REMEMBER GOD’S MERCY
INTRODUCTORY RITES
Gather as a family/ community; create an environment appropriate for prayer (dress appropriately - switch off your phones...).
We are conscious that Christ is present not only in the Blessed Sacrament but also in the Scriptures and in our hearts. Even when we are on our own, we remain part of the Body of Christ.
Place lighted candles, a crucifix, and the Bible on a covered table. These remind us of the sacredness of our time of prayer and could help us feel connected with our local worshipping communities.
You may sing or play an appropriate hymn. For instance:
The Sign of the Cross
Greeting and Introductory Words
L: The Lord invites us to the table of his Word: let us bless him for his goodness.
A: Blessed be God forever.
L: We know that it is difficult to forgive. In Old English, it means “give to the uttermost”; that is what forgiveness really is: going all the way! But we find it difficult to let go of the hurt; we feel the scars and keep the memories.
Today’s readings invite us to remember God’s mercy towards us: he forgives without condition and keeps no account. We pray for the grace to extend the mercy God has given us towards those who have wronged us.
Penitential Rite
L: Conscious of God’s mercy, patience, and compassion towards us, we ask his forgiveness for the times we have not forgiven others.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you did not condemn the woman caught in adultery:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you forgave Peter after he had denied you:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you prayed to your Father to forgive those who had crucified you:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
Gloria
Opening Prayer
L: O God most high,
you are slow to anger and rich in compassion.
Keep alive in us the memory of your mercy,
that our anger may be calmed
and our resentment dispelled.
May we discover the forgiveness
promised to those who forgive
and become a people rich in mercy.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
A: Amen.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
The readings are those assigned for the day in the Lectionary.
Preferably use a Bible/ Lectionary for reading.
Reading 1 Sirach 27:30—28:7
Psalm Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12
Response The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
Reading 2 Romans 14:7-9
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment, says the Lord:
love one another as I have loved you.
Gospel Matthew 18:21-35
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine you are with Jesus when Peter asks: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?” What would your response to Peter be?
What are your thoughts and feelings when Jesus says “seventy-seven times”; as he shares the parable of the unforgiving servant? With whom do you identify yourself most in the parable? Why?
Sunday Snippets
Corrie ten Boom lost her whole family in the Nazi concentration camps. After the war, she travelled about Europe lecturing on forgiveness and reconciliation. After one such talk in Munich, a man came forward, talked to her, and put his hand out to shake hers. She recognized him as a guard at the Ravensbruck camp in which she was interred! Corrie froze. She felt a deep resentment and coldness. She, who had spoken about forgiveness, couldn’t forgive the man. She writes: “It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.”
We can empathise with Corrie’s experience. Forgiveness is difficult. We think we have forgiven, but then we meet the person who hurt us and the feelings resurface. It is almost physical.
It’s not surprising, therefore, that Peter asks Jesus in the gospel: “How often must I forgive my brother?” It was Rabbinic teaching that a man must forgive his brother thrice. Peter doubles the rabbinic three, adds one, and suggests that forgiving seven times is enough.
Jesus’ answer (seventy-seven times) reverses the old law of vengeance: “If Cain is to be avenged seven-fold, truly Lamech is to be avenged seventy and seven-fold” (Genesis 4:24). For the Jews there was no limit to hatred and vengeance; for Jesus’ disciples there can be no limit to love and forgiveness.
Jesus emphasises this through the parable of the two debtors. The contrast between the debts is staggering. The offences we suffer from other humans are nothing compared to our offences against God. and while God forgives all, we do not.
We often hear and say “I can forgive but I can’t forget.” It is when we forget God’s forgiving love that we cannot forgive.
Corrie ten Boom did forgive the ex-Nazi guard! She remembered God’s gracious forgiving love towards her, prayed, and woodenly thrust her hand into the man’s. Then a healing warmth seemed to flood her being, she grasped the man’s hands, and forgave him.
What unforgiven hurts still torture me? Is there anyone I have not forgiven?
Let me remember God’s immense compassion towards me and pray for the grace to forgive that person from the heart.
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: “He remembers their sins in detail.” How easy/difficult is it for me to forget the wrong done to me; the wrong I have done?
How do I calm myself when I am angry? Do I “forget” my feeling or “process” it?
Reading 2: Sometimes God asks people to do extraordinary things; but most of the time not. How do I live my ordinary life for the Lord? Do I find God there?
Gospel: Do I recognise that God has forgiven me a huge debt I can never repay? How does this affect my willingness to forgive? Do I “keep count” or put conditions on my forgiveness of others?
How can I grow in awareness of the ways we live unconscious of or unconcerned about waste, pollution, a “throw away culture,” overuse of resources, inequality and poverty?
How can I grow in awareness of the ways we live unconscious of or unconcerned about waste, pollution, a “throw away culture,” overuse of resources, inequality and poverty?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: Let us pray to our merciful God that we, who have experienced his forgiveness, may bring the joy of reconciliation to the world: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that we may mediate God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness through our words and deeds, we pray…
R: For all Christian Churches, divided by grudges and pride: that we may be brought together in the unity of the one Gospel and one love of Christ, we pray…
R: For the world: that God may bring an end to violence and chaos in countries and between countries, and guide leaders to bring about justice and peace, we pray…
R: For all who have experienced violence, terrorism, or war: that God may help them break the cycle of violence and make life-giving choices amid their pain, we pray…
R: For all who are suffering: that God may heal the sick, comfort the lonely, strengthen those fleeing violence and disasters, and give hope to those seeking jobs, we pray…
R: For greater care for the earth: that God may free us from narrow vision, help us to change the ways we misuse his gift of nature, and inspire us to find ways to heal the damage done to the ecosystem, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that we may recognize God’s boundless and unconditional forgiveness and forgive others as he has forgiven us, we pray…
L: God our Father, may we remember your mercy to us, learn to accept one another, even with our frailties, and forgive one another as you have forgiven us. Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
The Lord’s Prayer
Spiritual Communion
A: Jesus, I know and believe in your real presence in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is you I desire to love and receive above all things. As I am unable to receive your sacramental presence now, come and be with me in heart and soul. Let my entire self be united with you as I welcome you again and know your loving embrace. Amen.
Post Spiritual Communion Reflection
Lord, it is hard to believe that you forgive endlessly.
Forgive again and again and again?
Nah! I tend to think that if I forgive too easily,
people will walk all over me – everyone will!
So, I set limits:
“I’ll forgive once, maybe twice.”
I find Peter’s “seven times” very tough.
Or “If there is some promise/sign of change.”
Or “Let them acknowledge their sin and say sorry.”
But, Lord, this attitude troubles me.
The weight of unforgiven hurt is a heavy burden.
The grudges I carry are like clinkers, burnt and cold.
May I embrace your law of love and forgiveness.
You forgive me out of love, unconditionally, always.
Give me the grace to forgive those who wrong me.
Let me halt the chain of causality,
and pass along love instead of hate.
May I relax my clenched fist and release the rocks I hold
to embrace the wrong-doer.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: All-loving Father,
you are compassionate and merciful with us.
Let your pardon bring us joy and hope
and induce us to forgive readily the debts,
often so small, that others owe us
because of the wrongs they have done to us.
You have restored us to life:
help us to make others live by our pardon,
that they may feel your goodness in us.
Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
Blessing
L: The Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and lead us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
L: Go in the peace of Christ.
A: Thanks be to God.
Conclude with a hymn. For instance:
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