Category: Penitential Rites

PRIEST:     We are called to be witnesses of the Resurrection – the love we bear one another will be the greatest witness.  This is the love that will create a new heaven and a new earth, this is the love that will put fresh heart into despairing people.  In the end nothing else matters, because nothing else is as divine as love.  Let us repent of every lack of love…

READER:       When we have not loved by listening, supporting, encouraging,
and sharing another’s pain… 

                                                               LORD HAVE MERCY …

When we have not loved by struggling for justice, caring for the earth,
                             standing with the poor and the excluded, suffering for the kingdom

                                                               CHRIST HAVE MERCY …

When we have not loved by praying, speaking the name of Jesus,
                             sharing our faith, telling the Good News

                                                               LORD HAVE MERCY …

PRIEST:            May the God of endless love embrace us with mercy;
                              may our Saviour and Brother touch our wounds
                                                with compassion and forgiveness;
                              may the Spirit of divine fire enflame our cold apathy,
                                                 and bring us all to everlasting life

                                                                 AMEN!

PRIEST:  Jesus our shepherd calls each of us by name, to follow Him, and to discover with him our own particular vocation.  He knows us – loves us. And He calls every single one of us to share His Life with the our world. We all share the vocation to live for others, to be life-bearers, to be witnesses to the glorious truth of Christ. We now pause to examine how well we have answered our special vocation.

READER:      For not making space in our busy lives and noisy hearts
                           to listen to the voice of the Shepherd

                                             LORD HAVE MERCY

                            For listening to the voices of ambition and selfishness,
the voices of security and safe-options,
                            and not following the Shepherd where he leads us

                                             CHRIST HAVE MERCY

                             For every abuse of a child or vulnerable person
by those called to be  gentle shepherds of the flock of Christ
When we do not serve or play our part in building the Kingdom –
for not being a  shepherd to each other

                                             LORD HAVE MERCY

PRIEST:     May the God who calls us into life, forgive us;
                       May our Redeemer and Shepherd, Jesus, free us with his mercy;
                       May the Holy Spirit empower us to give of ourselves with generosity
                       and so find everlasting life…  

                                                AMEN!

PRIEST:  There are many ways of meeting the Risen Christ:  one of the most life-giving encounters is to touch the world in mission.  Today,  we hear how Jesus re-affirms the apostles in their mission, after their experience of failure around the Calvary event.  Strengthened and healed,  we then hear how they find new courage in obeying God’s voice rather than human voices in bearing witness to Jesus. He challenges us with his repeated question to Peter:  ‘do you love me…?’  Do we love him enough to give ourselves to his world and its needs in the mission of the Resurrection?

READER:       When we put obedience to human voices
                            before obedience to God;
                            when we want human acceptance and respect
more than Gospel integrity…

                                        LORD HAVE MERCY

When we do not accept one another’s failures;
                             when we do not give each other a second chance;
                             when we do not affirm each other in our ministries

                                        CHRIST HAVE MERCY

When our love for the Lord is not enough
to give us new priorities;
                             not strong enough to change the way
                             we use our time and energy to serve his world

                                        LORD HAVE MERCY

PRIEST:      May the Lord of mercy bring us to new beginnings;
                        may our Redeeming Jesus heal our every failure;
                        may the Spirit of divine love empower us
to be moments of Resurrection for our world
                        so that God might bring us all to everlasting life…

                                          AMEN!

PRIEST:  In today’s Gospel we hear a story of doubt that becomes magnificent faith;  a story of wounds that breath peace and healing;  a story of frightened empty men who become courageous in the Holy Spirit;  a story of a community witnessing the Risen Christ.  It is the story not only of the apostles, but also of each one of us;  not only the early Church,  but the Church of every age and land – the story of our own parish.  Let us welcome the Risen Jesus among us to transform us and our community – that we might be life-givers.

READER:   We give thanks for God’s mercy, flowing from the Father’s love
for He has brought us from doubt to deeper faith

                                                 LORD HAVE MERCY

                        We give thanks for God’s mercy, made flesh in Jesus the Crucified
for his wounds are our peace

                                                 CHRIST HAVE MERCY

                        We give thanks for God’s mercy, breathed into us by the Holy Spirit
for he has filled our emptiness
                        and sent us as bearers of reconciling love

                                                 LORD HAVE MERCY

PRIEST:  May God our creator give us the peace of his forgiveness;
                    may the Risen Jesus heal our wounds and transform our weak love;
                    may the Spirit breathe new courage and deeper faith
                    reconciling us to everlasting life…

                                               AMEN!

