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EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

August 16, 2026

“JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us that His Mercy Is For All and that His House of Prayer Is For All Peoples”

 

 

(+) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(A moment of silence)

 

SONG: A suitable Eucharistic hymn or any other appropriate song may be sung.

 

WORDS OF SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA

(Cf. Meditations on the Sunday Gospels, Year A, ed. John Rotelle, New York: New City Press, 1995, p. 114-115)

The Canaanite woman did not have the law, she did not know the prophets, she was unacquainted with the mysteries, and yet, good God, how many virtues and signs suddenly shine forth from her! What faith, what trust, what patience, what humility, what perseverance! (…) Her perseverance was beyond human ability, for as often as she was provoked and despised, she never ceased from crying out until she obtained her request. O the wonderful greenness of the bough! Of this remarkable woman, firmer in faith than one of the faithful, more filled with virtues than someone initiated in the mysteries!

 

SILENT ADORATION

OPENING PRAYER 

Leader: Loving Father,

the faith-filled Canaanite woman

is a beautiful figure of the children of the world

as recipients of the bread of salvation, Jesus Christ.

In the compassionate response of Jesus

to her patient pleading for the daughter she loves,

we see the future missionary expanse of the work of salvation

on behalf of all peoples, both Jews and non-Jews alike.

May the Church,

the community of believers that was born from the Easter event,

be renewed and strengthened

in its work of spreading the Gospel to all nations.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Assembly: Amen.

 

Part I

JESUS MASTER TRUTH

Listening to the Word 

 

FIRST READING: Is 56:1, 6-7

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

GOSPEL READING: Mt 15:21-28

POINTS FOR REFLECTION

By his word and deed, Jesus Christ instilled in his disciples the universal character of the Father’s saving plan and radically fulfilled it by the paschal mystery of his passion, death and resurrection. The story of the Canaanite woman depicted in today’s Gospel (Mt 15:21-28), who is an object of Jesus’ favor and praise, gives us a glimpse of the ever-growing expanse of the community of faith – of those who turn to Jesus Christ with unwavering trust.  No one is excluded from the community of salvation that continually expands and enfolds all peoples, nations and cultures. The Church of Christ is universal and its liturgy is a beautiful expression of its all-embracing experience of salvation.

 

SONG: A Eucharistic hymn, a song of praise, or another fitting song may be sung.

 

Part II

JESUS MASTER WAY

Confrontation with the Word 

 

POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

How do the merciful presence of Jesus and the unwavering faith of the Canaanite woman in his saving power inspire you? Do you believe that the mercy of Jesus is universal and has no bounds? Do you replicate in your life the indomitable trust of the Canaanite woman in what Jesus could do on our behalf?

 

PRAYING WITH THE WORD

Almighty God,

your merciful love is for all.

Your compassion touches peoples of all nations, cultures and colors

and your care embraces the whole creation.

Let our prayers in various tongues rise up to you

from vast continents and jewel-like islands of the earth.

Help us to welcome each other

and may our Church be a “house of prayer for all peoples”.

Do not let us exclude anyone nor marginalize anybody

through selfishness, indifference and conceit.

In the spirit of Saint Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles,

help us to trust in your universal plan of salvation

and to believe that your gifts and call for Israel are irrevocable.

Give us the zeal and wisdom

to promote inter-religious understanding among all peoples.

Grant us also the courage to deal with the pressing problems

in our society today,

drawing grace and mercy from the heart of Jesus,

whose rising to life set off the universal mission to the whole world.

O compassionate Father,

let the Spirit of the Risen Christ energize us

that we may bring efficaciously your merciful and saving love

to all creation.

May you be praised, honored and adored, now and forever.

Amen.  

 

SONG: A Eucharistic hymn, a song of praise, or another fitting song may be sung.

 

Part III

JESUS LIFE

Acting upon the Word  

 

PERSONAL PRAYER 

CONTEMPLATING WITH MARY THE FACE OF CHRIST: The Rosary’s Glorious Mysteries may be prayed in part or in full.

 

THE WAY OF SOLIDARITY: PRAYER OF INTERCESSION 

Leader: Trusting in the Lord’s providential care for his faithful disciples, let us turn to him in prayer and say:

(R.) LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.

1. For the Holy Father’s General Intention for this month of August: for evangelization in the city. Let us pray that in large cities often marked by anonymity and loneliness, we find new ways to proclaim the Gospel, discovering creative paths to build community.  We pray: (R.)

2. That the persevering faith of the Canaanite woman may inspire us in our ministry of prayer and that our Christian works of charity may go beyond socio-cultural-ethnic barriers. We pray: (R.)

3. That, by welcoming the poor and the marginalized, we may fulfill the universal saving plan, and by our life of worship, we may manifest that God’s house is indeed a “house of prayer for all people”.  We pray: (R.)

4. That the Church may truly be “catholic” in every way and that today’s efforts toward inter-religious dialogue, especially between the Christians and the Jews, may bear abundant fruits. We pray: (R.)

5. That the modern means of communication, especially the digital media, may be rightly used to lead all people to good and to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and that there may be a “springtime” vitality and growth of priestly and religious vocations in the Pauline Family and the entire Church. We pray: (R.)

(Other prayers may be added.)

 

THE LORD’S PRAYER

CONCLUDING PRAYER  

Leader: Lord God,

in your great mercy,

enrich people with your grace

and strengthen them with your blessing

so that they may praise you always.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Assembly: Amen.

 

FINAL SONG: A Eucharistic hymn, a song of praise, or another fitting song may be sung.

