Jubilee Year of Mercy
Community Prayer Service 2016
Theme - Merciful like the Father: The
Call of Salesian Spirituality
Entrance Hymn: 762 (Prodigal
Children)
Priest-
(Opening Prayer): Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless
and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase
your mercy in us. In difficult moments, help us to not despair nor become
despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which
is Love and Mercy itself. This we ask of you, O Lord, in your tender mercy.
Amen.
Geregory:
The jubilee year of mercy
proclaimed by Pope Francis is an invitation, to consciously return to the root
of Christian faith and life. Mercy has always been the essence of the Gospel
and the key to Christian Life. This evening let us reflect on loving kindness
as the primary and fundamental characteristic of a truly Salesian spirituality.
In Johnny’s dream, Mother Mary told him: “You will have to win friends not with
blows but with gentleness and kindness.” Later Don Bosco said from his
experience: “Show a lot of kindness to our boys to foster vocations.” With
loving kindness as the cornerstone of the Salesian preventive system, it can be
rightly observed that mercy should be the hallmark of the spirituality and the
ministry of the followers of Don Bosco.
Pope Francis exhorts all
the faithful to be merciful in these words: “God’s face is the face of a
merciful father who is always patient. Have you thought about God’s patience,
the patience he has with each of us? That is his mercy… A little mercy makes
the world less cold and more just. We need to understand properly this mercy of
God, this merciful Father who is so patient.”
Hymn: 746 (Many times I
have turned)
Probin
(Reading):
- James 5: 7-11
Be patient, therefore,
brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the
precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early
and late rains. You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the
coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not complain, brothers, about one another,
that you may not be judged. Behold, the Judge is standing before the gates.
Take as an example of hardship and patience, brothers, the prophets who spoke
in the name of the Lord. Indeed we call blessed those who have persevered. You
have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the
Lord, because the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”
Benjamin
(Reading):
Micah 7:18-20
Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his
inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will
again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our
iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be faithful to Jacob, and show
love to Abraham, as you pledged an oath to our ancestors in days long ago.
Short Silent Reflection
Fidelis
(Hymn): Year of Mercy hymn- “Merciful like the Father”
Kapeo (Intercessions):
Let your response be: Lord, hear our Prayer.
That we may recommit
ourselves to recognizing the blessing of God’s mercy in our lives, we pray to
the Lord.
That we may be
strengthened in our resolve to extend mercy to everyone we meet during this
Jubilee Year, we pray to the Lord.
That we may continue to
work to make our community a wellspring of joy, serenity and peace, we pray to
the Lord.
That we learn to
recognize that mercy is the bridge that connects God and all humankind, opening
our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness, we pray
to the Lord.
Our
Father…
Closing Prayer: Prayer of
Jubilee Year of Mercy
Lord Jesus Christ, you
have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father, and have told us that
whoever sees you sees Him. Show us your face and we will be saved. Your loving
gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money; the adulteress
and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things; made Peter weep
after his betrayal, and assured Paradise to the repentant thief. Let us hear,
as if addressed to each of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:
“If you knew the gift of God!”
You are the visible face
of the invisible Father, of the God who manifests his power above all by
forgiveness and mercy: let the Church be your visible face in the world, its
Lord risen and glorified. You willed that your ministers would also be clothed
in weakness in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and
error: let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven
by God. Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing, so
that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord, and your
Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor, proclaim
liberty to captives and the oppressed, and restore sight to the blind. We ask
this of you, Lord Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy; you
who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.
Last hymn: Blessed are
the Merciful (World Youth Day theme song)
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