2Liturgies - Be Merciful

Transcription

LITURGIES FOR
LENT IN THE YEAR
OF MERCY
Contents
Holy Hour by Bishop Patrick ....................................................... 2
Reconciliation Service on the theme of the Lost Sheep ....... 4
Reconciliation Service on the theme of the Prodigal Son,
using the paintings by Sieger Koder or Rembrandt ............. 8
Stations of the Cross on the theme of Mercy .......................... 12
HOLY HOUR
YEAR OF MERCY - PRAYER FOR HEALING
WITHIN ADORATION OF CHRIST IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
‘If I can only touch his cloak, I shall be well again.’ (Matthew 9:22)
Hymn: Guide me O thou great Redeemer (Hymns old and new no. 190) or of choice as Blessed
Sacrament is exposed.
Brief explanation of the Service
You are invited at any point in the Holy Hour, up until the Benediction, to come forward from your
place in church, kneel before the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and touch the hem of
the cloth draped from below the stand of the Blessed Sacrament onto the altar steps, as you pray in
silence for your particular intentions; perhaps healing of a physical or spiritual nature, for yourself
and/or for others. Everyone is encouraged to pray for each person who comes forward to touch the
hem of the cloth, that their prayer might be answered.
Say together: The Prayer for the Year of Mercy
Reflection on the Word of God and Prayer for Healing
Sit
First Reading: Matthew 9: 18-22
Healing of woman with haemorrhage
Sit or kneel
Time of silent adoration and prayer for physical or spiritual healing
Let us pray:
All powerful and ever-living God, the lasting health of all who believe in you, hear us
as we ask your merciful, loving help for all who are in need of your healing; restore
them that they may offer you joyful thanks in your Church. Grant this through our
Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, forever and ever.
AMEN
Stand
Hymn: Be still and know that I am God (Hymns Old and New no. 58) or of choice
Sit
Second Reading: Colossians 3: 12-21
‘Forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins’
Sit or kneel
Time of silent adoration and prayer for healing of relationships
Let us pray:
Father in heaven, increase our longing for Christ our Saviour, present in the Blessed
Sacrament, and give us the strength to respond to his call to ‘be merciful like the
Father’. Help us to forgive our neighbour so that we may know also the healing of
the hurts in our own hearts. Help us to grow in love and in patience. We make our
prayer through Christ our Lord
AMEN
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Stand
Hymn: Lay your hands gently upon us (Hymns old and New no. 295) or of choice
Sit
Third Reading: Mark 2: 1-12
Seeing their faith (the faith of his friends) Jesus heals the paralysed man
Sit or kneel
Time of silent adoration and prayer for healing for others
Let us pray:
Loving Father, hear our voices raised in prayer for others whom we know. Let the
radiant light of your crucified and risen Son free all whom we love from the darkness
of their pain or illness, and fill their hearts with the comfort of his merciful peace
and healing power. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
AMEN.
BENEDICTION
Kneel
Incensing of the Blessed Sacrament and Hymn
Sweet sacrament divine (Hymns old and new no. 507) or of choice
Short Litany
You are the Bread of Life: PRAISE TO YOU!
You are the Bread of Salvation: PRAISE TO YOU!
You are the Blood that redeemed us: PRAISE TO YOU!
You are the source of our joy: PRAISE TO YOU!
You are the Bread that feeds us: PRAISE TO YOU!
You are the Blood that quenches our thirst: PRAISE TO YOU!
You are the Bread that comforts us: PRAISE TO YOU!
You are the Bread that gives us strength: PRAISE TO YOU!
You are the Bread that heals us in body and mind: PRAISE TO YOU!
Blessing
Reposition and song: Praise we our God with joy
(Hymns old and new 458) or of choice
3
Reconciliation Services for Lent
1. The Good Shepherd seeks out the lost
This service can be used in a parish or deanery. To prepare - set up a prayer station in Church
which has an icon of Christ the Good Shepherd and ‘tea’ lights available to light. People are
invited to light a candle just before the final blessing after they have been to confession for
those they know who are lost. The idea is that after people have received mercy, they then
pray for others who need mercy.
Hymn (for suggestions see end)
Sign of the Cross
Greeting
Grace and mercy be with you
from God the Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ
who laid down his life for our sins.
R. And with your spirit.
Opening Prayer
Father of mercies
and God of all consolation,
you do not wish the sinner to die
but to be converted and live.
Come to the aid of your people,
that they may turn from their sins
and live for you alone.
May we be attentive to your word,
confess our sins, receive your forgiveness,
and be always grateful for your loving kindness.
