New Year’s Eve Watchnight Mass

[NB Hymn numbers refer to the ‘Laudate’ Hymnal]

ENTRANCE HYMN No 883

PENITENTIAL RITE Taizé ‘Kyrie’

GLORIA ‘Glory to God…’ (Peruvian Gloria)

LITURGY OF THE WORD
            First Reading Acts of the Apostles 2: 42-47
           Responsorial Song No 948
           Second Reading Philippians c2: vv1-11
           Gospel Acclamation African ‘Alleluia!’
           Gospel Luke 4: 16-22
           Homily

LITURGY OF DEDICATION TO THE MISSION OF CHRIST THIS NEW YEAR

Priest: Last year we concluded our celebration of 170 years of mission, service and presence here in the inner city of Bristol. We gave thanks for the riches of faith and love handed on to us by those who have gone before and are present with us still in the Communion of Saints.  As we accept the challenge to continue into a new decade and beyond, to be a light of faith, a vision of hope and a heart of love for the poor, the broken and the excluded of our city and our world we know that we cannot serve God’s Option for the Poor and proclaim the Gospel of Joy without a deep communion with our God Who is Love, an unbreakable communion with the Universal Church and a close communion with each other in our parish family. 

Deacon:  In this Diocesan Year of Communion we confess with sorrow that too often we have failed to be a ‘Living Parable of Communion’: too often we have not welcomed with a warm and open heart those different from us; too often we have wanted to remain cosy in our own small religious world, while God was calling us to engage compassionately and with the courage of prophets, with the real world of pain and hope, of despair and joy.  So we acknowledge that we, the Church in this place, have failed our God,  our city and our world.

Priest: As we are about to set foot upon this Year of Our Lord, 2020 (and with it a new decade), we come to affirm our faith in the Living God, Creator, Redeemer, Life-Giver; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Nourished as we are by God’s Word and guided by God’s Spirit, we dedicate ourselves anew to the work of the Kingdom, to fill this Year with the Mercy, Compassion and Love of Christ and His Holy Spirit.

So now I ask you, my brothers and sisters,
Will you affirm your faith in the Father, the Creator, the Life-giver?

PEOPLE:     I affirm with joy that I am a child of God created in the Divine image,
                          called and gifted to continue God’s creation of our Universe.

Deacon:    Will you affirm your faith in Jesus Christ, Son of God, Brother and Redeemer,
                      who gives Himself to you in Word and Eucharist?

PEOPLE:    I affirm with gratitude that Jesus is my Saving Brother,
                          speaking Divine Truth to my mind and heart by His Word,
                          and nourishing His Love in me by the great gift of the Eucharist;
                          calling me to a life of prayer and contemplation
                          so that I may live as brother and sister with all people;
                          challenging me to strive for peace and justice in a broken world,
                          urging me to proclaim the Good News of Mercy and Healing
                          by my action, life-style and words.

Priest: Will you affirm your faith in the Holy Spirit, Breath and Flame of God?

PEOPLE:    I affirm with profound openness of heart that the Holy Spirit
                         is the breath of God’s Life and the Fire of God’s Love within me:
                         bidding me to welcome and use the Spirit’s Power
                         for deep prayer, radical action and loving community
                         and so to be part of God’s Renewal of the Face of the Earth.

Deacon:    Will you, as we  set out together on this New Year,
affirm your faith in the Church of God as a living Bread of Christ
in God’s Hands to be broken and given for the life of the world?

PEOPLE:   I affirm with deep love that,
                        despite its many failures and profound inadequacies,
                         the Church will always remain God’s gift
                         proclaiming the Gospel down the centuries, calling me to prayer,
                         challenging me to live community with love, to heal every disunity,
                         to share my gifts and insights,
                         to foster Christian freedom and mission
                         and to be Bread in God’s Hands broken to give life to the world.

Priest:   At the turning of the Year may this affirmation deepen our faith,
                   envision our hope and enlarge our love;
                   as this Year of our Lord 2020 and this New Decade begins
may the Holy Trinity continue always to empower
                   our Mission of Mercy and Healing to our torn world.

PEOPLE:  AMEN! AMEN! ALLELUIA!

Renewal of our Allegiance to Jesus Christ No 777 & Song of Africa
[each one is invited to approach the Baptismal Water, bless themselves and then be anointed with Blessed Oil for the Mission of Christ in this New Year]

Bidding Prayers        People’s Response ‘Renew the Face of the Earth’

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
           Offertory Hymn No 858
           Eucharistic Acclamations
                   Sanctus No 553
                   Memorial No 761 [v1]
Our Father said
Peace ‘Let there be love…’
Communion Hymn No 633 (Eat this Bread)
African
No 932
 Recessional No 854    [Final Blessing and Hymn after all have processed outside the church to greet the New Year in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ]

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