Category: Penitential Rites

PRIEST:   Today Jesus asks Peter – and each of us – a vital question: ‘Who do you say I am?’ We then hear of Peter’s great act of faith in Jesus,  and Jesus greater act of faith in his weak, impetuous but loving disciple.  Let us today celebrate who Jesus is for each of us, and for the Church. Let us ask forgiveness when we do not stand on the rock of faith,  when we do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord.

READER:      Help us when we find it hard to believe and impossible to trust;
and forgive us every disunity in the Church

                                                    LORD HAVE MERCY …

Forgive us when we are not faithful to God’s trust in us,
when we do not endure but give up too easily

                                                    CHRIST HAVE MERCY …

Pardon us for neglecting our relationship with Jesus Christ,
                             for being afraid to acknowledge him before others,
for our sense of superiority before Christians of other traditions

                                                    LORD HAVE MERCY …

PRIEST:        May God pardon us,
                                     bind us to himself in love,
                                             and loose us from our sins,
                           bringing us to everlasting life…

                                                    AMEN!

PRIEST:    Today is a day of rejoicing,  a day of glory:  for Mary the poor virgin of Nazareth is raised above the angels; she has gone before us into the fullness of Christ’s Resurrection.  Her glory is His, she is a mirror, reflecting the wonder of Christ to us. She summons us likewise to be mirrors of Christ’s Glory to the world; she pleads with us to tread her same path of humble and faith-filled love, and like her to give of Christ’s endless life and hope to the people of our earth. Let us ask forgiveness for the ways and times we have clouded, not reflected Christ’s glory and love…

READER:      For the ways the poverty of our loving has hidden
the wonder of Christ from the people among whom we live;
for the ways we have not struggled for peace in a war-torn world…

                                                    LORD HAVE MERCY …

For the ways and times we refuse a share in the sufferings of Christ,
                            and so do not touch the glory of Christ…

                                                    CHRIST HAVE MERCY …

For those times when we do not defend the dignity and rights
of the human person especially the poor and the vulnerable,
and those of races or sexual orientation other than our own…

                                                    LORD HAVE MERCY …

PRIEST:         May the God of Life free us from the sin that is death;
                            May the Risen Jesus summon us by his mercy into the holiness
                                        that is His Resurrection;
                            May the Holy Spirit heal us into the glory that is our destiny
                                        and our witness to the world;
                                                  and bring us all to everlasting life…

                                                     AMEN!

PRIEST:    We have powerful images presented to us this morning: the prophet meeting God on the mountain; Paul willing to lose salvation if only his Jewish people would embrace His Lord;  and Peter walking towards Jesus on the storm tossed sea.  Powerful images that speak to us of the power of faith and prayer.  We have come to meet the living God in this Eucharist:  let us like Peter be aware of our weakness and bring that weakness before God with a repentant heart.

READER:     For not making space in our busy lives to listen
                          to the whispering voice of God deep within us;
for too often not having the faith really to pray…

                                                      LORD HAVE MERCY …

For the times we lack the faith to trust in the God who calls us;
                           When we do not have the courage
                           to ‘launch out over the deep’, risking for God…

                                                      CHRIST HAVE MERCY …

For the weakness of our faith when the storms overwhelm us;
                            for the ways we no longer gaze upon the Lord who holds us
                            in the darkest hour and most fearful turmoil

                                                      LORD HAVE MERCY …

PRIEST:         May the God of Compassion come to us in every storm of guilt,  and bring us peace;
                           may the Risen Lord draw close to us in our weakness and heal our fears with his mercy;
                           may the Holy Spirit whisper deep within our hearts the forgiveness
                          that brings us peace beyond all understanding;
                                      and may God raise us all to everlasting life…

                                                         AMEN!

PRIEST:    We celebrate today a Jesus who is the answer not only to all humanity’s hunger for God and  meaning,  but also hunger for hope of a full life,  for justice and dignity.  And when the people voice their hunger, he tells his disciples to give them food.  We celebrate our Mass while millions of our sisters and brothers do not have enough to eat the countless numbers of children suffer malnutrition. It is unthinkable that we should share the Bread of the Eucharist while refusing to share the bread of our tables. Let us confess our selfishness that wants to send people away to look elsewhere for what we have in abundance! Let us repent of a society and a system that keeps our brothers and sisters in poverty, homeless and hungry…

READER:       For the ways we turn aside from the great problems of our world
                            persuading ourselves that they are other people’s business,
                            and so avoiding our responsibility

                                         LORD HAVE MERCY …

For the times we protect what we have from those in real need,
                           and try to look the other way,
                           or deafen our hearts to the cries of the earth’s poor

                                         CHRIST HAVE MERCY …

When we feel defeated by the enormity of the problems
                           and so do not give of our little and poverty,
                           not trusting that God will use our little gifts to work miracles

                                         LORD HAVE MERCY …

PRIEST:       Father of life,
                         break for us the Bread of forgiveness that is Your Son Jesus;
                         and transform our poor love into the generosity of Your Spirit,
                         bringing us and all humanity to everlasting life

                                           AMEN!

