ENTRANCE RITE

Entrance Antiphon (Introit)

Give peace, O Lord, to those who wait for you,
that your prophets be found true.
Hear the prayers of your servant,
and of your people Israel. (See Sirach 36:18)

Entrance Song

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

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

My brother and sisters, to prepare ourselves to celebrate the mysterier, let us call to mind our sins.

I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, 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, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, 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.

Lord, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy,
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy,

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.

OPENING PRAYER

Look upon us, O God,
Creator and ruler of all things,
and, that we may feel the working of your mercy,
grant that we may serve you with all our heart.
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.
Amen.

LITURGY OF THE WORD

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of  Sirach      

Remember the covenant of the Most High. (27:30-28:7)

Resentment and anger, these are foul things,
and both are found with the sinner.
He who exacts vengeance will experience the vengeance of the Lord,
who keeps strict account of sin.
Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you,
and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven.
If a man nurses anger against another,
can he then demand compassion from the Lord?
Showing no pity for a man like himself,
can he then plead for his own sins?
Mere creature of flesh, he cherishes resentment;
who will forgive him his sins?
Remember the last things, and stop hating,
remember dissolution and death, and live by the commandments.
Remember the commandments,
and do not bear your neighbour ill-will;
remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook the offence.

This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

(Ps 102)

Response: The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.

1. My soul, give thanks to the Lord,
all my being, bless his holy name.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
and never forget all his blessings.                    Response

2. It is he who forgives all your guilt,
who heals everyone of your ills,
who redeems your life from the grave,
who crowns you with love and compassion. Response

3. His wrath will come to an end;
he will not be angry for ever.
He does not treat us according to our sins
nor repay us according to our faults.               Response

4. For as the heavens are high above the earth
so strong is his love for those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west
so far does he remove our sins.                         Response

SECOND READING

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Romans

Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. (14:7-9)

The life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord. This explains why Christ both died and came to life, it was so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

ALLELUIA VERSE

Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment: love one another, just as I have loved you, says the Lord.
Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Forgive up to seventy times seven. (18:21-35)

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Glory to you, Lord.

Peter went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.
‘And so the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; but he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. At this, the servant threw himself down at his master’s feet. “Give me time” he said “and I will pay the whole sum.” And the servant’s master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt. Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him. “Pay what you owe me” he said. His fellow servant fell at his feet and implored him, saying, “Give me time and I will pay you”. But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. His fellow servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him. Then the master sent for him. “You wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

PROFESSION OF FAITH

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,
(at the words that follow up to and including and became man, all bow)
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.

PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL

Our response is: Lord, hear our prayer.

For the reconciling Church that brings healing to penitents, let us pray to the Lord.

For men and women skilled in the art of diplomacy to diffuse global tension, let us pray to the Lord. 

For sincerity in the sign of peace we will give one another during this Mass, let us pray to the Lord.

For the forgiveness of the sins of those who have died, let us pray to the Lord.

THE LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Offertory Song

PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS

Look with favor on our supplications, O Lord,
and in your kindness accept these, your servants’ offerings,
that what each has offered to the honor of your name
may serve the salvation of all.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

PREFACE and EUCHARISTIC PRAYER

COMMUNION RITE

Communion Antiphon

How precious is your mercy, O God!
The children of men seek shelter in the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 36:8)

— or —

The chalice of blessing that we bless
is a communion in the Blood of Christ;
and the bread that we break
is a sharing in the Body of Christ. (I Cor 10:16)

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

May the working of this heavenly gift, O Lord, we pray,
take possession of our minds and bodies,
so that its effects, and not our own desires,
may always prevail in us.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Final Song