Parishioners from across the Diocese have gathered to join in the Liturgy of Lament, reflection on the failures of the past, but looking to the future with hope.
The annual Liturgy of Lament, a non-Eucharistic service, has taken place for the past seven years and coincides with the anniversary of the Australian Government's National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse.
The liturgy, held on Thursday evening, was led by Fr David Ranson, Vicar General for the Diocese of Broken Bay, in the absence of Bishop Anthony Randazzo, who is representing Broken Bay at the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome.
A series of readings began the liturgy, with each focused on acknowledging and lamenting the suffering faced by victims, at the hands of those within the Church, including clergy, religious and lay people.
In his opening prayer, Fr David asked God to help soothe the restless hearts of those who had been harmed by the Church.
“Gentle Jesus, shepherd of peace, join to your own suffering the pain of all who have been hurt in body, mind, and spirit by those who betrayed the trust placed in them,” he said.
In his homily, Fr David said lamentation couldn’t just be an occasional matter, but had to be a way of being for the Church.
“It is not something expressed and moved on from: it is our way of being Church, at least for our own generation and the several generations to follow us,” he said.
“To be a member of the Church is to live in lament. It is to live without resiling from the prayer, ‘I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.’”
He then reflected on the Synod occurring in Rome, saying the theme of prayer, listening and dialogue was a key part of moving forward for the Church and a focus of the liturgy on Thursday evening.
“There can be no genuine synodality in the Church unless we are prepared to encounter, listen, and discern with those who feel excluded,” he said.
“However, we are not used to listening; we are used to proclaiming. We are not used to asking questions; we are used to giving the answers. We are not used to serving another from their terms; we are used to giving on our own terms. We are not used to asking for forgiveness; we are used to dispensing forgiveness. A synodal Church envisages a different way of being.”
Fr David concluded by saying that sitting with and listening to abuse survivors had been one of the most powerful privileges of his own ministry.
“They have been some of the most vulnerable moments in my journey, listening to the pain, the confusion, the anger,” he said.
“Not one of them has been the same; each one unique but all with immeasurable suffering. No excuses or justifications to offer; no effective words in reply. Only a feeble attempt on my part to be present, to encounter the one so hurt in all their truth, to listen. But also to be affected, to be changed.
“If we could welcome such ‘disruption’ and ‘transgression,’ as it were, if we could enter the conversation with the ‘otherness’ of the voice of those who have been abused and live the suffering of exclusion, we might find itself blessed as does the desert nomad who welcomes with hospitality the stranger at first perceived as demon but later recognised as angel.”
The liturgy concluded with the lighting of candles, which were then laid down before the Sanctuary, a visible sign of the lamentations offered by those present.
The liturgy was attended by members of the Chancery, parishioners, school principals, and clergy from across the Diocese, showing the Diocese’ united front at addressing and acknowledging the sins of the past.
To read Fr David Ranson’s full homily from the Liturgy of Lament, click here.