Ash Wednesday Mass - March 2, 2022 - St. Michael Parish

the glory of these forty days we celebrate with songs of praise for christ through whom all things were made himself has fasted and has prayed alone and fasting moses saw the loving god who gave the law and to elijah fasting came the steeds and chariots of flame so daniel trained his mystic sight delivered from the lion's might and john the bridegroom's friend became the herald of messiah's name then grant o god what we may do return in fast and proud to you our spirit strengthened with your grace and give us joy to see your face in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen the lord be with you my brothers and sisters let us acknowledge our sins and so prepare ourselves to celebrate in these sacred mysteries lord jesus you were scourged at the pillar lord have mercy lord jesus you were crowned with thorns christ have mercy lord jesus you walked the way of the cross lord have mercy may almighty god have mercy on us may the lord forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life amen let us pray grant o lord that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of christian service so that as we take a battle against spiritual evils we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint through our lord jesus christ your son who lives and reigns with you in the holy spirit god forever and ever amen a reading from the book of the prophet joel even now says the lord return to me with your whole heart with fasting and weeping and mourning rend your hearts not your garments and return to the lord your god for gracious and merciful is he slow to anger rich in kindness and relenting in punishment perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing offerings and libations for the lord your god blow a trumpet in zion proclaim a fast call an assembly gather the people notify the congregation assemble the elders gather the children and the infants at the breast let the bridegroom quit his room and the bride her chamber between the porch of the altar let the priests and the ministers of the lord weep and say spare o lord your people and make not your heritage or reproach with the nations ruling over them why should they say among the peoples where is their god the lord was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his people the word of the lord thanks be to god be merciful o for we have sinned be merciful o lord for we have sinned have mercy on me o god in your goodness in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me be merciful o lord for we have sinned be merciful o lord for we have sinned for i acknowledge my offense and my sin is always before me against you you only have i sinned what is evil in your sight i have done be merciful o lord for we have sinned be merciful o lord for we have sinned a clean heart create for me o god and a steadfast spirit renew within me cast me now from your presence and your holy spirit take not for me be merciful o lord for we have sinned be merciful o lord for we have sinned give back give me back the joy of your salvation and a willing spirit sustain in me o lord open my lips and my mouth shall proclaim your praise be merciful o lord for we have sinned be merciful o lord for we have sinned our second reading today is a reading from the second letter of saint paul to the corinthians brothers and sisters we are ambassadors for christ as if god were appealing through us we implore on your behalf of christ to be reconciled to god for our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin so that we might become the righteousness of god in him working together then we appeal to you not to receive the grace of god in vain for he says in an acceptable time i heard you and on the day of salvation i helped you behold now is a very acceptable time behold now is the day of salvation the word of the lord thanks be to god praise to you i forgot we can't use the a word so i have to think of the hyptube for this glory and praise to you lord jesus christ glory and praise to you lord jesus christ if today you hear his voice harden not your hearts glory and praise to you lord jesus christ the lord be with you a reading from the holy gospel according to matthew glory to you o lord jesus said to his disciples take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them otherwise you will have no recompense from your heavenly father when you give alms do not blow a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others amen i say to you they have received their reward but when you give alms do not let your left hand know what your right is doing so that your almsgiving may be in secret and the father who sees in secret will repay you when you pray do not be like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them amen i say to you they have received their reward but when you pray close your inner room close the door and pray to your father in secret and your father who sees in secret will repay you when you fast do not look gloomy like the hypocrites they neglect their appearance so that they may appear to others to be fasting amen i say to you they have received their reward but when you fast anoint your head wash your face so that you may not appear to be fasting except to your father who is hidden your father who sees what is hidden will repay you my brothers and sisters the gospel of the lord prays to you lord jesus christ well we have begun today is ash wednesday and we have begun this lenten journey this lenten journey that will allow us to take a restless journey with christ that is our lenten theme here at saint michaels it is a journey with christ it is a journey following christ but where do we follow him well during lent we follow him to the cross and it is at the cross that we are called to die to ourselves we are called to die to our sinfulness we are called to die to our worldly ways and to develop a spiritual armor that will help protect us from evil and we do that by using the very three ancient disciplines of left of prayer fasting and almsgiving and you know people think that oh this is something new that the church has come up with but you know when we read the old testament the hebrew scriptures these three elements these three disciplines are woven throughout their prayer fasting almsgiving these are ways where we surrender ourselves and we surrender ourselves our needs and our wants we surrender ourselves to god and we try to let go of those things that keep us from god those things that attach us to this world prayer is so important my