Here’s a litany of confession and commitment from the Wellsprings website. Many of the themes are themes that resonate with the scripture readings for Lent, Year B (2012), so I’ve included this litany as a resource for those Sundays.
Litany of Confession: We are People Chosen
One: We are people, chosen from our generations
to be Witnesses to the great Covenant
that exists between the Creator and His Creation.
God created atoms and universe—
yet we are content to live in our own little worlds.
God delights in colour and diversity;
yet we are blind and deaf to the grandeur of God that surrounds us.
Eternal God of all Creation,
Your people ask pardon for their failure to recognise You
in the glory of all that You have created:
All: Lord have mercy/ Kyrie eleison
Two: We are people, chosen from our generations
to be Witnesses to the great Covenant
that exists between Humanity and its Creator.
Age upon age has seen the great things
that God does for His faithful people—
and we allow ourselves to be told
that God is a spent force in our world.
Age upon age, we have seen that God remembers His people—
yet we live as though God has forgotten us.
All: Lord have mercy/ Kyrie eleison
Three: We are people chosen from our generations
to be Witnesses to the great Covenant of Love
between God and humanity,
sealed in the blood of God's beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus laid down His life to reconcile human beings with the Father,
yet we are embarrassed to speak of sacrifice—
let alone to live it.
Jesus calls His disciples to follow Him—
as their Way, their Truth, their Life,
yet we remain convinced that our way is better—
and blame God when we get lost...
All: Lord have mercy/ Kyrie eleison
Four: We are people chosen from our generations
to be Witnesses to the power
of God's creative and renewing Spirit alive in the world.
The Spirit showers upon us the gifts of God's love—
yet we see them as our own gifts and talents.
The Spirit calls forth fruit from our lives;
yet we see them as our own achievements and accomplishments.
In claiming them as our own,
we forget from whom they come
and on whom we depend for these graces—and even for life itself
All: Lord have mercy/ Kyrie eleison
Five: We are people chosen from our generations
to be Witnesses to God and to Jesus—
witnesses here and even to the ends of the earth.
We are baptised in water—
to witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus.
We are baptised in the Spirit—
confirmed in our Faith to proclaim
the Good News of God's love and salvation to all people.
All: God of truth and justice,
we have not lived up to the great gifts
that you have given to us.
Have mercy on your people gathered before you;
strengthen us in the certainty
of your forgiveness and enduring love.
Teach us how to respond to this greatest of gifts
in lives full of grace,
bearing fruit in our own love and forgiveness,
witnessing always to your glory and your graciousness.
We ask this in the name of your son and our Saviour,
Jesus Christ. Amen.
— Copyright © 2000 Wellspring Liturgies. Visit their website for many other good liturgies. http://www.wellsprings.org.uk/liturgies/people.htm
For more resources for Lent, click on Lent in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page.
