A MAN AND HIS WIFE BECOME ONE BODY

PRAYER BEFORE HOLY MASS  Act of Love before Mass 

SUNDAY 27TH WEEK  IN ORD. TIME

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.

Readings  Lectures Reflection

First Reading Genesis 2:18-24

A man and his wife become one body

The Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate.’ So from the soil the Lord God fashioned all the wild beasts and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild beasts. But no helpmate suitable for man was found for him. So the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And while he slept, he took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh. The Lord God built the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. The man exclaimed:

‘This at last is bone from my bones,

and flesh from my flesh!

This is to be called woman,

for this was taken from man.’

This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body.

 

Responsorial Psalm

May the Lord bless us all the days of our life

 

Second Reading Hebrew 2:9-11

The one who sanctifies is the brother of those who are sanctified

We see in Jesus one who was for a short while made lower than the angels and is now crowned with

glory and splendour because he submitted to death; by God’s grace he had to experience death for all mankind.

As it was his purpose to bring a great many of his sons into glory, it was appropriate that God, for whom everything exists and through whom everything exists, should make perfect, through suffering, the leader who would take them to their salvation. For the one who sanctifies, and the ones who are sanctified, are of the same stock; that is why he openly calls them brothers.

 

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

As long as we love one another

God will live in us

and his love will be complete in us.

Alleluia! 1Jn.4 :12

 

Gospel Mark 10:2-16

What God has united, man must not divide

Some Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, ‘Is it against the law for a man to divorce his wife?’ They were testing him. He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ ‘Moses allowed us’ they said ‘to draw up a writ of dismissal and so to divorce.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘It was because you were so unteachable that he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. This is why a man must leave father and mother, and the two become one body. They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.’ Back in the house the disciples questioned him again about this, and he said to them, ‘The man who divorces his wife and marries another is guilty of adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another she is guilty of adultery too.’

People were bringing little children to him, for him to touch them. The disciples turned them away, but when Jesus saw this he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. I tell you solemnly, anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ Then he put his arms round them, laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing.

Loving Father, our  God thank you for the gift of family. We thank you for your love and mercy over all your creatures. Thank you for the institution of Holy Matrimony. Father we pray for your blessings upon every couple. We pray for healing of broken marriages, for marriages that are facing challenges, for those contemplating separations. Father bring understanding to husbands and wives remove every misunderstanding. We pray for those longing to settle that you bless them with good life partners.  We pray for every family on earth, whatever that is causing division and separation that your Holy Spirit will intervene.  We pray for those who have been disappointed and do not have the courage to have a family.  We pray for children whose parents are separated, may you bring healing upon them, and protect them. We ask for the intercession of Jesus, Mary and Joseph the Holy Family of Nazareth to intervene in all marriages.  May all families make the Holy Family a model in their homes. Loving Father grant this through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

We also pray for your priests, and religious. We pray for all those who have consecrated their lives in your service. Bless them, may your love be upon them. May your grace abide in them, give them the courage and spirit to remain faithful to their vocation through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Lord Jesus I trust in you. Virgin Mary pray for us. Saint Joseph pray for us. Holy Family of Nazareth make all families like yours. May God's guardian angels protect us.