An edited confession from the Beat Eucharist

WE PRAY IN PENITENCE

 

Jesus who prayed and loved among us proclaimed that the first commandment is this:
‘Israel, the one above, below and beyond, the Divine is our God and is the lone Divine.
Hearers, love the Divine, with everything you have.’

 

The second commandment is this: ‘be devoted to all peoples and you are devoted to yourself.’
No other commandments pack more weight than these,

For everything stands or falls by these two commandments, no exception, no hesitation.

Amen.

 

The Divine loves what he makes,
So much that he gave up the Christ, who walked and talked and healed among and with us
to reach down into our hearts and beings and to guide our hands and mouths, from all that destroys us from within,
to speak on our behalf and to bring us to eternal life, that life, where the Divine reigns and the people glorify and shout out and raise up voices aloud, calling out the rebel yell of praise to the one.

 

So turning from all the dirt which flows through our lives, let us own what we have done and what we have wanted to do and let us turn back on those things,

and let us state with integrity that we will turn to the Divine whose words conform not to this world, but to the truth that is shouted,

That we would exist beyond ourselves in our charity and opulent self-giving, live in aspirations of the recreation of Eden in our midst, that the poor will eat and know plenty, that whole communities would stand strong in the everlasting hope.

 

To the one who dreamt up hope and charity and love and time and space,
we, your foolish proud crowd have through our chatter and lies and actions have looked elsewhere

and openly held back from others
in our failed behaviours and beliefs,
with our lack of self-worth, through the fears that creep within us,
through our blatant capitulation to corruption.
To our openly bleeding knees we fall and scream from the pit of our guts that we are self-sickened

And that no more will our personal degradation grip our actions, thoughts and gutter mutterings.
All for the one Christ, the Jesus who lived and talked and healed and spoke among us,
Heal our undeserving hearts from what has gone before and by your unfathomable, rich power proliferate within and among us a resurrection hope that we can be your people, a people of action, love, mercy, faith, grace, friendship, hope, truth and compassion
to the shout out wonder of your name.
Amen.

The one above, beyond, who has all of time and space within his grasp,
who has pity where no pity is deserved, who purifies all of us who feel utterly sickened by our own failings,
pour out grace and hope and forgiveness on you, me and all of us,
weld the cracks in all our lives, making you, me and all of us whole again,
Affirm us in our longing for you and in your hope-filled flamboyance build you, me and all of us up,
and keep you, me and all of us within the confines of your graceful, hopeful, all encompassing love;
by the sure way of the son, the Christ, who lived and walked among us, who longed for justice and cried out, this Jesus.

Amen.