RECONCILIATION CELEBRATION - LENT 
	JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY (using the Jubilee Year of Mercy Prayer)

Entrance Rite (Please stand)
1. Opening Hymn: 

2. Greeting: (All make the sign of the cross) 
 Grace, mercy, and peace be with you 
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

3. Opening prayer: Let us pray - - - 	
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 words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman: 
“If you knew the gift of God!”

Liturgy of the Word (Be seated)
4. Reading from the Word of God: 	
Joel 2:12-18 (Sunday Lectionary #219 p. 112, Ash Wednesday)		
Psalm 103 (The Lord is Kind and Merciful)
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (Sunday  Lectionary #33 p. 217, Fourth Sunday in Lent C) 
Luke 15:1-3,11-32 (Sunday Lectionary #33 p. 217, Fourth Sunday in Lent C)					 

5.Short homily or Silent reflection:

6. Prayer for repentance:  (Please stand)
Let us Pray:	(Silent prayer) 
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.

Examination of Christian Living
7. Examination of conscience (Lord’s Prayer):  (Please be seated)
 Presider: Let us turn to God, our merciful Father,
	asking Him to guide us as we examine our lives in truth and honesty.
	
Recall your sins and prayerfully ask yourself what you have done with full knowledge and full consent against God’s Commandments and the precepts of the Church. 
Reader1: Lord Jesus,
Open my mind and my heart to your Holy Spirit.
Show me where I am failing to love your heavenly Father.
Show me where I am failing to love you, failing to accept you as my saviour, 
failing to seek you and yield to you as my Lord.
Show me where I am failing to love the Holy Spirit, 
failing to be open and to be led by Wisdom and Love.

 Reader2: Lord Jesus,
Show me where I am failing to love any one of your brothers or sisters as you love me.
Show me where I am failing to love myself as you love me.
Show me where I am putting myself before God.
Show me where I am seeking my own desires at the expense of a brother or sister.
Your power finds its strength in my weakness; without you I can do nothing.
	
Presider: By considering the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy we may remember times when we may have committed sins of omission. We can also be reminded of ways in which we can grow in holiness. Have I neglected to do the following when circumstances obliged me?

Presider: Seven Corporal Works of Mercy:
Reader: Feed the hungry
	Give drink to the thirsty
	Shelter the homeless
	Clothe the naked
	Care for the sick
	Help the imprisoned
	Bury the dead	

Presider: Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy:
Reader: Council the doubtful
	Instruct the ignorant
	Admonish sinners
	Comfort the sorrowful
	Bear wrongs patiently
	Forgive all injuries
	Pray for the living and the dead

8. Community act of sorrow: (Please stand)
Brothers and sisters, we share the fact that we are all sinners, 
all capable of ignoring God’s holy Word. 
But we also share the desire for forgiveness and transformation 
through the power of Incarnate Love. 
Let us confess our sins and pray for each other:
I confess to Almighty God - - - -		 

Conclusion of the Rite
9. Lord’s Prayer:
With confidence in God’s mercy, 
let us pray boldly in the words that Jesus himself gave us: 
Our Father - - - 

Send your 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 of you, Lord Jesus, 
through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy;
 you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit 
for ever and ever.
Amen.

10. Thanksgiving for God’s forgiveness and mercy:
Blessed are you, Lord God, King of all creation:
you have given us this time to live in your service.
Father, we thank you for your guidance and loving care.

Look with love and mercy on your Church around the world.
help your people to be a forgiving community,
walking in the footsteps of Jesus our brother,
filled with love for you and for one another.
May our faith and action bring you glory
and lead others closer to you.

All praise and glory be yours, merciful Father,
through Jesus your servant and your Son,
in the communion and love of your Spirit,
now and forever. Amen    (adapted from CCCB Penance Celebrations p 155)

11. Blessing and  invitation to the Sacrament: (Priests leave to hear confessions following the blessing) 

12. Instrumental Music