Morning Prayer for Monday, 8 February 2021

Prayer (read by Cardinal Kurt Koch)

Lord, as we begin this day and week together in prayer,

teach us to seek you and reveal yourself to us when we seek you.

For we cannot seek you unless you first teach us, nor find you except you reveal yourself to us. Let us seek you in longing, and long for you in seeking;

let us find you in love and love you in finding, O Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen

(Pilgrim Prayer, adapted, 27)

♪          Cuando el pobre (When the poor ones)  

Responsive Psalm 147: 1 – 11, 20   

(read antiphonally by Mr Joe C. Aquilina and Miss Anna Caruana-Colombo)

Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God;

    for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.

He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

The Lord lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre.

He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth,

    makes grass grow on the hills.

He gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry.

His delight is not in the strength of the horse,

    nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;

but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances.

Praise the Lord!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

Prayer before the Proclamation of God’s Word (read by Ms Lurdes Teixeira, Portugal)

Blessed are you, O God, for your word of strength, of encouragement, of hope –

that contagious word which allows us to believe

and to move towards the renewal of our world.

Grant us to hear your word and to persevere in it, putting it into practice.

Amen

(Pilgrim Prayer, 30)

Scripture Reading: Mark 1: 29 – 39

(read in Maltese by Msgr Prof. Hector Scerri)

²⁹ As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰ Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. ³¹ He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. ³² That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. ³³ And the whole city was gathered around the door. ³⁴ And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

³⁵ In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. ³⁶ And Simon and his companions hunted for him. ³⁷ When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” ³⁸ He answered, “Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” ³⁹ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Reflection

Rev. Luca Maria Negro

♪          Anunciaremos tu reino (We are announcing your kingdom) 

Prayers of Intercession (Rev. Dr. Matteo Ricciardi, Italy; recorded)

L:         With the words that Jesus taught us, let us now pray together:

Our Father…

Benediction

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

and the love of God

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit

be with us all this day.

Amen

*****

Participants:

• Cardinal Kurt Koch, PCPCU, Vatican City
• Mr Joe C. Aquilina, Lighthouse Network, and composer of spiritual praise, Malta
• Ms Anna Caruana-Colombo, Secretary of Christians Together in Malta - Malta Ecumenical Council
• Ms Lurdes Guimaraes Teixeira, former WCC staff, Portugal
• Msgr Prof. Hector Scerri, Chairperson of Christians Together in Malta - Malta Ecumenical Council; and Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity
• Rev. Luca Maria Negro, President of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy

Rev. Dr Matteo Ricciardi, University of Bologna, Italy.