Pastor’s Corner for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, by Fr. Bruce Botha SJ

Sunday is the first annual Safeguarding Sunday for the Archdiocese. Our Safeguarding Committee will be blessed and commissioned, and we will outline the next steps to be taken by the committee, including the training workshop and screening for all those who work with children and youth. We will also be taking up a second collection for safeguarding in the archdiocese, to fund training and to subsides the cost of screening for those parishes that are unable to afford it. Please pray for the youth and children of our parish and for all of those who work with them. Pray especially for the work of the safeguarding committee in making our parish a safe and welcoming space for all.

 

Prayer dedicated to Safeguarding:

God of mercy and compassion
You care for all your children
And never abandon them.
You see the suffering we cannot see, The wounds that lie deep within, and the cries which have been ignored.

Send us your Holy Spirit
To guide and support us.
Teach us to listen to the pain we cannot imagine,
to see the scars that time does not heal,
and speak with confidence for those who have no voice.

May we find in Jesus, your Son,
the courage to reach out to all who suffer,
the openness to respond to all in need.
He is the innocent victim
who redeems us by his love;
the face of mercy
who witnesses to the truth.
In his name may we treat survivors with dignity,
Learn from them with humility
And respond to them with integrity.
We pray for perpetrators to acknowledge and understand the pain inflicted unto their victims and for them to heal from the internal hurt they themselves experienced.

We make our prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever.
Amen

Fr. Bruce Botha SJ