Our Sunday Supplication
Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas
Sunday, May 17 | Sixth Sunday of Easter
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: 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
Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
All on earth with angels say. Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing ye heavens and earth reply, Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King; Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won. Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise; Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise. 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 8:5-8, 14-17)
Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing. For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice, came out of many possessed people, and many paralyzed or crippled people were cured. There was great joy in that city.
Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19)
Reader: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Together: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Reader: Shout joyfully to God, all the earth, sing praise to the glory of his name; proclaim his glorious praise. Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!”
Together: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Reader: “Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you, sing praise to your name!” Come and see the works of God, his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
Together: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Reader: He has changed the sea into dry land; through the river they passed on foot; therefore let us rejoice in him. He rules by his might forever.
Together: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Reader: Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare what he has done for me. Blessed be God who refused me not my prayer or his kindness!
Together: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
A Reading from the first Letter of Saint Peter
(1 Peter 3:15-18)
Beloved: Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Verse
(John 14:23)
Reader: Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord;
Together: and my Father will love him and we will come to him.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
(John 14:15-21)
Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
For reflection
1. As children of the Father, and brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus, why is the Holy Spirit so necessary to our Christian lives?
2. There will perhaps always be those who ridicule us for our faith in the Lord Jesus and in his Church. How can we respond to them in a way that preserves our dignity and also possibly opens their hearts to join us in faith?
3. What does it mean to keep Jesus’ commandments, and why is it important that the Father reveal him to those who keep Jesus’ commandments?
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Leader: Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on us, alleluia, alleluia.
Response: Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on us, alleluia, alleluia.
Leader: You have risen from the dead,
Response: alleluia, alleluia.
Leader: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Response: Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on us, alleluia, alleluia.
PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL
Leader: God the almighty Father raised Jesus as the firstborn from the dead, and made him our Savior. Let us call upon him, saying.
Response: Give us, Lord, the glory of your Son.
Leader: All-holy Father, you brought your beloved Son Jesus from the darkness of death into the splendor of your glory; bring us also into your marvelous light.
Response: Give us, Lord, the glory of your Son.
Leader: You have given us faith to save us; may we live today by the faith of our baptism.
Response: Give us, Lord, the glory of your Son.
Leader: You command us to seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at your right hand; do not let us be deceived by the allurements of sin.
Response: Give us, Lord, the glory of your Son.
Leader: May our life, hidden with Christ in you, our Father, shine before the world, foreshadowing a new heaven and a new earth.
Response: Give us, Lord, the glory of your Son.
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: Give us, Lord, the glory of your Son.
Leader: As we begin to return to the Eucharistic sacrifice, keep us patient and prudent as we seek to both be with you and also to continue to care for the well-being of others.
Response: Give us, Lord, the glory of your Son.
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.
