AWSOME AND MYSTEROUS GOD
PRAYER BEFORE HOLY MASS Act of Love beforeMass
O my God, I love Thee with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength and with no other desire than to be inseparably united to Thee. It is through Thy Divine Son that this union is about to be realized within me. In Holy Communion I long to identify myself with Him, that it will no longer be myself, but Him, who lives in me; and when I have received Jesus within myself, then I shall love and be loved by Thee in that same measure, in which I am united to Him. Hasten then, to give me Thy Divine Son, at the hands of Thy priest, that through Jesus, I may unite myself forever to Thee, O God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
First Reading Ezekiel 17:22-24
I will plant a shoot on the
high mountain of Israel
‘From the top of the cedar,
from the highest branch I will
take a shoot
and plant it myself on a very
high mountain.
I will plant it on the high
mountain of Israel.
It will sprout branches and
bear fruit,
and become a noble cedar.
Every kind of bird will live
beneath it,
every winged creature rest in
the shade of its branches.
And every tree of the field
will learn that I, the Lord, am the one
who stunts tall trees and
makes the low ones grow,
who withers green trees and
makes the withered green.
I, the Lord, have spoken, and
I will do it.’
Responsorial Psalm
It is good to give you thanks, O Lord
Second Reading 2 Corinthians 5:6-10
We want to be exiled from the
body and make our home with the Lord
We are always full of
confidence when we remember that to live in the body means to be exiled from
the Lord, going as we do by faith and not by sight – we are full of
confidence, I say, and actually want to be exiled from the body and make our
home with the Lord. Whether we are living in the body or exiled from it, we are
intent on pleasing him. For all the truth about us will be brought out in the
law court of Christ, and each of us will get what he deserves for the things he
did in the body, good or bad.
The kingdom of God is a
mustard seed growing into the biggest shrub of all
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds this seed will remain for ever.
Alleluia!
Gospel Mark 4:26-34
The kingdom of God is a mustard seed growing
into the biggest shrub of all
Jesus said to the crowds:
‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man throws seed on the land. Night
and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing;
how, he does not know. Of its own accord the land produces first the shoot,
then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the crop is ready, he
loses no time: he starts to reap because the harvest has come.’
He also said, ‘What can we say
the kingdom of God is like? What parable can we find for it? It is like a
mustard seed which at the time of its sowing in the soil is the smallest of all
the seeds on earth; yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them
all and puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its
shade.’
Using many parables like
these, he spoke the word to them, so far as they were capable of understanding
it. He would not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything
to his disciples when they were alone.
Father in heaven your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Father may your word abide in me. May your kingdom reign in my life.
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