THE GREAT BEGINNING

FRIDAY 2ND WEEK IN ADVENT YEAR C:  OUR LADY OF LORETO

PRAYER BEFORE HOLY MASS  Act of Love before Mass 

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  

Our Lady of Loreto Pope Francis Adds Feast of Loreto to Roman calendar

First Reading Isaiah 48:17-19

If you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river

Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you,   lead you in the way that you must go.

If only you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea.

 

Your children would have been numbered like the sand, your descendants as many as its rains.  Never would your name have been cut off or blotted out before me.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Anyone who follows you, O Lord, will have the light of life

 

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Lord will come, go out to meet him.

Great is his beginning and his reign will have no end.

Alleluia!

 

Gospel Matthew 11:16-19

They heed neither John nor the Son of Man

Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place:

 

“We played the pipes for you,

and you wouldn’t dance;

we sang dirges,

and you wouldn’t be mourners.”

 

‘For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions.’

My God, my Father, let your Holy Will be done in my life. Father you are my Lord, my God, you know  what is good for me,   lead me in the way that I must go. May I be alert to your commandments. May my happiness  be like a river, my integrity like the waves of the sea. Father may my name never  blotted out before you. Keep me in mind my God and Father.

Lord Jesus Christ I trust in you. Virgin Mary pray for me. Saint Joseph pray for me. God's Holy Angels pray for me. My Guardian Angel pray for me, protect me. Be my guard and guide.

Pray your Holy Rosary, may our Blessed Mother intercede on our behalf through her Son Jesus Christ our Lord.