Scripture for Mass
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
Psalm 128(127): 1-2. 3.4-5. Response: 1a
Colossians 3:12-21
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
PRIEST: United in faith in Jesus, who is God born amongst us, we turn to the Lord with all our needs.
READER: We pray for the Church throughout the world that in every place of worship Christian men and women may be united in common purpose and actions so that the world may see the tender power of God uniting us in love. Lord hear us. Lord graciously hear us.
At this Christmas time we pray for all families, that in the midst of all the twists and turns of life together, we may draw strength from one another and so grow in love. Lord hear us. Lord graciously hear us.
We pray for all those families who are homeless or struggling in poverty here and throughout the world. Lord hear us. Lord graciously hear us.
We pray for all who work for peace and reconciliation. We pray, too, that we will respond to the Pope’s call for peace in this coming year with hope in our hearts; that the world may know peace and understanding. Lord hear us. Lord graciously hear us.
We pray for all who have died. We pray especially for all our dear ones who have died. Lord hear us. Response: Lord graciously hear us.
In the silence of our hearts, let us pray for our own families and friends.
Let us ask Mary the Mother of Peace to pray with us. Hail Mary …
PRIEST: Almighty and compassionate God, We gather as one around your Holy Table, as we share in the one bread and one cup unite us ever more deeply in the Holy Spirit and strengthen us to be your faithful witnesses in our daily lives. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
During this Christmas season, millions of people are on the move. Many have travelled a long distance to join their families for the festivities. Others are traveling for leisure purposes – some to exotic locations – because they not only have holidays but also surplus income. And right now, tens of thousands are traveling because they have no other choice.
They are fleeing for their life from war zones. They are desperately fleeing from famine. They are escaping from the devastation caused to their traditional way of life by extreme changes to weather patterns which have brought drought in some places, floods in other places. These men and women, some of whom are parents with small children, are compelled to leave their home and all that is precious to them, not because they wish to, but because to stay means to risk death.
During the first Christmas, Mary and Joseph faced that same dilemma. Upon learning that King Herod was determined to kill the child Jesus, they fled their homeland by night and sought asylum in Egypt. There, they were forced to live as refugees for several years, dependent on the kindness and support of the Egyptian people.
There is the custom in some countries of placing a lighted candle in the window of one’s home during the Christmas season. For us Christians, it is an expression of our readiness to welcome and extend hospitality to the Holy Family and to all other weary travellers who are journeying through unfamiliar territory and into an unknown future in a foreign land, my country.
God of all nations, since you created every person in your own image and likeness, we are all precious in your sight.
Watch over us who are powerless to defend ourselves when our livelihood is threatened or our life is in danger.
Protect and guide us who were compelled to leave our homeland and are now burdened by an uncertain future.
Grant the heart and hands of the Good Samaritan to all whom we meet on our journeys.
May your Son, Jesus, who had no place to lay his head here on earth, accompany and support us day and night.
Amen.
Fr. Tim Mulroy