PRIEST:         As we draw nearer to Holy Week,  the conflict looms larger:  the conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities of his time;  the conflict between life and death,  light and darkness,  condemnation and forgiveness.  We hear in today’s Gospel how Jesus heals and forgives the women taken in adultery,  brings her and us new life,  and will not condemn and judge.  He expects us his church and disciples to do the same – fling wide open the Gates of God’s Mercy.  Or are we no better than the Pharisees he challenged?

READER:            For the ways we seek to shift guilt and responsibility
                                           from ourselves onto others;
                                 for the ways we judge and condemn, not looking into our own hearts
                                                       LORD HAVE MERCY…

For inequalities between men and women in society,  in the Church,
                                in our own community,  in our hearts;
                                for prejudices of every kind

                                                        CHRIST HAVE MERCY…

Because our God is radical acceptance, limitless love, endless mercy;
                               that we might learn how to accept and forgive,
                               live with compassion and understanding

                                                        LORD HAVE MERCY…

PRIEST:       May Father of all compassion embrace us with love without limit;
                         may Jesus our Saviour accept us with a mercy that knows no end;
                         may the Life-giving Spirit enter our hearts,
                        renew in us mercy and forgiveness to offer the world;
                        and bring us all to everlasting life…

                                                        AMEN!

PRIEST:     In just two weeks time we shall celebrate the incomparable joy of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus foreshadows his own resurrection by bringing his friend Lazarus from the tomb into life. He reveals to all that he is victorious over death itself.  But the greatest victory Jesus wins is over the death that is sin, which distorts and wounds our world with its oppressive structures.  Let us repent, and invite Jesus to rise victorious over sin and oppression within us, unbinding us and setting us free.

READER:              For not setting free those trapped in the tombs
of war and violence, poverty and oppression;
                                    for not loving enough to free people from loneliness & depression

                                                   LORD HAVE MERCY

When we bind each other by our criticism and condemnation;
                                    for entombing others in our un-forgiveness and harshness

                                                   CHRIST HAVE MERCY

Because you call our name and draw us out of death and sin
                                     into life, freedom, wholeness and holiness

                                                   LORD HAVE MERCY

PRIEST:           You are a God of Life, not of death:
                              may your mercy unbind us and heal us,
                              your word call us into life and reconciliation,
                              and your forgiveness lead us to perfect freedom,
                              drawing us to everlasting life…

                                                        AMEN!

PRIEST:      Today a touch of joy lightens the austerity of our Lenten journey:  for we fast and repent only to create more space for Christ’s joy.  And what is our joy?   On this ‘Mothering Sunday’ we recognise that our deepest joy is to give life to others by our love and our faith.  Our joy is to be welcomed home by our Father Who is prodigal in His Love, His Mercy, His Faithfulness to us for us,  His acceptance of us:  let us not be afraid to return home to His forgiveness…

READER:          Sometimes we are afraid to be honest with ourselves;
afraid to face the shadows we find within us
                                       and our need for forgiveness:
                                that we might trust God’s generous mercy…

                                                            LORD HAVE MERCY

Often we can be like the elder brother,
                                 refusing to forgive,  to welcome the sinner home;
                                 that our mercy may be like our Father’s…

                                                            CHRIST HAVE MERCY

Christ’s forgiveness makes us a New Creation,
                                 summoning us to be ambassadors for Reconciliation:
                                 when as a parish we do not express mutual forgiveness
                                 and fail to offer the healing that flows from divine mercy…

                                                            LORD HAVE MERCY

PRIEST:             May the Father’s love call us back to ourselves;
                                may Jesus our redeeming elder brother rejoice
                                             to heal our wanderings;
                                may the Spirit lighten our hearts with the joy of divine mercy;
                                and bring us all to everlasting life…

                                                              AMEN!