Help us to live the truth in love
and grow into the fullness of Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
Liturgy of the Word
Isaiah 53:1–12
The Lord burdened him with the sins of all of us.
Psalm 129
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Luke 15:1-10
The Good Shepherd seeks out the lost sheep and carries it back with joy.
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Homily
Examination of Conscience
Let us now humbly acknowledge that we have sinned.
Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to the truth
and mercy of your Gospel. Where we find only the shadow and darkness of evil
within us, we ask forgiveness and healing through your Son, Jesus Christ.
When we refuse to admit that we are sinners and make little or no effort to be
converted and follow Christ more closely; when we turn our backs on you, we are
denying our need for our Saviour and the life of the Spirit within us.
Pause for self-examination
Lord Jesus, you were sent to heal the contrite of heart.
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.
When we fail to pray and refuse to listen to God’s Word and live by it; when we
refuse to be nourished and healed by the sacraments; when we fail to give reverence
to God in thought, word and deed; when we lose our trust in you.
Lord Jesus, you came to heal sinners.
When we fail to show love and joy, peace and patience; kindness and goodness;
faithfulness and gentleness and self-control, we are refusing to live the life of the
Holy Spirit within us. When we are mastered by pride, ambition, jealousy, lust, anger
and when we deliberately choose to lose ourselves in self-centred desires for wealth
and pleasure; when we refuse to forgive others who have sinned against us, we deny
Christ.
Lord Jesus, you plead for us at the right hand of the Father.
When we show hatred or indifference towards people of other Christian
denominations; when we show malice towards peoples of other faiths; when we
scorn those of other races and cultures, we deny their dignity of being created in the
image and likeness of God.
Lord Jesus, you are the Saviour of the world.
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When we fail to feed the hungry; clothe the naked; shelter the homeless and visit
the sick; when we fail to combat poverty and raise our voices against injustice; when
we fail to respect and promote the dignity of human life; when we abuse God’s gift
of the earth’s resources; whenever we want the best for ourselves and have no
compassion for those in need, we refuse to love our neighbour.
Lord Jesus, you will come to judge the living and the dead.
Liturgy of Reconciliation
Deacon or minister: My brothers and sisters, confess your sins and pray for each
other, that you may be healed.
All: I confess…
Deacon or minister: The Good Shepherd seeks out the lost sheep and carries it back
with joy. Let us pray with confidence to Christ, the Good Shepherd:
Lord, seek us out and bring us home.
R. Kyrie Eleison
You were sent with good news for the poor and healing for the contrite. R
You came to call sinners, not the just. R
You forgave the many sins of the woman who showed you great love. R
You did not shun the company of outcasts and sinners. R
You carried back to the fold the sheep that had strayed. R
You did not condemn the woman taken in adultery, but sent her away in peace. R
You called Zacchaeus to repentance and a new life. R
You promised Paradise to the repentant thief. R
You are always interceding for us at the right hand of the Father. R
Deacon or minister:
Now, in obedience to Christ himself, let us join in prayer to the Father, asking him to
forgive us as we forgive others and mindful of others we know who are lost.
All say together:
Our Father…
The priest concludes:
Lord, draw near to your servants
who in the presence of your Church
confess that they are sinners.
Through the ministry of the Church
free them from all sin so that, renewed in spirit,
they may give you thankful praise.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R. Amen
6
Individual confession and absolution
Music during the time of Individual Confession.
Proclamation of Praise for God’s Mercy
Luke 1: 46–55 — The Magnificat or song
Before the concluding prayer, people place a candle at a station that has an icon of
Christ carrying the lost sheep. The candle is lit for someone they know who is lost.
Concluding Prayer of Thanksgiving
God and Father of us all, you have forgiven our sins
and sent us your peace. Help us to forgive each other and to work together to
establish peace in the world. We pray for all those we know who are lost and
ask for them to come back to you. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen
Concluding Rite
The blessing
May the Father bless us,
for we are his children, born to eternal life.
R. Amen.
May the Son show us his saving power,
for he died and rose for us.
R. Amen.
May the Spirit give us the gift of holiness
and lead us by the right path,
for he dwells in our hearts.
R. Amen.
Dismissal
The deacon or other minister or the priest himself dismisses the assembly:
The Lord has freed you from your sins.
Go in peace
All respond
Thanks be to God.
