April 5, 2019

A Birthday Prayer Service for the

March, 2019 Celebrators
Gathering in the Presence of
God
 Let us remember that we are in the most
holy presence of God…

“TAKE ME, THIS IS

MYSELF.”
Opening Song.
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 Opening Prayer: All
O God, who have called us to
participate in your most sacred
Supper, in which your Only Begotten
Son, when about to hand himself over
to death, entrusted to the Church a
sacrifice new for all eternity, the
banquet of His love,
grant, we pray, that we may draw from
so great a mystery, the fullness of
charity and of life. Through our Lord
Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and
reigns with you in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
 1 Cor 11:23-26
All
“For I received from the Lord what I also
passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on
the night he was betrayed, took
bread, 24 and when he had given
thanks, he broke it and said,
Birthday Celebrators
“TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT
OF IT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY,
WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR
YOU.”
All
In the same way, after supper he
took the chalice, and once
more giving thanks to God, he
said the blessing and gave the
chalice to his disciples, saying,
Birthday Celebrators
“TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK
FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF
MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW
AND EVERLASTING COVENANT, WHICH
WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND
FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF
SINS, DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.”
 Responsorial Psalm
Birthday Celebrators:

“CHRIST, TAKE ME.

THIS IS MY BODY,
THIS IS MY BLOOD,
THIS IS MYSELF.”
Responsorial Psalm: ALL

“Christ says to us, “Take

this; it is my body,” but
we too can say to him,
“Take this; it is my
body.” (Cantalamessa)
 Responsorial Psalm
Birthday Celebrators:

“CHRIST, TAKE ME.

THIS IS MY BODY,
THIS IS MY BLOOD,
THIS IS MYSELF.”
Responsorial Psalm: ALL
In the Eucharist, the incorruptible flesh of
the incarnate Word that gives life
becomes “mine,” but it also means that
my flesh, my humanity, becomes Christ’s
and belongs to him. In the Eucharist we
receive the body and blood of Christ, but
Christ also “receives” our body and
blood.
 Responsorial Psalm
Birthday Celebrators:

“CHRIST, TAKE ME.

THIS IS MY BODY,
THIS IS MY BLOOD,
THIS IS MYSELF.”
Responsorial Psalm: All
“Christ infuses Himself into us and
mingles Himself with us. He changes
and transforms us into Himself, as a
small drop of water is changed by
being poured into an immense sea
of ointment.” (Nicholas Cabasilas)
 Responsorial Psalm
Birthday Celebrators:

“CHRIST, TAKE ME.

THIS IS MY BODY,
THIS IS MY BLOOD,
THIS IS MYSELF.”
Responsorial Psalm: ALL
If the Church in its innermost and
truest meaning is the body of Christ,
then I actualize the Church in
myself, I am an “ecclesial being,” to
the extent that I allow Christ to make
me his body, not just in theory but
also in practice.
 Responsorial Psalm
Birthday Celebrators:

“CHRIST, TAKE ME.

THIS IS MY BODY,
THIS IS MY BLOOD,
THIS IS MYSELF.”
Responsorial Psalm: ALL
“Then a miracle will be,
a transformation:
You will become me,
and I—eucharistic—
You.” (St. John Paul II)
 Responsorial Psalm
Birthday Celebrators:

“CHRIST, TAKE ME.

THIS IS MY BODY,
THIS IS MY BLOOD,
THIS IS MYSELF.”
Responsorial Psalm: ALL.
“The most wonderful thing that one
spouse can say to another, and vice
versa, is “You have made me
happy!” Jesus deserves that his
spouse, the Church, says that to him
from the bottom of her heart. “Jesus,
you have made me happy!”
 Responsorial Psalm
Birthday Celebrators:

“CHRIST, TAKE ME.

THIS IS MY BODY,
THIS IS MY BLOOD,
THIS IS MYSELF.”
GOSPEL READING
John 6:29-35 All:
Jesus answered, “The work of
God is this: to believe in the one
he has sent.” So they asked him,
“What sign then will you give that
we may see it and believe
you? What will you do?
 John 6:29-35 All:
 
Our ancestors ate the manna in the
wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave
them bread from heaven to eat.’[a]”
32 
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell
you, it is not Moses who has given you
the bread from heaven, but it is my
Father who gives you the true bread
from heaven.
 John 6:29-35 All:
 
For the bread of God is the bread
that comes down from heaven and
gives life to the world.”
34 
“Sir, always give us this bread,”
they said. Then Jesus declared,
 Birthday Celebrators:
“I AM THE BREAD OF
LIFE. WHOEVER COMES TO
ME WILL NEVER GO
HUNGRY, AND WHOEVER
BELIEVES IN ME WILL
NEVER BE THIRSTY.”
Silence Take this and
eat of it. Take
this and drink
of it. This is my
body, this my
blood. This is
myself.
 In Other Words

The Christ event includes the

inconceivable fact of what the
Church Fathers call a sacrum
commercium, an exchange
between God and man.
 In Other Words

The Fathers explain it in this way: we have

nothing to give God, we have only our sin to
place before him. And this he receives and
makes his own, while in return he gives us
himself and his glory: a truly unequal
exchange, which is brought to completion in
the life and passion of Christ.
 In Other Words

He becomes, as it were, a
“sinner”, he takes sin upon
himself, takes what is ours and
gives us what is his.
 In Other Words

But as we continue to reflect upon and live

the faith, it became clear that we not only
give him our sin, but that he has
empowered us, from deep within he gives
us the power, to offer him something
positive as well: our love – to offer him
humanity in the positive sense.
 Silence

Clearly, it is only through God’s generosity

that man, the beggar, who receives a
wealth of divine gifts, is yet able to offer
something to God as well; that God makes
it possible for us to accept his gift, by
making us capable of becoming givers
ourselves in his regard.
ACTION
Let us seek to love Christ and to
make him loved, and we will have
rendered our best service to the
Church. If the Church is the
spouse of Christ, then like every
spouse she will generate new
children only in uniting herself to
her Spouse through love.
ACTION
Our fruitfulness as a
community depends on our love
for Christ. The best service
anyone of us can do for this
community is therefore to love
Jesus and grow in intimacy with
him.
Our Father
Intercessory Prayer:
All the non birthday
celebrators raise their
hands towards the
birthday celebrators.

Birthday celebrators
respond (Amen) in
every after prayer.
Intercessory Prayer
(Non-Celebrators) (Birthday Celebrators)

May God, the Father of mercies,

who has given you an example of
love in the Passion of his only
Begotten Son, grant that, by
serving God and your neighbor,
you may lay hold of the wondrous
gift of his blessing. Amen.
Intercessory Prayer
(Non-Celebrators) (Birthday Celebrators)

Bless them with your abundant

blessing and as we are renewed
by the Supper of your Son in this
present age, so they may enjoy
his banquet for all eternity. Give
them your love and make them
happy in your presence. Amen.
Intercessory Prayer
(Non-Celebrators) (Birthday Celebrators)

That you may keep them in your

constant care, so that under
your protection, they may be
free from all troubles and by
good works show dedication to
your name. Amen
 Intercessory Prayer
(Non-Celebrators) (Birthday Celebrators)

Bestow increase of heavenly grace

on your faithful, O Lord; may they
praise you with their lips, with their
souls, with their lives; and since it is
by your gift that they exist, may
their whole lives be yours. (Amen)
Intercessory Prayer
(All)

And may the blessing of

almighty God, the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, come down on us and
remain with us forever. Amen.
Our Lady of the Star,
pray for us.
 St. Joseph,
pray for us.
St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray
for us.
Live Jesus in our hearts,
forever.
 Closing Song:

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