PRIEST: We celebrate today that Jesus is the Wisdom of God, and we should give everything for the rich treasure that He is. We celebrate also that Jesus has given His whole self for us whom he speaks of as the pearl of great price. Jesus challenges us to help others discover the treasure, to rediscover themselves as His pearl of great value. He challenges us to ‘give everything’ as the only way to open ourselves to the incomparable treasures of His love. What in reality do we give,  what are we prepared to sacrifice … and more important what are we not prepared to sacrifice in order to be effective servants of the Gospel, bearers of the Kingdom to our world?

READER:    For listening to other wisdoms
                         rather than live by the challenging wisdom of the Gospel

                                           LORD HAVE MERCY…

When we are prepared to sacrifice much for our ambitions,
                          but little for our faith or the mission of the Gospel

                                           CHRIST HAVE MERCY…

Because Christ gave everything,  even life itself,
                         to gain us for His Father,  and to give us New Life

                                           LORD HAVE MERCY…

PRIEST:       May the God of Wisdom pardon us,
                         may Jesus who sacrificed himself for us be ever merciful,
                         may the Spirit fill us with the peace of forgiveness,
                        and bring us and all creation to the rich treasure of everlasting life

                                         AMEN!

PRIEST: Today Jesus continues his ‘Parables of the Kingdom’. They nearly all speak of the Kingdom growing from tiny beginnings to quite immense and transforming proportions. And as He speaks of wheat and weeds growing up together, He teaches us to be accepting of brokenness, failure, and ambiguities in others and in ourselves. Jesus combines the most demanding ideals with the most profound patience.  Let us welcome his mercy into the areas of our darkness.

READER:        For every intolerance of another’s weakness or failure,
                             for the judgments and condemnations we harbour in our hearts

                                                   LORD HAVE MERCY…

For our impatience with ourselves and our lack of self-acceptance,
                              that diminishes our freedom for love

                                                   CHRIST HAVE MERCY…

Because of the Lord’s great patience with us,
seeking our growth in freedom and peace

                                                   LORD HAVE MERCY…

PRIEST:      May the Father of compassion forgive us;
                        may Jesus our Redeemer reconcile us and grant us peace;
                        may the Spirit heal us and set us free with mercy;
                        and may our God bring us and all creation to everlasting life…

                                                      AMEN!

‘A sower went out to sow the seed’ … that all God’s People will sow the seed of the Word of God’s Love into the field of the world, and seek with our whole heart the harvest of the Kingdom    

[READER]              LORD WE PRAY…

[Response]May Your Word grow within us…

‘Some seed fell upon barren ground’ … that politicians and leaders in every theatre of conflict and violence will sow seeds of Peace especially in Africa, and the whole Middle East region; that they will also work together for a global response to the Covid pandemic and bring about a new world of justice and equality for all

[READER]LORD WE PRAY…

‘Happy are your ears because they hear’ … we pray that all of us in our parish family will grow in a deeper love for the Word of God, and allow our lives and our parish to be formed by God’s Word: may our emerging ministry through the internet serve the sowing of the seed of God’s Word in many hearts and minds

                                                [READER]      LORD WE PRAY…

‘Some seed fell upon rich soil and produced their crop’ … we pray for all who work the land and produce the food that feeds our nation and every nation – we pray for famine stricken peoples around the world, especially across in the Yemen and across Africa: may we learn to defend the victims and share equally with all at the Table of our fruitful earth

[READER]         LORD WE PRAY…

‘The lure of riches chokes the Word’ … as we continue our Covenant with the Poor, especially through our expanded Food Bank and the ministry of the Parish office, may it be our joy to buy justly and to reward the world’s workers properly – may we discover the power of sharing that can heal a greedy world

                                          [READER]LORD WE PRAY…

We pray for our young people: may God guide them to use their gifts in the service of the Gospel and the coming Kingdom, building a compassionate  and contemporary Church and a world of humanity and peace

