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To allow people to come together in prayer in
response to the crisis in our Church.
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To prayerfully address the pain of victimization
and betrayal.
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To prayerfully call for healing.
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To begin a process of openness in addressing the
faithful's concerns about their Church by gathering in prayer
and by underscoring the centrality of Eucharist in all our actions
as Church.
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To focus on the "voice" of the faithful being
raised and heard, first and foremost at worship.
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To focus on Eucharist as the unifying element
of our church/faith.
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To hear from many different voices and model genuine
''communitas'' - inclusive, supportive, life-giving for all.
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To model Catholic outreach and welcome.
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To model a Church that strives to reveal Christ in our midst
and that is responsive to and respectful of the contemporary
needs and issues of the faithful, The People of God.
Suggested Prayers, Readings,
and Music for a Healing Mass
ENTRANCE PROCESSION
As you enter the church, you are invited to be signed with ashes:
''As a sign of our unity in sorrow. As a sign of our unity in faith.''
GREETING
Welcome to this prayerful moment, to this Mass of Healing
in response to the crisis of abuse and betrayal in our Church. I
am _____________, a member of _______________ Parish and a member
of Voice of the Faithful. We are new friends and companions on a
difficult journey. It is good to be together. For our Mass this
evening our celebrant(s) is (are) ____________, our beloved and
respected pastor(s), who walks with us always.
You will find in your Mass booklet a piece of paper, and there
are pencils in the pews. We invite you to write on these slips of
paper your special intentions for the Prayers of the Faithful, those
persons who you want us to pray for at this Mass. Ushers will circulate
with baskets to collect each of your prayers, and they will be brought
forth as part of our offertory.
We have gathered in silence, signed with ashes, symbolic of our
sorrow and the shame those abused have been forced to carry too
long.
This is already an amazing and powerful gathering of the Spirit.
Our need is for a space for being together in prayer: victims, survivors,
and all those who long to support them and to heal the brokenness
in our Church.
Emotions are deep and feelings need to be expressed. This evening
of gathering, prayer, and Eucharist is to be a sacred space for
all of us to bring our strongest feelings. It is a place where we
hope peace can begin for each of us. After Mass, there will be time
to meet and share in the church hall. For those who need to talk
and express feelings at a deeper level, several lay ministers, among
them [name invited guests], will be available to you in your need.
Celebrant: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also
with you.
PENITENTIAL RITE I.
We ask forgiveness for those Church leaders who failed to use their
positions of trust and authority to ensure the safety of our children;
give them courage and wisdom to assume responsibility for their
misguided actions:
Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
II. As "The People of God," we ask forgiveness for any moment
of our not hearing, not knowing, and not responding to your pain
and loneliness:
Christ have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
III. We ask forgiveness for our hardened hearts; help us
to move through our anger to reach out in all the ways You call
us to in rebuilding Your Church:
Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
OPENING PRAYER
Generous and compassionate God,
Our loving Creator, Redeemer, and Holy Spirit;
Bless your daughters and sons gathered here in
sorrow and in hope.
Your blessed Son became one of us,
sharing in the human burdens of betrayal and loss
and in the joys of friendship and community.
Help us to be mindful always of your gift of hope and resurrection
as we contemplate the sinfulness in our Church
and the brokenness in our hearts.
May we learn to live fully in the knowledge of your transformative
love;
may it renew our lives, our faith, and our Church
and allow us to rejoice in you and in the Church, forever and ever.
Amen.
FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Lamentations (3:17-25,49,50,55-58)
My soul is deprived of peace.
I have forgotten what happiness is;
I tell myself my future is lost,
All that I hoped for from the Lord.
The thought of my homeless poverty is wormwood and gall;
Remembering it over and over leaves my soul downcast within me.
But I will call this to mind, as my reason to have hope:
The favors of the Lord are not exhausted,
His mercies are not spent;
They are renewed each morning,
so great is His faithfulness.
My portion is the Lord, says my soul;
Therefore will I hope in him.
Good is the Lord to one who waits for him,
to the soul that seeks him;
My eyes flow without ceasing,
there is no respite,
Till the Lord from heaven looks down and sees.
I called upon your name, O Lord,
from the bottom of the pit;
You heard me call, "Let not your ear be deaf to my cry for help!"
You came to my aid when I called to you;
You said, "Have no fear!"
You defended me in mortal danger,
You redeemed my life.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
PSALM 130 (sung) SECOND READING
A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (12:12-26)
As a body is one, though it has many parts, and all the parts of
the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one
Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks,
slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Now the body is not a single part, but many. If a foot should say,
"Because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body," it does not
for this reason belong any less to the body. Or if an ear should
say, "Because I am not an eye I do not belong to the body," it does
not for this reason belong any less to the body. If the whole body
were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were
hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God placed
the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended. If they
were all one part, where would the body be? But as it is, there
are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I
do not need you." Nor again the head to the feet, "I do not need
you." Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all
the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider
less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable
parts are treated with greater propriety, whereas our more presentable
parts do not need this. But God has so constructed the body as to
give greater honor to a part that is without it, so that there may
be no division in the body, but that the parts have the same concern
for one another. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with
it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
''Celtic Alleluia''
GOSPEL READING
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (13: 10-17). Glory
to you Lord.
