Reflection and Invitation to prayer, from AUSCP and Pax Christi
As October begins, our hearts are heavy with grief and disbelief. Even while we pray for and call our family members and friends to hear how they are surviving Hurricane Helene, we must ask another question about the other side of the world. How has humanity allowed such unimaginable violence and the blatant disregard for basic human rights to persist? Millions of people around the globe, have stood in protest, raised their voices, and called for an end to the atrocities in Palestine. Yet, they were met with indifference from global powers that prioritize their own agendas—political, ideological, and financial—over the sanctity of human life.
In these dark times, we cling to the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Change may feel painfully slow, but it is possible. And because of this hope, we refuse to give up. We refuse to lose our humanity. We refuse to stop believing that justice, freedom, and peace are not just distant dreams but rights for every human on this planet.
October 7th cannot be ignored. Israelis are still grieving for the tragic loss of loved ones and are anguishing for the return of their captives. At the same time, October 7th cannot be isolated from history or used to justify atrocities against the Palestinian people. We must also remember October 6th, when Palestinians in Gaza had lived for 17 years in an open-air prison and all Palestinians had experienced decades of suffering and oppression. And we must remember October 8th, when Israel began its genocidal attacks which are ongoing. Let us also grieve the over 41,000 lives lost, over 80,000 wounded, the countless families displaced, and the thousands torn from their loved ones. Let us remember the lives forever altered by policies of expulsion, imprisonment, apartheid, siege, and occupation.
Pax Christi USA, and AUSCP [the Association of US Catholic Priests] invite concerned people of faith to join us during the days surrounding October 7 for Every Life, A Universe! Days of Lamentation. During these days [October 6-9], you can wear a black ribbon or armband, participate in “conversations in the Spirit,” sharing circles about what is really happening, fast, pray the rosary, [Oct 7 is the Feast of our Lady of the Rosary] and attend a virtual zoom gathering, A Mass of Lamentation for ALL the victims of Gaza and Israel since October 7, 2023. You can register for the free link to 8 PM Mass on Wednesday Oct. 9 at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAsd-6grDwpGNREtg7kcTUgCmfmt3RPSv0S
As we approach the one-year mark since October 7th and the war on Gaza, we invite you to join us for a time of reflection to honor the sacredness of every life lost to the ongoing violence, to acknowledge our deep sorrow, and to renew our commitment to peace, freedom, and safety for all. We need ritual space to process grief, confront the systems of oppression that perpetuate immeasurable suffering, and reframe the crisis in Israel and Palestine by fostering a shared vision of reconciliation, justice, and collective actions to bring about peace.
Suggested text for prayer and Mass of Lamentation
Outline & suggestions for a Mass of Lamentation
Musical suggestions:
Taize’ “O Lord, hear my prayer”
“Vene, Sancte Spiritu”
Introductory Rite
Greeting: “May the God of all consolation and hope be with you.”
Or
“May the God of compassion and justice be with us.”
Call to Worship: We are gathered
To seek God’s presence as we answer the call to holy grieving.
In silence let us face the darkness in ourselves,
In our churches, in our community, in our country,
And in our wounded world.
ALL: Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
See if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
For the sake of your name. Amen.
Presider: We turned away from the cries of victims at home and abroad,
Lord, have mercy! …, … …
We made bombs instead of bread for the poor,
Christ, have mercy! …, … …
We have hardened our hearts and turned away from you,
Lord have mercy! …, … …
Presider: May God, our all-humble Creator, have mercy on us,
forgive us our sins and bring us to life everlasting.
ALL: Amen!
Opening Prayer: O Faithful God,
We look on from a distance,
with Mary Magdalene and the other faithful women,
As Jesus is crucified again in our day;
Still today your child Jesus cries out,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Still today our brother Jesus is crucified
in our sisters and brothers,
who are stripped of their clothing ,
who are mocked and derided,
deprived of their homes and lands,
tortured, imprisoned and starved.
We weep, and you weep as well:
your dream for humankind goes awry.
