PRAYER HOURS IN LAUDATO' SI WEEK (May 16-24)

Prayer times can begin with lighting candles and creating a space with natural decoration items that represent agriculture or the wild products available in the local ecosystem, prayer times can also be celebrated outdoors with nature, after each session, ask the community to observe a few minutes of silence.

Intro: Preacher – (community please stand)

Dear community, we are gathered here in the name of the Trinity: Creator, Redeemer and Maintainer of the earth and all creation!

Praise to the most Holy Trinity! God is the melody of life, the Creator of the universe, the Source of life for all things; To whom the angels sing; the wondrous light of all the mysteries known or unknown to mankind, and is the life present in all things.

Embracing beauty and committing to the care for our common home, the encyclical Laudato Si' takes its name from the prayer of Saint Francis: "Laudato Si'- Praise the Lord". In the song of creation reminds us that the Earth is our common home, “like a sister with whom we share our lives and like a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us”. It is “we are the earth” (Genesis 2:7). Our bodies are made up of the elements of the Earth, air gives us breath, water keeps us alive and nourished.”

Today more than ever, the earth is being persecuted, plundered, and groans in pain along with the groans of all the abandoned people of this world. Pope Francis invites to listen to them, he calls on all and every person, individual, family, local community, national and international committee to convert the environment, fellow by the words of Saint Pope John Paul II, which means "change of direction", embraces the beauty and responsibility of the commitment to care for our common home.

In response to the invitation of the Holy Father, we celebrate a time of prayer. May God allow each person, each family, each organization and our parish to listen to the call to protect the earth, so that the earth can be a peaceful, prosperous place for us and for all of God's creation.

Sing: God’s glory- VINH QUANG CHÚA
Response

Choir: We are gathered here in the image of the Creator

Response: The One who is the community of love

Choir: We are gathered here in the name of the Redeemer

Response: The One who reconciled all creation

Choir: We are gathered here in the presence of the Giver of Life

Response: The One who ignited new life and renews life.

Praise - psalm 104 – NRSVCE

Ant: These all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.

You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.

Bless the Lord, o my soul.
You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
the sun knows its time for setting.
You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.

The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
When the sun rises, they withdraw
and lie down in their dens.
People go out to their work
and to their labor until the evening.
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills,
giving drink to every wild animal;
the wild asses quench their thirst.

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to use,[f]
to bring forth food from the earth,
and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine,
and bread to strengthen the human heart.
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

A+B May the glory of the Lord endure forever!

Penitent:

We praise You, Lord, because You created the earth with life and put in it the laws of circulation. God has extended his hand to feed the creatures he created. Moreover, God also gave humans and creatures the Sabbath day so that people and the land could rest. Today, however, our way of life has pushed the planet beyond its limits. The forests are eroding, the topsoil is being washed away, the fields are disappearing, the deserts are expanding again, the seas are acidifying, the storms are getting stronger. Humans and animals are forced to flee in search of safety.

We therefore confess:

1. God of mercy, you let us know that the land needs rest. We have demanded that the Earth produce beyond its capacity, lacking the courage to resist illusions of endless growth.

R: God have mercy on us

2.You have called us to pause sowing, to stop pruning and reaping that using destructive farming methods, but we have not stopped exploiting the land and poisoning it with brutal farming methods, making the land turn more and more into a desert.

R: God have mercy on us.

3.Lord, you assure us that the yield of land is enough to satisfy everyone's needs,

but we have squandered our food and energy, did not believe that God could feed us abundantly.

R: God have mercy on us.

4.Lord, you tell us that the land cannot be sold forever, because the land and everything in it is yours. But we brought the land out to exchange, trade and possess for our own benefit.

R: God have mercy on us.

5.You call us to leave fruit in the fields to feed the poor, the wild animals and enrich the land, but we have failed to share back what we have received from Earth with others.

R: God have mercy on us.

6.You call us to practice justice and truth, but we lacked of faith, we did not love God with all our heart, strength and mind, did not love our neighbor or creatures as ourself.

R: God have mercy on us.

7.Deliver us from our fears and doubts

R: So that we can envision a life of reconciliation with the Earth and all living things, through the Gospel preached by Jesus Christ.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.(Rm 8,26-27)

R: Amen

(Keep silent 1-2 minutes)

Proclaim the Gospel: please stand

Mt 20,1-16: The Laborers in the Vineyard

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage,[a] he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage.[b] 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage.[c] 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?[d] 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’[e] 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”[f]

Homily: Please sit-down

There is enough for our need, not for our greed.

The story of the kingdom of heaven is told by the evangelist Matthew through a very simple and specific story: the master went out to hire workers to work in his vineyard. The story begins at "early in the morning" and ends when it's already late afternoon. We are invited to observe the behavior of the master and the feelings of the workers.

Perhaps, after making an agreement with the owner, the first worker was also happy because he had a job opportunity in the early morning and was satisfied with the salary range. However, let us feel how much greater joy was in the last person to be hired by the owner. The Gospel says he was hired at “the eleventh hour”, which is 6pm. His joy was further increased when he is still paid a salary of 1 dong and was paid first. The story went well until the manager paid the first person. The joyful atmosphere was taken from him when he complained about the way his boss was paid.

In my “sky” I am always satisfied and happy with what I have been given; This satisfaction is lost when I start comparing myself to the brothers and sisters around. A false need woven into desire, concealed or disguised by greed and envy. God nourishes man with the finest wheat, gives him his full enjoyment, and no one ever needs. Out of greed man has put himself in a state of deprivation.

This human greed has made today's earth vulnerable and exhausted. Humans poison the environment miserably from their waste; deplete resources from the mother earth without thinking about conservation and restoration; massacre the forests amidst the cries of animals and creatures; and in the end man destroys himself.

The Jubilee for the Earth invites us to think about how we use the earth: use it responsibly, with esteemed love or selfish use, only know how to ask and satisfy but never give, preserve and create. Greed pushes us into sad stories, puts us in a “polluted” environment and loses our life and joy.

Pope Francis in his Encyclical Laudato Si', invites the Earth community to live out our faith in a new relationship with God through love of creation. The question is asked: “What have we come to this earth for? For what purpose do we work and fight? Why does the Earth need us?" Only when we allow nature to envelop our faith and our worldview, we will not "litter" into the social and ecclesial environment with the human’s "indestructible ideas". “Many things need to be reoriented, first of all humanity in general and our community in particular must change themselves. There should be a sense of common origin, a mutual belonging and a shared future for all. This basic awareness helps to form new convictions, new attitudes and ways of life.”

May the spirit of the Our Father prayer be embraced by each one of us: give us our daily bread, may your will always be done and forgive us.

Community keep silent (2-3 minutes)

Sing: All creation - MUÔN TẠO VẬT ƠI (Ngọc Kôn)

Prayer: please stand

Preacher(P): Let us pray together in thanksgiving for the Mother Earth, the source of all life. Brother Sun has life-giving energy, Sister Water nourishes and revives us and the fellow creatures who are living with us, and because of them we are called to cultivate and preserve this garden. O spirit of creation.

Response(R): Lighten our hearts and stay with Your world.

P: Almighty God, You are present in the whole universe and in the tiniest creatures. The Lord embraces all that exists with tenderness. Pour out upon us the strength of Your love, that we may protect life and beauty. Fill us with peace, so that we can live like brothers and sisters, without harming anyone. O spirit of creation.