27th Sunday B
The following are prayerful resources rather than a liturgy
- The gospel for the day
(a useful commentary on the reading
here) - Some optional questions for reflection
- Prayers of Intercession
- Our Cluster Prayer
Gospel Mark 10:2-16 What God has united, man must not divide
Some Pharisees approached Jesus and asked,
‘Is it against the law for a man to divorce his wife?’
They were testing him.
He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’
‘Moses allowed us’ they said ‘to draw up a writ of dismissal and so to divorce.’
Then Jesus said to them,
‘It was because you were so unteachable
that he wrote this commandment for you.
But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.
This is why a man must leave father and mother,
and the two become one body.
They are no longer two, therefore, but one body.
So then, what God has united, man must not divide.’
Back in the house the disciples questioned him again about this,
and he said to them,
‘The man who divorces his wife and marries another
is guilty of adultery against her.
And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another
she is guilty of adultery too.’
People were bringing little children to him, for him to touch them.
The disciples turned
them away,
but when Jesus saw this he was indignant and said to them,
‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them;
for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.
I tell you solemnly,
anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God
like a little child will never enter it.’
Then he put his arms round them,
laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing.
This is the gospel of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Copyright © 1996-2021 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.
Having read the gospel, you might want simply to reflect yourself on what you have read and how that might flow into your coming week. Some people have found it very helpful to meet with others and share their thoughts.
If you are interested in joining a small group to share your thoughts and feelings about God's Word from any of the resources you have watched please email us. cluster.alpha@outlook.com
Questions for reflection (framed for a group discussion)
Divorce is a fact of life for many, including Catholics.
Jesus sets a high moral threshold in his teaching on marriage,
but an equally high threshold of mercy for those who fail to reach it.
"He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone..."
- When have you experienced the merciful Jesus through a person in your life?
- What could keep you from embracing the kingdom of God like a little child?
Prayers of Intercession
Today we celebrate the last Sunday of the ‘Season of Creation’.
Throughout the last five weeks
we have sought to regain an appreciation of what it means to call the earth,
and all who dwell in her, our common home.
May Pope Francis’ call to hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor,
instill in all peoples a desire to take the radical action Jesus calls us to make.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
For the church, that it strives to work
with all who seek to respond to the climate emergency,
by transforming our political, social and economic systems
towards just, sustainable economies
which respect the life giving ecological limits of our common home.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
For a commitment to the children of today and tomorrow.
May we support all those young people bravely campaigning for action to avert climate catastrophe.
From them we pray for a new generation of inspired leaders
who are willing to act justly for the common good.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
For Sunday afternoon’s prayer time ahead of COP26 in St Catherine’s Church.
That our joint prayers will make a difference in this world
and that we are given courage to speak the truth,
that self-interest is the past and common interest is the future.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
For ourselves, that we will seek to be a community of prayer, discernment and action,
built on a personal encounter with Jesus
and the Spirit will lead us to a time of ecological conversion so that,
simply through our lifestyle, we will be witnesses of prophetic hope.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
For those who are unwell or anxious and those who are concerned for loved ones.
May we be present alongside them in their pain.
In particular we remember all those named in the Prayer Foundation.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
For all who have died and those who are bereaved.
In particular George Lewis and Charlie McAuley.
May they rest in the deep peace of the Lord.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
