| |

Presider’s Page for 7 April (Second Sunday of Easter)

Opening Comment
Even though Easter Week is now behind us, today’s liturgy is still filled with the joyful effects of Jesus’ resurrection. We continue to celebrate that great event for the next six weeks, until Pentecost Sunday on 19 May, the fiftieth and final day of Easter.

Alternative Opening Prayer (from 1998 ICEL Missal)
God of life,
source of all faith,
through the waters of baptism
you have raised us up in Jesus
and given us life that endures.
Day by day refine our faith,
that we who have not seen the Christ
may truly confess him as our Lord and God
and share the blessedness of those who believe.
Grant this through Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.

Introduction to the Scripture Readings
Acts 4:32-35 — For the whole season of Easter, the first reading comes from the Acts of the Apostles; today’s segment describes how the first disciples interpretted the Christian ideals.
1 John 5:1-6 — Believing Jesus is the Christ is what marks out a Christian. This faith becomes visible in love.
John 20:19-31 — Contains the story of Thomas coming to terms with Jesus’ resurrection.

BIDDING PRAYERS
Introduction (by the Presider) My friends, let us give thanks to the Lord, whose love has no end, as we bring forward our petitions.

  1. That believers may be united in heart and soul (pause for silent prayer). Lord, hear us.
  2. That God may help our pope and all the bishops (pause for silent prayer). Lord, hear us.
  3. That there may be peace in the Holy Land (pause for silent prayer). Lord, hear us
  4. That vulnerable people may be protected (pause for silent prayer). Lord, hear us.
  5. That divisions in our communities may be overcome (pause for silent prayer) Lord, hear us.
  6. That the weather may dry up, for our farmers and for us all (pause for silent prayer). Lord, hear us.

The presider prays for the dead: That those who have died recently (especially N & N) may share the victory over death won by Christ, and all who have died because of COVID-19 (pause for silent prayer). Lord, hear us.
Conclusion (by the Presider) God our strength, the resurrection of Jesus renews our hope: listen to our petitions and help us, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS
Receive, Lord, the gifts of your people
that, having confessed your name
and been cleansed in the waters of baptism,
we may come to eternal happiness.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

PREFACE (Easter I)
It is truly right and just,
our duty and our salvation,
that we should always sing your glory, Lord;
but we praise you with greater joy than ever
on this Easter day
when Christ became our paschal sacrifice.
He is the true Lamb who took away the sins of the world.
By dying he destroyed our death;
by rising he restored our life.
Therefore, the universe resounds with Easter joy,
and the choirs of angels sing the endless hymn of your glory: Holy, Holy…..

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER III  (from 1998 ICEL Missal, with Easter Octave interpolation)
Lord, you are holy indeed,
and all creation rightly gives you praise.
All life, all holiness comes from you
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
by the working of the Holy Spirit.
From age to age you gather a people to yourself,
so that from the rising of the sun to its setting
a pure offering may be made
to the glory of your name.

And so, Lord God, on this most sacred day,
we celebrate the glorious resurrection of your Son;
and, exulting in his mighty victory over death,
we humbly pray:
by the power of your Spirit sanctify these gifts
we have brought before you,
that they may become the body + and blood
of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
at whose command we celebrate this eucharist.
On the night he was handed over to death,
he took bread and gave you thanks and praise;
he broke the bread,
gave it to his disciples, and said:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT IT:
THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.

When supper was ended, he took the cup;
again he gave you thanks and praise,
gave the cup to his disciples, and said:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT:
THIS IS THE CUP OF MY BLOOD,
THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND EVERLASTING COVENANT.
IT WILL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR ALL,
SO THAT SINS MAY BE FORGIVEN.
DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.
The mystery of faith…..

Calling to mind, Lord God
the death your Son endured for our salvation,
his glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven,
and eagerly awaiting the day of his return,
we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice.
Look with favour on your Church’s offering
and see the Victim by whose sacrifice
you were pleased to reconcile us to yourself.
Grant that we who are nourished by the body and blood of your Son
may be filled with his Holy Spirit
and become one body, one spirit in Christ.

Let him make us an everlasting gift to you,
that we may share in the inheritance of your saints,
with Mary, the virgin Mother of God,
with the apostles, the martyrs,
[Saint Thomas], and all your saints,
on whose constant intercession we rely for help.

Lord, may this sacrifice
which has made our peace with you
advance the peace and salvation of all the world.
Strengthen in faith and love your pilgrim Church on earth:
your servant Pope Francis, our Bishop N.,
all bishops, priests, and deacons,
all ministers of your Church,
and the entire people your Son has gained for you.

