SPIRITUAL COMMUNION FOR HOLY TRINITY WINCHESTER AND FRIENDS
ON THIS TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME.
✠In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We come to God as one from whom no secrets are hidden,
for forgiveness and peace.
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith:
that I have greatly sinned,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
and all the Angels and Saints,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
THE GLORIA
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you, we bless you,
we adore you, we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
THE COLLECT FOR THE DAY
God of might, giver of every good gift, put into our hearts the love of your name, so that, by deepening our sense of reverence, you may nurture in us what is good and, by your watchful care, keep safe what you have nurtured. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever
.
FIRST READING Jeremiah 20:7-9
You have seduced me, Lord, and I have let myself be seduced;
you have overpowered me: you were the stronger.
I am a daily laughing-stock, everybody’s butt.
Each time I speak the word, I have to howl
and proclaim: ‘Violence and ruin!’
The word of the Lord has meant for me insult, derision, all day long.
I used to say, ‘I will not think about him,
I will not speak in his name any more.’
Then there seemed to be a fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones.
The effort to restrain it wearied me, I could not bear it.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 62(63):2-6,8-
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God, for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a dry, weary land without water.
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.
For your love is better than life,
my lips will speak your praise.
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.
So I will bless you all my life,
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,
my mouth shall praise you with joy.
On my bed I remember you.
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.
For you have been my help;
in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand holds me fast.
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.
SECOND READING Romans 12:1-2
Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice
Think of God’s mercy, my brothers, and worship him, I beg you,
in a way that is worthy of thinking beings, by offering your living bodies
as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God.
Do not model yourselves on the behaviour of the world around you,
but let your behaviour change, modelled by your new mind.
This is the only way to discover the will of God and know what is good,
what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION cf.Ep1:17,18
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL - Matthew 16:21-27
Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples
that he was destined to go to Jerusalem
and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day.
Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him.
But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan!
You are an obstacle in my path,
because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’
Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine,
let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it;
but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life?
Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?
‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels,
and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour.’
HOMILY
Last week we heard Jesus give great affirmation to Simon:
“I say to you, you are Peter, (Πέτρος - petros = rock,
literally “hard and unyielding”)….. and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the underworld shall not prevail against it”
Just minutes later, we hear in this week’s Gospel
that Peter is in for a big surprise.
Jesus shared with his disciples
that a difficult journey lay ahead of Him,
full of obstacles which He had to overcome or experience.
This, Jesus said, would lead ultimately to persecution
and to death by crucifixion.
Peter, not wishing anything but good for Jesus says:
‘Heaven preserve you, Lord; this must not happen to you.’
which prompts Jesus to give Peter yet another name - “Satan”!
In the Hebrew, Satan means "accuser" or "adversary",
and this seems to be its usage in the Old Testament.
The Jewish view of Satan,which would, after all, have been Jesus’ view,
emanates from the Book of Job as much as anywhere,
where Satan is seen as Counsel for the Prosecution,
in an attempt to prove that Job’s faith was weak.
But Job’s Satan is an agent of God, part of the divine council,
whose role is to search out the individual's wrongdoings,
and appears as the accuser.
The word “Satan” is derived from a verb meaning
"to obstruct, to oppose".
Jesus viewed Peter’s well-meant comment as obstructive,
hence his reference to Peter as “Satan”.
Peter’s apparent kindness and care was actually getting in Jesus’ way.
Rather than being helpful, it was an obstruction to Jesus
from completing the task ahead of Him.
Up until now Jesus hadn’t mentioned death by crucifixion,
which was the last thing Peter wanted for his “Mentor” Jesus.
it’s understandable that Peter wanted to avoid these consequences:
He tries to comfort Jesus -
“You’ve got us! We’ll protect you—
Everything will be ok, you’ll see!
We need you to be alive. You ARE the Christ!” Such sentiments “rang bells “ for Jesus from the previous experience He had in the wilderness – when He grew hungry he heard the words
“Why don’t you turn these stones into bread?”
When he found Himself on a dangerous precipice, he heard
“Jump down from here - have your angels save you from danger!”
When he came to a stunning view,unbroken for miles and miles,
He could see a way of escaping the Cross..
“Look at all those lands in front of you – as a real Messiah,
all the land you see and beyond could be yours!”
