EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (# 45)
A Weekly Pastoral Tool for the YEAR OF THE EUCHARIST
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
October 2-8, 2005
“The Song of the Vineyard”
(+) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(A moment of silence)
SONG: Any suitable Eucharistic hymn or any appropriate song may be sung.
WORDS OF CARDINAL JEAN DANIELOU
God’s patience has been strained to its farthest limit in this tragedy of Christ, the Lord of the vineyard’s son, rejected by the tenants, crucified, treated by his own people as a stranger and an outcast. But from the lowest depths arises a sudden hope: He will let out the vineyard to other vinedressers, who will pay him his due when the season comes. The tragedy of Good Friday, when Israel rejected him that was sent, becomes in God’s plan the means whereby the vine planted in Israel was to break out in a new and vigorous growth. In fact, it was to bring forth for the first time the fruits expected of it. Now through the passion and resurrection of Christ stems the true and faithful vine … The true vine appeared in the person of Jesus Christ. The grace of God bears its plenitude of fruit in him.
SILENT ADORATION
OPENING PRAYER
Leader: Loving Father,
we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ
whom you have sent into the vineyard of your Kingdom.
United with him, as branches to the living vine,
we are able to bear copious spiritual fruits
and yield an incomparable harvest of holiness.
Grant that we may always remember
the message of the “Song of the Vineyard”
and thus avoid the disastrous destiny
of the wicked tenants in your vineyard.
May we bear fruits abundantly in your Son
and remain faithful in the tasks of your Kingdom.
We ask this through Christ, the true and living Vine, now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
Part I
JESUS MASTER TRUTH
Listening to the Word
GOSPEL READING: Mt 21:33-43
PERSONAL REFLECTION
(As a tool for personal reflection, please visit the PDDM Website: www.pddm.org // www.pddm.us for BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD [# 45]: A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy. The Biblico-Liturgical Reflections are an aid for a deeper understanding of the Gospel reading.)
SONG: Any Eucharistic hymn or suitable song of praise may be sung.
Part II
JESUS MASTER WAY
Confrontation with the Word
POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
Leader: We open our hearts to listen to the promptings of the living Word. Let us ask ourselves with limpid honesty:
1. What are the feelings and emotions that the “Song of the Vineyard” evokes in us?
2. Is the ancient drama of man’s wickedness and God’s fidelity also replicated in the vineyard of our lives? How do we resolve the conflict and challenge in this intense drama of God-man relationship?
3. What is our attitude and response to the presence of the new and living Vine, Jesus Christ? Do we resolve to be united with this Vine and bear abundant spiritual fruits? Do we endeavor to produce an incomparable harvest of holiness in the vineyard of God’s Kingdom?
PRAYER
(Cf. Commission Francophone Cistercienne, Tropaires des dimanches, 121)
Leader: O my Church, how shall I love you more?
I have planted you as a choice vine.
For you my Son’s blood has flowed, new sap in your branches.
Where are the fruits I was hoping for?
Assembly: Master of the vineyard, do not reject the work of your hands!
Leader: If you mark faults, who will stand?
But with you is forgiveness.
Our sins are stronger than we are,
but you, you blot them out.
Visit this vine and protect it;
your right hand has planted it.
Your wrath lasts but an instant;
your mercy endures for life.
Assembly: Master of the vineyard, do not reject the work of your hands!
SONG: Any suitable song may be sung.
Part III
JESUS LIFE
Acting upon the Word
PERSONAL PRAYER
CONTEMPLATING WITH MARY THE FACE OF CHRIST: The Mysteries of Light of the Rosary may be prayed in part or in full.
THE WAY OF SOLIDARITY: PRAYER OF INTERCESSION
Leader: Let us pray to God who cares for all, and with earnest humility say:
(R.) LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
1. That we may be fruitful vines and dutiful workers in the Lord’s vineyard.
2. That our charitable works on behalf of the world’s poor be fruitful.
3. That our Christian life be marked with copious fruits of virtue and holiness.
4. That the victims of natural and man-made disasters evoke forcefully the compassion of Christian believers and yield a rich harvest of material, moral and spiritual assistance.
5. That God spare us from the disastrous fate of the unresponsive and obstinate tenants.
(Other prayers may be added.)
THE LORD’S PRAYER
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Leader: God our Father, the Lord of the vineyard,
you call us to be fruitful in the living Vine, Jesus Christ.
Make your saving love the foundation of our lives.
May our love for you, our benevolent Master,
express itself in a fruitful life laden with joy
and marked with compassionate service for the world’s poor.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Assembly: Amen.
FINAL SONG: Any suitable Eucharistic hymn or song of praise may be sung.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US