Category: Penitential Rites

PRIEST:      We have begun our journey of these 40 days of Lent – like Jesus we enter into the desert to face the demons of our own hearts – demons of selfishness and of comfort,  of greed and exploitation.  Having overcome them, like Noah overcame the flood-tide of evil, Jesus shares the Good News of the New Life that is possible for all who repent and change.  That is why Lent is Good News – the time has come for us to change and become more alive!… and more life-giving! Let us make this lent truly a Springtime of new growth, new beginnings, recreation in the midst of a world devastated by Covid and Climate Change.

READER:             Jesus remains in the wilderness,
                                        to confront the demons of the world’s sin …
so often we are afraid to enter the wilderness of our hearts
                                  and confront honestly what we find within us

                                                       LORD HAVE MERCY …

Jesus welcomed the touch of God ministered by the angels

… too often our closed minds and hearts fail to welcome
the comforting and healing angels that God sends to us

                                                       CHRIST HAVE MERCY …

Jesus leaves the wilderness to proclaim Gospel repentance …
we can be afraid of change in ourselves, and even more afraid
                                  of challenging our society to change its injustice and poverty

                                                       LORD HAVE MERCY …

PRIEST:     May the God who calls us to the desert of his love
                                        embrace us with mercy;
                        may the Redeemer who walks our path of temptation
                                        forgive us and heal our sin;
                         may the Spirit change our hearts and give us the joy of repentance;
                        and bring us and all the world to everlasting life

                                                             AMEN!

PRIEST:      Today’s Gospel tells us of Jesus curing a leper: but it is not just another healing.  He breaks the sacred Law because of his compassion.  And in restoring this outcast to his family and community,  Jesus then becomes the outcast.  Compassion costs,  and healing does not often come cheap,  even if it is a free gift!  Who are the lepers and outcasts of todays’s world – and where is our compassion?  Whom do we cast out of our hearts?  Perhaps the outcast can heal our hardness…

READER:                 We cry out to God for mercy
                                      because of all the outcasts our heart makes,
                                      for every refusal to be compassionate

                                                                LORD HAVE MERCY…

We cry out to Jesus for forgiveness in the name of a society
                                       that discriminates and divides,
                                       that gives birth to racial violence
                                       and hatred towards those who do not conform

                                                                CHRIST HAVE MERCY…

We cry out to the Holy Spirit for the healing
                                       of our hardened and cynical hearts
that so often will not accept those who are different from ourselves

                                                                LORD HAVE MERCY…

PRIEST:               May the God of all love melt our hearts with his compassion;
                                 may Jesus touch our sin with reconciling mercy;
                                 may the Holy Spirit cleanse and heal us that
                                we might have a new heart for all humanity
                                and bring us and all outcasts to everlasting life

AMEN!

PRIEST:        We gather to celebrate the World Day of the Sick. We also celebrate the Mission we all share. Indeed our Mission is to be Healing Light for the world.   In the Gospel Jesus allows himself to be besieged by the wounded and broken of the world – and like Simon’s mother-in-law raises us up from pain to be servants of others healing. He calls our parish to be God’s ‘Field Hospital’ of hope, healing and welcome. He calls all of us to protest against global inequality of health-care revealed so graphically during this Covid Pandemic. Will be bring hope and healing to the poorest of the earth? Will we, as a parish, respond to the challenges that the aftermath of this pandemic will bring?

READER:             For the ways our words have wounded,  not healed;
                                   our hearts have hardened against another,
                                   not opened in caring and compassion, offering hope

                    LORD HAVE MERCY…

For the ways we have not valued and supported
those whose work is medicine, research or caring;
when we could have shared the burden and have not

                     CHRIST HAVE MERCY…

For the times we have been too preoccupied with self
                                 to reach out and listen to another’s pain, to touch the wounds;
                                 slow to respect every person, fail to be bearers of Gospel Light

                    LORD HAVE MERCY…

PRIEST:        O God of love without limit,
                           make us compassionate as you are compassionate;
                           Jesus,  come to bring us Life in all fullness
                                         makes us whole and holy;
                           Holy Spirit, breath of love and great Comforter,
                                         bind us together in unbreakable bonds
                                                   of a love that give Light and Hope
                            and so bring all Creation to everlasting life…  

                       AMEN!

PRIEST:  Today, we hear Jesus the Word begin his Ministry of Proclamation and Power in the synagogue; we celebrate Jesus’ authority – the authority of the Word made Flesh, the authority of the Word that is the Action of God. The people of his own time could recognise in their hearts the Truth he spoke – the Word of Truth that could set all free who come to him. His authority led him to confront all the powers of evil that enslaved God’s children. As today we remember the horror of the Holocaust and honour all the martyrs and victims of that evil programme of industrial-scale extermination of Jewish people and culture from Europe, let us allow Jesus to speak the Word of Truth to us this morning, set us free to challenge the powers of evil in ourselves and in our world of today…especially the evil of every form of discrimination and racism.

