THE HOLY YEAR OF MERCY
Notes and Suggestions and Template for
THE SECOND FORM OF THE RITE OF PENANCE
Lent 2016
“Bringing God’s Mercy to the World”
In the first paragraph of the document to announce the Holy Year of Mercy, Pope Francis
wrote:
1. Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the
mystery of the Christian faith. Mercy has become living and visible in Jesus of Nazareth,
reaching its culmination in him. The Father, “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), after having revealed
his name to Moses as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex34:6), has never ceased to show, in various ways
throughout history, his divine nature…..Jesus of Nazareth, by his words, his actions, and his
entire person reveals the mercy of God.
In this Year of Mercy the PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE NEW
EVANGELIZATION has produced a resource: PASTORAL RESOSURCES FOR LIVING THE
JUBILEE. This resource was used in preparing this Rite of Reconciliation of Several
Penitents with Individual Confession and Absolution commonly referred to as the Second
Form of the Rite of Penance.
Hymns of ‘Mercy” for possible use in the Rite of Reconciliation
Amazing Grace GA 437
A New Heart for a New Word GA 438
As Gentle as Silence GA 470
Blest be the Lord GA 458
Grant to us, O Lord GA 303
Come back to me GA 213
Lord let your Mercy be on us Ps 33 GA 32
Seek O eek the Lord GA 211
Yes, I shall arise GA 214
Be Merciful – Marty Haugen
Heart of jesus, Heart of Mercy – Michael Herry fms
Introductory Notes
Many would say that the most beautiful and expressive parable story of God’s Mercy is the Parable
of the Prodigal Son. We have Luke to thank for this parable; it appears only in his Gospel, Chapter
15: 11-32.
In Year C Liturgy the Prodigal Son is set down as the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Lent. However,
if you have catechumens/ candidates in the RCIA these Sundays are given over to the Gospel of John
with the great themes of Easter - Water, Light and Life - with the Woman by the Well, the Man Born
Blind and the Raising of Lazarus.
The only other time Luke 15 appears in the Lectionary for a Sunday in the three year cycle is on the
24th Sunday in Year C where the prodigal son is one of the three parables of God’s Mercy with the
‘lost coin’, ‘the lost sheep’, and ‘the prodigal son’. In the short form the prodigal son is omitted.
Because of the Year of Mercy it would-be best to use the three parables.
For the above reasons, we suggest that the Second Form of Reconciliation in this Year of Mercy be
based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son
Ministers needed
Main Presider and other priests for individual confession and absolution; Commentator; Reader of
the First reading; You might use a few readers for the Examen of Remembrance including the
commentator; Cantor for Psalm (If not possible to sing try just singing the response); Musicians to
lead the singing. The first hymn can be sung to AURELIA (GA 483), PASSION CHORALE (GA 335), or
ST THEODULPH (GA 309) tunes. The Litany has a Kyrie (Taize setting?) or Lord have Mercy (St.
Francis Mass?) sung after each statement.
The Parable of MERCY
 There are three people in the Parable: The Father / the Younger Son / the Elder Son
 It is a parable that tells us about God and our sinfulness with the message of pardon
and reconciliation
 Sin is presented as:
- Distancing oneself from the Father’s House (First Son)
- Refusing to enter into the Father’s House of Mercy and Compassion (Second Son)
 The form of Parables includes surprises and this one is full of surprises”
o The Younger Son asks for what will ‘fall to him’ when his Father dies!
o The Father does not object but gives it to him
o We don’t hear any recrimination from the elder brother
o .The younger son gathers ‘all he had’ and we see his motivation as 'he
squandered his property in loose living’
o The younger son was seeking a life of self-sufficiency away from his father
and brother. There is a famine and he ends up feeding pigs, a humiliating job
for a Jewish boy.
o He is empty in the pig sty and not just because he is given nothing to eat.
o He ‘comes to his senses’ and knows what he must do and, surprise, he does it
o The Father sees him coming from a long way off and runs to greet him
o The Father seems dismissive of his ‘confession’ and instead tidies him up and
has a party!
o Then at the end of the parable it is the elder son who has the problem and
we are drawn into his indignation!
In all this we note that the emphasis in the parable is not on the definition of sin but on justification,
the reason why the younger son might return to the Father’s House and the reason why the elder
son might share the Father’s mercy and enter into the Fathers house to celebrate Mercy. Evil is
present but not explained.
Available on the Office for Worship and Diocesan websites are:
Running sheet for the whole ceremony
Data Projector slides for use in the ceremonies
A template of a pew sheet for people
Creativity
This could be adapted into a Penitential Service for classroom prayer or whole school
prayer.
Numbers might be a problem with individual confession yet with a number of priests it
would be possible.
For older parishioners if might be good to have this one morning or afternoon? It might
prove easier to get priests then too?
