may our compassionate help
reach out most of all
to the outcasts of this cold world.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.
Blessing
When we have sinned, we too, should go to God and tell him: Lord, you can clean me, and he is very willing to do so, for he loves us and heals us repeatedly. May we also bring healing to the people around us, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
In today’s readings it is the will of the Lord that is highlighted. The Lord tells Abram that he and Sarai will soon have a son, Isaac, even though their advanced age would seem to make that impossible. The child will be a living sign of the covenant between God and his father. The visible sign of the covenant will be the circumcision of every male child.
Acting outside of the legal boundaries, the leper in today’s Gospel approaches Jesus directly and asks for a cure. “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.” Jesus responds in the affirmative. “I do choose. Be made clean.”
To express our desires before the Lord conditionally is a sign of a mature faith. Is what I am asking truly in accord with God’s will? We have only partial vision; God sees the picture in its entirety. There was once a case of a child inflicted with a debilitating mental illness. Her family ardently prayed for a cure, which did not happen. But the family developed a new sense of compassion for those with mental illness and their families. This led them to sponsor treatment centers where such patients and their loved ones could have care and support.
There are times when our prayers are redirected. Indeed, God does write straight with crooked lines!
Points to Ponder
A covenant’s visible sign
The courage of the leper
A conditional request of God