Fourth Sunday of the Year C

The following are prayerful resources rather than a liturgy.

• Responsorial Psalm
• 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
  

Psalm 70

My lips will tell of your help

My lips will tell of your help.

1. In you , O Lord, I take refuge

Let me never be put to shame.

In your justice rescue me, free me:

Pay heed to me and save me.

2. Be a rock where I can take refuge

a mighty stronghold to save me;

for you are my rock, my stronghold

Free me from the hand of the wicked.

3. It is you, O Lord, who are my hope,

my trust ,O Lord, since my youth.

On you I have leaned from my birth,

from my mother’s womb you have been my help. 

4. My lips will tell of your justice

and day by day of your help.

O God, you have taught me from my youth

and I proclaim your wonders still.

Luke 4:21-30  No prophet is ever accepted in his own country

Jesus began to speak in the synagogue:

‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

And he won the approval of all,

and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips.

They said, ‘This is Joseph’s son, surely?’
But he replied, ‘No doubt you will quote me the saying,

“Physician, heal yourself” and tell me,

“We have heard all that happened in Capernaum,

do the same here in your own countryside.”’

And he went on,

‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.
‘There were many widows in Israel,

I can assure you, in Elijah’s day,

when heaven remained shut for three years and six months

and a great famine raged throughout the land,

but Elijah was not sent to any one of these:

he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town.

And in the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel,

but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.’

When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged.

They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town;

and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on,

intending to throw him down the cliff,

but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.

This 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 watched our online liturgy, you might want simply to reflect yourself on what you have seen and heard 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)

Modern prophets such as Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu, Oscar Romero or Mother Teresa knew they were going to be opposed, threatened or even killed.

What drives them and Pope Francis and Greta Thunberg on is their rock-solid belief/faith

in their need to speak and act - despite any opposition from those around them.

1. What would you like to say or do in your faith journey but are afraid of rejection? (Share)
2.  What do you do when a message you are trying to deliver "falls on deaf ears"?
   

Prayers of Intercession

We pray for our faith leaders especially Pope Francis and our bishops here in Scotland, that they will boldly proclaim God’s radical and transforming love for all people and creation and so lead God’s people to bring about the Kingdom of God in our world.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

For the leaders of our country that they will seek God’s wisdom in making decisions, especially those which affect the most vulnerable in our society, so that  those who are powerless are granted justice and protection from harm.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We commend to almighty and loving God those suffering from religious discrimination and persecution, that their own rights and dignity be recognized since we are all brothers and sisters in the human family. We also bring before God all those living in areas of conflict, in the Holy Land, in the Ukraine, Yemen, and other areas which don’t reach the headlines.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

That we will be filled with God’s spirit of adoption as his children and being assured of his love, live the gospel with courage and joy and  so be the light of Christ amongst our families , communities places of work and in our care for our home the earth. 

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We bring before our loving Father all those who suffer ill health in mind body and spirit in our community, those awaiting tests and treatment, and all those we pray for named in  the Cluster newsletter and Prayer foundation,  that the Lord will comfort, heal and strengthen them. 

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We lift up in prayer to our heavenly Father and our mother Mary, those who have died recently:

 David Dowie,

Pauline McLaughlin (nee O’Donnell),

John Waugh Snr

Angela Jensen.

We remember those named in the Prayer foundation and those whose anniversaries occur at this time of year. We also remember the families and friends of those who have died, asking that that the Lord will comfort them in their sorrow.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Prayer to be Missionary Disciples