Children might like to draw the scene of the Prodigal son being welcomed home. These
might be scanned and be shown on screens during the individual confession and
absolution?
It would be good to use Rembrandt’s painting as an installation art piece?
The Logo of the Year of mercy wold be good to use also though the image is more evocative
of the Lost Sheep rather than the Lost Son!?
THE HOLY YEAR OF MERCY
Lent 2016: THE SECOND FORM OF THE RITE OF PENANCE
“Bringing God’s Mercy to the World”
RUNNING SHEET
Introductory Rites
Commentator: Good morning/evening. We gather in this Holy Year of Mercy
to celebrate the compassion and mercy of God in our very broken and
confused world.
Many would say that the most beautiful and expressive parable story of God’s
Mercy is the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
We have Luke to thank for this parable; it appears only in his Gospel.
In this parable the Prodigal son, tending pigs, ‘comes to his senses’ when he
‘remembers’ the Father’s House.
With the two sons we are invited to ‘come to our senses’ reflecting on the
Mercy of God drawing us back yet again to remember the Father’s House.
Please stand for our hymn of Gathering ‘God of mercy and Compassion’:
(The version printed here is new version; there is another new translation from
Gather Australia No 302. The version printed on the pew sheet is the well
known old version. Chose!)
Gathering Song
Gathering Hymn:
God of mercy and compassion,
show your tenderness anew,
Father let me call you Father,
‘tis your child returns to you.
Refrain Jesus, Lord, we ask for mercy,
let us not implore in vain,
all our sins we now detest them,
may we never sin again.
2. By my sins I have offended
God almighty in heav’n above,
where the saints rejoice forever
in the Father’s boundless love.
Refrain Jesus, Lord, we ask for mercy,
let us not implore in vain,
all our sins we now detest them,
may we never sin again.
3. See our saviour, bleeding, dying,
on the cross of Calvary,
through his wounds we can find healing,
Through his love we can be free.
Refrain: Jesus, Lord, we ask for mercy,
let us not implore in vain,
all our sins we now detest them,
may we never sin again.
Sign of the Cross and Greeting
In the name of the Father….
Grace, mercy, and peace be with you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Saviour.
R: And with your spirit
Overview and Opening Prayer
The priest gives an overview of the liturgy and invites all to pray, using these or
similar words: Brothers and sisters, welcome to this liturgy of Reconciliation
that calls us to return to and enter fully into the Mercy of God. Towards the
end of the ceremony there will be a time for individual confession at various
stations around the church. We welcome Fathers … (name the priests who are
to be confessors) and thank them for their presence. God calls us to
conversion; let us therefore in a moment of stillness ask our God of Mercy for
the grace of sincere repentance.
All pray in silence for a brief period.
Priest: Almighty and merciful God,
you have brought us together in the name of your Son
to receive your mercy and grace in our time of need.
Open our eyes to see the evil we have done.
Touch our hearts and convert us to yourself.
Where sin has divided and scattered,
may your love make one again;
where sin has brought weakness,
may your power heal and strengthen;
where sin has brought death,
may your Spirit raise to new life.
Give us a new heart to love you,
so that our lives may reflect the image of your Son.
May the world see the glory of Christ revealed in your Church,
and come to know that he is the one whom you have sent,
Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives forever and ever R: Amen.
Celebration of the Word of God
First Reading
First Letter to Timothy 1:12-17
Lectionary 1 page 873
Responsorial Psalm: Gather Australia 214 Lucien Deiss
Response: Yes I shall arise and return to my Father!
1. To you, O Lord I lift up my soul
In you O my God, I place all my trust.
2. Look down on me, have mercy O Lord;
Forgive me my sins, behold all my grief.
3. My heart and soul shall yearn for your face;
Be gracious to me and answer my plea.
4. Mercy I cry, O Lord, wash me clean
And whiter than snow my spirit shall be.
