DIOCESAN RETREAT 2014 – PENITENTIAL SERVICE
Gathering Song Come Bring Your Burdens To God (South African Traditional)
All sing: Come bring your burdens to God,
Come bring your burdens to God,
Come bring your burdens to God
for Jesus will never say no.
Introduction
In our Penance Service, all of us come before the Lord with the burden of our sin. And in prayer and song, through listening to God’s word – we’ll prepare ourselves to welcome the restoring and healing forgiveness of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We put our trust in God’s merciful love. We ask God to grant pardon and peace to our hearts. Opening Prayer Let us pray together, Almighty God and Father, we come to you this evening seeking your tender mercy and forgiveness. And You do not push us away. You sent your Beloved Son not to condemn us but to restore us. Give us the courage to recognise and name our sins. Give us the strength to hand them over to you. Give us the grace to accept your gift of forgiveness. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
Reading Micah 7:18-19
What god can compare with you: taking fault away, pardoning crime, not cherishing anger for ever but delighting in showing mercy? Once more have pity on us, tread down our faults. To the bottom of the sea throw all our sins. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm I Have Found My Peace (Christopher Willcock)
All sing: In you, Lord, I have found my peace,
I have found my peace
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia (Seoirse Bodley)
All sing: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Gospel Luke 18:9-14
Jesus spoke the following parable: ‘Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, “I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of mankind, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get.” The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did not. For everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted.’
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
Homily
Examination of Conscience and Prayer for Protection: (11th c. Maol Íosa Ó Brolcháin trans. from Irish)
This old Irish prayer has a lovely point of view. It asks God’s protection over the many aspects of our personhood that we have received, conscious of the ways our selfishness and sin distort these gifts. As a kind of examination of conscience, let’s all pray this slowly together: Protect for me my eyes O Jesus, Son of Mary That it not make me greedy to see another’s wealth Protect for me my ears that they will pay no heed to backbiting And that they will not regularly listen to foolish talk in the world Protect for me my tongue that it slander no one That I criticise no one, that I am not boastful Protect for me my heart O Christ, that through your love, I may not pursue any perverse desire. Let there be no hatred in my heart, nor envy nor blindness Nor pride, nor disrespect, nor corruption, nor harm. Protect my good belly that it be filled with due temperance That I may not stuff it without care Protect for me my hands that they be not stretched out in conflict That they pursue nothing shameful Protect for me my feet upon the good ground of Ireland That they stir not out of place on no good business Protect my sexuality in wholesome purity of desire Let lust not overcome me Let me not fall into any of the notorious great chief sins O Christ come to me to aid me with them I give myself totally to you to protect me By your great grace O Lord, protect me.
Litany of Repentance
For the sins of our eyes, ears and tongue For the sins of our hands, heart and appetites For neglecting our core relationship with the Lord
All sing: Lord have mercy
For our failure to show love and compassion to others For our harsh judgements of others For our reluctance to forgive
All sing: Lord have mercy
For our lack of respect for the gifts of God’s creation For our neglect of those most vulnerable on the earth For our failure to listen
All sing: Lord have mercy
Prayer:
Is peacach bocht mé (Trad. Irish)
Is peacach bocht mé faoi ualach trom Is méid mo pheacaí is aithreach liom; Ach admhaím creideamh Dé de shíor Le grá ó mo chroí is dóchas fior. Ó bhun na croiche glaoím suas; A Íosa, a Thiarna, claon anuas.
All pray together: I am a poor sinner under a heavy burden,
sorry that my sins are so many;
but I confess always my faith in God with heartfelt love and true hope;
from the foot of the cross my cry goes up:
O Jesus, O Lord, look down on me.
May the grace of the Holy Spirit fill your hearts with light,
that you may confess your sins with loving trust and come to know that God is merciful. Amen.
Individual Confession
The Lord’s Prayer
Let us pray for the courage to forgive others as we ourselves have been forgiven
Our Father…
Concluding Prayer
Let us pray together, Almighty and eternal God, you sent your Beloved Son not to condemn us but to reconcile us to yourself. We give you thanks and praise for lifting from our hearts the oppressive darkness of sin so that we may serve you with energies renewed and with greater gladness. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Blessing May the deep peace of God flowing from the forgiveness offered us in Christ Jesus grow in you, anchor you and sustain you now and always. Amen. And may almighty God bless and protect you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let us bless the Lord, Thanks be to God.