DIOCESAN NEWS
03/20/09
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Sand cross lights penance service
     PEARL RIVER — Lent renews out attention to the struggle between light and darkness, good and evil. In a special penance service written by Father Bob Goodyear, ST, a sand cross, a Christ candle, and tapers lit from the Christ candle reflect the Gospel call of Lent with the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) candidates and parishioners of St. Therese Church located in the Pearl River community of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
     According to the service, the sand that fills the cross stands “for the desert where Christ faced his temptations and we face ours. St. John’s Gospel speaks of Christ as the light of the world and as our light.”
     After listening to the Word of God, praying a litany asking for God’s forgiveness, participants are invited to come forward. Each person receives a “promise candle” as a symbol of their promise to approach the sacrament of penance and reconciliation that evening or some time during Lent.
     The “promise candles” are lighted from the flame of the Christ candle, and then placed in the sand of the cross wherever each person wishes. The sand cross, transformed in a Promise Cross of lighted candles remains in the sanctuary as a reminder to those who make their promises and as a symbolic invitation to others encouraging them to come to the “light” and experience the grace of God’s forgiveness.
     The idea of the sand cross penance service has been celebrated in other churches in the diocese including St. Stephen Church in Magee and St. Paul Mission in Raleigh in past years. Catechist Magazine, a national catechetical magazine, published the sand cross penance service idea in their magazine.

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