Opening Prayer:
God is calling us to be messengers.
God invites us to
share the divine life with others. Let us listen to the
ways in which God called others,
the ways in which
God may be calling us.
Hymn:
'Drink
Living Water' ~ Colleen Fulmer & Rufino
Zaragoza, OFM (As
One Voice, Volume 2, CD)
Rite
of Reconciliation (from Mark Link,
SJ)
The LORD says, 'Now, let's settle the
matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you
clean as snow.' Isaiah 1:18
John Powell tells
a story of a woman who decided to swim out into the ocean,
beyond the point of return. But before doing so, she walked
along the deserted beach, to say her tearful farewells to
the world. Suddenly a voice seemed to say 'Look back!' She
did and saw her own footprints. While she watched, a wave
erased them. Then the voice seemed to say, 'As that wave
erased your footprints, so I will erase your past.' That
event was the starting point of a new life for her.
How
deeply do I believe that God wants to erase the errant
footprints of my past and lead me into a sun-filled
future?
Lord have mercy ...
Christ have mercy ...
Lord my mercy ...
Psalm
95
Chant your joy to God,
our rock, our safety.
Come shout and sing to
the presence of God,
more than matching idols,
ruling them all,
handling depths and heights
of ocean and peaks,
owning the sea, shaping
the earth by hand.
Come worship the Lord,
bodies bowed,
sheep to God our maker,
flock to shepherd.
Hear God speak today:
Do not stiffen
your hearts as at the Quarrel
or at the Test,
that day in the desert when
they doubted Me
though they saw My work,
your two-faced kind.
I stood them forty years,
that perverse lot.
I said, they will not have Me.
I swore in anger,
they will not reach My
land.
Larry
Gillick, SJ
Glory to you ...
Reading
I
Ex 17:3 - 7
'Is
the LORD in our midst or not?'
Gospel
John 4: 6 - 15, 39
- 42
'Everyone
who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever
drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water
I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling
up to eternal life.'
Key in words and phrases from the gospel:
a
woman
of
Samaria
to draw
water
living water
will
never
thirst ...
Keying in to a focus:
What
are we really thirsting for?
It
is not something found in a bucket.
The Samaritan woman thought she was thirsting for
water;
Christ
gradually reveals to her that she is thirsting for living
water
the Christ, "the love of God ... poured out into our
hearts"
Quiet
Reflection and Sharing
Intercessions:
Let
us seal ourselves in the Word of God through the symbol of
this water, just as Jesus accepted the drink of water from
the woman at the well. As we are now bound together, let us
take a moment to pray for our collective needs as your
people Lord:
R/
Praise the Lord Jerusalem!
For the Church, that it will be a source of living water
for all who thirst for meaning and purpose,
R/
For openness to a change of heart and persevere in prayer
and good works,
R/
For the grace of commitment: that we may grow in our
commitment to God’s covenant with us and strive to
place God at the centre of all our decisions,
R/
For the grace of conversion: that the Church may be
continually converted and transformed into the Body of
Christ,
R/
For all who teach and preach: that they may faithfully
proclaim Christ crucified and lead others into the mystery
of God’s love,
R/
For
all who suffer injustice: that our hearts may be stirred to
take action to free those bound unjustly and lift the
burdens from those who are oppressed,
R/
For the preservation of peace: that God will help all
government and military leaders to work to protect human
life and to use all means to resolve conflicts
non-violently,
R/
Lord, receive our prayers and offerings. In time of danger,
protect all your people. We ask this in the name of Jesus
our brother. Amen.
Closing
Hymn
'Who
Will Speak' ~ Marty Haugen (As
One Voice, Volume 2,
CD)
Br. Nick
Morris (Rome)