HE MUST INCREASE, I MUST DECREASE
Prayer before Mass: Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of Your only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord, in Your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I receive the Bread of Angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with humble reverence, with the purity and faith, the repentance and love, and the determined purpose that will help to bring me to salvation.
May I receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, and its reality and power. Kind God, may I receive the Body of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into His mystical body and numbered among His members.
Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I now receive Your beloved Son under the veil of a sacrament, may I one day see Him face to face in glory, who lives and reigns with You forever. Amen. By Knights of the Holy Eucharist. Readings
FIRST READING
If we ask
for anything, he will hear us
We are quite confident that if we ask the Son of God
for anything, and it is in accordance with his will, he will hear us; and,
knowing that whatever we may ask, he hears us, we know that we have already
been granted what we asked of him. If anybody sees his brother commit a sin that
is not a deadly sin, he has only to pray, and God will give life to
the sinner – not those who commit a deadly sin; for there is a sin that is death,
and I will not say that you must pray about that. Every kind of wrong-doing is
sin, but not all sin is deadly. We know that anyone who has been begotten by
God does not sin, because the begotten Son of God protects him, and the Evil
One does not touch him. We know that we belong to God, but the whole world lies
in the power of the Evil One. We know, too, that the Son of God has come, and has given us the power to
know the true God. We are in the true God, as we are in his on, Jesus
Christ. This is the true God, this is eternal life. Children,
be on your guard against false gods.
Jesus went with his disciples into the Judaean countryside and stayed
with them there and baptised. At the same time John was baptising at Aenon near
Salim, where there was plenty of water, and people were going there to be
baptised. This was before John had been put in prison. Now some of John’s
disciples had opened a discussion with a Jew about purification, so they went
to John and said, ‘Rabbi, the man who was with you on the far side of the Jordan, the man to whom you bore witness, is
baptising now; and everyone is going to him.’ John replied: ‘A man can lay claim
only to what is given him from heaven. ‘You
yourselves can bear me out: I said: I myself am not the Christ; I am the one
who has been sent in front of him. ‘The bride is only for the bridegroom;
and yet the bridegroom’s friend, who stands there and listens, is
glad when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This same joy I feel, and now
it is complete. He must grow greater, I must grow smaller.’
Heavenly Father, I ask for the spirit of humility. Help me see the good qualities in my fellow creatures. Help me appreciate your gifts to every creatures and give glory to your name. Father remove every spirit of pride and jealousy from my heart. Lord Jesus Christ meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours. Thank you heavenly Father, thank you Jesus.
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