Lent Day 15

Opening Prayer:

Father,
teach us to lead good lives,
encourage us with your support
and bring us to eternal life.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Readings: Jeremiah18:18-20; Psalm 31:5-6, 14, 15-16; Matthew 20:17-28

"The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Intercessions:
Let us give thanks to God, our Father:
through the power of the Spirit he purifies our heart and strengthens us in love. Let us humbly ask him:
Lord, give us your Holy Spirit.

Help us to receive good things from your bounty with a deep sense of gratitude;
-and to accept with patience the evil that comes to us.
Teach us to be loving not only in great and exceptional moments,
-but above all in the ordinary events of daily life.
May we abstain from what we do not really need,
-and help our brothers and sisters in distress.
May we bear the wounds of your Son,
-for through his body he gave us life.

Closing Prayer:
God of Love,
through this Lenten journey,
purify my desires to serve you.
Free me from any temptations to judge others,
to place myself above others.
Please let me surrender even my impatience with others,
that with your love and your grace,
I might be less and less absorbed with myself,
and more and more full of the desire
to follow you, in laying down my life
according to your example.