Thanksgiving

O Lord our God, it's time to thank you

for so many good things that you have given us

and especially for our lives,

lives, which without knowing it, we share with you.

We thank you in the name of all human beings,

whether or not they are conscious of your presence and vital impulse.

It would be stupid to blame you for the things that don't work in this world,

because we have to recognize, with an obligated humility,

that we haven't known how to organize ourselves so that there is justice

nor have we decided to distribute your goods between us.

In this hymn to your great glory we implicitly offer

our thanks for your infinitely perfect work

and our desire to act responsibly

so that all people can enjoy your gifts equally.

Memorial of the Lord's Supper

May you be blesséd, Father God, for giving us Jesus of Nazareth,

whom we want to follow as our only leader

and whom we love as a friend and brother.

He knew poverty at first hand, led an itinerant life,

held out his hands to people discriminated and outcast by the Law,

and helped the sick and destitute as much as he was able.

Jesus taught us to share our bread and fishes,

to dedicate our time to others,

to listen and pay attention to their problems.

To follow Jesus, convince us of it, holy Father,

is to feel ourselves responsible for the tragedies of this world,

to take care of the poor, to show solidarity and creativeness,

and actively defend and promote just causes.

It's not an easy task, but Jesus will be with us.

Invocation to the Spirit of God

Inspire us, Father, we need your spirit and your strength

to face our responsibilities with effectiveness.

We are conscious that the evil which devastates this world

is the fruit of our uncooperative and selfish actions.

For this reason, we ask for your strength to restore the balance

and install here and now your kingdom of justice and harmony.

We cannot wait passively, lazily,

for it to arrive from heaven or for others to build it for us.

We must assume with responsibility

the task awaiting each one of us.

We want to join our hands and our efforts

to all men and women of goodwill,

so that the goodness that abounds in society

together with happiness become a common right.

We ask you, Father God, for the Christian community

so that it may be a model of cooperation and fraternity.

In the presence of Jesus, who has called us to this table,

we bless you, holy Father, with all our soul.

AMEN.