The Power of Prayer: World Mission Sunday
The Power of Prayer: World Mission Sunday
The Power of Prayer: World Mission Sunday
O
n this 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time the Church invites us to
reflect on the power of persevering prayer. Faith can move
mountains, but prayer can move the heart of God. But for
prayer to produce such a wonderful effect, it must be rooted in humble
faith, that is, in the sincere conviction that we are in Gods hands and
that He loves us immensely, in spite of our unworthiness. If we have this
proper disposition of heart, we will avoid the two aberrations of wanting
to impose our will on God, or of giving up praying if our requests are not
granted immediately. Our prayer must always be patterned after that
of Jesus and end with the petition: May your will, not mine, be done!
As we observe World Mission Sunday, we are invited to remember
with much admiration and love our brothers and sisters in Christ who
have left their homelands to be the heralds of the Gospel of Christ and
witness to his love in the foreign missions. They should be our heroes.
We should show our solidarity toward them, not only with our donations,
but also with our prayer for all their needs and intentions.
GLOSSARY: Amalekites: A nomadic tribe who dwelt in the Negeb, the stretch of desert between Sinai and Canaan. They had
their first encounter with the Israelites at Rephidim. Several centuries after, they were almost totally exterminated by David.
Joshua: The assistant and successor of Moses. He participated in the exploration of Canaan and accompanied Moses when
he climbed Mount Sinai to receive the Commandments from the Lord. After the death of Moses, Joshua led the people of Israel
in the conquest of the Promised Land and in renewing the Covenant with God.
20 October 2013
And a widow in that town I believe in one, holy, catholic success their efforts to proclaim
used to come to him and say, and apostolic Church. I confess the Gospel as the only way to
Render a just decision for me one Baptism for the forgiveness integral liberation and eternal
against my adversary. For a of sins and I look forward to the salvation. Grant this in the name
long time the judge was unwill- resurrection of the dead and the of Jesus, the Lord.
ing, but eventually he thought, life of the world to come. Amen! All Amen!
While it is true that I neither
fear God nor respect any hu- Prayer of the Faithful
man being, because this widow
keeps bothering me, I shall P Encouraged by the exam-
deliver a just decision for her, ple of Moses and the persistent
lest she finally come and strike widow, let us confidently present Preparation of the Gifts
me. to the Lord our petitions for the
needs of all mankind and espe- P Pray, brethren . . .
The Lord said, Pay at- All May the Lord accept the
tention to what the dishonest cially for our missionaries. Let
our response be: sacrifice at your hands, for the
judge says. Will not God then praise and glory of his name,
secure the rights of his chosen All Lord, graciously hear us! for our good and the good of all
ones who call out to him day C For the Church, the uni- his holy Church.
and night? Will he be slow to versal sacrament of salvation:
answer them? I tell you, he will Through its liturgy and the Prayer over the Offerings
see to it that justice is done for prayers of all its members, may P Grant us, Lord, we pray,
them speedily. But when the she obtain the abundance of a sincere respect for your gifts,
Son of Man comes, will he find Gods blessings for all mankind. that, through the purifying ac-
faith on earth? Let us pray! R. tion of your grace, we may be
The Gospel of the Lord! C For the Holy Father, our cleansed by the very mysteries
All Praise to you, Lord Jesus Bishop, and all religious lead- we serve.
Christ! ers: May they continue to guide Through Christ our Lord.
the Church with all humility and All Amen!
Homily
courage, always trusting in Gods Preface I
Profession of Faith unfailing help. Let us pray! R.
(Nicene Creed) P The Lord be with you!
C For all priests, religious All And with your spirit!
All I believe in one God, the brothers, nuns, and lay volunteers P Lift up your hearts!
Father almighty, maker of heaven who work in the foreign missions: All We lift them up to the Lord!
and earth, of all things visible and May they be brave heralds of the P Let us give thanks to the
invisible. Gospel and witness to it through Lord our God!
I believe in one Lord Jesus a life that mirrors the values they All It is right and just!
Christ, the Only Begotten Son of proclaim. Let us pray! R.
God, born of the Father before all P It is truly right and just,
C For new missionary voca-
ages. God from God, Light from our duty and our salvation, al-
tions: May the youth of today
Light, true God from true God, ways and everywhere to give
respond generously to the invita-
begotten, not made, consubstan- you thanks,Lord, holy Father, al-
tion of Christ to proclaim their
tial with the Father; through him mighty and eternal God, through
Catholic faith to all the peoples
all things were made. For us men Christ our Lord.
of the world. Let us pray! R.
