Second Sunday of Lent A

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
  • Cluster Prayer
  • The gospel of the week ahead with questions

Matthew 17: 1-9  His face shone like the sun


Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John

and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone.

There in their presence he was transfigured:

his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light.

Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking with him.

Then Peter spoke to Jesus.

‘Lord,’ he said ‘it is wonderful for us to be here;

if you wish, I will make three tents here,

one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’


He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered them with shadow,

and from the cloud there came a voice which said,

‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’

When they heard this the disciples fell on their faces overcome with fear.

But Jesus came up and touched them.

‘Stand up,’ he said ‘do not be afraid.’

And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but only Jesus.

As they came down from the mountain Jesus gave them this order,

‘Tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.


This is the gospel of the Lord.

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.

Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). All rights reserved.


Having used our prayer resources, you might want simply to reflect yourself on them 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)

Peter, James and John: privileged to see the divinity shining out of Jesus;

and to witness a man sweating blood with the thought of what lay ahead of him.

We experience a little of that "faith in/fear of" in our personal lives too.

  1. Recall a time when you experienced a change in your faith - or your fear -
    in relation to your beliefs and values.
  2. What difference does your faith in Jesus Christ make in your life?*

* All second questions © The Pastoral Center

Prayers of Intercession

 

In the gospel we hear the father’s voice - "This is my Son, the beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him”. Pope Francis too, has reminded us that as disciples of Jesus we are called to be people who listen to the voice of Jesus and take his words seriously.

 

We pray that Pope Francis will continue to be guided by the Father’s voice. As he encourages and guides us to live the message of Jesus in our daily lives may we seek the strength and courage to do so during this time of Lent.

 

Lord in your mercy - Hear our prayer.

 

During this holy time of Lent when we seek to deepen and share our faith in Christ, we ask that our Lenten journey, shared with each other and our fellow Christians be a time of growth and unity. May we open our hearts to listening and supporting one another.

 

Lord in your mercy - Hear our prayer.

 

During Fair Trade fortnight we pray that all governments will work together to seek justice for small producers in the global south so that all who sell their produce receive a fair price for their goods. May we continue to support the sale of Fair Trade goods in our cluster.

 

Lord in your mercy - Hear our prayer. 

 

We pray for all the many difficult and heart-breaking situations in our world. We ask God’s guidance in our efforts to support those who are suffering in so many ways. May his healing love transform situations of despair into those of hope and growth. We ask that the Holy Spirit guide us and all in roles of leadership who are able sow the seeds of change. 

 

Lord in your mercy - Hear our prayer.

 

We bring before the Lord all who are suffering in body or mind – may his healing touch bring them comfort and relief; we remember especially all who are named on our prayer foundation list. May God bless those who give their lives to caring for people in any kind of need..

 

Lord in your mercy - Hear our prayer. 

 

For all those who have died recently especially Ellen McPartlin, Sean Calvey, Tom O’Neil, Clare Whitehead, Frances Brown, Rebecca, Evelyn Jamieson, Betty Dickinson and all those whose anniversary occurs at this time.

May they know the peace and joy of their heavenly home and may God comfort those who mourn their loss.

 

Lord in your mercy - Hear our prayer.

 

 

We will now say the Missionary Prayer together.

Prayer to be Missionary Disciples

Picture of Jesus at door

Lord continue to bless our community
in this time of transition.
Help us on our journey
to grow from a maintenance church
to a missionary church.
Give us the courage
to be missionary disciples.
Make our doors wide enough
to receive all who need
human love and fellowship;
narrow enough to shut out
all envy, pride and prejudice.
Kindle in us the fire of your love
that all who come here
will find joy, peace and love.
Make this a house of prayer
and a gateway to your kingdom.
AMEN

Preparing for next week -  Third Sunday of Lent A

John 4: 5-42      A spring of water welling up to eternal life.


Jesus came to the Samaritan town called Sychar,

near the land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Jacob’s well is there and Jesus, tired by the journey, sat straight down by the well.

It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.

The Samaritan woman said to him,

‘What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?’ –

Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritans.


Jesus replied:
‘If you only knew what God is offering and who it is that is saying to you:
Give me a drink, you would have been the one to ask,

and he would have given you living water.’


‘You have no bucket, sir,’ she answered ‘and the well is deep:

how could you get this living water?

Are you a greater man than our father Jacob who gave us this well

and drank from it himself with his sons and his cattle?’

 

Jesus replied:
‘Whoever drinks this water will get thirsty again;
but anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again:
the water that I shall give will turn into a spring inside him,welling up to eternal life.’

‘Sir,’ said the woman ‘give me some of that water, so that I may never get thirsty

and never have to come here again to draw water.’


‘Go and call your husband’ said Jesus to her ‘and come back here.’

The woman answered, ‘I have no husband.’

He said to her, ‘You are right to say, “I have no husband”;

for although you have had five, the one you have now is not your husband.

You spoke the truth there.’


‘I see you are a prophet, sir’ said the woman. ‘Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, while you say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’


Jesus said:
‘Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know:
for salvation comes from the Jews.
But the hour will come – in fact it is here already –
when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth:
that is the kind of worshipper the Father wants.
God is spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth.’

The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah – that is, Christ – is coming;

and when he comes he will tell us everything.’


‘I who am speaking to you,’ said Jesus ‘I am he.’


At this point his disciples returned, and were surprised to find him speaking to a woman, though none of them asked, ‘What do you want from her?’ or, ‘Why are you talking to her?’ The woman put down her water jar and hurried back to the town to tell the people.

‘Come and see a man who has told me everything I ever did; I wonder if he is the Christ?’ This brought people out of the town and they started walking towards him.


Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, do have something to eat;

but he said, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’

So the disciples asked one another,

‘Has someone been bringing him food?’


But Jesus said:
‘My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to complete his work.
Have you not got a saying: Four months and then the harvest?
Well, I tell you: Look around you, look at the fields;

already they are white, ready for harvest!
Already the reaper is being paid his wages,
already he is bringing in the grain for eternal life,
and thus sower and reaper rejoice together.
For here the proverb holds good:
one sows, another reaps;
I sent you to reap a harvest you had not worked for.
Others worked for it; and you have come into the rewards of their trouble.’

Many Samaritans of that town had believed in him

on the strength of the woman’s testimony when she said,

‘He told me all I have ever done’, so, when the Samaritans came up to him,

they begged him to stay with them.

He stayed for two days, and when he spoke to them many more came to believe;

and they said to the woman, ‘Now we no longer believe because of what you told us;

we have heard him ourselves and we know that he really is the saviour of the world.’

This is the gospel of the Lord.

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.

Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). All rights reserved

Questions for reflection (framed for a group discussion)

Headline: "Multi-divorcee Samaritan claims she's met the Messiah at well."

Through this fascinating conversation we learn that Jesus the Messiah comes not to conquer

but to be the source of life - an everlasting life - and makes missionary disciples out of multi-divorcees...


  1. When you were at a low level in your spiritual life, who or what re-invigorated you?
  2. What difference does your faith in Jesus Christ make in your life?*

* All second questions © The Pastoral Center