Psalm 8:4
“…what are mere mortals that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”

Daniel 9:3-5a, 18b-19
“So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.  I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:  ‘O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong…We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.  O Lord, listen!  O Lord, forgive!  O Lord, hear and act!  For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.’”

Hebrews 9:13-14 (GW)
“The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of cows sprinkled on unclean people made their bodies holy and clean.  The blood of Christ, who had no defect, does even more. Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself to God and cleansed our consciences from the useless things we had done. Now we can serve the living God.”

Immortal God, in love you have bound yourself to mortal concerns.

We confess that we neglect and disappoint you, and we anoint ourselves with the ashes of integrity that once burned bright.

Accept our dusted heads as a symbol of our contrite hearts.  Remind us that even our gestures of repentance are not adequate to earn your favour, but grace is the only redeeming mark on our brow.

Hear our prayer in the name of Christ, who wrapped himself in the dust of man’s flesh and died to crown us with forgiveness and joy.

Listen to ‘Kyrie Eleison’ by High Street Hymns