Eighteenth Sunday
in Ordinary Time
August 3, 2025 Cycle C
Green priestly vestments symbolize hope and the
vitality of the life of
faith.
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Liturgical Year Cycle C 2024-2025
Introductory
Acts Of Worship
The Entrance Prayers: On Sunday, usually a hymn praising God is sung in
place of reciting a
Psalm from the Bible which invites us to enter more deeply
into the mystery of
God's love for us. The recited weekday Psalm
expresses a youthful heart
and spirit, delighted that we may come before the living
God.
Entrance Song / Entrance Psalm (Antiphon)
Psalm 70:2, 6
O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help
me! You are
my rescuer; my help; O Lord, do not delay.
The Priest Approaches and Kisses the Altar:
The
altar is a symbol
of Christ. In it are cut five crosses to recall the
five wounds of
Christ. The altar also represents the Church and has
embedded in it the
relics of her saints. The priest comes to the altar
to celebrate the
Sacrifice in the Church's name. Because of the glory
surrounding the
altar upon which the divine Sacrifice will be made, the
kiss of the priest
unites the Church to Christ, its Redeemer.
Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the
Holy Spirit.
All:
Amen.
The Penitential Prayers: We
recognize our
guilt for past sins, express our sorrow for them, and ask
that Mary, the
angels, the saints, and our brothers and sisters in Christ
pray for the Lord
God's mercy. (The priest may select from several
forms).
Priest: Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so
prepare
ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
Priest / All: I confess to almighty God and
to you, my
brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my
thoughts and in my
words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault,
through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I
ask blessed Mary
ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers
and sisters, to
pray for me to the Lord our God.
The Absolution:
Priest: May almighty God have mercy on us,
forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life.
All: Amen.
The Gloria: The Glory of God prayers have existed from the second
century. They
repeat the angels praise of God which heralded the birth
of Christ on
earth. Our praise is lifted again through the years
as we rejoice at His
coming as Lord, God, the most high Jesus Christ, who at
Christmas took on our
human nature while at the same time being the son of Man.
This ancient hymn
expresses our recognition of God's glory and love.
It calls upon Christ
as our holy and divine mediator, and the Holy Spirit who
forever binds us
together in God's love.
Priest and All: Glory to God in the
highest, and peace
to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your
glory. Lord
Jesus Christ, only son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the
sins of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the
right hand of the
Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy
One, you alone are
the Lord, you alone are the most high Jesus Christ, with the
Holy Spirit, in the
glory of God the Father. Amen.
The Collect:
The
priest lifts the
united prayers and petitions of the congregation to God
the Father through the
merits of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.
Priest: Let us pray.
Priest: Draw near to your servants, O Lord,
and answer their
prayers with unceasing kindness, that, for those who glory in
you as their
Creator and guide, you may restore what you have created and
keep safe what you
have restored. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and
reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever.
Liturgy
of the Word
Christ
is made known
to us through the Old Testament which prepares us to
recognize Him. In
those days, God inspired men who spoke His message. Now, the New
Testament Gospel reading
announces His presence to us directly through His
Son. Both readings
bring God's message to us. Our responsibility is to
respond.
The First Reading: From the Old Testament.
Ecclesiastes, 1:2; 2:21-23
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of
vanities! All things
are vanity!
Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and
skill, and yet
to another who has not labored over it, he must leave
property. This also
is vanity and a great misfortune. For what profit comes
to man from all
the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under
the sun?
All his day’s sorrow and grief are his occupation; even at
night his mind is
not at rest. This also is vanity.
Priest/Reader: The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks
be to God.
The Responsorial Psalm: This Psalm which praises God, is a prayer to God, or
recommends the
practice of virtue. It is sung as an interlude
between the scriptural
readings. It provides yet another instructional
setting and invites the
assembly to imitate the cantor, who sings a repeated
response to the verses of
an ancient Psalm, many of which are attributed to King
David. The verses
are sung first by a cantor (song leader) accompanied by
instruments, the
refrain is sung by the people.
Responsorial
Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
Cantor: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
All: If today you hear his voice, harden not your
hearts.
Cantor: You turn man back to dust, saying,
“Return, O children of
men.” For a thousand years in your sight are as
yesterday, now that it is
past, or as a watch of the night.
All: If today you hear his voice, harden not your
hearts.
