Opening Prayer Series: alternative Opening Prayer 19th Sunday of Year C

OPENING PRAYER SERIES.

 

The Mass: Opening Prayer Series Icon.

Alternative Opening Prayer

The alternative Opening Prayer reads as follows:

Let us pray 

(that through us others may find the way to life in Christ).

Father,

we come, reborn in the Spirit,

to celebrate our sonship in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Touch our hearts,

help them grow towards the life you have promised.

Touch our lives 

and make them signs of Your love for all men.

It is important to realise that the words sonship and men are inclusive words and are not gender based. The word 'men' refers to species not gender and by definition is inclusive.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

In making this prayer tangible, the following reflection questions emerged.

1.                  How might I live more fully life in Christ this week?

2.                  How might I assist another person during this week to find his/her way to the
            life in Christ?

3.                  Name one characteristic/trait that I possess through God's grace that could lead
            another person to Christ?

4.                  What does 'sonship' in all its fullness mean?

5.                  How will I grow towards the life God has promised this week?

6.                  What areas in my life restrict/hinder or restrain me from growing in the love of God?

7.                  How might my life this week be a sign of God's love to all I meet?

As I already have expressed some thoughts about the Gospel in my 19th Sunday of the Year  Opening Prayer post, I now express a few thoughts on the Second Reading of Mass- Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19.

The theme of the reading gives us an vital clue: 'We have looked for the city designed and built by God'.

We need faith to look for that city because

1.        'only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for.

2.        'Only faith can prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen'.

3.     Our ancestors were commended for their faith. (eg Abraham and Sarah) because they believed that the promise would be fulfilled. 

If you wish to explore more about the virtue of faith, you may wish to examine my virtue series under the faith nurturing category.

This reading highlights on what we need to be focused- our heavenly homeland as our goal. This is our real homeland. 

So what about us- Let us examine our lives in the light of this reading, set out on the journey this week, and be focused on reaching our heavenly homeland by the the way we move and live and have our being. 

Let us look for the city designed and built by God in our home, work and parishes this week.