May 25, 2003 Sixth Sunday of Easter Cycle B

FIRST READING:

Acts 10: 25-26 "The Holy Spirit came down on all the listeners."

RESPONSORIAL PSALM:

Ps. 98 "The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations."

"Alleluia."

SECOND READING:

1 Jn. 4: 7-10 "God is Love."

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION:

Jn. 14: 23 "If anyone loves me, he will hold to my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him."

GOSPEL:

Jn. 15: 9-17 "A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends."

FOCUS: "This is my command to love: love one another as I have loved you." This is a new dimension of love that allows us to share in God's Love. Divine love.

scriptural topics: Holy Spirit, love, community, mission.

REFLECTION: "In all deeds and words you should look upon this Jesus as your model. Do so whether you are walking or keeping silence, or speaking, whether you are alaone or with others. He is perfect, and thus you will be not only irreprehensible, but praiseworthy." St. Bonaventure

"Put Christ first, because he puts us first, and let nothing deter us from loving him." St. Cyprian of Carthage

"Two opposing forces influence me: the force of good and force of evil, the force of life and the force of death. Being spiritual powers, both are invisible. Aroused by my free and sincere prayer, the good force always chases away the evil one, for the evil force derives its strength only from the evil concealed in me. To avoid the chilling influence of the evil spirit, we should always have in our heart the Jesus Prayer: ÔJesus, Son of God, have mercy on me.' Against the invisible devil stands the invisible God, against him who is powerful stands He who is the most Powerful of all."

St. John of Kronstadt

St. John of Kronstadt (1829-1908), Russian priest, a member of the married parish clergy: celebrated for his charitable work and gifts of healing, and also as a preacher and spiritual director. His remarkable diary My Life in Christ, has appeared in many languages, including English (translated by E.E. Goulaeff, London, 1897). He was proclaimed a saint in 1964 by the Holy Synod of the Russion Orthodox Church in Exile, and is the only person to have been canonized by the Russian Church since the Revolution in 1917.

APPLYING THE READINGS TO THE LITURGY: Introduce the sprinkling rite by saying that the same Spirit that leads us to baptism leads us to a new level of love. Introduce the profession of faith by referring to the spirit who gives us the strength to proclaim our beliefs.

Sample General Intercessions:

My brothers and sisters, through the love that Jesus has inspired in us, let us turn in prayer to God, the source of all love:

¥ For all who have dedicated themselves to God that He will help them reach this new level of love that Jesus asks us for;

¥ For peace among nations, that God may rid the world of violence through the love of Christ;

¥ For the aged who suffer from loneliness and infirmity, that God will sustain them by His love;

¥ For all of us gathered here in the name of Jesus, that he will teach us Love Divine, love that has no limits.

Preface: Second for Easter.

Prayers over the people: Second.

Faith Formation

¥ What does it mean to love as Jesus loved?

¥ What's wrong with loving any other way?

Any other way has limitations in itself. But united with the Spirit, there are no boundaries.

¥ With the comandment to love as Jesus loved comes the grace to reach a new dimension of understanding.

¥ Since Jesus gave us his final commandment, to love one another as He has loved us, we know how we must live until our own resurrection. We have no excuses.

Song suggestions (see next page) :

Come Down, O Love Divine

BB/MI, CBW III, WP

Christians. Let Us Love One Another CBW III

Children's Liturgy

of the Word

Before he left, Jesus promised to send his followers something special. He was referring to the Holy Spirit whom he sent to guide us through life to God. And before he left he also told us how to live, that is with love for everyone. The Holy Spirit helps us do just that. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, would we be able to live the way Jesus want us to?

Song suggestions (see next page) :

Lord of Glory

Veni, Sancte Spiritus

GATHERING SONG:

A New Commandment (Ward) WS, WW

Accept, O Father, in Thy Love PMB

All You Nations (Deiss) PMB, WCH

Alleluia, Give Thanks to the Risen Lord

(Fishel) ACH, BB/MI, CBW II, CVH,

PMB, WCH, WP

Behold the Glory of God BB/MI

Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain

ACH, BB/MI, CVH, WP

Easter Introit (D.H. Williams) 312-40940

Gather Us In (Haugen) BB/MI, CVH,

GPCOMP, GTR, WCH, WP

Hail Thee, Festival Day BB/MI, WP

I Come With Joy CBW II, WOV, WCH,

I Know That My Redeemer Lives! ACH,

BB/MI, CBW III, CVH, PMB,

WCH, WP

Join in the Dance (Schutte) BB/MI, JS

Lord, Send Out Your Spirit (Dameans) GP

Send Forth Your Spirit (Guimont) G-3684

Lord, Send Out Your Spirit (Janco) G-3606

Lord, Send Out Your Spirit PMB, WCH

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling BB/MI,

GPCOMP, CVH, WP

Send Us Your Spirit (Haas) BB/MI, GTR

Send Us Your Spirit (Schutte) BB/MI,

GPCOMP

Sing a New Song (Schutte) BB/MI,

CBW II, GP, GPCOMP, GTR

Sing a New Song to the Lord (Dudley

-Smith) CBW II, GTR, WCH, WP

The Church's One Foundation ACH,

BB/MI, CBW II, CVH, GPCOMP, PMB,

WCH, WP, WS

RESPONSORIAL PSALM:

WP (Proulx)

GTR (Haugan/Haas)

SMM, vol. 4 (Marchionda)

PFC, vol. 5 (Marchionda)

Psallite Domino (Berthier) TAIZE II

Psalm 98 (from Three Psalm Settings)