Does Jesus really mean that Peter is Satan?
No.
But Peter’s kindly-meant words
reminded Him of Satan’s testing in the Wilderness,
where Jesus came to a deeper understanding of His purpose.
That purpose didn’t involve Him running away from what lay ahead.
No wonder Jesus applies the name “Satan” to Peter at that moment.
I can identify with Peter.
I want to please Jesus; I want to make Him happy.
I want to please other people; to say kind things to them.
I want them to be happy,because happiness and contentment is contagious.
There can’t be anything wrong with that, can there?
Sometimes yes, there can be.
Why am I doing this?
To make myself look better, or to benefit others?
That was the lesson Peter had to learn from this.
Jesus affirmed him as “Rocky”,
but he was only going to be of value in the Kingdom
if he put Jesus and others first, and stop worrying about the wrong things,
particularly about how he perceived others saw him.
For instance, Peter was often looking jealously
at “The Beloved Disciple”,
concerned that he might be more-favoured than Peter
…. more-pleasing to Jesus.
“Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them.
(This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him,
he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain
alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”
Eventually the penny dropped,
and Peter realised his true worth to Jesus,
and that he didn’t have to be the “most-loved”.
Peter was as much-loved as anybody;
there are no favourites in the Kingdom.
All he had to do was to pick up his own cross, nobody else’s;
to keep his eyes focused on Jesus,
and to allow Jesus to take the weight of it all,
to remember the words He had said previously:
"Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls"
……rest with God,
even when life is difficult and stressful.
Loving God, You yearn for us to lose ourselves,
and the obstruction of self- interest,
to find our true selves in discovering, under You,
our capabilities rather than our failures.
May we, in sharing the burden of the cross
relieve others of theirs, and follow after You in faith and in trust.
Through the power of Your Holy Spirit,
open our eyes to Your presence;
open our ears to Your call,
open our hearts to one another.
and send us out into the world,
to live and work as Your faithful disciples. Amen.
NICENE CREED I believe in one God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
THE PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL (Bidding Prayers)
Let us pray to God, who alone makes us dwell in safety:
For all who are affected by coronavirus, through illness or isolation or anxiety, that they may find relief and recovery: Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us.
For those who are guiding our nation at this time, and shaping national policies, that they may make wise decisions: Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us.
For doctors, nurses and medical researchers, that through their skill and insights many will be restored to health: Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us.
For the vulnerable and the fearful, for the gravely ill and the dying, that they may know your comfort and peace: Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us.
We pray for those whom we love but no longer see;
✠ Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord,
and let light perpetual shine upon them.
May they rest in peace, and rise in glory.
Pray with us, Mary,
Mother of God,
to the Father,
through your Son,
in the Holy Spirit:
Hail, Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit o
f thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death
Merciful Father,
accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour,
Jesus Christ. Amen.
It is right and just.
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.
For through the saving Passion of your Son
the whole world has received a heart
to confess the infinite power of your majesty,
since by the wondrous power of the Cross
your judgment on the world is now revealed
and the authority of Christ crucified.
And so, Lord, with all the Angels and Saints,
we, too, give you thanks, as in exultation 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.
At the Saviour’s command
and 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
and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles:
Peace I leave you, my peace I give you,
look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church,
and graciously grant her peace and unity
in accordance with your will.
Who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
My Jesus, I believe that You are present
in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things, and 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 were already there, and I unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. (Saint Alphonsus Liguori)
I desire to receive You into the poor dwelling that my heart offers You. While waiting for the happiness of sacramental communion, I wish to possess You in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, since I, for my part, am coming to You! May Your love embrace my whole being in life and in death. I believe in You, I hope in You, I love You. Amen. (Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val)
A Time of quiet reflection, in which to receive the Lord’s Presence spiritually.
Christ, who nourishes us with himself,
make us one in praise and love,
and raise us up at the last day;
and the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, ✠ and the Holy Spirit,
come down upon us and remain with us for ever. Amen.
THE ANGELUS
The angel of the Lord brought tidings unto Mary. And she conceived by the Holy Ghost.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word. Hail Mary….
And the Word was made flesh. And dwelt amongst us. Hail Mary…..
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts,
that as we have known the Incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ
by the message of an angel, so by his Cross and Passion
we may be brought unto the glory of his Resurrection;
through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord; Thanks be to God.
