Home prayer service: 5th week of Lent

Lenten meditations from Bishop Jacobs, Legatus’ International Chaplain . . .

Bishop Sam Jacobs

Dear Legatus members and your families,

As we enter into this holy time of the Church year, Lent and the Easter Season, I would like to share the attached Home Prayer Service for recitation during the Weeks of Lent.  I offer these prayerful considerations to encourage the inclusion of family prayer in the Lenten Season.  May Our Crucified Lord draw you closer to Himself and may you come to know Him more intimately through these brief dialogues.

Yours in Christ,

+ Bishop Samuel Jacobs
Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux
International Chaplain, Legatus

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Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen

Leader: Let us take a few moments to place ourselves in the presence of the Lord, who suffered and died for us. (Pause) Let us call to mind one thing God has done for us this past week and give him thanks. (Pause) Let us call to mind the sins we have committed this past week and ask God’s forgiveness. (Pause)

Lord, for the times that we did not make you the Lord of our lives. Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

Leader: Lord, for the times we have not turned away from temptation but allowed ourselves to be overcome by temptation and fell into sin, Lord, have mercy. R: Lord, have

Leader: Lord, for the times we have used your name in a disrespectful way or cursed another person. Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

Leader: Lord, for the times we have not kept holy the Lord’s Day by missing Mass and making it our day in stead, Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

Leader: Lord, for the times we have made pleasure the medication to keep us from dealing with issues in our lives or an end in itself. Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

Leader: Lord, for the times we have not respected the body of others nor the property of others. Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

Leader: Lord, for the times we have not used the gifts you have given us the way they are meant to be used. Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

Leader: Lord, for the times we have said things about others that were unloving, negative, destructive or untrue. Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

Leader: Now, let us bring these and all our sins of omission or commission and place them at the foot of the cross of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Pause) Let us pray.

Lord, hear the prayers of those who call on you, forgive the sins of those who confess to you, and in your merciful love give us your pardon and your peace. We ask this through Christ Jesus, Our Lord.

All: Amen.

Leader: Let us prayerfully and attentively listen with our hearts and minds to the Word of God.

Reader: A reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah; 31:31-34

The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant, and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more. The Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Leader: What did we hear the Lord say to us in this reading? (Pause)

What will we do this week to respond to the word of the Lord? (Pause)

What root of sin do we need to remove from our lives as we prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection? (Pause)

Let us turn to Father of mercies and forgiveness, praying the prayer that Jesus taught us.

All: Our Father…

Leader: Let us pray for God’s blessing upon us this week. (Pause) Lord, protect your people always, that they may be free from every evil and serve you with all their hearts. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Leader: In the spirit of Jesus let us share a sign of peace with one another.

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