[READER]LORD WE PRAY…

‘Those who hear and understand the Word yield a rich harvest’ … we pray for all suffering from the Coronavirus and all caring for them – may they hear God’s Word of Love for them; for Mary and Lizzie Cash, Pat Hart, Bernadette James, Mr Ademuyemo, Una Sorhaindo, Philip Strainge, Scott Duffy, Venetia Sorhaindo, Tayaenna May Henry, Nicola Lewis, and Deacon David Wakefield ;
for those who have died recently, especially Claire Warren, Mikhail Hanid, Vahabee, and  all victims of race hatred, war, famine and the Covid pandemic;
and for all whose anniversaries are at this time: Mary McKay, the Serbeniscky atrocity 25 year years ago  and all victims of the Conflicts i Africa and Asia 

[READER]             LORD WE PRAY…

  Mary, Mother of the Word made Flesh, who pondered the Word, open our hearts to the Divine Seed, your Son, sown into creation to bring redemption to all…

                                                             HAIL MARY…

Let us pray in a moment of silence

PRIEST: Today we gather around the Table of the Word and the Table of the Eucharist – at  least some of our community can – for the first time in over three months. We bring with us all we have experienced during this difficult and times tragic time of lockdown. We grieve those who have died during this period and want to comfort their families with our love and prayer. And we celebrate today the strong gentleness of our Christ, who joyfully comes humble and vulnerable among the humiliated and powerless. He comes  to give new value to our lives, to cast out all fear of God from our hearts and to heal  our wounds with His peace.  He comes to share our burdens. Let us give him the burdens of  these past months, as well as the burden of our sin, trusting that his loving mercy might make it light for us. 

READER:     For every abuse of power,  in our lives, our Church and our world;
for using power to dominate rather than to serve
                                                 LORD HAVE MERCY

For ignoring the welfare of others, for not sharing their burdens
but pursuing our own ambitions, desires and self-interest

                                                 CHRIST HAVE MERCY

For being afraid to let people be true to themselves,
                             for rejecting those who do not conform to our ideas or wishes

                                                 LORD HAVE MERCY

PRIEST:   May the Father of all mercy forgive us,
                      may His Son, Jesus, give us His peace,
                      may the Holy Spirit lead us along the gentle paths of God,
                       and bring us all to everlasting life…

                                                  AMEN!

PRIEST:       We celebrate today the two great founding Apostles, Peter and Paul. In celebrating them we celebrate also who we are as Church, for they more than any others have shaped for all time the Body of Christ. In Peter we have the uniting Shepherd who knows his own weakness only too well and so gathers us gently as one: a Rock of Faith who is not hard! In Paul we have the fearless Prophet, the adventurer for Christ who breaks new ground and reshapes the Church to be truly Universal. Together they teach us to be at once a gentle Pastor and a fearless Prophet. Let us embrace the mercy of God so that we might be such a Church …

READER:     Peter is the Rock of Faith who affirms us in faith
                          when our weakness overwhelms us:
For the times we do not affirm, heal and encourage each other …

                                                  LORD HAVE MERCY ….

                          Paul is the bold Pioneer of the Gospel,
                          ever open to the the new challenges of the Spirit:
when we cling to the things of the past and make the Church a museum
rather than the creator of a new future

                                                  CHRIST HAVE MERCY ….

                           Peter and Paul together gather the One People of God
                           into a unity rich with diversity:
when we do not value each other’s differences and gifts
when we do not strive for unity in Christ

                                                  LORD HAVE MERCY ….

PRIEST:     May the God who calls fill us with mercy;
                        may the Lord who sends heal our every wound with His forgiveness,
                        may the Spirit who empowers encourage us in our weakness;
                        and bring us all with the Saints to everlasting life

                                                   AMEN!

PRIEST:     Today, Jesus both warns and comforts his disciples: he warns us that if we take the Gospel seriously, then like him we shall experience opposition, even persecution; and he comforts us that whatever happens, we are precious in the eyes of our God and he will protect us – our eternity is safe, even if we suffer for the Truth now. Do we trust God when things go wrong – do we trust God when we are hurt doing the work of God?

READER:     When we risk little for the Kingdom of God,
when we prefer safety and respectability
                           rather than faithfulness to  the Jesus who takes risks

                                              LORD HAVE MERCY…

When we are slow to trust God when things go wrong,
when we fail to recognise God protecting us and caring for us

                                              CHRIST HAVE MERCY…

For all the hidden corruption in our hearts,
for the things we are afraid to expose to the light of day
for being afraid of God’s gaze, which is all forgiveness

                                              LORD HAVE MERCY…

PRIEST:       May the God, who holds us precious, pardon us;
                         May Jesus, the Second Adam, who died for us, forgive us;
                         May the Spirit, who renews and strengthens, heal us
                          and bring us all to everlasting life…

                                               AMEN!