Easter

Easter 6 | Year B

Sisters and brothers in Christ,
God invites us to bring our doubts and fears,
our joys and concerns, our petitions and praise,
and offer them for the earth and all its creatures.

God, you put us here on earth as embodied human beings,
For your glory and for our learning.
We experience you in all kinds of ways:
In nature,
In relationships,
In community,
In silence,
In sacredness.

Help us to seek you and find you,
In the places you’ve promised to be
And in the places we least expect you.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome.

O God, you have left a lot of hints about yourself along the way,
From stone tablets to still, small voices,
From prophets to angel messengers,
From subtle rainbows to dramatic rescues.

Then you sent Christ Jesus, the epitome of you, to teach us about yourself,
About your love,
About forgiveness,
And about resurrection.

We pray for the feeding of the hungry,
the clothing of the destitute,
the housing of the homeless,
the reformation of prisoners,
and the rehabilitation of those lost in addiction.

Bless every agency, church or government,
which is dedicated to the care of our disadvantaged sisters and brothers.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome.

O God, help us to love one another,
Because love is from God;
And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
You are Love.
As Christ abides in you, and we abide in Christ,
So we abide in Love.

We meditate on all we’ve learned of you,
We meditate on the life and work of Christ;
So we ask that we may know more deeply, more fully,
The Love in which we abide.

Receive these prayers, O God,
and transform us through them,
that we may have eyes to see and hearts to understand
not only what you do on our behalf,
but what you call us to do
so that your kingdom will be brought to bear in glory.

We ask all of this through Christ, our Lord. Amen

Hear our prayer
Hear your people
Turn our hearts to you
Make us whole again

Hear our prayer
Hear your people
Turn our hearts to you
Make us one

Seventh Sunday in Easter | Year A

Seventh Sunday in Easter | Year A

O God, your Son remained with his disciples after his resurrection,
teaching them to love all people as neighbors.
As his disciples in this age,
we offer our prayers on behalf of the universe
in which we are privileged to live
and our neighbors with whom we share it.

We pray for your church gathered around the world.
As we recognize Ascension Day
we are recognizing your rule in the world - here and now.
Help us to live in a way that acknowledges you are not absent, 
but King of kings and Lord of Lords;
Even here, even now you are Lord in the midst of our pain and suffering, 
our joy and celebration, and we submit to the Rule of Christ in our lives

,

Fifth Sunday in Easter | Year A

,
Fifth Sunday in Easter | Year A

God on this mother’s day, we pause thank you for all the ways you are a mother to us.
You are mother to us in the way you watch over us and watch out for us.
Our holy scripture likens you to a mother eagle, to a mother hen, to a mother bear.
Like these creatures, you are ever mindful and fiercely protective.
For this, O God, we give you thanks.

Third Sunday in Easter | Year A

Third Sunday in Easter | Year A

Sisters and brothers in Christ,
God invites us to bring our doubts and fears,
our joys and concerns, our petitions and praise,
and offer them for the earth and all its creatures.

O God, you have called us to follow in the way of your risen Son,
and to care for those who are our companions,
not only with words of comfort, but with acts of love.
Seeking to be true friends of all,
we offer our prayers on behalf of the church and the world.

Second Sunday in Easter | Year A

Second Sunday in Easter | Year A

O God, in this moment we bring our collective faith and offer the prayers that can only be prayed with the faith of a community.

We pray for the Universal Church, for its members and its mission.
We recognize that we are all part of one body
focused on bringing your image to bear in a world that has greatly distorted your image
and what it means to be human.
And just as your body is broken and blood is shed in the Eucharist,
so break us and pour us out for the sake of the world.