brothers and sisters prayer is so important because prayer is a conversation with god so many times we make it one-sided it's that well i'm going to rattle off these prayers i'm going to tell god what i need and then i'm done instead of listening hearing when god is responding to you surrendering your needs to god's will you know that's not easy and sometimes prayer is very hard for people so perhaps this lenten season this is what i started to suggest to people who have a difficulty with prayer or who perhaps have a dry smell we all of us can dry spells that may be beginning today on ash wednesday pray for one minute pray for one minute whether it be lord open my heart to you jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus forgive me a sinner but pray for one minute try to listen to god and then maybe tomorrow pray for two minutes see what's happening we start to get used to that beauty of prayer and we go from one minute to two minutes which isn't necessarily that bad and then maybe the next day go to three minutes because the more practice we have in the discipline of prayer the better we get at it we are not all born with skills we're not all born as athletes we have to practice that includes our spiritual exercises that allow us to deepen our relationship with god i know many times we are so busy but can we find one or two minutes a day and then maybe go up to three and maybe by the end of the lenten season it won't be an exercise it'll be something that you desire your heart needs your soul needs to have that conversation with god what a holy lent that would be and then we and then an easter joy easter morn to be filled with that joy to know that jesus christ is alive perhaps we need to learn how to fast again which of course is denying ourselves denying ourselves something that we really like you know lent not always is a thing to give up something sometimes that's important but perhaps it's abstaining from certain things abstaining from the television abstaining from our cell phones abstaining from our ipads you know something that we do so regularly that we enjoy so much that perhaps we should abstain and whatever our time or whatever was there were now empty and let god fill that in there's your moments of prayer oh father i don't have time to pray i know but we have time to social media we have time to play our games maybe put that aside and let prayer be a substitute and always remember almsgiving it's important for us to remember those who do not have what we have we have been blessed and while perhaps we look around us and many people may have more but that doesn't matter what matters is that we have been blessed and we are called to share god calls everyone not to equality in alms giving he calls us each to sacrifice or whatever a sacrifice for you maybe something small to somebody else but it could be your sacrifice do you remember the story of the widow who put in two coins worth a couple of cents as the scriptures say and jesus said she gave far more than those who dumped from their excess that they never witness so don't worry about the amount just share what god has given you because god shares his abundance with us so for the next 40 days the 40 days of lent let us pray let us fast and let us give alms with all of this we prepare our souls we put on that armor to fight evil and yes to walk our restless journey with christ to the cross where we will die to ourselves only to rise on easter morning and so now if we were in person you would come forward and be marked with ashes and so we're going to do this sort of virtually and i'm just going to pray the prayer that we would say to you i just want you to think about what these words truly mean and ask god to open your heart so that you may repent of your sins and realize god's forgiveness and so if you were coming forward the minister would say to you either repent and believe in the gospel or the more traditional one which remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return both of those remind us that we have sinned both of those remind us that we are not god both of those remind us that we need to follow him follow the cross of christ let us bring our needs to the lord who is gracious and merciful for the church may the lord strengthen and sustain her in her ministry of healing in the world we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for world leaders may god inspire them in safe keeping all human life born and unborn weak and strong young and old we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer we pray for peace in our world we pray for peace in the ukraine for peace in our hearts our streets our homes we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for those who feel estranged from god may our merciful lord embrace them and give comfort and hope in his promises we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for our virtual family of faith may the holy spirit help us follow in the way of christ's mercy and love we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for the sick the sorrowful the homebound the addicted for those suffering from mental illness may they know the healing touch of christ we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for our beloved dead and those who have died may they know the forgiveness of god and come to share in the fullness of christ's glory we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for your needs your intentions that we bring to the altar today in the silence of our hearts we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer loving father we ask you to hear our prayers for they are made in the name of jesus your son who lives and reigns for ever and ever amen blessed are you lord god of all creation for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you fruit of the earth the work of human hands it will become for us the bread of life blessed be god forever blessed are you lord god of all creation for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you fruit of the vine and the work of human hands it will become our spiritual drink blessed be god forever pray brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to god the almighty father may the lord accept the sacrifice at our hands for the praise the glory of his name for our good the good of all his holy church as we solemnly offer the sacrifice for the beginning of lent we entreat you o lord that through the works of penance and charity we may turn away from harmful pleasures and be cleansed from our sins may become worthy to celebrate