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May 22^nd – Friday after Ascension Day

OPENING  PRAYER:

Father, pour out your Spirit upon all your children,
especially on all the members of our parish family.
Grant us all a new vision of Your glory, a new experience of Your power,
a new faithfulness to Your word, and a new consecration to Your service,
that Your love may grow among us and your Kingdom come.
We make this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

RELECTION: John Dalrymple – Costing Not less than Everything

You cannot be neutral about God. Once you know that He exists and is your Creator, you have to respond to Him with everything you have. To admit God into a part of your life, a ‘religious’ part which exists alongside many other parts but has no influence on them, is not really to admit God into your life at all. The Father that Jesus Christ revealed to us and put us in touch with enters into every part of our life – he is Creator and Lord of All – and makes total demands on us . . . What God asked of the saints and Jesus Himself, He asks of all His followers. We are all called to what they achieved.

CLOSING LITANY:

Response: Spirit of God, come into our hearts
make us your new creation.

Spirit of light, let the fire of your wisdom burn brightly within us. R.
Spirit of silence, in the still moment may we be open to God’s presence. R.
Spirit of courage, dispel the fear that lingers in our hearts. R.
Spirit of fire, engulf us with the passion of Christ’s love.  R.
Spirit of peace, help us to be attentive to God’s word in the world.  R.
Spirit of joy, enthuse us to proclaim aloud the Good News. R.
Spirit of love, compel us to open ourselves to the needs of others.  R.
Spirit of power, bestow the gift of your strength upon us.  R
Spirit of truth, guide us to walk in the way of Christ.  R.

SONG OF PRAISE:  Luke 1:46-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant.
Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name, and his faithful love extends age after age
to those who fear him.
He has used the power of his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly,
He has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his faithful love,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.

LITANY OF PRAISE: Holy is your name, O Lord!

SCRIPTURE READING:  Acts of the Apostles 1:12-14

So from the Mount of Olives, as it is called, the apostles went back to Jerusalem, a short distance away, no more than a Sabbath walk; and when they reached the city they went to the upper room where they were staying; there were Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Jude, son of James. With one heart all these joined constantly in prayer, together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

The word of the Lord.

REFLECTION: (Fr.Raniero Cantalamessa OFM.Cap)
Considering how rarely Mary is mentioned in the New Testament, it comes as a bit of a surprise to realise that, in fact, she was present at all three stages that form the Christian mystery and the Church; that is, at the Incarnation, the Passion, Death and Resurrection of her Son and at Pentecost. In the upper room, Mary is mentioned together with other women, just as she was on Calvary. To all appearances, she was present just like any one of these, neither more nor less. But here, too, the title “Mother of Jesus”, which comes immediately after her name, puts her on a much higher level than the women and even the apostles themselves. What does the fact that Mary was present as the mother of Jesus signify? That the Holy Spirit, who was about to come, was “the Spirit of her Son”! There was an objective and indestructible bond between her and the Holy Spirit: the same Jesus that together they both gave birth to. In the Creed we say that Jesus became incarnate “by the power of the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary.” Mary was not, therefore, in the upper room, the cenacle, simply as one of the women.
Beneath the Cross, Mary appeared as the mother of the Church; now, in the cenacle, she appeared as the godmother of the Church – a strong and sage godmother. In order to become a godmother, a person must first have been baptized. This was the case of Mary: she was baptized by the Spirit and now assisted the Church at its baptism by the Spirit. When an adult is being baptized, the godmother helps with the preparations, and this was what Mary did with the apostles and does with us.

INTERCESSIONS: Lord Jesus, may your mother pray for us.

CLOSING PRAYER:Almighty God, you loved the world so much that you gave your only Son to take on our human nature and be born of the Virgin Mary; grant that as we are reborn in him, so we may always be supported by the love and prayers of his mother and every day grow in the grace of the Holy Spirit, until we are brought to sing your praises with her in heaven: through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Month of Our Lady 
Dear brothers and sisters,

I hope everyone is keeping well and staying safe these strange times.
May we please join the Holy Father for daily rosary during this month of May. I have attached below the full text of Pope Francis’ letter to all the faithful this month of May.
You can join us everyday at 6.00pm, starting from tomorrow Friday May 1st.

Meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/78145203409?pwd=cXc1U3gxcUU4clVPWFNLMmJrWWFWZz09
Meeting ID: 781 4520 3409 Password: 8F5rty

Masses from our Church St. Clare’s will be streamed live starting from Sunday 3rd of May at 9.30am. Find out more here!

Wishing you every grace and blessing,
Fr. Emeka.

Pope-Francis-Month-of-May

Psalm 61

In God alone be at rest, my soul; for my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock, my stronghold, my fortress: I stand firm.
In God is my safety and glory, the rock of my strength.
Take refuge in God, all you people. Trust him at all times.
Pour out your hearts before him for God is our refuge.
For God has said only one thing: only two do I know:
that to God alone belongs power and to you, Lord, love;
and that you repay each one according to their deeds.

Litany of Praise

(Give praise and thanks for all God is and all He does in your life)

Response after each prayer:

Lord, you are my rock and my stronghold!

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:17-22

Christ came to bring the good news of peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. Through him, we both in the one Spirit have free access to the Father. So you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors; you are fellow-citizens with the holy people of God and part of God’s household. You are built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone. Every structure knit together in him grows into a holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built up into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

The word of the Lord.

Reflection:  (Fr.Raniero Cantalamessa)

Through the Spirit we are “at home” with God! St.John in his first letter writes: “We can know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us his Spirit”.

This has a practical consequence for us. The Holy Spirit is the answer to loneliness, which, along with fear and weakness, is the greatest cause of human suffering. What really overcomes suffering?  Certainly not finding yourself in the midst of a great crowd, but rather having a friend, someone to share thoughts with, a companion. If we are open to him, this is what the Holy Spirit wants to be to us. It was Saint Basil who said that the Holy Spirit was “the inseparable companion” of Jesus during his life on earth, and that the Spirit wants to be the same for us. St.John Chrysostom adds that Jesus “always had the assistance of the most agreeable Spirit” just as he seems to suggest that Moses, all his life long, had his brother Aaron as companion and counsellor.

If it is possible for weakness to provide an occasion for us to experience the strength of the Spirit, it is possible for loneliness to be the occasion and also the stimulus for us to experience the Spirit as “sweet guest”. By faith we know that no one is ever truly alone in this world. If we need to speak with someone about something, and it is simply not possible to find anyone to speak to, we can learn, little by little, to talk it over with that guest who is discretion itself and who also is “perfect consoler” and “wonderful counsellor”.

The Spirit reveals himself at various times, either in power and dynamism or in tenderness and intimacy, and we experience him, sometimes in one way and sometimes in another, depending on our need, our disposition and the grace of the moment. On Sinai, Moses perceived God in the thunder and the stormy wind; Elijah, on the same Mount Horeb, perceived God in the gentle breeze.

Intercessions

Lord, in your mercy . . . Hear our prayer

Closing Prayer:  (Timothy Dudley Smith)

Spirit of life within me, possess this life of mine;
come as the wind of heaven’s breath, come as the fire divine!
Spirit of Christ, the living Lord, reign in this house of clay,
till from its dust with Christ I rise to everlasting day.