ENTRANCE RITE

Entrance Antiphon (Introit)

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you is found forgiveness,
O God of Israel. Psalm 130:3-4

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

May your grace, O Lord, we pray,
at all times go before us and follow after
and make us always determined
to carry out good works.
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 Isaiah             

The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet. (25:6-10)

On this mountain,
the Lord of hosts  will prepare for all peoples
a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines,
of food rich and juicy, of fine strained wines.
On this mountain he will remove
the mourning veil covering all peoples,
and the shroud enwrapping all nations,
he will destroy Death for ever.
The Lord will wipe away
the tears from every cheek;
he will take away his people’s shame
everywhere on earth,
for the Lord has said so.
That day, it will be said: See, this is our God in
whom we hoped for salvation;
The Lord is the one in whom we hoped.
We exult and we rejoice
that he has saved us;
for the hand of the Lord
rests on this mountain.

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

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

(Ps 22)

Response :  In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever.

1. The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.            Response

2. He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.
If l should walk in the valley of darkness
no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff;
with these you give me comfort.     Response

3. You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.                       Response

4. Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.                                Response

SECOND READING

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Philippians

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. ( 4:12-14. 19-20 )

I know how to be poor and I know how to be rich too.
I have been through my initiation and now I am ready for anything anywhere:
full stomach or empty stomach, poverty or plenty.
There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength.
All the same, it was good of you to share with me in my hardships.
In return my God will fulfil all your needs, in Christ Jesus, as lavishly as only God can.
Glory to God, our Father, for ever and ever. Amen.

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

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Alleluia, alleluia.
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, enlighten the eyes of your mind
so that you can see what hope his call holds for us. ( Eph 1: 17. 18 )
Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Many are called, but few are chosen. (22:1-14)

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Glory to you, Lord.

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding”.

So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth”. For many are called, but few are chosen.’

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.

That the Church on earth may thrive and grow and draw many to the feast of the kingdom. Let us pray to the Lord.  

That rulers and civil authorities will always work to foster justice and peace for all people, and provide the hungry with their share of God’s bounty. Let us pray to the Lord.

That the Lord will grant strength to his servants who are mistreated and persecuted because of the message of the kingdom. Let us pray to the Lord.

That rich and poor alike may not make excuses to evade the call to the kingdom, but respond with sincerity, generosity and conversion of heart. Let us pray to the Lord.

That we may never take for granted our presence at the supper of the Lamb of God but always prepare worthily to receive the King of all. Let us pray to the Lord.

THE LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Offertory Song

PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS

Accept, O Lord, the prayers of your faithful
with the sacrifical offerings,
that, through these acts of devotedness,
we may pass over to the glory of heaven.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

PREFACE and EUCHARISTIC PRAYER

COMMUNION RITE

Communion Antiphon

The rich suffer want and go hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing. (See Psalm 34:11)

— or —

When the Lord appears, we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is. (I John 3:2)

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

We entreat your majesty most humbly, O Lord,
that, as you feed us with the nourishment
which comes from the most holy Body and Blood of our Son,
so you may make us sharers of his divine nature.
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

Final Song