Our Sunday Supplication
Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas
Thursday, May 21 | Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Holy Mass remains at the very core of our worship as a Catholic community. Nothing can ever be substituted for the celebration of the Eucharist. But in this exceptional time of difficulty for our communities, our nation, and even the whole world, this order of prayer can be offered by individuals and families and engages us in our Sunday celebration of the Word of God. We can pray this prayer in our homes—the “domestic churches” which help build up the Body of Christ on earth—and thus be engaged with the entire Church in her prayer.
During this time of prayer, we include the opportunity to make a Spiritual Communion, since we are presently unable to receive Holy Communion. Making a Spiritual Communion is a worthy practice, recommended by innumerable saints throughout the ages, which unites our whole selves to God and his Church. For, despite not being able to celebrate Mass together, this is certainly not a time to abandon the praise and supplication of almighty God, for he never abandons us! Now is the time to love and serve the Lord as best we can in our limited capacities.
Order of Prayer
Taken from the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours
INTRODUCTION
Leader: O God, come to my assistance.
Response: O Lord, make haste to help me.
Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Response: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
HYMN
Hail the day that sees him rise, Alleluia!
To his throne above the skies; Alleluia!
Christ, the Lamb for sinners given, Alleluia!
Now ascends the highest heaven, Alleluia!
There the glorious triumph waits; Alleluia!
Lift your heads, eternal gates; Alleluia!
Christ has conquered death and sin; Alleluia!
Take the King of glory in! Alleluia!
Highest heaven its Lord receive, Alleluia!
Yet he loves the earth he leaves; Alleluia!
Though returning to his throne, Alleluia!
Still he calls the world his own. Alleluia!
ACT OF CONTRITION
Leader: Let us acknowledge our sins, and seek the Lord’s pardon and peace.
Together: I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
Leader: Ever-living God, help us to celebrate our joy in the resurrection of the Lord, and to express in our lives the love we celebrate. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Together: Amen.
THE SUNDAY READINGS
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles
(Acts 1:1-11)
In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9)
Reader: God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
Together: God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
Reader: All peoples, clap your hands. Cry to God with shouts of joy! For the Lord, the Most High is awesome, the great king over all the earth.
Together: God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
Reader: God goes up with shouts of joy. The Lord goes up with trumpet blast. Sing praise for God; sing praise! Sing praise to our king; sing praise!
Together: God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
Reader: God is the king of all the earth. Sing praise with all your skill. God reigns over the nations. God sits up on his holy throne.
Together: God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
A Reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians
(Ephesians 1:17-23)
Brothers and sisters: May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Verse
(Matthew 8: 19a, 20b)
Reader: Go and teach all nations, says the Lord;
Together: I am with you always, until the end of the world.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
(Matthew 28:16-20)
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
For reflection
1) Christ tells his disciples that the power of the Holy Spirit will be in them, and they are to witness to Christ by this power. Have you or anyone you know experienced this power of God, and what did it seem like?
2) The Spirit given to us by God is one of wisdom and revelation, so that we can know Him. How do we come to learn more about who God is?
3) When the disciples saw Jesus resurrected in Galilee, they worshipped him even though they still doubted. Nonetheless, Jesus still gives them the Great Commission to baptize all nations. How does God work in and through us even if we aren’t perfect?
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Leader: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, alleluia, alleluia.
Response: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, alleluia, alleluia.
Leader: To my God and your God,
Response: alleluia, alleluia.
Leader: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Response: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, alleluia, alleluia.
PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL
Leader: In joy of the spirit let us acclaim Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Father, saying:
Response: Lord Jesus, you are the King of glory.
Leader: King of glory, you took with you our frail humanity to be glorified in heaven; remove the sins of the world, and restore us to the innocence which was ours before the Fall.
Response: Lord Jesus, you are the King of glory.
Leader: You came down from heaven on a pilgrimage of love; grant that we may take the same path to your presence.
Response: Lord Jesus, you are the King of glory.
Leader: You promised to draw all things to yourself; do not allow any one of us to be separated from your body.
Response: Lord Jesus, you are the King of glory.
Leader: Where you have gone before us in glory, may we follow you in mind and heart.
Response: Lord Jesus, you are the King of glory.
Leader: In your mercy, Father, continue to sanctify all who are afflicted from the present pandemic, and draw us all closer to you, and to one another, in this time of suffering.
Response: Lord Jesus, you are the King of glory.
Leader: True God, we await your coming as our judge; may we see the vision of your glory and your mercy in the company with all the dead.
Response: Lord Jesus, you are the King of glory.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Leader: Let us pray together in the words our Savior taught us:
Together: Our Father, who art in heaven …
ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
Leader: You have given us bread from heaven, alleluia, alleluia.
Response: Containing in itself all delight, alleluia, alleluia.
Together: My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. I love you above all things, and I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as if you were already there and unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you, my Lord and my God!
Amen.
CANTICLE OF PRAISE
Canticle of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79)
Together: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David. Through his holy prophets he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
CONCLUSION
Leader: May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Together: Amen.
