And with this Sunday we reach the last Sunday of Pentecost, the longest season of the Maronite liturgical year; next week will see the beginning of the closing season, Holy Cross.
Seventeenth Sunday of Pentecost
Romans 13:8-14; Luke 10:25-37
Parode
O Lord, You do not seek the death of sinners,
but repentance and returning to life;
though we are waylaid by sins and transgressions,
You care for us and cure despair with hope.
We are fortified by Your love and kindness;
burdened by sin, we cry out for mercy,
for we darkened our minds on how to call You,
and only by Your grace can we find words:
'O God, have mercy on Your sinful servants.'
Strophe
A man was robbed going to Jericho,
stripped and beaten and left for dead.
Priest and Levite passed on the other side,
but a Samaritan pitied,
with mercy bound his wounds with oil and wine,
mounting him upon his own horse,
taking him to an inn to tend to him,
promising to pay for his care.
Antistrophe
Who is a neighbor to the beaten man?
He who showed mercy to his need.
Thus says our Lord: Go now and do likewise.
This alone is eternal life:
to love God with all heart, soul, strength, and mind,
and, too, your neighbor as yourself.
Only love can prove your spirit blameless.
To act with love fulfills the law.
Exode
Praise and glory to You, O merciful Lord,
for through pity You were made flesh for us,
voluntarily enduring death for us.
You descended into death's dark abyss,
but gave eternal joy by resurrection,
enlightening the nations of the world
with a light of salvation that will not die.
By Your love we are healed, by oil and wine,
and in Your Church cared for until You return.