 

 

 

 

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EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

August 23, 2026

“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Church’s One Foundation”

 

 

(+) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(A moment of silence)

 

SONG: A suitable Eucharistic hymn or any other appropriate song may be sung.

 

WORDS OF POPE PAUL VI

Let us hold fast in thought, in heart, in life, to this most certain and ineffable truth about our Lord Jesus Christ … Let us all remember the confession of Peter which we have professed with explicit adherence and inexhaustible joy, in the certainty that, founded upon the apostolic rock and on the cornerstone which is Christ himself, the building which he, using us as living stones, is now constructing, cannot fall … This building is his Church, holy and immortal, to which we have the good fortune to belong and from which we receive Christ himself, the bread of eternal life.

 

SILENT ADORATION

 

OPENING PRAYER

Leader: Loving Father,

your beloved Son entrusted the “keys” to Peter,

when Peter recognized Jesus to be the Christ.

We give you praise for Jesus Christ,

the Church’s sole foundation.

We pray for Peter and his successors

that they may be faithful to their apostolic witnessing

and may use the “keys of the kingdom”

for the good of all and the glory of your name.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Assembly: Amen.

 

 

Part I

JESUS MASTER TRUTH

Listening to the Word 

 

FIRST READING: Is 22:19-23

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

GOSPEL READING: Mt 16:13-20

 

POINTS FOR REFLECTION

Jesus does not ask for popular speculation, but the disciples’ own assessment. Peter, assuming the role of spokesman for the group, declares: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Simon Peter’s confession of faith is remarkable. He declares not only that Jesus is the “Messiah”, that is, the long-awaited Son of David who ushers in the reign of God. Above all, he avows that Jesus is the “Son of the living God”, that is, the unique representative of God to all people, possessing God’s Spirit and enjoying an exclusive union with the Father. In today’s terms, Jesus as the “Son of the living God” means that he is divine.

Simon Peter’s confession of faith evokes Jesus’ admiration and blessing. There is an investiture and a “nomination”. Jesus calls Simon and surnames him Peter. Simon is designated as the rock upon which Jesus builds his Church. The stone is Jesus himself, the sole foundation. But Simon is, by the solemn designation of the Lord, the stone solidly set upon the unique foundation. He is the visible “rock” joined to it by the mortar of faith that the Father has given Peter. Concerning the keys to the kingdom of heaven entrusted to Peter, the authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 4, comment: “This Church will know crises, persecutions, and storms, but the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it, because its leader is the Risen One, who has definitively conquered sin and death.”

 

SONG: A Eucharistic hymn, a song of praise, or another fitting song may be sung.

 

Part II

JESUS MASTER WAY

Confrontation with the Word 

 

POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

What is your response to Jesus’ probing question: “But who do you say that I am” (Mt 16:15)? How are you impacted by the keys of the kingdom of heaven promised to Peter?

 

PRAYING WITH THE WORD

Almighty God,

all authority comes from you.

It is entrusted to your servants for the good of the Church

and the advent of your kingdom upon earth.

We pray for the Pope and bishops;

cover them with your protection.

Be their light, help and consolation.

Let the “keys to the kingdom of heaven”

be used wisely in accord with your saving plan for all peoples.

How mysterious your thoughts!

How inscrutable your ways!

How deep are the riches of your wisdom and knowledge!

We love your loving design for each of us.

We submit ourselves to it for love of you.

Bless us, merciful God,

and make us instruments of your care

for all peoples and creation.

You live and reign, forever and ever.

Amen.   

  

SONG: A Eucharistic hymn, a song of praise, or another fitting song may be sung.

 

 

Part III

JESUS LIFE

Acting upon the Word  

 

PERSONAL PRAYER 

CONTEMPLATING WITH MARY THE FACE OF CHRIST: The Rosary’s Glorious Mysteries may be prayed in part or in full.

 

THE WAY OF SOLIDARITY: PRAYER OF INTERCESSION 

Leader: Trusting in the Lord’s providential care for his faithful disciples, let us turn to him in prayer and say:

(R.) LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.

1. For the Holy Father’s General Intention for this month of August: for evangelization in the city. Let us pray that in large cities often marked by anonymity and loneliness, we find new ways to proclaim the Gospel, discovering creative paths to build community.  We pray: (R.)

2. That the Pope and his collaborators may use the pastoral “power of the keys”, only and always, according to the example and in the spirit of the Lord Jesus. We pray: (R.).

3. That our world leaders and civil authorities may never abuse their power but use it for the common good, and may Christian disciples be deeply aware that they have been baptized into Christ, the servant of God. We pray: (R.)

4. That we may care for the poor, the needy and the marginalized, and in the difficulties we meet in the exercise of our ministry, may we trust in the wisdom of God’s inscrutable ways. We pray: (R.)

5. That God may look kindly upon the following intentions: for good weather, for an abundance of the fruits of the earth, for the protection of our homes; for the sick and for all who suffer in any way; for those who have departed from this life. We pray: (R.)

(Other prayers may be added.)

 

THE LORD’S PRAYER

 

CONCLUDING PRAYER  

Leader: God our Father,

from living stones, your chosen people,

you built an eternal temple to your glory.

Increase the spiritual gifts you have given to your Church

that your faithful people may continue to grow

into the new and eternal Jerusalem.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Assembly: Amen.

 

FINAL SONG: A Eucharistic hymn, a song of praise, or another fitting song may be sung.

 

 

 

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Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang, PDDM

 

 

PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI

SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER

3700 North Cornelia Avenue, Fresno, CA 93722 (USA)

Tel (559) 275-1656