Fifth Sunday of Easter - Cycle A

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General Intercessions: [English PDF]
	Celebrant: Jesus is the Way to the Father, because He is Truth and Life. Let us then bring our needs to God through him. Deacon/Lector: That those who have never heard the Gospel may hear it and put their faith in the word of the Lord, we pray to the Lord... For all who have been made ill by the Corona virus, for all who care for them, and for the governments and people of the world, that we may experience the healing mercy of the Lord, we pray to the Lord… For all who serve as deacons and those preparing to be deacons, that they may grow in the spirit of service, we pray to the Lord... That we, the People God claims as His own, may bear witness that He alone has the authority to give and take human life, we pray to the Lord... That on this Mother's Day, all mothers may receive the Holy Spirit's wisdom, strength, and joy, we pray to the Lord.... For our brothers and sisters in hospitals and nursing homes, and for the people who care for them, we pray to the Lord... That all those whom God has called from this world may enjoy the peace and life of the world to come, we pray to the Lord... Celebrant: Father, Your Son has gone to prepare a place for us. May His Word guide our life's journey And lead us to You forever. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bulletin Insert:
	Politics and Religion Do Mix The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in its doctrinal note “On some questions regarding the participation of Catholics in political life” (2002) said about St. Thomas More: “[He] gave witness by his martyrdom to the inalienable dignity of the human conscience. Though subjected to various forms of psychological pressure, Saint Thomas More refused to compromise, never forsaking the constant fidelity to legitimate authority and institutions which distinguished him; he taught by his life and his death that ‘man cannot be separated from God, nor politics from morality.’”
Homily Suggestions:
	Acts 6:1-7 1 Pt 2:4-9 Jn 14:1-12 Watch a video with homily hints In relation to the Culture of Life, this weekend’s readings reflect on our nature as a people, “a chosen race…a holy people.” This truth is expressed by the Church in our day through Pope John Paul II’s expression, “the People of Life” (Evangelium Vitae). In section 79 of that encyclical, the Pope invoked themes reminiscent of this weekend’s readings and tied into the overall theme of the Easter season: “We are the people of life because God, in his unconditional love, has given us the Gospel of life and by this same Gospel we have been transformed and saved. We have been ransomed by the "Author of life" (Acts 3:15) at the price of his precious blood (cf. 1 Cor 6:20; 7:23; 1 Pet 1:19). Through the waters of Baptism we have been made a part of him (cf. Rom 6:4-5; Col 2:12), as branches which draw nourishment and fruitfulness from the one tree (cf. Jn 15:5). Interiorly renewed by the grace of the Spirit, "who is the Lord and giver of life", we have become a people for life and we are called to act accordingly.” Moreover, the declaration of Jesus that he is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” and his reference to the “works” that he and his people do, can be effectively summarized by saying that Jesus is the Way precisely because he is truth and life. The Son of God came into the world to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn. 3:8), and as John 8 reveals, those works are lies and murder. Jesus, the Way, overcomes those works precisely by being the Truth (undoing the devil’s lies) and the Life (undoing the devil’s works of death.) The Church’s commitment to the defense of human life, and the work of the People of Life, takes its motivation and its shape from this truth.

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