Prayers of the People
Empowering God,
you gave the church the abiding presence of your Holy Spirit.
Look upon your church today and hear our prayers
Holy Spirit, Creator,
in the beginning you moved over the waters.
From your breath all creation draws life.
Without you, life turns to dust.
Bring to mind the places where you have created life this week.
Bring to mind the places of chaos where you continue to move
Bring to mind the promise of your presence moving among us
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
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.
O God, whose Son described himself as the door of the sheep,
the gateway to a fuller and richer life:
Have mercy on those afflicted by doubt or perplexity amid the mysteries of life;
and enable them to know the comforting presence of Christ,
that they may learn to walk humbly by faith in him
and find rest and respite in every circumstance still to come.
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.
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.