Cantor: You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning
they are like the changing grass, which at dawn springs up
anew, but by evening
wilts and fades.
All: If today you hear his voice, harden not your
hearts.
Cantor: Teach us to number our days aright, that
we may gain
wisdom of heart. Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your
servants!
All: If
today you hear his
voice, harden not your hearts.
Cantor: Fill
us at daybreak
with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all
our days.
And may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours; prosper
the work of our
hands for us! Prosper the work of our hands!
All: If
today you hear his
voice, harden not your hearts.
The Second Reading: Taken from the New Testament. St. Paul to the
Colossians.
Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11
Brothers and sisters: If you were raised with Christ,
seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think
of what is above,
not
of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is
hidden with
Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you
too will appear
with him in glory.
Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:
immorality,
impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is
idolatry. Stop
lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self
with its practices
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for
knowledge, in the
image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcision and
uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ
is all and in all.
The Alleluia: An ancient expression of joy anticipating the Lord's
message we will hear
in the Gospel.
Matthew 5:3
Cantor: Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Alleluia!
All: R/:
Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Cantor: Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
All: R/: Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Alleluia!
The Gospel: The
Liturgy of the
Word is completed by the reading of the Gospel.
Before its reading, the
members of the assembly trace the sign of the cross upon
the forehead to
indicate their mental acceptance of the Truth, on the lips
to indicate their
readiness to announce it, and over the heart to indicate
their sincere desire
to accept it into their lives. The "Good News" of
the Gospel
tells that God's kingdom has come for all to hear, accept,
and announce to the
world for its salvation. It is God who is speaking
to us. Christ
comes to teach us by the example of His life and by His
own words.
Gospel: Luke 12:13-21
Written to explain that
Christ came to save everyone.
Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose
land produced a
bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have
space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I
shall do: I
shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. Here I
shall store all my
gain and other goods, and I shall say to myself, “Now as for
you, you have so
many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink,
be merry!’”
But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be
demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they
belong? Thus, will it
be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not
rich in what
matters to God.”
Priest: The Gospel of the Lord.
All: Praise
to you, Lord
Jesus Christ.
The Priest's Sermon: The
priest develops,
explains, and comments upon the Master's words, so our
minds may be
enlightened, and our hearts enriched.
(A
priestly
reflection upon this Gospel)
Profession of Faith: We
state in the
Nicene Creed the principles of our faith in precise and
definite terms.
All: I believe in one God,
the Father, the
Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and
unseen. I
believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of
God, born of the
Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light,
true God from
true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all
things were made. For us men and for our salvation he
came down from
heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin
Mary and became
man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered
death and was buried and rose again on the third day in
accordance with the
Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the
right hand of
the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the
living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy
Spirit, the Lord,
the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the
Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken
through the
prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic
Church. I
confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and I look
for the
resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to
come. Amen.
General Intercessions: We
pray for the needs
of the pope, civic leaders, our own needs, those of
others, the sick, the
dying, those who have died, the church, and the
world. The response of
all to each intercession: Lord,
hear our prayer.
All: Lord,
hear our
prayer.
The
Liturgy
of the Eucharist
Gifts of bread and wine which symbolize ourselves are
presented to the
priest who will offer them to God the Father.
Through the Holy Spirit,
they will become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ whom
we receive in Holy
Communion. Jesus unites Himself with us for our
spiritual nourishment and
strength. Today, when individuals do not present
their own personal
offerings of bread and wine, the monetary contribution
symbolizes the material
of their united sacrifice. The priest makes and
offering of the bread and
wine to God.
Preparation of Bread and Wine:
Priest: Blessed are you, Lord
God of all
creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread
we offer you:
fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for
us the bread of
life.
All: Blessed
be God for
ever.
Priest: By the
mystery of
this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of
Christ, who humbled
himself to share in our humanity.
Priest: Blessed are you, Lord God of all
creation, for through
your goodness we have received the wine we offer you; fruit of
the vine and
work of human hands it will become our spiritual drink.
All: Blessed
be God for
ever.
Priest: With
humble spirit
and contrite heart may we be accepted by you, O Lord, and may
our sacrifice in
your sight this day be pleasing to you, Lord God.