Hymn
(Possible songs from Hymns Old and New:
Amazing grace, 27
Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us, 268
O Lord, all the world belongs to you, 369
God forgave my sins, 148
My God, accept my heart this day, 329
The Lord’s my shepherd, 492
The King of love my shepherd is, 488
O living water, 368)
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2. The Prodigal Father/Son
These two services are downloadable from the website in a PDF/Word file (Publisher on request,)
using two different images and two reflections which can be adapted as required:
The Prodigal Son by Sieger Köder
The Prodigal Son by Rembrandt
Opening Hymn: Lay your hands gently upon us. (Hymns Old & New no. 295)
Opening Prayer:
Lord, people kept complaining about how you welcomed sinners and ate with them. People complain
today about your Church becoming too free and easy. Help us to hear your reply as we listen once
again to these familiar stories. Remind us that we all have a bit of the younger and older son and that
what we most need is the compassion, freedom and mercy of their father. We ask this through Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Reading from St. Luke’s Gospel 15:11-20
Jesus also said, ‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me have the share of
the estate that would come to me”. So the father divided the property between them. A few days
later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he
squandered his money on a life of debauchery.
When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the
pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs.
And he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him
anything. Then he came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s paid servants have more
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food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and
say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as one of your paid servants.” So he left the place and went back to his father.
Take a moment to look in silence at the Son in the picture:
Sieger Köder Painting:
See how the hands of the son are gratefully holding onto his loving father and how his eyes are
closed.
Rembrandt Painting:
Notice how his shaven head is buried in his father's chest. Look at his bare foot and his disintegrating
sandals.
Response:
Come back to me with all your heart. (Hymns Old & New no. 683)
Don’t let fear keep us apart.
Trees do bend,
though straight and tall;
so must we to others call.
Long have I waited for your coming home to me
and living deeply our new life.
Reading from St Luke’s Gospel 15:20-24
While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy,
clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against
heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the father said to his
servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his
feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration,
because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they
began to celebrate.
We pause again in silence to look at the Father in the picture:
Notice the joyful father’s hands of gentle embrace, touching his face with the head of his son.
Rembrandt Painting:
Notice him leaning towards his son, clutching him to his bosom. Observe his female hand (on your
left) his male one (on your right).
Response: Come back to me with all your heart. (As above).
A reading from St. Luke’s Gospel 15:25-32
Now the elder son was out in the fields and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could
hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. “Your brother has
come” replied the servants “and your father has killed the calf we had fattened because he has got
him back safe and sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to plead
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with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once
disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my
friends. But for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property—he and his
women—you kill the calf we had been fattening.”
The father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we
should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost
and is found.”
Take a look at the elder Son standing at the right hand side in the picture:
See the taut, twisted hands of the angry, resentful elder son, hiding around the corner, looking at
them out of the corner of his eye.
Rembrandt Painting:
Notice the distance between him and his father and brother. See him looking down at them both with
his folded hands.
Response: Come back to me with all your heart. (As above).
Litany of Repentance:
God our Father,
The story of the prodigal son is the story of your forgiveness and limitless mercy. Please give us the
grace to always be patient and forgiving to our children, to our family members, to our friends and all
who hurt or offend us.
Response: Lord have mercy.
God our Father,
The son in the story returned to his father when he was most desperate and at his weakest, and the
father welcomed him with open arms. Please give us the grace and faith to know that, no matter
what we do, or how far away from you we may stray, your love for us never fades, and your mercy is
eternal. Never let us forget that you are always waiting to welcome us back into your arms.
God our Father,
On the return of the youngest son, the eldest son was judgemental and filled with fear and jealousy.
Help us always to know that we are all sinners and always in need of your forgiveness. Give us the
grace not to be judgemental, but to welcome into our lives and our church everyone, regardless of
their race, colour or choice of lifestyle.
God our Father,
Help us to be living examples of your mercy to others, and bring your love, through our prayers and
actions, to all those most in need. We remember especially the sick and housebound, those living in
poverty, those who are persecuted for their beliefs and those who have had to flee from their homes
and families for fear of their lives.
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God our Father,
Help us to show your mercy to our world. Inspire us to care for the environment; to help rebuild lives
and communities; to share in the griefs and anxieties, joys and hopes of all your people, so that all
your creation may flourish.
God our Father,
We pray for the power to be gentle; the strength to be forgiving; the patience to be understanding;
and the endurance to accept the consequences of holding to what we believe to be right. Help us to
devote our whole life and thought and energy to the task of making peace, praying always for the
inspiration and the power to fulfil the destiny for which we were created.
STOP AND THINK—What has struck you in the stories, hymns and prayers tonight? Take some time to
gather your thoughts and feelings together. Take another look at the picture.
ACTION:
We invite you to turn to your neighbour and say to them “Accept the Mercy of God” and give them a
hug or put your hands on their shoulders like the father in the picture.
