Lord, help us to avoid the temptation to hostile inflexibility.
Lord, help us to avoid the temptation to treat symptoms and not root causes, to bind wounds without first treating them and curing them.
Lord, help us to avoid the temptation to transform bread into a stone and cast it against sinners, the weak and the sick.
Lord, help us to avoid the temptation to come down off the Cross, to please the people, to bow down to a worldly spirit instead of purifying it and bending it to the Spirit of the Lord.
Lord, help us to avoid the temptation to act as owners or masters of the faith.
Lord, help us to avoid the temptation to turn our eyes away from reality.
Lord, help us build a Church that is not afraid to roll up her sleeves to pour oil and wine on people’s wounds.
A Church that doesn’t see humanity as a house of glass to judge or categorize people.
A Church, one, holy, catholic, apostolic, that is composed of sinners, needful of God’s mercy.
A Church that is the true Bride of Christ.
A Church that is not afraid to eat and drink with prostitutes and publicans.
A Church that has the doors wide open to receive the needy, the penitent, and not only the just or those who believe they are perfect.
A Church that is not ashamed of the fallen brothers and sisters, pretending not to see them, but feels involved and obliged to lift them up and encourage them to take up the journey again and accompany them toward a definitive encounter with Jesus in the heavenly Jerusalem.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirt. Amen.
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Patrick T. Reardon
1.4.16
Written by : Patrick T. Reardon
For more than three decades Patrick T. Reardon was an urban affairs writer, a feature writer, a columnist, and an editor for the Chicago Tribune. In 2000 he was one of a team of 50 staff members who won a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting. Now a freelance writer and poet, he has contributed chapters to several books and is the author of Faith Stripped to Its Essence. His website is https://patricktreardon.com/.