Be with your crucified ones today
and help us to stand in solidarity with them.
In the name of Jesus Christ.
(And all your people say……..) Amen.
Reading options: 1 Kings 21:1-16 Ahab steals Naboth’s land.
[choose!] Jeremiah 31:31-34 God makes a new covenant
Isaiah 38: 10-14, 17-20 I moan like a dove
Psalm 88 Save me, Lord my God. I cry out to you.
Psalm chant: The Lord hears the cry of the poor, blessed be the Lord.
Psalm 94: 3-22 Lord, you will not forsake your people.
Psalm 88 Answer me, Lord, for I am poor and oppressed
*Psalm 31 Into your hands I commend my spirit
Jeremiah 20: 14-18 Why did I come forth from the womb?
Lamentations 3 I am one who has seen affliction
Philippians 2: 5-11 He emptied himself
Gospel acclamation: Save us, Savior of the world,
for by your Cross and Resurrection,
you have set us free.
Luke 23: 44-49 or Matthew 27: 45-56 Jesus dies on the cross
One possibility: after each reading, cite a brief recent story of what has happened in Gaza, the
suffering & courage of those living through that crucifixion.
Homily/reflection on the way we are walking in solidarity with the victims of violence,
accepting grief-work and lamentation as an act of faith; the way we respond to calls to action!
Prayers of the Faithful:
Presider: Living God, we are in pain.
Very often the source of our suffering is a wound in our hearts caused by other
people. There is anger in our hearts.
Sometimes we feel the need to respond to pain with pain
and we find it difficult to forgive.
May your Spirit inspire us now to pray humbly,
with compassion for our enemies as well as our friends and families:
Intercessor: Please respond: “Heal & help us, O God!”
ALL: Heal & help us, O God!
1- For our Palestinian sisters and brothers in the rubble of Gaza, that they
may know they are not alone in their hour of need, we pray … Heal &
help us, O God!
2- For the people of Israel, divided within and at war without, to find
reconciliation and peace at home among themselves, we pray
3- Please O God, thwart the plots of terrorists and heal those who have been
traumatized, we pray
4- Console parents who grieve the death of a child, we pray
5- Rescue prisoners of war and all who are unjustly held captive, we pray
6- Boost humanitarian aid to people most in need of food, water. Health
care, and protective shelter, we pray
7- Save those who are oppressed or caught in the crossfires of war, we pray
8- Bring reconciliation and peace into the crisis in Israel and Gaza, and
protect civilians from further suffering, we pray
9- Transform the mindset of oppressive regimes and our own anger, we pray
10- And for what else shall we pray? ……
Presider: God of Justice,
you decorate our human race with marvelous diversity,
and you clothe us with a common dignity.
May our reverence for your Truth in every heart,
as sharp as a sword and as liberating as your grace, be your torch burning us
with the freedom of your sons and daughters.
We ask this in the name of our tender God.
ALL: Amen!
Presentation of Gifts
Prayer over the offerings:
Creator God,
Through this bread and wine,
We unite our lives to the offering
Of your faithful servant, Jesus.
May his body, broken in nonviolent love,
And his blood, poured out in healing forgiveness,
Rekindle our commitment to the work of justice
And the pathway to peace.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
EUCHARIST OF GOSPEL NONVIOLENCE
OPTION I
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up to the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R. It is right and just.
Loving Father, we praise you and thank you
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is your faithful servant, our brother,
who brings peace to our broken world
through his self-emptying, nonviolent love.
Through his passion and death,
he transforms our swords into plowshares,
our animosity into reconciliation,
our alienation into community,
and our hatred into forgiveness toward our enemies.
Your Spirit changes our hearts:
enemies begin to speak to one another,
those who were estranged join hands in friendship,
and nations seek the way of peace together.
The Spirit of the Nonviolent Christ is at work
when understanding puts an end to strife,
when hatred is overcome by compassion,
when vengeance gives way to forgiveness.
For the gift of this transforming love,
we never cease to thank and praise you.
