Lent prayer card
Lent prayer
We gather…
O God, purify our lips that we may sing your praise. Saving God, come near to us. Give us new hearts that we may love as Jesus loved and bring healing to those who are fragile and afraid. We ask this through Jesus your Son. Amen.
We listen…
Come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning. Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn; turn to the Lord your God again, for he is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, and ready to relent. Joel 2:12-13
You are God’s saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same. Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful. Colossians 3:12-15
We reflect and respond…
We need these moments of breaking when we come to realise that we are not okay, that we do not have it all together, that we are not perfect, that we are not without sin. Moments of guilt, moments of contrition, moments when we are lacking in self-esteem … are essential to our growth.
M. Scott Peck Further Along the Road Less Travelled
We ask…
O God, you ask of us repentance and conversion of life. In this holy season, may we embrace the fullness of our life in Christ Jesus…
Create in us new hearts, O God.
In a world of violence and denial of basic human dignity, may we be lights in the darkness…
Create in us new hearts, O God.
In a word of abundance that allows children to go hungry, may we work to banish famine and malnutrition…
Create in us new hearts, O God.
In a world that places ambition and the quest for wealth and power above the values of family and faith, may we stand as witnesses that you are the source of all true happiness…
Create in us new hearts, O God.
In a world where disagreements and longstanding enmities are resolved by war and civil disruption, may we be reconcilers and unifiers…
Create in us new hearts, O God.
In a world created through your love and charged with your presence, may we teach others to see your face in all people and all creations…
Create in us new hearts, O God.
In a world that hungers for meaning and searches for you, may we accompany those journeying to baptism and support them through our prayer and witness…
Create in us new hearts, O God.
We are sent forth…
Through Jesus Christ, may we be set free from the captivity of sin. Amen. In Jesus Christ, may we be born to new life. Amen. With Jesus Christ, may we be witnesses to the love of God. Amen.
Intercessions: Intercessions of Mercy compiled by Joy Clough, rsm © 2009, Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and published by ACTA Publications, Stokie, IL.