Act of Contrition:
O my God, we thank you for loving us. We are sorry for all our sins, for not loving others and for not
loving you. Help us to live like Jesus and not sin again. Amen.
Closing Prayer:
God, you are the prodigal Father who sees his children even when they are a long way off. You are
moved with compassion when we come to our senses and turn towards us, clasp us, and put your arms
around us. You go out of your way to meet us when we condemn and judge each other and think we
are morally superior. You keep urging us to come together in all our variety so that what was lost may
be found and what was dead may come to life again. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Final Hymn: Praise to the Father, the source of our life. (Hymns Old & New no. 454)
It is possible to have individual reconciliation after the final hymn or before it. If you choose the latter,
you will replace the closing prayer by the priestly words of forgiveness and absolution.
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Stations of the Cross on Mercy
First Station: Jesus is condemned to death
We praise you, O Lord, and we bless you.
Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world
Our Lord stands silently before those who condemn him, as he stood silently as others sought
condemnation of the woman caught in adultery. Somehow mercy stands silent as shrill voices seek
condemnation. The merciful One does not enter the world of condemnation but stands apart. When,
like the crowd around the woman, we acknowledge our own need of God’s mercy, we too can
separate ourselves from condemnation and judgment. We can find ourselves standing side by side
with Christ as he begins his Way of Mercy.
Lord Jesus, help us to stand at your side, to separate ourselves from judgment and condemnation, to
walk your way of mercy.
Second Station: Jesus takes up his Cross
As Jesus is charged with the Cross, we recognize that mercy bears a heavy load; it requires
extraordinary strength. Jesus carries the sins of all humanity in carrying the Cross. As the spiritual
works remind us, we are to bear wrongs patiently and in the Way of Mercy we are reminded that we
need to ask for God’s strength if we are to bear this burden mercifully with Christ.
Lord Jesus, help us, like you, to bear the cross in mercy, to bear wrongs patiently and to follow in
your Way of Mercy.
Third Station: Jesus falls the first time.
As Jesus falls, we can imagine those who delight in the downfall of one who had appeared so strong,
so popular. Mercy does not fear scorn or mockery but finds courage to persevere, to get up once
again and move forward. Mercy gives us the strength to get up from our falls in life and persevere in
what is good and true.
Lord Jesus, in a world that often takes delight in the downfall of others, help us to find perseverance
in getting back on our own feet and to be the ones who help others to rise from their falls.
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Fourth Station: Jesus meets his mother
There is great tenderness as mercy meets with mercy. Mercy in Mary is both the extraordinary
courage to be present when most disciples have fled the hostile mob and the gentleness that seeks
only to show comfort in solidarity with her son. As we walk the Way of Mercy with Christ, we can be
inspired by this encounter to find the courage of solidarity, placing ourselves with those crying out
for tenderness and compassion.
Lord Jesus, help us, like Mary, to seek you in places of suffering, places in need of tenderness and
compassion.
Fifth Station: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry his Cross
Simon of Cyrene is often considered to have become a follower of Christ. The mercy within him is
awakened by the presence of Mercy Himself. The opportunity for mercy is a moment of conversion
for Simon; the invitation to show mercy that must have seemed at first terrifying to him becomes a
privilege and moment of salvation.
Lord Jesus, help us to awaken mercy within those around us. Help us to invite others to words and
deeds of mercy and by that mercy to see the face of the living God.
Sixth Station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Veronica reminds us of just how practical mercy is and how often it is found in the smallest of
gestures. She reminds us to be attentive to the small acts of kindness that can often seem to go
unnoticed. Mercy, like the mustard grain, grows from small things.
Lord Jesus, help us to be attentive to the small acts of mercy we can show to those around us.
Seventh Station: Jesus falls the second time
The world looks a very different place when Jesus views it from the ground. Looking up at people
towering above, jeering and shouting, inches from a kick from which there is no escape. Mercy
knows and understands the fear of being on the ground. Many people view their world from the
ground, a world which looks so different when we are standing. As we walk the Way of Mercy, let us
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consider what the world looks like for those who feel knocked to the ground in so many different
ways.
Lord Jesus, in your mercy you have joined with countless people knocked to the ground and
vulnerable. Mercy calls us to see the world through your eyes and theirs. Help us to pause on this
Way of Mercy and see the world in this new and challenging way.
Eighth Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Jesus himself wept for the city of Jerusalem and now it seems to weep for him. The mercy of
compassion will cause us to weep for so much that is wrong, so much suffering in the world. St
Faustina reminds us that mercy calls us to act mercifully in our broken world, and, where we cannot
act, to speak out mercifully and, finally, always to pray mercifully for our suffering world.
