Thought for the Week - 5th March 2023

 

Dear Friends, 

I wonder if you are familiar with the Community of the Cross of Nails, a worldwide network of churches, charities, training organisations, chaplaincies and schools that, ‘share a common commitment to work and pray for peace, justice and reconciliation’. It is based at Coventry Cathedral and describes its three guiding principles as healing the wounds of history, learning to live with difference and celebrate diversity, and building a culture of peace. After the bombing of the cathedral in 1940 the inscription ‘Father, forgive’ was written onto the ruins, and today that response is said every weekday at noon in the new cathedral and around the world by members of the community using the ‘Coventry Litany of Reconciliation’ which was written by Canon Joseph Poole in 1958. The response isn’t ‘Father, forgive them’ because Poole did not seek revenge but the recognition that all have sinned and need forgiveness. In using the litany during Lent, it ‘gives a structure for recognising sin, individually and corporately, and asking for forgiveness... that we can be assured of God’s forgiveness so that we can be renewed and released, and therefore be more fruitful in His service’. You can use the prayer for yourself during this Lenten season.

Grace and peace,

Neil    

The Coventry Litany of Reconciliation

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class: Father, forgive.

The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own: Father, forgive.

The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth: Father, forgive.

Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others: Father, forgive.

Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee: Father, forgive.

The lust which dishonours the bodies of men, women and children: Father, forgive.

The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God: Father, forgive.

Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

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