Catholic Women's League of Saskatchewan

Short Prayer Service

 

Prayer Service for the Jubilee Year of Mercy


Prayer for Executive Meeting

Litany of Affirmation

Prayer Service for Community Life Workshop

PRAYER SERVICE FOR THE JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY

Prepared by Chantal Devine

For a downloadable PDF version, click here.

 

Leader: In this year of Jubilee Year of Mercy, we the members of the Catholic Women’s League of Canada stand before you Lord with….

 

All:                ONE HEART: filled with mercy, compassion and holiness

                       ONE VOICE: united in harmony to speak the truth with courage and zeal

                           ONE MISSION: witnessing the Good News of the gospel through personal                           

                           encounter and joyful service.

 

Father: As God’s holy people, we recall the promise that wherever two or three of us are gathered in God’s name, that our God is present among us. Let us begin our prayer as we should begin all we do… In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

 

We gather before God our Almighty Father, aware of our great need for His mercy and also of His great desire to bestow love and forgiveness upon us.

 

During this Jubilee Year of Mercy, may our prayer and our reading lead us to a greater appreciation for divine love.

 

May we always recognize that Jesus Christ “is the face of the Father’s mercy.” May we never cease to proclaim to the world the pardon and salvation offered through Jesus, and to live out the Gospel through humble acts of mercy.

 

All:

 

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.

  

Leader: In March of 2016, Pope Francis described God’s mercy in this way…”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. He always has patience, patience with us, He understands us, He waits for us, and He does not tire of forgiving us if we are able to return to Him with a contrite heart. ‘Great is God’s mercy’, says the Psalm. 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.”

  

Father: Reading: James 5.7-11

Reflection

  

Hymn: There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy #639 G&P (or song of your choice)

  

Father: Luke 6.27-36

Reflection

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 8-9, 11-12

 

All:                                    R./ The Lord is kind and merciful.

 

RIGHT SIDE:                    Bless the LORD, O my soul;

                                          and all my being, bless His holy name.

                                          bless the LORD, O my soul,

                                          and forget not all His benefits.

 

All:                                    R./ The Lord is kind and merciful.

 

LEFT SIDE:                      He pardons all your iniquities,

                                          He heals all your ills.

                                          He redeems your life from destruction,

                                          He crowns you with kindness and compassion.

 

All:                                    R./ The Lord is kind and merciful.

 

RIGHT SIDE:                    Merciful and gracious is the LORD,

                                          slow to anger and abounding in kindness.

                                          He will not always chide,

                                          nor does He keep His wrath forever.

 

All:                                    R./ The Lord is kind and merciful.

 

LEFT SIDE:                      For as the heavens are high above the earth,

                                          so surpassing is His kindness toward those who fear Him.

                                          As far as the east is from the west,

                                          so far has He put our transgressions from us.

 

All:                                    R./ The Lord is kind and merciful.

 

HYMN:                             Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You- Verses 1&2 #693 G&P

 

Joyful, joyful we adore You,                                           All your works with joy surround You,

God of glory, Lord of love;                                             Earth and heav’n reflect your rays,

Hearts unfold like flow’rs before You,                            Stars and angels sing around You,

Op’ning to the sun above.                                             Center of unbroken praise.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;                              Field and forest, vale and mountain,

Drive the dark of doubt away;                                       Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,

Giver of immortal gladness,                                          Chanting bird and flowing fountain

Fill us with the light of day!                                            Praising you eternally.

 

 

Intercessions

 

Leader:              With confidence and as children of God, let us turn to the Lord in prayer…

 

Leader:              That we may commit ourselves to recognizing the blessing of God’s mercy in our lives, we pray       to the Lord.

  

All:                      Hear us merciful God

  

Leader:              That we may be strengthened in our resolve to extend mercy to everyone we meet during this           Jubilee Year, we pray to the Lord.

  

All:                      Hear us merciful God

  

Leader:              That we continue to make our CWL Councils a wellspring of joy, serenity and peace, we pray to       the Lord.

  

All:                      Hear us merciful God

  

Leader:              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.

  

All:                      Hear us merciful God

  

Leader:              That we may be blessed and enlightened by God’s Holy Spirit as we participate in this event,           we pray to the Lord.

  

All:                      Hear us merciful God

  

All:                      Our Father…

  

Hymn:                Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You Verses 3&4 #693 G&P

  

Always giving and forgiving,                                           Mortals, join the mighty chorus,

Ever blessing, ever blest,                                               Which the morning stars began;

Wellspring of the joy of living,                                         Love divine is reigning o’er us,

Ocean depth of happy rest!                                            Binding all within its span.

Loving Father, Christ our Brother,                                  ever singing, march we onward,

Let your light upon us shine;                                          Victors in the midst of strife,

Teach us how to love each other,                                   Joyful music leads us sunward

Lift us to the joy divine.                                                   In the triumph song of life.

  

  

                             All:        Prayer of Pope Francis for the 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 one of us, the word 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 you 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 through the intercession Mary, Mother of Mercy, you who reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

Amen.

  

Leader:

Merciful God, accept the prayers of your servants and prepare our hearts to praise your

holy name with one heart, one voice, and one mission.

  

Father:             

May Almighty God bless us and keep us in His love. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

                                            

Closing Hymn:          Hail Mary: Gentle Woman   #426 G&P