Verse to welcome the Gospel
Praise and Honour to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
I will rise and go to my father and say:
Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
Praise and Honour to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
Antiphon Music GA 148 (L. Deiss)
Gospel: The Prodigal Son Luke 15
Lectionary 1 page 237/8
Homily
Examination of Conscience
A period of time is spent in making an examination of conscience and in
arousing true sorrow for sins. The priest, deacon, or another minister may help
the faithful by brief statements with the following…
Examen of Remembrance
Celebrant: Let us Kneel if able…Remembrance begins with deep, personal
identification. It begins with remembering the affliction of our brothers and
sisters, and marking their pain as our own. We come to our senses…
We are invited to respond after each of these remembrances is with the
prayer, “God, you bring us to our senses, Hold us in your mercy”
Leader: We remember the acts of shocking abuse, hatred, the terrorism of this
past year and the thousands of people caught in the horror of these
times…(PAUSE for a few seconds). We pray…
All: God, you bring us to our senses, hold us in your Mercy (Pause)
Leader: We recall our feelings and emotions of personal sinfulness and our
reaction to the social and global evils of our times…(PAUSE). We pray…
All: God, you bring us to our senses, hold us in your Mercy (Pause)
Leader: We recall the thousands of workers and the unemployed, the women
and men, the old and young, those who did not escape terrorism, genocide,
racism, hatred and hurt this year…(PAUSE) We pray…
All: God, you bring us to our senses, hold us in your Mercy
(Pause)
Leader: We recall people who have helped asylum seekers and refugees in the
confusion of these times... (Pause) We pray…
All: God, you bring us to our senses, hold us in your Mercy
(Pause)
Leader: We recall people we have hurt, wrong choices we have made, the evil
we have done over time; in all this we remember you rmercy to each of us, to
all of us... (Pause) We pray…
All: God, you bring us to our senses, hold us in your Mercy
(Pause)
Rite of Reconciliation
General Confession of Sins The deacon or another minister invites all to kneel
or bow, and to join in saying a general formula for confession
Deacon or minister: My brothers and sisters, confess your sins and pray for
each other, that we may be healed and so fully enter the Father’s House…
All say: I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done
and in what I have failed to do,
[All strike their breast]
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God
Then all stand and pray the Litany
LIitany
Jesus gives us in the Parable of the Prodigal Son the image of separation from
the Father and the Father’s house; we come to our sense as we reflect…
- Sin is everything that distances us from the Father
All repeat after cantor/choir: Kyrie (Taize) /Lord have mercy (Mass of St.
Francis)
- Sin is that which separates us from the Father’s House. R/
- Sin is what separates us from our brothers and sisters. R/
- Sin is that which comes to upset our hearts. R/
- Sin is whatever does not let us live a full life. R/
- Sin is everything that keeps us from recognising the Father’s house as
ours. R/
- Sin is what causes us to forget that we are sisters and brothers. R/
- Sin is everything that degrades our relationship with the Loving Father.
R/
- Sin is everything that degrades our relationship with our sisters and
brothers. R/
The Lord's Prayer
We pray for the coming of the Kingdom, the reign of Jesus afresh in our lives
and world:
The Lord's Prayer Sung?
The priest concludes: God of mercy, draw near to your servants who in the
presence of your Church confess that they are sinners. Through the ministry of
the Church free them from all sin so that renewed in spirit they may give you
thankful praise. We ask this through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
Individual Confession and Absolution Then the penitents go to the priests
designated for individual confession, and confess their sins. Reflective music
might well accompany this. Each person receives and accepts a fitting act of
satisfaction and is absolved. After hearing the confession and offering suitable
counsel, the priest extends his hand over the penitent's head and prays the
absolution. Everything else customary in individual confession is omitted.
Prayer of Absolution: God, the Father of mercies, through the death and
resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy
Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. The penitent
answers: Amen.
Proclamation of Praise for God's Mercy
At the end of the Individual confessions the celebrant invites all present to offer
thanks and encourages them to do good works which will proclaim the grace of
repentance in the life of the entire community and each of its members.
Priest invites all to bring this prayer to their heart of Mercy:
Merciful God, how wonderfully you created humanity
and still more wonderfully remade us.
You do not abandon the sinner but search with a father's love.
You sent your Son into the world to destroy sin and death by his passion,
and to restore life and joy by his resurrection.
You sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts
to make us your children and heirs of your kingdom.
You constantly renew our spirit in the sacraments of your redeeming love,
freeing us from slavery to sin
and transforming us ever more closely into the likeness of your beloved Son.
We thank you for the wonders of your mercy,
and with heart and hand and voice
we join with the whole Church in a new song of praise:
Glory to you through Christ in the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.
R. Amen.
Concluding Rite
Then the priest prays blessing on all present:
May the Father of Mercy guide your hearts in the way of his love and fill you
with Christ-like patience. R. Amen.
May the Father of Mercy give you strength to walk in newness of life and to
please him in all things. R. Amen.
May the Spirit give us the gifts of holiness and lead us by the right path,
for he dwells in our hearts. Amen
And may the blessing of our merciful God, the Father, and the Son,
+ and the Holy Spirit come upon you and remain with you forever R. Amen....
The deacon or other minister or the priest himself dismisses the assembly:
The Lord has freed you from your sins. Go in peace.
All answer: Thanks be to God....
Hymn: : A New Heart for a New World GA 438
Refrain: Create a new heart, holy Lord,
Beckon our lives through your word,
Open our eyes to your call,
United as one for your world.
Heighten our minds to your thoughts,
Heal us of pride and of hurt,
May we go forth in your name,
We pray our hearts change.
Verse 1
The heart of the cross lowly and poor, calls us on.
Lord, it is you promising hope, promising truth. Ref.
Verse 2
Restless the hearts who yearn for your peace in this land.
Deepen the dream, justice brings life, justice redeems. Ref.