Thanksgiving

It's truly worthy and right that we,

called together by your word,

honour you and give you thanks

by means of the gift of speech you have given us.

We recognise you before the world as our Father,

the founder of humanity and all creation.

By your word everything existed

and without your word there was no existence at all.

Your word contained life

and by making us participants of your word,

you gave us life and light,

a light that shines always, even in darkness.

We bless you, Father,

because you have wanted to dwell in our innermost selves

and you speak to us and you want us to communicate with you

and also with each other.

Therefore, we join with the prophets

and with all those who gave testimony of You in this canticle of praise.

Memorial of the Lord's Supper

Thank you, our Lord and Father,

because in the moment elected by You,

your Word became light amongst us

and lit up all men of goodwill.

In the solemn moment of his appointment,

with John the Baptist as a witness,

your words were very brief:

"This is my beloved son, listen to him".

And Jesus of Nazareth, annointed with your spirit,

proclaimed good news for the poor.

On his part, he announced liberty for the oppressed,

he opened the eyes of those who couldn't see

and gave to all human beings a message of a life of plenitude.

He always spoke to us in your name, his words were your words,

and that's why we feel he always spoke with authority.

But he always used simple and clear words, illustrated by parables,

so that all of us could understand.

We remember his words in his farewell supper,

when he summarised in them his whole life of trust and service.

Invocation to the Spirit of God

Remembering these words of Jesus,

we bear witness to his life and his message,

we call to mind with emotion his painful death on the cross

and we proclaim his meeting you again.

We would like to hear your word, Father God, even in your silence

and know how to distringuish it from purely human words.

We count on your Spirit

to help us understand your word

and accept it such as it is,

without making any self-interested modifications or interpretations.

Don't allow, Lord, our words to sound hollow.

Inspire the servants of your word, as you did with the prophets,

so that they may be your authentic messengers

and not falsify the good news of your Kingdom.

With the faith you have placed in us,

sometimes very insecure but always searching,

we raise to You, Father, our prayer,

in the name of all this community

in praise of Jesus Christ and in your presence

in your honour and to your greatest glory.

AMEN.