Lord Jesus, you yourself have wept over our suffering world; help us too to shed tears that lead us to
act mercifully, to speak mercifully and always to pray mercifully.
Ninth Station: Jesus falls the third time
A final fall for the weakened, bruised and exhausted Jesus. When we fall repeatedly, so often we
reach a point of despair, a point where we so easily turn to the false comfort of cynicism or
hopelessness. Mercy is perhaps the only thing that can turn us back with Christ to continue our way.
Mercy assures us that God never abandons us and helps us back to our feet with the strength that
comes from Him alone.
Lord Jesus, you know what it feels like to meet with the despair of the fallen; help us to call on your
mercy when hope seems to fail us. Help us to reach out with the strength of your mercy to those
who despair.
Tenth Station: Jesus is stripped of his clothes
Throughout his ministry Jesus has revealed the merciful face of the Father, a face that in words and
deeds has restored dignity to so many others. Now Jesus himself finds his dignity forcibly taken
away. Dignity has so many aspects: exterior ones like housing, clothing and food, but also interior
ones; respect for each and every human person in all the aspects of their being. Jesus calls us on our
Way of Mercy to restore his dignity in our brothers and sisters who, like him, have been deprived of
that fundamental part of our very being.
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Lord Jesus, help us to be the face of your mercy to our world, to restore dignity to all those who feel
stripped of that respect which is the right of every human being.
Eleventh Station: Jesus is nailed to the Cross
We live in a world of such terrible violence and so easily become immune to the pain inflicted on
others. We find it hard to consider the reality of Christ’s torture on the Cross. Again we meet with
the Mother of Mercy at the foot of the Cross along with the beloved disciple. Mercy is the meaning
of the love of Christ’s two disciples standing with him even as they are helpless to change the course
of events they witness.
Lord Jesus, give us the strength to stand at the foot of the Cross, to embrace the mercy that may not
be able to change the course of events in our lives but which can transform them and bring light to
the darkest of places.
Twelfth Station: Jesus dies on the Cross
Death is described by St Paul as the last enemy to be destroyed. In Our Lord’s death the mercy of
God is victorious. Because of this we can confidently observe the last of the Spiritual Works of Mercy
– to pray for the living and the dead. God’s mercy indeed is present even in death itself and our
prayers are an expression always of hope in that mercy for each and every person.
Lord Jesus, help us always to pray confidently with hope for the living and the dead, knowing that
your mercy knows no bounds.
Thirteenth Station: Jesus is taken down from the Cross
Mary was first to hold the child Jesus in her arms, and now she holds the body of Jesus in those same
loving arms. Throughout her life she has always held him with unchanging love. Mercy is seen in her
constancy and unflinching devotion. Mercy is not something that can be simply brought out in
moments of need, but must lie behind every action, thought and word in our lives, just as it
underpinned every moment of Mary’s life. Because mercy is the very nature of God, it is
unconditional and unchanging.
Lord Jesus, help us to make mercy the heart of our lives. Forgive us for the times when we turn away
from mercy and give us the grace of constancy to be merciful in all the situations of our lives.
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Fourteenth Station: Jesus is laid in the tomb
The last of the Corporal Works of Mercy calls on us to bury the dead. For Joseph of Arimathea, this
Work marks the transition of this secret disciple of Jesus to the public proclamation of his faith. All
the Works of Mercy call us to a proclaimed faith; there can be no hidden or secret disciple and as
Joseph proclaims the crucified Christ through this work of mercy, he prepares himself for the glory of
the resurrection. It is often in times of bereavement that our faith can be proclaimed and our hearts
prepared for the resurrection of Christ.
Lord Jesus, help us to proclaim you like Joseph of Arimathea through the dignity of our prayer and
service of others at the time of bereavement and loss.
Fifteenth Station: the Resurrection of Christ from the dead
Mercy lives and in the accounts of the Resurrection we are told that Christ is recognised in acts of
mercy – his calling of Mary Magdalene by her name, his recognition in the breaking of bread, the
word of Peace in the upper room, the sharing of fish by the shore. He shows mercy to Peter in
inviting him to express three times his love, healing him of the three wounds of denial. To Thomas
he gives the opportunity joyfully to proclaim his faith in the face of his own doubts. Mercy is at the
heart of the experience of the disciples as at Pentecost they are called to preach the Good News of
the Risen Lord.
Lord Jesus, as we
have walked with
you the Way of
Mercy, help us to
show your Risen
Face of Mercy to our
waiting world.
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2Liturgies - Be Merciful

Transcription

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