READER:     When we listen to too many voices for wisdom
and fail to turn to Jesus who is the Word of Truth…

                                          LORD HAVE MERCY…

When we will not confront the evil within us;
when we will not risk the freedom of Christ…

                                          CHRIST HAVE MERCY…

                          When we are too timid to confront the abuse of power
and the evil of anti-semitism, discrimination and racism
that enslaves so many in our world

                                          LORD HAVE MERCY…

PRIEST:       May the Father renew the Divine Image in us;
                          May the Son speak the Word of Forgiveness
                                    that will set us free and deliver our world from all evil;
                          May the Holy Spirit be the compassion and mercy
                                    that enlightens our heart;
                         And may our God bring all humanity and all creation to everlasting life…

                                               AMEN!

PRIEST:     At the heart of this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we listen to Christ call his disciples to follow him closely: to walk his path of unity and love, and become his light in a world darkened by oppression, injustice, conflict and divisions.  Like Jonah before Him, His word is ‘Repent…’. And Paul tells us that this is the ‘kairos’ – the appointed time and God’s call is urgent! Sadly our disunity wounds and disempowers the Church’s Mission to the world; it casts shadows upon the Light of Christ shining through us:  let us embrace the Lord’s forgiveness, that he may heal the wounds of division in His Body, the Church.

READER:        For not having the courage to leave behind
                              our familiar and comfortable traditions and divisions,
                              for being afraid to adventure with risk to a new unity

                                            LORD HAVE MERCY …

                              For being impatient with our brothers and sisters of different traditions
for not welcoming them,
and not listening to them and receiving their gifts

                                            CHRIST HAVE MERCY …

                             When we do not seek to understand forms of thought,
                             of witness to the Gospel, of spirituality and prayer  different from our own;
                             for not having the courage to blend love with the search for truth

                                            LORD HAVE MERCY …

PRIEST:      May the God of perfect unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
                        fill us with mercy, clothe us with forgiveness,
and empower us with reconciliation,
                        that together we may heal the Church
                        and build a world of unity and peace,
bringing all to everlasting life…

                                              AMEN!

PRIEST:  On this Peace Sunday we listen to John the Baptist pointing to Jesus that we might follow him closely, for to walk his path of truth and love is to become his light in a world darkened by war, conflict and divisions.  We are called to ‘come and see’ how Jesus lives, and walk close with him all our days. Then we become true Disciples and Servants of God bringing the hope of peace and justice to the nations. But how can we be true disciples and bearers of peace if  in our own lives or in God’s Church there are petty warring, conflicts and divisions.  Let us embrace the Lord’s forgiveness, that he may heal the wounds of division in His Body, the Church and build peace upon the earth.

READER:        When we give up hope that Peace is possible;
When we do not shine Light into the evil of oppression around us…

                                               LORD HAVE MERCY…

                               When we choose evil rather than good
choose silence rather than protest;
leave the darkness of evil unchallenged by the Light of Truth..

                                               CHRIST HAVE MERCY…

                                When we will not serve but rather selfishly demand;
when we will not model ourselves upon Jesus, Light of the Nations;
when we will not sacrifice for peace as Jesus the Lamb of God does…

                                               LORD HAVE MERCY…

PRIEST:       May the God of perfect Peace, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
                         fill us with mercy, clothe us with forgiveness,
                         and empower us with reconciliation,
                        that together we may build a world of unity and peace,
                        bringing all to everlasting life…

                                             AMEN!

PRIEST: Today the Christmas Season draws to a close as we celebrate that holy day when Jesus sanctified the waters of baptism by his own humble baptism in the Jordan River at the hands of his servant and prophet, John. Jesus committed himself to be forever the sign of the Father’s Love, His Word of Liberating Truth, and the Servant of His Kingdom. Today, we call to mind our own baptism, and we say ‘yes’ once more to being the same Love, speaking the same Truth and serving the same Kingdom.  And we welcome that Holy Water that affirms and strengthens the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that is ours by baptism.

                                                          [the blessing of water]

Loving Father, you sent Your Beloved Son to make Your Word dwell among us. And you washed Him in Jordan’s water, and filled Him with Your Spirit of Love so that His Word would bring freedom, and His touch healing. Bless + this water, and sanctify + this community, that filled with the same Spirit, we may live the Baptism we have embraced and serve the Kingdom we proclaim.

