23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Processional Hymn - All Are Welcome

Let us build a house where love can dwell
And all can safely live,
A place where saints and children tell
How hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions,
Rock of faith and vault of grace;
Here the love of Christ shall end divisions.
All are welcome, all are welcome,
All are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where prophets speak,
And words are strong and true,
Where all God’s children dare to seek
To dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness
And as symbol of God’s grace;
Here as one we claim the faith of Jesus.
All are welcome, all are welcome,
All are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where love is found
In water, wine and wheat:
A banquet hall on holy ground
Where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus,
Is revealed in time and space;
As we share in Christ the feast that frees us.
All are welcome, all are welcome,
All are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where hands will reach
Beyond the wood and stone
To heal and strengthen, serve and teach,
And live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger
Bear the image of God’s face;
Let us bring an end to fear and danger.
All are welcome, all are welcome,
All are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where all are named,
Their songs and visions heard
And loved and treasured, taught and claimed
As words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter,
Prayers of faith and songs of grace,
Let this house proclaim from floor to rafter.
All are welcome, all are welcome,
All are welcome in this place. 

First Reading - Isaiah 35:4-7a

Thus says the LORD:
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water.

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 146

R. Praise the Lord, my soul! Praise the Lord!

It is the LORD who preserves fidelity forever, who does justice to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry, the Lord who sets prisoners free.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul! Praise the Lord!

The LORD who opens the eyes of the blind, the LORD who raises up those who are bowed down.
It is the LORD who loves the just, the LORD who protects the stranger.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul! Praise the Lord!

The LORD upholds the orphan and the widow, but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The LORD will reign forever, the God of Zion from age to age.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul! Praise the Lord!

Second Reading - James 2:1-5

My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please,” while you say to the poor one, “Stand there, ” or “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs?

Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.
Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

Gospel - Mark 7:31-37

Again Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis.
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” — And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Prayer for Our Lady of Angels Parish

Heavenly Father, we thank you for gathering us together and calling us to serve as your disciples.
You have charged us through your Son, Jesus, with the great mission of evangelizing and witnessing your love to the world.
Send your Holy Spirit to guide us as we discern your will for the spiritual renewal of our parish.
Give us strength, courage, and clear vision as we use our gifts to serve you.
We entrust our parish family to the care of Mary, our mother, and ask for her intercession and guidance, as we strive to build a parish that loves God, embraces all people, and shares the Gospel joyfully.
Amen.

Offertory Instrumental - Open My Eyes

Communion Hymn - Lord, Who at Your First Eucharist

Lord, who at your first Eucharist did pray
That all your Church might be forever one,
Help us at ev’ry Eucharist to say
With longing heart and soul, “Your will be done.”
Thus may we all one Bread, one Body be,
Through this blest Sacrament of Unity.

For all your Church, O Lord, we intercede;
O make our lack of charity to cease;
Draw us the nearer each to each, we plead,
By drawing back to you, O Prince of Peace;
Thus may we all one Bread, one Body be,
Through this blest Sacrament of Unity.

We pray for those who wander from your fold;
O bring them back, Good Shepherd of the sheep,
Back to the faith which saints believed of old,
Back to the Church will still that faith does keep;
Soon may we all one Bread, one Body be,
Through this blest Sacrament of Unity.

So, Lord, at length when sacraments shall cease,
May we be one with all your Church above,
One with your saints in one unbroken peace,
One with your saints in one unbounded love;
More blessed still, in peace and love to be
One with the Trinity in unity.

Spiritual Communion Prayer

My Jesus,
I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love you above all things, and I desire to receive you in my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there and I unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You.

Amen.

Recessional Hymn - How Can I Keep From Singing

My life flows on in endless song,
Above earth’s lamentation.
I hear the clear, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that Rock I’m clinging.
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear that music ringing.
It finds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that Rock I’m clinging.
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

What though my joys and comforts die?
The Lord, my savior, liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that Rock I’m clinging.
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing!
All things are mine since I am his!
How can I keep from singing?
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that Rock I’m clinging.
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?