A Prayer for the Church in Our Time Also

In preparation for this coming Sunday's sermon on the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30) I came upon this prayer by Jesuit priest Daniel Berrigan.  It was given in the context of Church's failure to respond to the crisis of AIDS.  I commend it as a prayer for our times as both Catholic and Protestant Churches continue to come to terms with our failures to protect the vulnerable and defend the abused:

"Of this I am certain: of our calling to holiness, our vocation to persist, in season and out in the work of healing others, even as we seek healing for ourselves . . .

"So we take hear.  We commend the woman who quite simply, with all her heart, on behalf of someone she loved, refused to give up.  We might think of her act as a 'forgiving persistence' toward Christ.  We might also wish to ponder a kind of 'persistent forgiveness' toward the church.

"The woman refuses and persists.  And so prevails.

"And so must we.  And so shall we.

"We must forgive, deepen our love, persist in our conviction that even the church can be redeemed from sin.

"In so fulfilling our vocation, we ourselves are healed."