He was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath. And a woman was
there who for eighteen years had been crippled by the spirit; she
was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus
saw her, he called to her and said, "Woman, you are set free of
your infirmity." He laid his hands on her and she at once stood
up straight and glorified God. But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, said to the crowd
in reply, "There are six days when work should be done. Come on
those days to be cured and not on the Sabbath day." The Lord said
to him in reply, "Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years
now, ought she not have been set free on the Sabbath day from this
bondage?" When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at the splendid deeds done by him.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
HOMILY
PROFESSION OF FAITH
GENERAL INTERCESSIONS (Prayers of the Faithful)
For all those who were abused by clergy, we embrace you; we pray
that as the people of God we can in some real way be agents of your
healing. We are overwhelmed by the knowledge of your pain and suffering;
you are precious in God's sight. May you feel God's healing love
in every way and in everything.
We pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer.
For those who have been abused and their families. For the pain
and suffering you have endured, we pray for healing and new life.
For all that was not heard, for the pleas that went unanswered,
for the pain and betrayal that was not shared, we pray for forgiveness.
We pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer.
For all those who have experienced sexual, physical, and emotional
abuse and degradation, we acknowledge your pain and suffering and
cry out against such sinfulness. For all those marginalized by abuses
of power and by hatred, we ask for healing and wholeness.
We pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer.
For the faithful who have been betrayed by those we trusted, by
those who are said to lead us in the name of Jesus Christ, we pray
for an increase of faith, for the holy wisdom to understand and
accept that sin and death are not the final answers, but that we
are called each day to new life.
We pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer.
For the failure of the Catholic Church to be a true sign of the
power of God's unconditional love and need for each of us, and for
all those who have been unable to remain in full communion with
our Church, we pray for the growth in holiness which will welcome
you all home.
We pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer.
For priests of integrity and all women religious who toil in the
vineyard and endure their own sense of betrayal and abandonment,
we pray that the voice of the faithful will be a witness to you
of Jesus' love and communion with you, that you know the voice of
the faithful is raised in Thanksgiving for your vocation.
We pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer.
For our Church, that it remains truly grounded in the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, a communion of believers, transfigured by the good
news of Jesus Christ, who together do the work of building up the
Reign of God in our hearts and in our world.
We pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer.
For our church leaders, that they be renewed by the action of the
Holy Spirit in their midst. May they welcome the spiritual gifts
of humility, wisdom, and courage; may the image of Jesus as Good
Shepherd, listening, guarding, and caring, inform all they do in
the name of God.
We pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer.
____________ goes to altar, retrieves folded altar cloth, and drapes
it over the cross, as is done on Good Friday.
OFFERTORY PROCESSION AND COLLECTION
Our collection this evening will be donated to the Survivors Network
for those Abused by Priests, SNAP. Founded in 1991, this national
organization with a regional office in ___________ (your region,
if applicable) is a valuable resource and needs our support. SNAP
provides self-help for survivors and victims and offers education
through publicity and advocacy. One of SNAP's greatest expenses
is the phone bill, responding to calls from victims all over the
United States. Checks can be made out to SNAP. Thank you for your
generosity.
Offeratory Hymn: "The Church of Christ in Every Age," Dunedin
Wine, Hosts, Ciborium, White Altar Cloth, Greens in Urn, Petitions
in Basket
HOLY "MASS OF CREATION"
Rite of Thanksgiving
COMMUNION RITE
LORD'S PRAYER
Spoken, not sung
SIGN OF PEACE
BREAKING OF THE BREAD
"Lamb of God" from "Holy Cross Mass"
COMMUNION
Hymns: Take and Eat, Taste and See
Prayer after Communion
CONCLUDING RITE
A Special Word of Blessing For Those Abused and Their Families
You are not alone anymore. We, those present and those unable to
be here, want to journey with you through your pain and anger. We
are listening to your pain, and we are hearing you. We wish for
you an end to this long period of sorrow. We pray that your journey
be filled with a new awareness of the care and tenderness with which
we hold you in our hearts. Most of all, we pray for your healing
and the freedom that the grace of forgiveness brings. On this night,
we lift you to God for all that God longs to give to you - and in
all time to come, we will continue to do so.
Announcements
As we come to the end of this evening's prayer, a reminder that
there will be, after Mass, refreshments in the parish hall, with
opportunities for meeting and conversation.
Explanation of Lighting of Candles
As a sign of our movement from sorrow to light, of the journey each
of us must take, the Easter candle will be carried in silence from
its place in the baptistery to the altar. Several ministers will
then come forward to light their individual candles and then move
through the church to positions in front of all the exits from the
church. After the final procession of the priests and ministers
from the church, we will then process out of the church, beginning
with the front rows of each section, lighting our candles as we
exit the outside doors. We will then gather on the lawn of the church
as a symbol of the light of Christ going to the world, and listen
to the church bells sound, closing our prayer of healing, our Eucharist
celebration and sending forth our healing Spirit.
The Easter candle is carried solemnly to the space in front of
the altar. The designated Eucharistic ministers come forward, wait,
then each lights his/her candle and proceeds to begin lighting candles
from various positions in the front of the church. They then process
out of the church. The Easter Candle follows. The congregation follows,
front to back, in procession. Cross bearer, celebrant(s), lector(s)
process out of church.
Anthem: A Gaelic Blessing
Hymn: Go to the World Sine Nomine
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