devoutly the passion of your son who lives and reigns forever and ever amen the lord be with you lift up your hearts let us give thanks to the lord our god it is truly right and just that we should always give you thanks lord holy father almighty and eternal god for you do not cease to spur us on to possess a more abundant life and being rich in mercy you constantly offer pardon and call on sinners to trust in your forgiveness alone never did you turn or what never did you turn away from us and though time and time again we broke your covenant you bound the human family to yourself through jesus your son our redeemer with a new bound of love so tight that it can never be undone even now you set before your people a time of grace and reconciliation as they turn back to you in spirit you grant them hope in christ jesus and a desire to be of service to all while they entrust themselves more fully to the holy spirit and so filled with wonder we extol the power of your love and proclaiming our joy at the salvation that comes from you we join in the heavenly hymn of countless hosts as without end we acclaim holy holy holy lord god of hosts heaven and earth are full of your glory hosanna in the highest blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord hosanna in the highest you are indeed holy oh lord and from the world's beginning are ceaselessly at work so that the human family may become holy just as you yourself are holy look we pray upon your people's offerings and pour out on them the power of your spirit that they may become the body and blood of your beloved son jesus christ in whom we too are your sons and daughters indeed though we once were lost and could not approach you you loved us with the greatest love for your son who alone is just handed himself over to death and did not disdain to be nailed for our sake to the wood of the cross but before his arms were outstretched between heaven and earth he became the lasting sign of your covenant he desired to celebrate the passover with his disciples as he ate with them he took bread and giving you thanks he said the blessing broke the bread gave it to them saying take this all of you and eat of it for this is my body which will be given up for you and in a similar way when supper was ended knowing that he was about to reconcile all things in himself through his blood to be shed on the cross he took the chalice filled with the fruit of the vine and once more giving you thanks handed the chalice to his disciples saying take this all of you and drink from it for this is the chalice of my blood the blood of the new and eternal covenant which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this in memory of me the mystery of faith save us savior of the world for by your cross and resurrection you have set us free therefore as we celebrate the memorial of your son jesus christ who is our passover and our surest peace we celebrate his death and resurrection from the dead and looking forward to his blessed coming we offer you who are our faithful and merciful god this sacrificial victim who reconciles to you the human race look kindly most compassionate father are those who you unite to yourself by the sacrifice of your son and grant that by the power of the holy spirit as they partake of the one breath the one chalice that they may be gathered into what body in christ who heals every division be pleased to keep us always in communion of mind and heart together with francis our pope and blaze our bishop help us to work together for the coming of your kingdom until the hour when we stand before you saints among the saints in the halls of heaven with the blessed virgin mary mother of god the blessed apostles and all the saints and with our deceased brothers and sisters whom we humbly commend to your mercy then freed at last from the wound of corruption and made fully into a new creation we shall sing to you with gladness the thanksgiving of christ who lives for all eternity through him and with him and in him oh god almighty father in the unity of the holy spirit all glory and honor is yours forever and ever amen at the savior's command formed by divine teaching we dare to say our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil deliver us lord we pray from every evil graciously grant peace in our days that by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the blessed hope the coming of our savior jesus christ for the kingdom the power the glory are yours now and forever lord jesus christ who said to your apostles peace i leave you my peace i give you look not upon our sins but on the faith of your church graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will who live and reign for ever and ever amen the peace of the lord be with you always let us offer each other a wave of god's peace peace be with you lamb of god you take away the sins of the have mercy on us lamb of god you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us lamb of god you take away the sins of the world grant us peace behold the lamb of god behold him who takes away the sins of the world blessed are those called to the supper of the lamb lord i am not worthy that you should enter and under my roof but only say the word my soul shall be healed he ponders the lord the law of the lord day and night he who ponders the law of the lord day and night will yield fruit in due season let us bring an act of spiritual communion my jesus i believe that you are present in the most blessed sacrament i love you above all things i desire to receive you into my soul since i cannot now receive you sacramentally come at least spiritually into my heart i embrace you as if you have already come i unite myself holy to you never permit me to be separated from you amen let us pray may the sacrament we have received sustain us o lord that our lenten fast may be pleasing to you and be for us a healing remedy through christ our lord amen the lord be with you i invite you to bow your heads and pray for god's pour blessing a spirit of compunction o lord and those who bow before your majesty and by your mercy may they merit the rewards you promise to those who do penance through christ our lord and may almighty god bless you the father the son and the holy spirit amen go announce the gospel of the lord thanks be to god jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom

Channel: St. Michael Parish Orland Park, IL

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Id: DerOSw4LXQM

Length: 32min 34sec (1954 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 01 2022