and for our salvation he came For through his Paschal Mys-
down from heaven, and by the C For the civil and military tery, he accomplished the mar-
Holy Spirit was incarnate of the leaders, in whose hands lie the velous deed, by which he has
Virgin Mary, and became man. future of the nations: May they freed us from the yoke of sin and
For our sake he was crucified refrain from attitudes of aggres- death, summoning us to the glo-
under Pontius Pilate, he suffered siveness and make decisions that ry of being now called a chosen
death and was buried, and rose promote the good of all mankind. race, a royal priesthood, a holy
again on the third day in accor- Let us pray! R. nation, a people for your own
dance with the Scriptures. He as- C For all of us gathered here possession, to proclaim every-
cended into heaven and is seated and all the people dear to us: May where your mighty works, for
at the right hand of the Father. He we persevere in prayer, trusting you have called us out of dark-
will come again in glory to judge not in our merits but in the abun- ness into your own wonderful
the living and the dead and his dance of Gods mercy and love. light.
kingdom will have no end. Let us pray! R. And so, with Angels and
I believe in the Holy Spirit, Archangels, with Thrones and
the Lord, the giver of life, who C Let us pray in silence for our Dominions, and with all the
proceeds from the Father and the personal intentions. (Pause) hosts and Powers of heaven, we
Son, who with the Father and the Let us pray! R. sing the hymn of your glory, as
Son is adored and glorified, who P Lord God, strengthen our without end we acclaim:
has spoken through the prophets. missionaries and crown with All Holy, holy, holy . . .
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
Memorial Acclamation P May almighty God bless P Go in peace, glorifying the
P The mystery of faith! you: the Father, and the Lord by your life!
Son, and the Holy Spirit. All Thanks be to God!
All We proclaim your Death,
All Amen!
O Lord, and profess your
Resurrection until you
come again!
The Status of Our Missions
W e have to admit it: the situation is not rosy. Two thousand years
after Christ commissioned his apostles to preach the Gospel to all
nations, three-fourths of mankind are still to be evangelized. This simply
All Our Father . . . means that some four billion people today have not yet been made aware
P Deliver us, Lord . . . of the message of love and hope brought by Christ and, therefore, they
All For the kingdom, the lack the indispensable motivations and means to live as his disciples.
power, and the glory are Nor is the situation getting any better as the percentage of Christians
becomes lower with the increase of the world population. When one com-
yours, now and for ever.
pares such a trend with the tremendous growth of Christianity during the
Sign of Peace first three centuries of its history, one begins to wonder whether some-
thing has not gone wrong in the fulfillment of the Churchs evangelizing
Breaking of the Bread task. Indeed, several factors have contributed to the undeniable setback
All Lamb of God . . . of the Churchs missionary effort.
One is the fact that the work of evangelization has for too long a time
Communion been considered the exclusive responsibility of bishops, priests, and
nuns. In most cases the other committed members of the believing com-
P Behold the Lamb of God, be-
munity limited their participation to occasional prayers and some financial
hold him who takes away the sins
support. For their part, the nominal Christians could not have cared less
of the world. Blessed are those
about the missions and all that they stand for . . . . For centuries the task
called to the supper of the Lamb.
of evangelization was shouldered by a tiny missionary elite, rather than
All Lord, I am not worthy
that you should enter under by a missionary Church.
my roof, but only say the word But something worse than this kept happening: many so-called Chris-
and my soul shall be healed. tians and Catholics, with their un-Christian behavior, actually destroyed
what the few missionaries were bravely trying to build. The behavior of
Communion Antiphon these Catholics (who were often large groups, and even entire Catholic
(To be recited only when no Com- nations) was a terrible counter-witness to the evangelical ideals of faith,
munion Hymn is sung.) honesty, purity and love preached by the missionaries. Nothing has done
Behold, the eyes of the Lord more harm to the missionary cause than the bad example of so many
are on those who fear him, who Christians. Thanks to them, the devil has been having a grand time.
hope in his merciful love, to Such a situation has to change. With the Vatican II Decree Ad Gen-
rescue their souls from death, tes, the Church has forcefully restated that the missions are the respon-
to keep them alive in famine. sibility of all its members (see AG, 6) and not just of a few enthusiasts. In
the same document, but especially in Paul VIs Evangelii Nuntiandi, the
Prayer after Communion point is made that the witnessing of the whole community of believers is
an indispensable factor in the work of evangelization. (See AG, 11-12 and
P Grant, O Lord, we pray,
that, benefiting from participa- EN, 41.46.)
tion in heavenly things, we may In conclusion, the Gospel has to be proclaimed not only by the mis-
be helped by what you give in sionaries, but by all Christians. And it has to be proclaimed not simply in
this present age and prepared for words, but also in deeds. The Gospel has to be witnessed to. The sublime
the gifts that are eternal. truths it contains have to be proven by a behavior that mirrors Gods love
Through Christ our Lord. for all and shows that a selfless love of neighbor is not an impossible
All Amen! dream, but an attainable reality which can change the face of the earth.
Mankind is in dire need of such a change. It needs to see the proph-
ecy of Isaiah come true that great nations will beat their swords into
ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks (Is 2:4). This is a tre-
mendous miracle that the Gospel proclaimed and, witnessed to by the
whole Church, can accomplish. Then will the many non-Christian nations
P The Lord be with you. say: Let us climb the Lords mountain, . . . that He may instruct us in His
All And with your spirit! ways, and we may walk in His paths (Is 2:3).
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