Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
The Great Commandment
Other Celebrations for this Day:
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. At a time when many people are confused and uncertain about the future of the Church and even the world, the prophecy of Ezekiel is heartening. God can revive his people and breathe his Spirit into dry bones, making them come alive. Is it not the life of Christ and his Holy Spirit of love that can make the Church and the world face the future with fresh hope?
Gospel. At the Last Supper Jesus said: “At this people will know that you are my disciples, that you love one another” (Jn 13:35.) He is speaking not just of any love, but the love by which he loved his disciples, that is, a love that goes to the end, that sets no conditions, that sacrifices everything if necessary for the sake of others. This is the love “with one’s whole heart and mind and soul” and as strong as, or stronger than, self-love, of which today’s gospel speaks. This is a tremendous task that will never end. Is it this kind of love that moves us?
Opening Prayer
Lord God, loving Father,
you have bound yourself to us
with strings of love
and let this love appear among us
in human form
in Jesus Christ your Son.
Let our love,
however limited and hesitant,
reflect a bit the greatness
of the love by which you yourself love us
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
First Reading
The Bones and the Spirit
The hand of the Lord was upon me. He brought me out and led me in spirit to the middle of the valley, which was full of bones.
He made me walk back and forth among them, and I saw there was a large number of bones on the ground throughout the valley; and they were very dry.
The Lord said to me: “Son of man, can these bones live again?” I replied: “Lord God, only You know that.”
He then said: “Speak on my behalf concerning these bones; say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
The Lord says: I am going to put spirit in you and make you live.
I will put sinews on you and make flesh grow on you; I will cover you with skin and give you my Spirit so that you may live. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
I prophesied as I had been commanded, and then, there was a noise and commotion; the bones joined together.
I looked and saw that they had sinews, and flesh was growing on them; and that he was covering them with skin. But there was no spirit in them.
So the Lord said to me: “Speak on my behalf and call on the spirit, son of man! Say to the spirit: This is the word of the Lord: spirit, come from the four winds. Breathe into these dead bones and let them live!”
I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life, standing on their feet—a great, vast army!
He then said to me: “Son of man, these bones are all Israel. They keep saying: ‘Our bones are dry, hope has gone, it is the end of us.’
So prophesy! Say to them: This is what the Lord says: I am going to open your tombs; I will bring you out of your tombs, my people; and lead you back to the land of Israel.
You will know that I am the Lord, O my people! When I open your graves and bring you out of your graves,
when I put my spirit in you, and you live. I will settle you in your land, and you will know that I, the Lord, have done what I said I would do.”
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1) Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say,
those whom he has redeemed from the hand of the foe
And gathered from the lands,
from the east and the west, from the north and the south.
R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.
They went astray in the desert wilderness;
the way to an inhabited city they did not find.
Hungry and thirsty,
their life was wasting away within them.
R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.
They cried to the LORD in their distress;
from their straits he rescued them.
And he led them by a direct way
to reach an inhabited city.
R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy
and his wondrous deeds to the children of men,
Because he satisfied the longing soul
and filled the hungry soul with good things.
R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Teach me your paths, my God,
guide me in your truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
On the Most Important Precept
When the Pharisees heard how Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
One of them, a lawyer, questioned him to test him:
“Teacher, which commandment of the law is the greatest?”
Jesus answered:
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the first and most important commandment.
The second is similar:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The entire law and the prophets are built upon these two commandments.”
Prayers of the Faithful
– That the Church, the people of God, may never cease to proclaim that love of God and neighbor is the heart of the gospel and that people are God’s gift to us, we pray:
– That people may not lose their hearts in today’s economic systems of profit, efficiency, production and competition but keep giving first place to human relationships of friendship and respect, we pray:
– That in our Christian communities we may uplift one another rather than tear down, accept one another with trust and affection and go forward together in love and hope, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, loving Father,
your own love appeared in human shape
in your Son Jesus Christ.
In this eucharist
let him raise our human love
to your level,
that among us
love may no longer be a duty
but our joy and life,
on account of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, loving Father,
all love worthy of this name
begins with you and leads to you.
By the love you have shown us
in Jesus your Son,
bring us together
and let everything that we do
become a gift
to you and to one another,
that our love may be greater than death
and that we may live forever.
Blessing
In this eucharist, God has let Jesus warm us with his love. Let its glow shine on everyone around you, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.