Under the Fig Tree

Litany of Returning to Mercy: A Day of Honest Repentance

By Craig Goodwin-Ortiz de León
“God is good. Bless Him forever.”

Today, I asked myself a hard question: How have I devalued others today? The answers came swiftly and without defense. I had judged. I had been impatient. I had elevated myself in thought and speech, and I had failed to see others—especially those closest to me—as bearers of God’s image. It wasn’t dramatic or headline-worthy. But it was real. And it was sin.

This realization came after meditating on a meme someone posted on Facebook. It read: “To dehumanize another human is to work in direct opposition to the Incarnation (en-flesh-ment) of God in Christ. Be wary of anyone who claims to follow Christ but devalues and dehumanizes others.” I couldn’t ignore the truth. If I truly believe that Christ took on flesh to dignify all flesh, then my smallest acts of contempt are contradictions of the Gospel I proclaim. They are wounds to the Body of Christ.

In Catholic tradition, self-examination is not an exercise in self-loathing, but a practice of metanoia—turning around. It is a return to Love, a return to Mercy, a return to the One who became human not to shame us, but to save us. And so I prayed. I confessed. I did not excuse. I returned.

The words that stayed with me all day were these: God is good. Bless Him forever. I repeated them like a breath prayer—when shame crept in, when temptation returned, when grace felt distant. And slowly, they became true again in my bones.

Below is the litany that grew out of that encounter—a liturgy for days when we do not love well, but long to return to the One who always does.

Litany of Returning to Mercy

For those who have failed to love well today

By Craig Goodwin-Ortiz de León

Leader:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God,

You are full of mercy and compassion.

We come before You with contrite hearts.

All:
God is good. Bless Him forever.

Leader:

For the times I have spoken uncharitably,

forgetting that my neighbor is Your image—

All:
Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Leader:

For the judgments I have made in pride,

for the thoughts I did not restrain,

and for the words I failed to speak in love—

All:
Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Leader:

For the dignity I denied to others today,

in word, in silence, or in indifference—

All:
Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Leader:

When I chose contempt over compassion,

and self-righteousness over humility—

All:
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like Yours.

Leader:

When I failed to recognize You

in the face of the poor, the stranger, the wounded, and the difficult—

All:
Jesus, present in the least of these, have mercy on me.

Leader:

You were conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

and took on our flesh to sanctify it—

All:
O Word made flesh, teach me to love as You love.

Leader:

You ate with sinners,

forgave Your persecutors,

and died for the unworthy—

All:
O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

Leader:

Though I have fallen short of charity,

still You call me back, again and again.

All:
God is good. Bless Him forever.

Leader:

Though I am weak,

Your mercy is without end.

All:
God is good. Bless Him forever.

All Together:

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,

burning with love for us,

make our hearts burn with love for You.

Renew in us a spirit of repentance and compassion.

Let us return to love,

return to mercy,

return to Christ.
God is good. Bless Him forever. Amen.

I offer this litany to you if you’ve felt the weight of your own failures today. If your words were sharper than they should have been, if your judgments outpaced your empathy, if you failed to love as Christ commands—come back. The door is still open. The Church is still wide. Mercy is still waiting.

Christ has taken on flesh, not to shame us in our sin, but to redeem our bodies, our tongues, our thoughts, our hands. Let us return to Him, again and again, until we learn to love like Him.

Bless the Lord, my soul.

Bless Him forever.