WORSHIP@HOME

August 9, 2020 • 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Parish or Diocesan Leaders, please read this!

Preparation

Just Before You Begin

INTRODUCTORY RITES

Opening Song

Greeting

Leader: ┼ In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.

Leader: Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be God forever.
(The response is: Blessed be God forever.)

All: Blessed be God forever.

Leader: We gather together as a family
to listen to God's Word and let it move us to take action.
One with all of our sisters and brothers throughout the world,
let us now listen to God's Word and join in prayer.

All: Amen.

Litany in Praise of God's Mercy

Leader: As we prepare to hear about God's plan for the world,
let us remember that God works through us and through our love. Lord Jesus, you know that we make mistakes and don’t always live as you taught:
Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

Leader: Lord Jesus, you always give us another chance to start over:
Christ, have mercy.

All: Christ, have mercy.

Leader: Lord Jesus, you have more patience with us than we have with ourselves:
Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

Opening Prayer

Leader: Let us pray

Leader: God of Love,
you have created us to live in love
and given us graces we can never earn. May we be grateful, not taking our gifts for granted,
willing to share what we have,
especially with those who have less than we do. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

LITURGY OF THE WORD

Alleluia

Gospel

Reader 1: In today’s reading, we hear about an amazing water miracle. We now do this action prayer together: May the Lord be on my mind, ┼
on my lips, ┼
and in my heart ┼
as we hear the Gospel today. A reading from the holy Gospel of Matthew.

Reader 1: Right away, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake.
But he stayed until he had sent the crowds away.
Then he went up on a mountain where he could be alone and pray. Later that evening, he was still there. By this time the boat was a long way from the shore.
It was going against the wind and was being tossed around by the waves.
A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples.
When they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming. At once, Jesus said to them, “Don’t worry! I am Jesus. Don’t be afraid.” Peter replied, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come on!” Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him. But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking.
“Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Right away, Jesus reached out his hand.
He helped Peter up and said, “You surely don’t have much faith. Why do you doubt?” When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down.
The men in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, “You really are the Son of God!”

Reader 1: After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat
and precede him to the other side,
while he dismissed the crowds.
After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore,
was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night,
he came toward them walking on the sea.
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.
“It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter said to him in reply,
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter,
and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
After they got into the boat, the wind died down.
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,
“Truly, you are the Son of God.”

Reader 1: The Gospel of the Lord.

All: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel Video Reflection

Reflections on the Readings

  1. This story happens right after Jesus fed a huge crowd of thousands of people, starting with just five loaves of bread and two fish. After he sends everyone away, he wants to be alone for awhile. Why do you think that might be? When do you want to be by yourself?
  2. The disciples were very scared when they were in the boat in the middle of a storm. They probably thought the boat would capsize and they would drown. They didn’t know that Jesus had his eyes on them the whole time. When have you felt like you were in the middle of storm or in the midst of something scary?
  3. Peter discovered he could do something amazing that he didn’t think was possible when he kept his eyes on Jesus; he could walk on water! But when he took his eyes off of Jesus and paid attention to how strong the storm was instead, that’s when he started to sink. Is there anything in your life that seems scary to do on your own? Take a minute of silence now to ask Jesus to help you keep your eyes on him instead of the strong wind while you do it. (After a time of silence, ask if anyone wants to share what they talked to Jesus about.)

General Intercessions

Leader: Now let’s pray together to God for what we need.

Reader 2: For all those in our families, communities, nation, and world
who are sick with the coronavirus,
and for those who are caring for them,
let us pray to the Lord.

All: Lord, hear our prayer.

Reader 2: We pray for all those who are without paid work
or struggling financially,
that through sharing everyone will receive what they need,
let us pray to the Lord.

All: Lord, hear our prayer.

Reader 2: That we may have courage
to do what is right and what is most loving
during this challenging time,
let us pray to the Lord.

All: Lord, hear our prayer.

Reader 2: For what else and for who else shall we pray?

Lord's Prayer

Leader: Jesus taught us to call God our Father, and so we have the courage to say:

All: 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.

Sign of Peace

Leader: Let us now offer each other a sign of peace.

A Litany for Spiritual Communion

Leader: The response is: Lord, bring us closer to you!

All: Lord, bring us closer to you!

Leader: Lord our God,
we wish we could gather today with our parish community,
but we gather here out of love and concern for others.
You teach us that when two or three are gathered in your name,
you are there.
Together, we pray:

All: Lord, bring us closer to you!

Leader: Christ Jesus, you are present in a special way
when bread and wine are turned into your Body and Blood.
Since we cannot receive you in this way today,
We ask that you enter our hearts
so that we may receive you spiritually.
Together, we pray:

All: Lord, bring us closer to you!

Leader: Lord our God,
watch over your family
and keep us safe in your care,
for all our hope is in you.

All: Lord, bring us closer to you!

Concluding Rite

Blessing & Dismissal

Leader: Go in the peace of Christ.

All: Thanks be to God.

Closing Song

After the Service

Give Us a Tip: Support Our Ministry

The Pastoral Center is a small, family-based ministry and business (pictured: Paul, Madeleine, Ann, and Rachel). This is our full-time job and ministry, and it's the way we pay our bills. We do not receive funding from any parish or diocese, except through resource sales (which are now largely suspended indefinitely). You are under no obligation, but we are very grateful for any contributions!

Please Support Your Local Parish

Your parish still has to pay the electric bill and your staff, even when public Masses are cancelled. If you haven't already, sign up for electronic payments or mail in a check today.

Give Us Feedback

How did it go? What would have made it better? Send us an email at resources@pastoralcenter.com to share feedback with us.