I will leave this place and go to my father and say:
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.’ LK 15:18
MICAH 7:14-15,18-20
My Soul's Beloved,
In every age and in every generation we cry out to You O Lord our God to have pity on us. Yes, we are sinners and we fall a hundred times a day but for Your Name's sake, O Lord look upon us and see how helpless we are and how much we need Your saving help and grace.
We cry out to You day and night. Our arms are stretched out to Your holy Temple int he Sanctuary where You dwell. Listen to our pleading my Lord, and my God, and hasten to save, heal, bless, and make whole once more.
You are a God of mercy, slow to anger and rich in mercy. Look with favor on Your sinful people O Lord and for the sake of Your sorrowful passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.
What god can compare with you: taking fault away,
pardoning crime,
not cherishing anger for ever
but delighting in showing mercy?
Once more have pity on us,
tread down our faults,
to the bottom of the sea
throw all our sins.
Grant Jacob your faithfulness,
and Abraham your mercy,
as you swore to our fathers
from the days of long ago.
PSALM 102(103):1-4,9-12
The Lord is compassion and love.
My Soul's Beloved,
The younger son cruelly demands a share of his father's property that he anticipates will come to him after his dad's death. How good and generous and dear his father is not to strike him and banish him from his home but grant him his request. The foolish, wayward, selfish, debauched son believes that by choosing a life apart from the constant loving care and protection afforded to him in his father's house he would find happiness distancing himself so he could sin with impunity.
What god can compare with you: taking fault away,
pardoning crime,
not cherishing anger for ever
but delighting in showing mercy?
Once more have pity on us,
tread down our faults,
to the bottom of the sea
throw all our sins.
Grant Jacob your faithfulness,
and Abraham your mercy,
as you swore to our fathers
from the days of long ago.
PSALM 102(103):1-4,9-12
The Lord is compassion and love.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
all my being, bless his holy name.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
and never forget all his blessings.
all my being, bless his holy name.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
and never forget all his blessings.
It is he who forgives all your guilt,
who heals every one of your ills,
who redeems your life from the grave,
who crowns you with love and compassion.
who redeems your life from the grave,
who crowns you with love and compassion.
His wrath will come to an end;
he will not be angry forever.
He does not treat us according to our sins
nor repay us according to our faults.
He does not treat us according to our sins
nor repay us according to our faults.
For as the heavens are high above the earth
so strong is his love for those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west
so far does he remove our sins.
As far as the east is from the west
so far does he remove our sins.
The Lord is compassion and love.
LUKE 15:1-3,11-32
My Soul's Beloved,
I rejoice O Lord that You do not scorn to sit down with sinners and tax collectors, this means that we poor, sinful creatures have hope that You will not disdain coming to us and sitting among us. The world may judge, repudiate, condemn, and isolate the sinner especially one who sins grievously but You O Lord are goodness, mercy, compassion, and love. Slow to anger and rich in mercy. You can grant grace and move hearts to sorrow, repentance, and contrition. We have this confidence in Your goodness O Lord, that the humble contrite heart O Lord, You will not spurn.
The younger son cruelly demands a share of his father's property that he anticipates will come to him after his dad's death. How good and generous and dear his father is not to strike him and banish him from his home but grant him his request. The foolish, wayward, selfish, debauched son believes that by choosing a life apart from the constant loving care and protection afforded to him in his father's house he would find happiness distancing himself so he could sin with impunity.
Loving Jesus, grant that I may not be counted among the Pharisees and scribes who like the older brother are self-righteous prigs absorbed by their own narrow selfish interests. Recognizing that I am a sinner and greatly in need of Your mercy may I be ever conscious of my utter weakness, unworthiness, and inability to live apart from You. Should I have the misfortune to stray Lord, no matter how far I have distanced myself from You, may Your grace bring me back to my senses, as I recall Your never-failing goodness and infinite love, and run back into Your outstretched arms and loving embrace. I believe my Lord, that no sin is beyond Your ability to forgive, in this knowledge is my comfort and my hope. Grant O Lord, that I like the prodigal son, always know that I can come home and when I do I will always be assured of the unconditional love testified by his father's joyous embrace and restoration of all that he had so willfully squandered.
‘While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.
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