Leader: Father, Son, and Spirit, we pray that you will help us to reflect today on how we can put love into action in our lives and in our communities.
Be with us as we listen and reflect on words from Scripture and Tradition on how we are called to put love in action.
Reader 1: "Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'" (Matthew 25:37-40)
All: Loving God, help us to put love in action.
Reader 2: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19)
All: Loving God, help us to put love in action.
Reader 3: "The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1397)
All: Loving God, help us to put love in action.
Reader 4: "A prayer that does not lead you to practical action for your brother — the poor, the sick, those in need of help, a brother in difficulty — is a sterile and incomplete prayer. But, in the same way . . . When time is not set aside for dialogue with him in prayer, we risk serving ourselves and not God present in our needy brother and sister. (Pope Francis, Angelus Address, 7/21/13)
All: Loving God, help us to put love in action.
Reader 5: "A way has to be found to enable everyone to benefit from the fruits of the earth, and not simply to close the gap between the affluent and those who must be satisfied with the crumbs falling from the table, but above all to satisfy the demands of justice, fairness and respect for every human being." (Pope Francis, Address to the Food and Agricultural Organization, 6/20/13)
All: Loving God, help us to put love in action.
Reader 6: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs. The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity." (St. John Chrysostom, quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2446)
All: Loving God, help us to put love in action.
Reader 7: "When God sends the prophet Jeremiah, he gives him the power to "pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant" (1:10). It is the same for you. Bringing the Gospel is bringing God's power to pluck up and break down evil and violence, to destroy and overthrow the barriers of selfishness, intolerance and hatred, so as to build a new world." (Pope Francis, Homily on the Occasion of XXVIII World Youth Day, 7/28/13)
All: Loving God, help us to put love in action.
Leader: Loving Father, guide us as we reflect today on how we are called to put love in action. We ask this through Christ, Our Lord.
All: Amen.
From the Two Feet of Love in Action Facilitator's Guide, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops