The Lenten season (for most of) the Church is upon us. A season that is a journey, a movement through the confines and shadows of death’s valley to the bright and spacious pastures of resurrection life. We are, of course, setting out in Lent to arrive at Easter. And we cannot forget that. For in Lent we are not challenged merely to mourn but to hope, not merely to confess but to live. As the Orthodox priest and theologian Alexander Schmemann notes, “We are challenged,” through the Lenten journey, “with a vision, a goal, a way of life that is so much above our possibilities!” And our prayer this week, and over the next several, is prayer to accept the challenge, to let die all that is the “old self” and live in every detail all that is “new life" in Jesus.
So, let us pray together the “Litany of Penitence,” in the distant but everyday brighter light of Easter’s dawn. Dying that we might live.
Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart, nor mind, nor strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, gracious Father.
We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Jesus served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, compassionate Father.
We confess to you, Father, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives.
We confess to you, humble Father.
Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people,
We confess to you, self-giving Father.
Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
We confess to you, generous Father.
Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,
We confess to you, just Father.
Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to you, patient Father.
We turn to you, Father, and away from the wrongs we have done: acknowledging our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
We hold fast to you, always-present Father.
Acknowledging false judgments, uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and prejudice and contempt toward those who are different from us,
We turn to you, ever-chasing Father.
Acknowledging our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,
We hold fast to you, never-changing Father.
Restore us, good Father, and let your anger depart from us;
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.
Bring to maturity the fruit of your salvation,
That we may show forth your glory in the world.
By the cross and passion of your Son our King and Friend,
Bring us with all your saints into the complete joy of his resurrection.
Amen.