A couple of Prayers...

God of mercy,
it was not your plan that children should be abused –
that vulnerable people’s lives should be destroyed –
nor that people called to goodness should give way to temptation to abuse
or to cover up the sinful actions of others.
The work of the Enemy has broken the heart of your Church –
but the work of Christ will be its healing and redemption.
In our sorrow and shame, we turn to you –
our only source of hope.
Give us faith to believe that you can bring light from this darkness;
give us hope that the future can be built on the foundations of truth and justice;
give us love that we each play our part –
however great – however small -
in your great work of healing the broken Body of Christ.
In the name of that same Christ, our Lord.
Amen

God of Compassion,
You are teaching us to face truths that we would rather not see –
You are showing us that some of those entrusted with authority
have not followed the model of your Son
but have abused their power –
You are showing us that the hurts of abuse go far deeper than we had known
and have wrecked countless lives.
You are refusing to let us pretend any longer
that we do not know what some of us have done –
that we do not see the brokenness of the Body of Christ –
that we do not hear the demands for justice –
that the sufferings of the victims and survivors
and the sins of the perpetrators have nothing to do with us.
But by taking away the shrouds of pretence and denial,
you unveil the possibilities of reparation and reconciliation
of deepened compassion and heartfelt empathy.
In this work you lay before us,
may Christ be our model and guide,
and the Holy Spirit our inspiration
and Giver of the gifts your Church will need
to bring healing to herself and to all your Children.
Amen