Opening Prayer:
Prayer of St. Ignatius Loyola
All: Dear Lord, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve You as You deserve: to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek rest, to labor and not to ask for reward except that of knowing that I am doing Your will. Amen.
Scripture: John 12:23-28
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I solemnly assure you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. The man who loves his life loses it, while the man who hates his life in this world, preserves it to life eternal. If anyone would serve me, let him follow me; where I am there will my servant be. If anyone serves me, him the Father will honor. My soul is troubled now, yet what should I say – Father, save me from this hour? But it was for this that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from the sky: “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
Reading: by John Paul II
Now is the correct time for discerning and becoming more radically aware that life cannot develop without God and others. It is the time for facing the great questions, the choice between selfishness and generosity.
Each one of you is confronted by the challenge of giving full meaning to your life, the one life you are given to live…But you must live fully and with a purpose. You must live for God, you must live for others. And no one can live this life for you.
The future is yours, full of perils and possibilities, hope and anguish, suffering and happiness. But the future is above all a call and a challenge to ‘keep’ your life by giving up, by ‘losing it’ as the Gospel reminds us; by sharing through loving service of others. And the measure of your success will be the measure of your generosity.
Response: Based on the Prayer by St. Teresa of Avila
Antiphon: Christ has no body now but ours.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which He looks,
Compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good.
Yours are the hands with which He blesses the entire world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, and yours are the eyes,
You are His body.
Antiphon: Christ has no body now but ours.
Quiet Reflection: What sacrifices have you had to make in order to follow God’s call for you? What fruit have those sacrifices born?
Prayers of Petition: Please offer any intentions that you may have.
Memorare
Closing Prayer:
All: Lord, you have called us in your love. You have told us I will never forget you, my people because I have carved you on the palms of my hands. While we ask you to call new Marist Brothers into your service with us, we also ask you to preserve us whom you have already called so that we may faithfully live out our Marist call today. We make this prayer through Jesus Christ and with Mary, our Mother. Amen.
Salve