READER:     Knowing that we are sinners, but confident in the forgiveness
Baptism has brought us, we commit ourselves afresh
                          to the journey of holiness as disciples of Christ Jesus…

                                                             WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO CHRIST

Aware of our many failures, but ready to begin again,
we commit ourselves again to proclaim the Word that is Christ,
                          by our lips and by our lives…

                                                             WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO CHRIST

Acknowledging our lack of courage and our many compromises,
                          we nevertheless commit ourselves in the Holy Spirit
                          to build the Kingdom of the Beatitudes in our society,
                          and to serve the needs of all our sisters and brothers in the world…

                                                             WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO CHRIST

                                               [water is sprinkled as we sing Taizé Kyrie]

PRIEST:     May our loving Father forgive our sins,
                       send us the freedom of Christ and the love of the Holy Spirit;
                       and as we celebrate Jesus’ Baptism and our own by this Eucharist,
                       may He rekindle within us the Spirit’s fire and life everlasting…

                                                              AMEN!

PRIEST:     The Wisdom of God has guided each of us here today, as surely as the Magi’s Star:  for we too are pilgrims on a journey searching for wisdom,  walking by faith and yearning in hope for the peace for our world.  We gather to offer our gifts,  our talents and our very selves on this feast of the Epiphany,  the Manifestation of Christ’s Redeeming Light to all the Nations of the world, the glory of the Father’s infinite Mercy to all creation.  Let us find in the Wise Men inspiration to give all we are in the service of the Light of Christ’s Good News.

READER:     We welcome the wisdom of the Gift of Gold…
                           our love given to Christ our King:
                           may we so grow in love that we can offer the world
                           Christ’s healing, justice and New Life…

                                         O COME LET US ADORE HIM!

We welcome the wisdom of the Gift of Frankincense…
our worship for our God in human flesh:
                           may we so grow in prayer that we will find strength
and inspiration to shine before the world with Christ’s Light…

                                         O COME LET US ADORE HIM!

We welcome the wisdom of the Gift of Myrrh…
our share in the passion of Christ for the salvation of our world:
                           may we so grow in his sacrificial love
that we may place the demands of the Kingdom before our own desires and wants…

                                         O COME LET US ADORE HIM!

PRIEST:     May our God forgive the coldness of our love,
                            the poverty of our prayer,
                                   the shallowness of our sacrifice;
                      that we may shine with the splendour of Christ’s Light,
                      and journey with Gospel Wisdom to everlasting life…

                                          AMEN!

PRIEST:           The Christmas celebrations are nearly over, and we have greeted the New Year:  but the Word of God has pitched his tent among us forever – for the Word is now part of our flesh,  with us wherever we are.  Never can we finish celebrating Christmas!  Never can we bring an end to the New Beginnings of God’s Grace. As we contemplate the Word made Flesh today,  let us confess before God the ways we have not allowed his Word to penetrate our lives,  his Light to enlighten our hearts and minds…

READER:     God yearns to speak his word to our hearts…
                           for the noise that dins his gentle voice out of our hearts,
for the fear of the silence that bring us before God in aloneness…

                                          LORD HAVE MERCY…

God comes to us as a vulnerable pilgrim, a tent-dweller …
                           for the times our own vulnerability makes us afraid;
                            for seeking shallow security rather than risking for the Gospel,
                            for the God who risks his Son for us…

                                          CHRIST HAVE MERCY…

God comes to share the true Light that does not dazzle but illuminates…
                            that his gentle light might scatter the harsh darkness of our sin,
                            our injustice, our denials of love…

                                          LORD HAVE MERCY…

PRIEST:    May the God who walks with us speak His Word of Mercy;
                      may the Saviour who shares our Flesh touch us with healing forgiveness;
                     may the Spirit who conceives new life in us as in Mary bring light of freedom to our every darkness
                     and bring us and our world to everlasting life…

                                              AMEN!

PRIEST:    On this first day of the New Year, the Church celebrates Mary “Theotokos’, the Bearer of God to the world. We look to the first and greatest disciple as we are about to embark on making this year truly the Year of Our Lord 2021. We commend all that is past into the Mercy of God, all that is present into the Love of God and all that is the future into the Providence of God, and journey ahead in faith and trust in the God who leads us. 

READER:     Mary said ‘Yes’ to God with her whole being holding nothing back:
For the weakness of our ‘yeses’ and the strength of our ‘no’s’

                                          LORD HAVE MERCY …

Mary pondered and treasured the Word she carried in her heart
so that she could treasure the Word enfleshed in her womb:
for so often taking the wonder of the Word for granted 

                                          CHRIST HAVE MERCY …

Mary embraced an unknown future for the sake of the Kingdom
trusting that the promises of God would be fulfilled;
for our fears of God’s unknown, failing to trust that God is Love

                                          LORD HAVE MERCY …

PRIEST:     May the Father strengthen our ‘yes’ with His forgiving mercy;
                       May the Word be enfleshed in our lives with the healing of forgiveness;
                      May the Spirit carry us forward into God’s Future of Reconciliation
                      To bring all Creation to everlasting life…       

                                          AMEN!