Prayer of Confession, Palm Sunday, Year C

Call to Confession

Save me, O God,
    for the waters have come up to my neck.  (Psalm 69:1)
Let us name the waters that are burying us and seek the saving grace of God:


Prayer of Confession

Forgive us, God, for we have sinned.
Forgive our lack of gratitude for all you have done.
Forgive our failure to offer praise,
to give credit where credit is due.
We claim our own success, 
saying we are "self-made."
But none of us are "self-made."
Everything we have comes from you.
Still we boast in arrogance. 
Forgive us, we pray.

Forgive our lack of love.
We claim to be followers of God
whose steadfast love endures forever,
but we do not love unconditionally 
as you love us.
We put boundaries on who will love
and how we will exhibit it.
Have mercy on us, O God.

Forgive our lack of faith.
Rejecting the Chief Cornerstone,
we have built our belief system on human values,
trusting in human leaders,
hoping in finite human measures.
We have failed to follow Jesus' example
of humility, compassion, and grace.
Redeem us, O Christ.

Forgive our failure to rejoice.
We curse the day,
choosing darkness over light,
making our deals in back alleys,
bypassing communal decision-making,
so that our deeds cannot be seen,
and then we puff our chests 
and bellow lies.
Save us, O God!

Turn our hearts away from greed
and self-centeredness
and toward a communal mentality
where love wins.


Assurance of God's Grace

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,[a] not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.  (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) Hear the Good News: In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven! Thanks be to God!

Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us also forgive one another.
The peace of Christ be with you.
Please extend the peace of Christ to all whom you encounter this week.