Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Israel luxuriant vine whose fruit matches growth; more fruit more altars more sacred pillars; their heart is false; God shall break down their altars; if they say we have no king what can the king do since they do not fear Lord; king of Samaria disappear like foam upon waters; thorns and thistles shall overgrow their altars; they shall cry out to mountains cover us hills fall upon us; sow for yourselves justice reap the fruit of piety; break up for yourselves a new field for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain down justice upon you. Sing to him praise him proclaim his wondrous deeds; glory in his holy name; rejoice O hearts that seek the Lord; look to the Lord in his strength seek to serve him constantly. Jesus summoned Twelve disciples gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and cure every disease and illness; names of Twelve: Simon Peter Andrew James John Philip Bartholomew Thomas Matthew James Thaddeus Simon Cananean and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus; sent them out: do not go into pagan territory; go rather to lost sheep of house of Israel; as you go make this proclamation: the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Hosea indicts Israel as the luxuriant vine that turned its prosperity into more altars and sacred pillars - their heart is false, and God will break down what they built; the king of Samaria will disappear like foam; but then the invitation: sow for yourselves justice, break up a new field, it is time to seek the Lord till he rain down justice. The psalm: sing to the Lord, recall his wondrous deeds, rejoice O hearts that seek the Lord. In the Gospel, Jesus summons the Twelve, gives them authority over unclean spirits and diseases, names each one including Judas Iscariot who betrayed him, and sends them to the lost sheep of Israel with the proclamation that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, through Hosea you show us the luxuriant vine that turned its abundance into idolatry - and then the invitation at the end: sow justice, break up a new field, it is time to seek. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Christ Jesus, you named every one of the Twelve before you sent them, including the one who would betray you - the naming and sending are yours to do, the faithfulness ours to live. PEOPLE: Christ, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand - you give us the proclamation before the conditions are what we would choose, before we know how the mission will go. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

PRIEST: It is time to seek the Lord. Let us bring our prayers before the one who rains down justice on those who seek.

DEACON/LECTOR:

1. That those who lead the Church would break up the fallow ground in their own interior lives before calling the people to break up theirs - the labor before the rain, in the leadership first, we pray to the Lord.
2. Where prosperity has produced more altars rather than more gratitude - where abundance has become the occasion of idolatry - that the break-up would begin before the thorns cover the altars entirely, we pray to the Lord.
3. For those who have been named and sent with authority they are not sure they can hold faithfully, that the one who named them including the betrayer would sustain them as they go, we pray to the Lord.
4. For the lost sheep of this community - the specific people who are not in the room but are the reason the mission goes out - that laborers would be sent to them from this parish this week, we pray to the Lord.
5. In this Precious Blood month, for the rain of justice purchased by the blood of the one who sent the Twelve to the lost sheep of Israel, we pray to the Lord.
6. Those who have been gathered from the lost - the faithful departed who were found by the laborers sent to them - we give thanks for the ones who were sent and the ones who were found, we pray to the Lord.

PRIEST: Lord, it is time to seek you. Break up the fallow ground in this parish. Let the sowing come before the rain. Let the naming and sending go out to the lost sheep around us, and let the proclamation be simple and clear: the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Precious Blood of Jesus, save us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.