Merciful Father,
hear the prayers of the family you have gathered here before you,
and unite to yourself all your children
now scattered over the face of the earth.
Welcome into your kingdom our departed brothers and sisters
and all who have left this world in your friendship.
We hope to enjoy with them your everlasting glory,
through Christ our Lord,
through whom you give the world everything that is good.
Through him, with him, In him,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honour is yours, almighty Father,
for ever and ever.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Grant, all-powerful God,
that the paschal mystery we have shared
may never cease to touch our hearts
with the force of its saving grace.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

SOLEMN BLESSING (Easter Season)
May the God who has redeemed you and made you adopted children
through the resurrection of his only Son
bless you and fill you with joy.
R. Amen.
May the God who has bestowed on you
the gifts of redemption and lasting freedom
make you heirs of eternal life.
R. Amen.
May the God who joined you to Christ’s resurrection
by faith and baptism
lead you to live justly
and so bring you to your home in heaven.
R. Amen.

SONGS AT MASS (Suggestions)
‘Jesus Christ is Risen Today’; ‘All on an April Evening’, ‘The Light of Christ’, ‘Christ is Alive’.

Similar Posts

  • Rome, we’ve got a problem

    Articles, Editor's Choice
    26 Comments

    Brendan Hoban, writing in the Western People, says that while it’s good that there is now some recognition of the huge crisis facing the Irish church due to a lack of priests it is past time to take action.
    .”Regularly now, in what used to be a listing of priests’ changes in June, we have a listing of parishes who no longer will have a resident priest but will be serviced by a priest in an adjoining parish. Unless something practical is done, that will keep happening until there’s only one priest left with a helicopter trying to cover funerals, weddings and baptisms over several parishes leaving most churches in a diocese without Mass, Sunday or weekday.”

  • Church faces ‘huge wake up call’

    Articles, Editor's Choice, Reform of the Irish Church
    10 Comments

    Noel Baker reports in the Irish Examiner on the The Irish Examiner / ICMSA Farming Poll that brought to light the latest views and opinions on religion and the priesthood among the farming community.
    Taken among what is regarded as a very traditional group (69% of the respondents said they attended Mass every week), 82% of respondents agreed that priests should be allowed to marry.
    Regarding the ordination of women 70% of those aged 34 and under supported such a move, but a higher percentage of older farmers backed the idea of women priests, from 75% of those aged over 65, to 87% of those aged 55 to 64. While 82% of men supported the idea of women priests, 76% of women were in favour.

    Sean McDonagh commented “The most interesting thing is here are lay people and people of faith seeing that the present rules are not functioning and want to see a change to allow it to function better,”

    The survey certainly shows a hierarchy with views at total odds with the laity.

    Archbishop Brown, Papal Nuncio, said “allowing serving priests to marry or allowing women priests would not be following the Catholic tradition.”

  • Pope Francis and the Challenge of being Church today

    Articles, Editor's Choice, Pope Francis
    1 Comment

    Bishop Vincent Long of Parramatta, NSW, spoke recently about how we are now ‘living in a watershed and a privileged moment in the history of the Church.’ It is a time with demands and challenges for us.
    He said that in church ‘It is not “business as usual”. There needs to be an attitudinal change at every level, a conversion of mind and heart that conforms us to the spirit of the Gospel, a new wine into new wineskins, not a superficial change or, worse, a retreat into restorationism.

    Gaudium et Spes, the guiding document of the Council, presented a new paradigm: the church is not an enclosure which protects its members against the sinful world. It is a fellow pilgrim with the men and women of our age. It is a church incarnate in the world. Therefore, it is time not of fearful retreat, disengagement and self-referential pomp, but of accompaniment and engagement.

    The church will be less than what Christ intends it to be when issues of inclusion and equality are not fully addressed. That is why you heard me say that I am guided by the radical vision of Christ. I am committed to make the church in Parramatta the house for all peoples, a church where there is less an experience of exclusion but more an encounter of radical love, inclusiveness and solidarity.

    We cannot be a strong moral force and an effective prophetic voice in society if we are simply defensive, inconsistent and divisive with regards to certain social issues. We cannot talk about the integrity of creation, the universal and inclusive love of God, while at the same time colluding with the forces of oppression in the ill-treatment of racial minorities, women and homosexual persons.”

    It is a long but worthwhile read and can be downloaded in Pdf format

Join the Discussion

Keep the following in mind when writing a comment

  • Your comment must include your full name, and email. (email will not be published). You may be contacted by email, and it is possible you might be requested to supply your postal address to verify your identity.
  • Be respectful. Do not attack the writer. Take on the idea, not the messenger. Comments containing vulgarities, personalised insults, slanders or accusations shall be deleted.
  • Keep to the point. Deliberate digressions don't aid the discussion.
  • Including multiple links or coding in your comment will increase the chances of it being automati cally marked as spam.
  • Posts that are merely links to other sites or lengthy quotes may not be published.
  • Brevity. Like homilies keep you comments as short as possible; continued repetitions of a point over various threads will not be published.
  • The decision to publish or not publish a comment is made by the site editor. It will not be possible to reply individually to those whose comments are not published.