Lord Have Mercy – Friday

Psalm   Ps 79:8 “Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need

We live in a very unforgiving society.  One tweet posted years ago can condemn you forever.  Some people think that God is like that.  But he is a gracious and forgiving God.  Because of Christ and his cross he can forgive us for the sins, even of our ancestors.  We need individual, church and country repentance.  This is a great prayer to pray.

  • Jesus Have Mercy – Mark 5:19 – “Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”   This is Jesus speaking to the demon possessed man who had been released and freed.  He wanted to go with Jesus – but Jesus told him to go home to tell.   That is a message for us.  We need to confess to God our sin, but to others what Christ has done for us.
  • Have mercy on Australia –   Today we remember South Australia.It has been relatively unaffected with only 868 cases and 4 deaths.  Only 187 of the cases were locally acquired.  Nonetheless with the spread of the Delta strain in much of the rest of Australia, there is concern that the population (and economy) remain vulnerable.
  • Have mercy on the World – Today we pray for South Africa and Ethiopia.  We also continue to remember the people of Afghanistan.  South Africa has officially seen 2.6 million cases and 78,000 deaths – which is an extraordinarily high death rate – but most consider that there have been far more cases. There have been 9.6 million doses – 16 per 100 people.    Ethiopia has 291,000 cases and 4,500 deaths.  There have been 2.3 million doses – 2 per 100 people. The population of Ethiopia is massive – 120 million people.
  • Have mercy on your Church – Pray for the elderly in the church – those who are alone and miss not only their families but their church families.  May we remember our responsibility to the widows and orphans.
  • Have mercy on our families – It’s not just the elderly in the church.  We have a responsibility to look after our own families – and also to care for those in our communites.  What a great opportunity to bear witness to the love and compassion of Christ.
  • Prayer      From Bishop Michael McKenna

Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.

Catholic Diocese of Bathurst

God of mercy and compassion, we look to you in our sufferings and ask that you enlarge our hearts with your love that we may care for one another.

We pray that the disruptions of this pandemic may bring a good disruption of our habits of thinking where we have forgotten you. Lead our minds to reflect on what you are saying to us in the midst of this distress.

May we keep in prayer our sisters and brothers beyond these shores, suffering more greatly from the effects of the virus than we are, lacking the resources and political stability we take for granted. 

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

  • Praise   Psalm 79 is not a psalm that is sung often – but this version from Sons of Korah gets it spot on!

Todays devotional video is here