Thanksgiving

Blessed be your name, our God and Father..

May you be blessed and praised by all humanity.

You know, Lord, how we wholeheartedly desire

that all human beings respect and love you.

We dream of the future reality of your kingdom,

your project for humanity,

where no one of us is greater than another

or an oppressor of anyone,

so that we behave like brothers

and all human beings are intimately happy.

But when we wake up from our dream,

we see a very differrent world

and we think it is an almost impossible task

to lead it back to the pattern we have dreamed.

But we do not lose hope because you accompany us in this struggle.

You make utopia possible, thank you, Father.

Allow us to tell you that you are a good, approachable, affectionate God,

and that our greatest pride is to have a God like you.

In the name of all your children, our brothers spread all over the world,

we sing in your honour this hymn of glory.

Memorial of the Lord's Supper

Thank you, Father, for revealing yourself to us,

through your son, Jesus.

He has been our guide for discovering you

and learning the truth.

Jesus has shown us our goal:

to make you visible in the world,

to make love shine,

in a universal fraternity, without strife,

and make it glow in your wonderful creation.

Thank you, Father, for the testimony of your son Jesus,

who tried during his whole life and until his death

to make your kngdom a reality.

He insisted that you will reign amongst us

but he never wanted to be considered a king

and gave his service to the poorest people.

He didn't want to be the first or powerful,

and didn't look for honour in this world,

but was content to feel himself loved by a few

because by giving himself to others,

he found you and found himself

fully realized as a man.

Invocation to the Spirit of God

We want, holy Father, to proclaim to the world,

the truth of Jesus,

his earthly life and death, his eternal and happy life in you.

His fight against injustice and lies cost him blood.

Jesus was a crucified king, a king by being the servant of everybody, a paradox of God.

Jesus doesn't impose you on us with promises or threats,

and we want to follow Jesus, your son,

voluntaritly, as our leader,

because he and his word have convinced us.

And we want to be exponents of his gospel,

without excuses or exceptions.

The message of Jesus is the truth,

the light of the world which we cannot hide.

Send your Spirit over this community

which confesses its need of you.

Grant us security and self-confidence,

so that we don't weaken

and try to carry out in our lives

the characteristics of your kingdom.

With Jesus, your son, herald of truth,

to you, God, dear Father, all honour and glory for ever.

AMEN.