Intercessions ~ Second Sunday in Lent

Christ Blessing ~ El Greco ~ c1600

In the hearing of the Transfiguration Gospel at Mass today,/ may we be drawn to Christ,/ who is radiant in light./ In a dark world,/ may we search for/ and be promoters of light./ We pray to the Lord. 

In the Lenten time,/ we ask for the renewal and revitalization of the Church where it has grown weak/ or lost its way./ For the health,/ safety and strength of Pope Francis./ We pray to the Lord.

For the President of the United States,/ our congress and those who are seeking public office in an election year./ May the world be blessed with leaders who are decent people/ with servant hearts./ We pray to the Lord.

A powerful tornado has left twenty-four people dead,/ many injured or missing in Nashville, Tennessee this week./ We pray for the healing of that community/ and for all who are helping in recovery efforts./ We pray to the Lord.

As the Coronavirus spreads,/ we pray for those who are afflicted/ and for those who are helping in hospitals,/ clinics and research labs./ For the poor countries with limited resources to care for the sick./ We pray to the Lord.

We entrust our families and our friends to the healing Christ,/ mindful of those who are physically,/ spiritually,/ financially or emotionally unwell./ For those who are lonely,/ without family or friend./ We pray to the Lord.

Duccio's Jesus Washing the Feet of the Apostles

Here is another meditation or teaching using Duccio's painting of Jesus Washing the Feet of the Apostles. We might also want to look again at St. John's Gospel, Chapter 13. 

"What the Word does for our ears, the icon does for our eyes." 

Scala Santa

In Rome, there is a long staircase called the Scala Santa - the Holy Stairs. These are the twenty-eight marble steps that led to Pontius Pilate's Praetorium in Jerusalem. At some point the stairs were dismantled and brought to Rome, where pilgrims have climbed them on their knees for centuries as an act of repentance for the sins of the world.

It's an uncomfortable climb. Some people don't understand and mock the experience. To each his own. But while making the climb, I wrote short, one-line prayers along the way. I recently found the prayer again in the sabbatical journal I kept, and am pleased to share it with you now, at the start of Lent. I've added two subsequent prayers. 

Jesus - for the wars we create
Jesus - for our neglect and indifference towards you
Jesus - for the deals we make and the preparations for war
Jesus - for our sexual violence
Jesus - for our abandonment of children
Jesus - for our killing of children

Jesus - for the lies of church and government
Jesus - for the abuses of power
Jesus - for national greed
Jesus - for our veneration of guns
Jesus - for our selfish disregard of others
Jesus - for the hatred that results in murders


Jesus - for the destruction of the land, the water, the animals, the air
Jesus - for our racial and religious prejudice
Jesus - for the sins against justice that keeps people poor
Jesus - for the wasting of your gifts; our life-denying addictions
Jesus - for our refusal to share
Jesus - for our idolatry of possessions and power


Jesus - for our pretending not to see
Jesus - for squandering our riches on ourselves
Jesus - for our judgments of division and hatred
Jesus - for arrogant thinking - only we are right
Jesus - for our lack of joy in you
Jesus - for the torture and enslavement of people


Jesus - for our superficiality and obsession with fun, ease and comfort
Jesus - for our ignorance of your Gospel and the trivialization of your Word
Jesus - for our dishonesty, lust, entitlement, violence and lack of repentance
Jesus - for our inhospitality, our sending people away
Jesus - for the sins of the clergy