PRIEST: Today Jesus teaches us that to be a Christian is to be committed to constant growth – allowing the seed of faith, the seed of Christ to grow within us, ever transforming us. He also encourages us that even though our lives are made up of small beginnings, He can achieve great things in us – the mustard seed will become the great tree – if we live for others! Let us confess to God our complacency that is satisfied with the habit of religion rather than the dynamism of faith.
READER: When we stifle the growth of God’s love in us;
when we expect little from God and welcome even less!
LORD HAVE MERCY …
When we expect little of other people;
when we do not help others to grow and develop;
when we do not believe in and value another,
CHRIST HAVE MERCY …
When we do not shelter and protect others
When we do not welcome the stranger among us
When we do not cry out with passion for justice and a love for the vulnerable,
LORD HAVE MERCY …
PRIEST: May the Father sow the seed of compassion into our hearts;
may the Son, the Redeeming Seed,
fall into the soil of heart and bring us to mercy;
may the Holy Spirit love us into growth in forgiveness;
and bring us all to everlasting life…
AMEN!