Country Chapel Service...Sunday February 19, 2017 (Today with Christian Hymns)

  Welcome to the

"Country Chapel"

Service

Sunday

February 19, 2017

Seventh Sunday in

Ordinary Time
"We Are Called To Be Like God"

Special Hymn From Ron Ernie

1 Corinthians 15:55

Today's Verse:
               ( Psalm 23:6 ) 

      "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord."

Entrance Hymn:

Recite:   "The Apostles Creed"

     I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell, and on the third day he arose from the dead and ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

      I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.  Amen. 

"Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and just"

The 1st Reading:

              ( Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18 )

Laws of Holiness and Justice 

       The Lord told Moses to say to the community of Israel, "Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy."

       "Do not bear a grudge against others, but settle your differences with them, so that you will not commit a sin because of them. Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord." 

Alternate 1st Reading:

           ( Psalm 103:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13 ) 

The Love of God 

       Praise the Lord, my soul! All my being, praise his holy name! Praise the Lord, my soul, and do not forget how kind he is. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He keeps me from the grave and blesses me with love and mercy.

       The Lord is merciful and loving, slow to become angry and full of constant love. He does not punish us as we deserve or repay us according to our sins and wrongs.

       As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us. As a father is kind to his children, so the Lord is kind to those who honor him.

  

The 2nd Reading:

              ( 1 Corinthians 3:16-23 )

Servants of God

       Surely you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you! God will destroy anyone who destroys God's temple. For God's temple is holy, and you yourselves are his temple.

       You should not fool yourself. If any of you think that you are wise by this world's standards, you should become a fool, in order to be really wise. For what this world considers to be wisdom is nonsense in God's sight. As the scripture says, "God traps the wise in their cleverness"; and another scripture says, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are worthless." No one, then, should boast about what human beings can do. Actually everything be- longs to you; Paul, Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and the future - all these are yours, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Today's Gospel According to:

             ( Matthew 5:38-48 )

Teaching about Revenge 

       "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him.

Love for Enemies 

       "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your friends, hate your enemies.' But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even pagans do that! You must be perfect - just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

This is the word of the Lord.

An Interpretation of Today's Readings & Gospel

( By Sr. Melannie Svoboda, S.N.D. )

       God tells the Israelites: "Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy" (Leviticus 19:2). In what does God's holiness consist? In a word: love. In fact, the readings today all speak of God's boundless love and compassion for us, and God's merciful forgiveness of our sins. We find such a message immensely consoling.

       But there's a catch: We are called to be like God, to act as God acts. This means we are called to have so much love in our hearts that there's no room for hatred, pettiness or revenge. This message is immensely challenging. For when someone hurts us, often our natural tendency is to retaliate. (But he hit me first!)

       Jesus, on the cross you poured out your love and forgiveness on all. Help me to be more like you.

Recite: The Lord's Prayer 

      Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it tis in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but, deliver us from evil.  Amen.

 

  May the Peace of the Lord be with You

Recessional Song:

Sources:

1)  Good News Bible (with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha)

2)  Living Faith Daily Devotions

3)  Scripture-Text Datebook

"Goin' By The Book"