Excerpt from
Litany of Christ the Prisoner
Available in full at
CenterForChristianNonviolence.org
Lord, how often must I forgive? Seven times?
Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-times-seven times.
So no matter who you are, if you pass judgement you have no excuse.
In judging others, you condemn yourself since you behave no differently
than those you judge. God condemns that sort of behavior
impartially.
Forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s or sister’s eye and
never notice the plank in your own?
There must be no passing of judgment: leave that until the Lord
comes—He will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the
secret intentions of each heart.
Let the one who is without sin,
Cast the first stone
Christ, eternal Son of God and eternal Brother of all prisoners, help
me to live my life in my prison in Your Holy Spirit—the Spirit of Love.
Help me to see hostility, meanness and indifference toward me as an
opportunity to freely love, live, give and forgive. Help me therefore always
to be kind, always to be compassionate and always to be merciful
and thereby place Your Love, which is Your Presence and Power, where
only I can place it in this universe of immeasurable time, space, misery,
mystery, and mercy. Amen.
Through the Mercy of our All Loving God and Savior Jesus Christ may
we (I) become Merciful Love. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Christ the Prisoner is risen!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!