Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Most litanies begin with a plea for God’s mercy in the three-part formula we use at Mass. In this, we recognize our sinfulness and our need for God’s forgiveness. As we pray these words, we should experience true repentance for our sins as well as an assurance that God always holds out His mercy to those who desire it.
Jesus, hear us.
Jesus, graciously hear us.
Jesus always hears us when we pray to Him, so why do we beg Him to do so here, especially in such emphatic language? First, at times, our Lord may seem distant, and we wonder, in our pain and grief, if He is listening at all or even cares. He does hear us, of course, but we must remind ourselves of that truth.
Second, as we ask Jesus to hear us, we should remember that we need to hear Jesus, too. Jesus does hear us, and He does respond to us, but sometimes we’re so distracted that we failed to notice His gentle replies to our prayers. We have to open our hearts, trusting that our Lord always hears and answers our prayers.
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