The Priest's Hands are Washed: This
act was
traditionally necessary because the priest handled the
various gifts presented
by the people. Now, the cleansing act using water
reminds the priest and
ourselves of the need to cleanse not only the hands but
the soul. Soon,
the priest's hands will hold the actual body of Christ,
and we will become His
dwelling place.
Priest: Wash me O Lord, from
my iniquity and
cleanse me from my sin.
Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable
to God, the
almighty Father.
All: May
the Lord accept
the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his
name, for our good
and the good of all his holy Church.
Prayer over the Gifts: Speaking
in our name,
the priest asks the Father to accept the gifts we offer
through him.
Priest: Graciously sanctify these gifts, O
Lord, we pray, and,
accepting the oblation of this spiritual sacrifice, make of us
an eternal
offering to you. Through Christ our Lord.
Eucharistic Prayer: (Number Three: The priest may select from several
forms).
Priest: The
Lord be with you.
All: And with your
spirit.
Priest: Lift
up your hearts.
All: We
lift them up to
the Lord.
Priest: Let us give thanks to
the Lord, our
God.
All: It is right and
just.
Preface Prayer:
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and
everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and
eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.
For by his birth, he brought renewal to humanity's fallen
state, and by
his suffering, canceled out our sins; by his rising from the
dead, he has
opened the way to eternal life, and by ascending to you, O
Father, he has
unlocked the gates of heaven.
And so, with the company of Angels and Saints, we
sing the hymn of
your praise, as without end we acclaim:
Acclamation:
Priest and All: Holy,
Holy, Holy
Lord, God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your
glory.
Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the 
name of the Lord. Hosanna in the
highest.
Priest: You are indeed Holy, O Lord, and all
you have created
rightly gives you praise, for through your Son our Lord Jesus
Christ, by the
power and working of the Holy Spirit, you give life to all
things and make them
holy, and you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so
that from the
rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be
offered to your name.
Priest: Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you: by the same
Spirit graciously
make holy these gifts we have brought to you for consecration,
that they may
become the Body and Blood of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ,
at whose command
we celebrate these mysteries.
The priest repeats the words which Christ used at his
Last Supper when He
changed the bread into His Body and the wine into His
Blood. His Body and
Blood are truly present but under the appearance of bread
and wine. The
death of Christ is prolonged in each of those who receive
Him worthily.
We apply His death to ourselves so that we may share His
glory. This
moment is the most solemn on earth because it is Divine
act which enables us to
apply to ourselves the Cross which Christ willingly took
upon Himself.
We
are called to die
to sin and lift our very selves to God so that we
become changed; to do as God
would have us do, to become what God would have us
become. Our own little
cross can lift us
into
union with Christ's Cross so we may earn the joys of
everlasting happiness with God the Father.
The Lord's Supper: For on the night he
was betrayed, he
himself took bread, and, giving you thanks, he said the
blessing, broke the
bread and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this
is my Body, which will be
given up
for you.
In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took the
precious chalice in
his holy and venerable hands, and once more giving you thanks,
he said the
blessing and gave the chalice
to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this
is the chalice of my
Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which
will be poured out for
you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do
this in memory of me.
Memorial Acclamation: (The priest may
select from several
forms).
Priest: The
mystery of faith.
Priest / All: Save us, Savior of the world, for by
your Cross and
Resurrection you have set us free.
Memorial Prayer: (The
priest may
select from several forms).
Priest: Recalls
Christ's
Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, the Church, the dead, and
ourselves.
Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the
saving Passion of
your Son, his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven,
and as we look
forward to his second coming, we offer you in thanksgiving
this holy and living
sacrifice. Look, we pray, upon the oblation of your
Church and,
recognizing the sacrificial Victim by whose death you willed
to reconcile us to
yourself, grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and
Blood of your Son
and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one
spirit in Christ.
May he make of us an eternal offering to you, so that we
may obtain an
inheritance with your elect, especially with the most Blessed
Virgin Mary,
Mother of God, with blessed Joseph, her Spouse, with
your blessed
Apostles and glorious Martyrs and with all the Saints, on
whose constant
intercession in your presence we rely for unfailing help.
May this Sacrifice of our reconciliation, we pray, O
Lord, advance the
peace and salvation of all the world. Be pleased to
confirm in faith and
charity your pilgrim Church on earth, with your servant, _____
our Pope and,
_____ our Bishop, the Order of Bishops, all the clergy, and
the entire people
you have gained for your own.
