Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

God's simple covenant - listen to my voice and I will be your God - has been met with generational refusal; Jesus drives out a demon and warns that whoever does not gather with him scatters.

Through Jeremiah, God recalls his original covenant with Israel: listen to my voice, walk in my ways, and you shall prosper. But from the exodus onward, Israel stiffened their necks, turned their backs, and did worse than their fathers. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech. The psalm pleads: if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts as at Meribah. In the Gospel, Jesus drives out a mute demon and the crowds divide - some amazed, some accusing him of working by Beelzebul. Jesus responds: a kingdom divided against itself is laid waste. If he drives out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom has come upon them. The strong man's palace is safe only until one stronger arrives. Whoever is not with Jesus is against him; whoever does not gather with him scatters.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, you speak and we are healed; you call and we are freed from what holds us captive. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Christ Jesus, you are the Lamb of God who breaks every power of evil and brings the Kingdom near. PEOPLE: Christ, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, you gather the scattered and give voice to the silenced. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

PRIEST: God's covenant is simple: listen to my voice and I will be your God. With hearts open to his voice, let us pray.

DEACON/LECTOR:

1. For our Holy Father, our bishop, and all who shepherd the Church: that they would call God's people to listen with soft hearts and gather rather than scatter, we pray to the Lord.

2. For leaders of nations: that they would resist division and build unity, knowing that every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, we pray to the Lord.

3. For those whose hearts have hardened through disappointment, loss, or unanswered prayer: that the Holy Spirit would soften what life has calcified and restore the gift of listening, we pray to the Lord.

4. For our parish community: that we would be a place of gathering - where the scattered find welcome and the silenced find voice, we pray to the Lord.

5. For those oppressed by evil in any form - addiction, despair, abuse, spiritual darkness: that the finger of God would set them free, we pray to the Lord.

6. For the faithful departed: that the God who never stopped calling them would gather them into eternal life, we pray to the Lord.

PRIEST: Lord God, you have never stopped sending your voice to your people. Open our ears, soften our hearts, and help us gather with your Son rather than scatter from him, through Christ our Lord. Amen.