PRIEST: Today we rejoice:  it is ‘Laetare Sunday’ – a day to celebrate that the call to Lenten conversion is a call to a deeper joy. We hear the Gospel of the healing of the blind man at the pool of Siloam. Our deepest joy is to grow into Christ; to reflect his light onto our tragically war-torn and poverty-stricken world; to embrace his world with a love that will heal humanity’s blindness to injustice and oppression.  That today is also ‘Mothering Sunday’ gives us yet more reason to rejoice as we thank God for the gift of the mothers who have given us life and love.  Let us ask forgiveness for so many refusals to recognise the depth of God’s love for us,  sometimes our mother’s love for us…

READER:            When we refuse to see the evil of war
                                 when we will not see the suffering or joy of those around us;
when we have closed our eyes and hearts to another’s need 
for friendship and caring …

                                                             LORD HAVE MERCY

For ignoring the injustices in our world or in our own hearts;
when we take for granted the love of our mothers and families
and fail to give thanks –
                                 when we do not tell those to whom we are close that we love them …

                                                             CHRIST HAVE MERCY

When we will not see and trust in God’s deep love for us;
                                 when pain or crisis makes us blind to the God who holds us,
to friends who care for us …

                                                             LORD HAVE MERCY

PRIEST:               May the God of joy set us free with loving mercy;
                                 may Jesus our brother heal us of wilful blindness to love;
                                 may the Holy Spirit wash us clean in the pool of God’s compassion and forgiveness;
                                 and bring us all to everlasting life…

                                                                AMEN!

PRIEST:    Jesus comes among us, to offer the Water of New Life to all the peoples of the world.  He calls us to drink deeply of His Spirit and come to a new beginning. It is fitting that today we welcome especially our elected Catechumens to receive the gift of Faith expressed in handing on the Creed of the Church to them, as they prepare for Easter Sacraments. As with the Samaritan woman of today’s Gospel, so with us – he knows us through and through! Being the Face of the Father’s mercy’ He reaches out to the most excluded and scorned! Let us all with honesty recognise when we judge and so exclude others from our hearts, bring our need for repentance and forgiveness to Him, and then drink of His mercy and His Spirit.

READER:   When we take God’s presence and love for us so much for granted,
                         neglect to pray, to drink from His well…

                                                      LORD HAVE MERCY

When we neglect the mission of Christ locally or globally,
when we do not give the water of the Holy Spirit
                        to those around us thirsting for meaning and healing in their lives…

                                                      CHRIST HAVE MERCY

When we do not want to know God’s will for us,
                        do not want our plans disturbed by another’s need…

                                                      LORD HAVE MERCY

PRIEST:     May the all-loving Father draw us to himself,
                       May His Redeeming Son, our brother Jesus, give us to drink
of His mercy,
                      May the Holy Spirit be water of Life to forgive, cleanse and heal us,
                                        and may we all come to everlasting life…

                                                        AMEN!

PRIEST: We have hardly begun our Lenten journey,  yet we are given a glimpse of the glory to come:  the glory Abraham beheld at the moment of covenant;  Jesus clothed in the glory of God on the mountain of the Transfiguration.  That vision will give him the courage to embrace the Cross that he sees lying ahead of him;  that vision will enable the apostles to hold on in the dark days of Calvary.  In our darkest moments God gives us enough light to guide our steps and encourage our faltering hearts.  But do we trust him?

READER:          ‘As he prayed,  his face was changed…’
                               For the times we have said no to prayer,
                               or have resisted the call to deeper prayer
and instead settled for superficial words…

                                                       LORD HAVE MERCY

‘Master,  it is wonderful for us to be here:  let us build three tents…’
                               For wanting to stay in the place of our comfort,
                               avoiding the disturbing Gospel

                                                       CHRIST HAVE MERCY

‘This is my Son,  the Chosen One.  Listen to him.’
For not centring our lives upon Jesus our Redeemer,
for not listening to His Word in Scripture
and in the stillness of our hearts…

                                                       LORD HAVE MERCY

PRIEST:         May the God of all Glory transfigure our every failure
                                          by the gift of his mercy;
                           may the Transfigured Christ embrace the sins of our
                                         woundedness and liberate us for Glory;
                           may the Spirit of God’s presence ever abide with us
                                         to empower us to reconcile with love;
                           and bring our world to the Glory of everlasting life

                                                        AMEN!