Listen graciously to the prayers of this family, whom you
have summoned
before you: in your compassion, O merciful Father, gather to
yourself all your
children scattered throughout the world.
To our departed brothers and sisters and to all who were
pleasing to you
at their passing from this life, give kind admittance to your
kingdom.
There we hope to enjoy for ever the fullness of your glory
through Christ our
Lord, through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.
Doxology
Prayer of Praise: Through
him, with
him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, all
glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
Communion
Rite
In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we symbolically
offer ourselves to the
Lord through the gifts of bread and wine. At the
Consecration, we offer
our very lives to be united the God the Father through the
Cross of
Christ. In Communion, we find that we have not died
at all, but have come
to life. We have surrendered ourselves to God
through His Divine Son,
Jesus Christ. In return, we become ennobled and
enriched. We give
up time and we get eternity, we give up our sin and we
receive grace, we
surrender our self-will and receive the strength of the
Divine Will, we give up
ourselves and we receive everything. For the Son of
God says to us that
unless we receive Him, we shall not have Divine life in
us. But it is not
really we who receive Christ, as it is Christ who receives
us, bringing us into
Himself.
God makes His Cross the very means of our salvation
and our life.
While we have crucified Him, His eternal love cannot be
extinguished.
Christ willed to give us the very life we crucified in our
Redemption, the
Consecration of Holy Thursday into Communion, His death
into our everlasting
life.
The Lord's Prayer:
Priest: At the Savior's command and formed by divine teaching, we
dare to say:
Priest and All: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed
be they name;
Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is 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.
Priest: Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously
grant peace in our
days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free
from sin and safe
from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming
of our Savior,
Jesus Christ.
All: For
the kingdom, the
power and the glory are yours now and forever.
Prayer for Peace:
Priest: Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles: Peace I
leave you, my peace
I give you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your
Church, and
graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your
will. Who
live and reign for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
Priest: The peace of the Lord be with you always.
All: And with your spirit.
Priest: Let us offer each other the sign of
peace.
Breaking of the Bread:
Priest: May this mingling of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ bring
eternal life to us who receive it.
Priest and All: Lamb of God, you take
away the sins of
the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have
mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you
take away the sins of
the world, grant us peace.
Priestly Preparation: Lord
Jesus Christ,
Son of the living God, who, by the will of the Father and the
work of the Holy
Spirit, through your Death gave life to the world, free me by
this, your most
holy Body and Blood, from all my sins and from every evil;
keep me always faithful
to your commandments, and never let me be parted from you.
Priest: Behold
the Lamb of
God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.
Blessed are those
called to the supper of the Lamb.
Priest and All: Lord, I am not worthy that you should
enter under my
roof, but only say the world and my soul shall be healed.
Priest: May the Body of Christ keep me safe for
eternal life.
May the Blood of Christ keep me safe for eternal life.
Communion Antiphon:
Psalm 130:7
With the Lord there is mercy; in him is plentiful
redemption.
Communion of the Faithful:
Priest: The Body of Christ.
The Faithful: Amen.
Priest/Deacon/
Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister: The Blood of Christ.
The Faithful: Amen.
Cleansing of the Vessels:
Priest: What has passed our lips as food, O
Lord, may we possess
in purity of heart, that what has been given to us in time may
be our healing
for eternity.
Prayer after Communion:
Priest: Let us
pray.
Priest: Accompany with constant protection, O
Lord, those you renew
with these heavenly gifts and, in your never-failing care for
them, make them
worthy of eternal redemption. Through Christ our Lord.
Concluding
Rite
Priest: The Lord be with you.
All: And
with your
spirit.
Priest: Bow
down for the
blessing.
Final Blessing:
Priest: May the God of all consolation order
your days in his
peace and grant you the gifts of his blessing.
All: Amen.
Priest: May he free you always from every
distress and
confirm your hearts in his love.
All: Amen.
Priest: So that on this life's journey you may be
effective in
good works, rich in the gifts of hope, faith and charity, and
may come happily
to eternal life.
All: Amen.
Dismissal Prayer:
Priest: Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.
All: Thanks be to God.
O my Jesus,
forgive us our
sins.
Save us from the fires of hell.
Lead all souls to heaven,
especially those in most need of your mercy.