Phoenix, Arizona
Opening Prayer
My soul will rejoice in you, Lord, and delight in your salvation. -Psalm 35:9 (silent reflection) Prayer of the Bible Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. -Isaiah 60:28-20 (Free expression of praise and thanksgiving to God) Confession of Sin Those whom You love, You rebuke and discipline. Therefore may I be zealous and repent. -Revelation 3:19 (Time of silence for confession of sin) The Words of Jesus During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” -Luke 3:2-6 (Think deeply on the life and words of Jesus) Prayers for Ourselves and Others I will watch in hope for you, O Lord; I will wait for you, the God of my salvation; you will hear me. -Micah 7:7 (Time to bring before God our own needs and the needs of others) Closing Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, You have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father, and have told us that whoever sees You, sees Him. Show us Your face and we will be saved. Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money; the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things; made Peter weep after his betrayal, and assured Paradise to the repentant thief. Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that You spoke to the Samaritan woman: “If you knew the gift of God!” You are the visible face of the invisible Father, who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy: let the Church be Your visible face in the world. -Francis, Bishop of Rome (1936- ) 
Urcos, Peru
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