God of mercy and healing,
you who hear the cries of those in need,
receive these petitions of your people
that all who are troubled
may know peace, comfort, and courage.
Let us pray:

God, sometimes your commands are baffling.
You seem to expect absurd things from us,
Things which go against our instincts:
To love our enemies,
To forgive our betrayers,
To provide for our oppressors,
To eat at a table with sinners,
To support sick and poor people,
To renounce violence,
To welcome foreigners
To embrace outcasts

You hear us calling
You hear us calling
Abba Father

God of the foreigner and outcast,
your arms reach out to embrace
all those who call upon you.
Teach us as disciples of Christ
so to love the world
that your name may be known
throughout the earth

O God, you are the gathering one
who calls us into community
with each other
to love and to work,
to support and to heal.

You are the gathering one
who calls us into community
with all people;
to bring justice and hope,
freedom and truth.

You are the gathering one
who calls us into community
with the whole creation;
to live in harmony,
to cherish and renew.

Wherever your Body is divided, unite it
That she may do justice, love mercy,
And walk humbly with you, O God.

You hear us calling
You hear us calling
Abba Father

O God we pray for the city of Barcelona,
For the lives lost and for the lives left reeling
After this most recent act of terror.
Help us to rightly name the evils among us,
Help us to stand in holy opposition
Against the principalities afflicting our nation and our world.
Help us to be a people that do justice, love mercy,
And walk humbly with you, O God.

Life-giving God,
heal our lives,
that we may acknowledge your wonderful deeds
and offer you thanks from generation to generation
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy