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Reflection
 92:  Based on Article 53 of  The Sacred Liturgy "SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM" 

 

"Especially on Sundays .... there is to be restored,
after the Gospel and the homily,
"the common prayer" or "the prayer of the faithful."
By this prayer, in which the people are to take part,
intercession will be made for holy Church,
for the civil authorities,
for those oppressed by various needs,
for all mankind, and for the salvation of the entire world"

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One problem with our Catholic liturgy is it's almost total lack of spontaneity:
(so much for "i before e except after c"!)
every prayer, every gesture is planned down to the last detail.
A robot could do it  (except in the heart, of course, which is the most important part...)

Contrast this with the Evangelicals' liturgies.
OK, some of them are a bit far out,
but their basic joy and spontaneity are really uplifting

May the Prayer of the Faithful be more open to spontaneous prayer,
as often happens with small groups.
Not so easy in a big church with a large group.
But maybe a system could be devised
where people who'd like to pray for someone/something special
could go to a microphone to make their petitions,
...or hand in a petition note before Mass.

If the petitions come from a book/priest/secretary
then they are the Prayer of the Secretary/Book/Priest,
not the Prayer of the Faithful

Rather than being informed of what to pray for,
like school students being informed of homework,
the people could have the chance for a more active participation in the Prayer of the Faithful

Jesus, hear our prayer!

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