We join with all the choirs of heaven and with all the earth to
proclaim your glory: Holy, Holy, Holy …
The Priest, with hands extended, says:
God of love and compassion, we praise you
through your Son, Jesus Christ
who comes in your name.
He is the Word that brings liberation
from injustice and violence.
He is the hand you stretch out to the poor and the oppressed.
He is the way that leads to peace.
God, our Father,
because of fear, hatred, and ever-recurring wars,
we had wandered far from your love.
But through your Son you have brought us back
to you and to one another.
To overcome the reign of violence,
he embraced the cross as the pathway to peace.
Therefore, we celebrate the promise of healing that the
Nonviolent Christ has won for us.
He joins his hands and, holding them extended over the offerings, says:
We ask you to sanctify these gifts
by the power of your Spirit,
as we now fulfill your Son’s command.
He joins his hands.
In the formulas that follow, the words of the Lord should be pronounced clearly and
distinctly, as the nature of these words requires.
While he was at supper
on the night before he died for us,
He takes the bread and, holding it slightly raised above the altar, continues:
he took bread in his hands and gave you thanks and praise.
He broke the bread,
gave it to his disciples saying:
He bows slightly.
TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT;
FOR THIS IS MY BODY,
WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.
He shows the consecrated host to the people, places it again on the paten, and
genuflects in adoration.
After this, he continues:
At the end of the meal,
He takes the chalice and, holding it slightly raised above the altar, continues:
he took the chalice.
Again he praised you for your goodness,
And gave it to his disciples saying:
He bows slightly.
TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT;
6
FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD,
THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT,
WHICH WILL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR MANY
FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.
He shows the chalice to the people, places it on the corporal, and genuflects in
adoration. Then he says:
The mystery of faith.
And the people continue, acclaiming:
Save us, Savior of the world,
for by your Cross and Resurrection
you have set us free.
Then the Priest, with hands extended, says:
God of Love, your Son has entrusted to us
this new Passover meal, this pledge of his love.
We celebrate the memory of his death and resurrection
and offer to you the gift that you have given us,
the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation.
Therefore, we ask you, Father,
to accept us, together with your Son.
May his Holy Spirit keep us always in communion
with Francis our Pope, N. our bishop,
together will all our brothers and sisters.
Loving Father, make your church
throughout the world a sign of unity
and an instrument of your peace.
You have gathered us here
around the table of your Son,
in fellowship with the Virgin Mary,
Mother of God,
Joseph her spouse,
and all the martyrs and saints.
In that new creation
where the fullness of your peace will be revealed,
gather people of every race, language,
religion, and way of life
to share in the one eternal banquet
with Jesus Christ the Lord.
He takes the chalice and the paten with the host and, raising both, he says:
Through him, and with him, and in him,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honor is yours,
almighty Father,
for ever and ever.
The people acclaim: Amen!
Then follows the Communion Rite
Prayer After Communion
Loving and generous God,
you have gathered us at this table of your remembrance.
We thank you for nourishing your pilgrim community
with the Bread of Peace and the Cup of Blessing.
May this sacred food sustain our commitment
to overcome fear with trust, injury with pardon,
and hatred with nonviolent love.
We ask this through the Risen Christ who lives forever. Amen.
BLESSING
[Presider] May the Tender God who heals
Touch us and our violent world
Reconcile us with his blessing
And be with us all our days.
COMMISSIONING
Go now to embody the Peace of Christ,
To accompany the wounded and the broken,
To be the hands and heart of Jesus Christ
In our world today. AMEN!
Major Resource: Liturgies of Lament by J. Frank Henderson, Liturgy Training Publications:
Chicago, 1994. 92pp.
-The Shape of Lament: pp. 16-21.
-Lament for Violence Against Individuals or Groups: 45-75
Eucharist of Gospel Nonviolence by the AUSCP Working Group
Submitted by Bob Cushing. On the Feast of Francis
Pax Christi Macon
304 Misty Ridge
Macon, GA 31220
frbobcushing@gmail.com