MSM 80-705

PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS:

All the Ends of the Earth (Hurd) BB/MI

All the Ends of the Earth (Kreutz) BB/MI

Beloved, Let Us Love WP

By the Love (Norbet) GP

Call to Love (Kappas) WCH

Christ Is Here (Walker) OCP 9790

Christ Is Arisen (M. Praetorius) 352-00169

Christ Sends the Spirit (Proulx)

AF-11-1882

Creator Spirit, Heavenly Dove (Powell)

PPMO

God So Loved the World WS

God So Loved the World (Bruckner)

G-1438

God So Loved the World (Goemanne)

G-2699

God So Loved the World (Scheidt) G-1819

I Have Loved You (Joncas) GP, GPCOMP,

GTR

I Know That My Redeemer Lives from

Concertato on Duke Street GC, JS, WS

I Love Him LMGM

If Anyone Loves Me (Norbet) GP

Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love

GTR, G-3000, LMGM, TWC, WP

esus Still Lives (Toolan) GTR, WS

Jesus, the Lord (O'Connor) CBW III, GC,

GP, GPCOMP, JS, RS

Lord, Send Out Your Spirit (Kreutz)

BB/MI

Lord, Send Out Your Spirit (Lisicky)

GTR

The Bread That We Break (Dean) JS

We Have Been Told ACH, BB/MI, GPCOMP, GTR, WCH

Without You BB/MI, JS

You Shall Be My Witnesses (Chepponis)

G-2543

You Shall Love the Lord Your God

(Englert) PMB, WS

COMMUNION:

All Shall Be Well (Foley) GPCOMP,

BB/MI

At the Lamb's High Feast We Sing

ACH, BB/MI, CBW II, CVH, WP, WW

Be Thou, My Vision 332-40920, 531 CVH,

WOV

Beloved, Let Us Love WP

Bread That Was Sown (Norbet) BB/MI,

PMB, WCH

Christians, Let Us Love One Another BB/

MI, 572 CBW II

Draw Near and Take the Body BB, CVH,

JS, WP, WW

God, Our Fountain of Salvation BB/MI,

OCP

Gift of Love BB/MI, GTR

I Am the Living Bread (Haas) BB/MI,

CBW III, JS

Let Us Be One PMB, WCH

Lord of All Nations, Grant Me Grace

CVH, WCH, WP

Love One Another (Chepponis) GTR,

G-2615

Love One Another (Roff) WS

No Greater Love (Joncas) BB,/MI, G-3140,

GTR

One Bread, One Body (Foley) ACH,

BB/MI, GC, GP, GPCOMP, GTR, JS,

RS, WCS, WW

Only a Shadow (Landry) GP, GPCOMP

Thanks Be to God (Mendelssohn)

392-00653

The One Same Spirit (Ward) RJ, WCH,

The Resurrection (Bell) G-4658

The Harvest of Justice (Haas) G-3582

There's a Wideness in God's Mercy

BB/MI, CVH, WP

This Is My Body CBW II, WCH

This Is My Will CVH, WP

The Joyful Feast MSM 50-4011

Unless a Grain of Wheat (Farrell) BB/MI,

GC , JS, RS

Where Charity and Love Prevail

BB/MI, CVH, GTR PMB, WCH, WP

Where There Is Charity (Marchionda)

Where There Is Love (Hughes) G-2555

SONG OF PRAISE:

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

(Hughes) BB/MI, GC, JS, RS, WP

I Will Praise Thee, O Lord (de Lalande)

362-01238

Sing Out Your Praise (Joncas) WCS, WS,

We Are Many Parts (Haugen) BB/MI,

GTR, WCH

We Praise Thee Lord and Bless Thy Name

(C. Gounod) 332-40049

Where There Is Love (Walker) BB/MI

What Wondrous Love ACH, BB/MI,

CVH, GPCOMP, GTR, PMB, WCH, WP

CLOSING SONG:

All the Ends of the Earth (Dufford)

BB/MI, GP, GPCOMP

All the Ends of the Earth (Murray) PMB

All Those Who Love Me (Norbet) GTR

At the Lamb's High Feast We Sing

ACH, BB/MI, CBW III, CVH, GC, JS,

RS, WP

Faithful Love (Dameans) GPCOMP

Forth in the Peace of Christ CBW II,

CVH, WP

Forth in Thy Name, O Lord CBW II,

WOV

God Is One, Unique and Holy WP,

GTR

Great Is the Lord (J. Haydn) 332-09589

Great Is the Lord (Toolan) BB/MI,

CBW II

In Praise of His Name (O'Connor) BB/MI,

GP, GTR

Into Our Hearts, O Spirit, Come PMB,

Lord, Send Out Your Spirit (Dameans) GP

Lord, Touch Me LMGM

Lord, Who at Your First Eucharist BB/MI,

CBW II, PMB, WP

Now the Green Blade Rises BB/MI,

CBW II, CVH, GTR, WP

Praise the Lord, My Soul (Foley) GP,

GPCOMP

Send Us Your Spirit (Haas) BB/MI, GTR

Sing of the Lord's Goodness (Sands)

BB/MI, GTR

Sing to the Lord (Dameans) BB/MI, GP,

GPCOMP

The Living God (Temple) CBW II, PMB

PMB, WCH

This Glad Day (Palestrina) 332-40155

This Is My Commandment CVH, WP

This Is the Day (Haugen) GTR, WCH

We Feel Your Presence, Lord (Young) G-3106

We Remember, We Believe (Porter) G-4721