Category: Prayers

Palm Sunday

31st March 2023 

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Matthew 3:3

 You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace. 

A reading from Matthew 21: 8-11

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosannah to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosannah in the highest heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Response – A Day of Action

Willow branches burst at the tips 

into the delicate green of spring.

The aroma of new life 

gently rises on the air.

Footsteps, hoof beats, 

small feet, big feet – 

that walk at a measured pace, 

that take a calculated risk.

Not flags, nor banners 

but branches torn from trees. 

No red carpet, no paparazzi 

but coats laid thick upon the road.

Hold your palms high, 

lift them not in surrender 

but in defiance. 

We will not bow to public pressure.

Cast down your coat, 

your mask, your many disguises. 

Cast down your self-conscious pride. 

Uncover the real you. 

Raise your hands, raise your voices!

Shout out loud! 

This is your King, your humble King!

The one at home with the poor and needy.

The slow moving crowd 

that swells and surges, 

now pauses, and then gathers momentum – 

nothing can hold back our passion now.

Onward! Upward! Into the city –

we the outsiders, the outcast, 

the forgotten and the marginalised,

 are taking our place in the story of salvation.

Take courage, take heart! 

Turn the world upside down. 

This is our King! 

This is the Saviour of the world!

Hosannah! Lord save us!

Lord, our loving Saviour,

We give thanks for all who stand up 

for the wellbeing of creation. 

Guide their actions with your wisdom.

Fill their hearts with your love.

Give strength for their bodies 

and compassion for their spirits.

Comfort those who are overcome with sadness.

Reassure those who are loosing hope. 

Heal those who have been injured.

Encompass those who have died.

The road to salvation seems long and uncertain.

May your redeeming power restore creation 

to new life in the Kingdom of God.

Amen. 

God In-Carnate

24th December 2022

God in

the beginning 

creating fullness

out of nothingness. 

God in 

the breath 

animating life forms 

made out of mud.

God in 

the garden, 

conversing and delegating – 

sharing the  venture.

God in 

the pillar of fire – and the pillar of cloud – 

leading the people 

from the past to the future.

God in 

the mouths of prophets, 

calling for renewal 

in place of impoverishment.

God in 

the flesh, 

conceived in a womb, 

born as child.

God now in 

bone of our bone, 

flesh of our flesh, 

our intimate companion.

God in 

our  mess, 

sharing our food, sharing our pain, 

living in reality 

our God-given life.

God in 

God’s world, 

the way of renewal, 

and the means to rebuild.

God in

the word, 

the beginning, the middle, 

the end.

Advent – a whale in creation

9th December 2022 

‘You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of them you give life, and the host of heaven worships you.’  Nehemiah 9:6 

 Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16

Creator God, forgive us 

when we have failed to love all that you create; 

when we do not treat creation with respect.; 

when we have sought to impose our will – and not yours. 

As we wait for the coming of your Son, 

help us to show him honour by honouring creation,

to show him care by caring for creation, 

and to show him love by loving creation. 

Amen. 

As the world’s leaders focus on the importance of biodiversity, may we all seek to understand better the importance of biodiversity and the role it plays in our daily lives.

The whale that keeps on giving

The wide vast oceans, 

tropical balm and arctic chill,

teem with living things 

great and small 

And  here dwells the whale – 

God’s tiller of the sea –

formed to frolic in its deeps 

and traverse its lengths. 

From an infinitesimal nil 

to 200 tonnes of mammalian flesh, 

its life spans a century full.  

A life of daily gorging and expurgating 10, 

nay, 20 tonnes of krill 

replenishes the seas with iron,

and spins once more 

the phytoplankton’s oxygen giving, 

carbon absorbing wheel.

From the depths the whale

redistributes food, 

sustaining small fry 

that dare not dive so deep.

Migrating between distant poles 

and warmer summer seas, 

the whale spreads the bounty 

of each mouthful it digests

and spins once more

the global food chain’s thread. 

Under the whale’s ocean watch, 

krill and plankton multiply, 

and so God’s worker feeds 

5000 mouths and more.

Its leviathan frame

 a maritime conveyor belt

of sequestered carbon 

that gracefully sweeps the seas 

till finally at whale fall

 it sinks to rest –

a carbon store 

for evermore 

upon the ocean bed.

The Lord’s Prayer.

NB Over the last century whale numbers have declined by an average of 64% of which the worst losses have been of blue whales, down by 99%.  Scientists are experimenting with reinvigorating the biodiversity of the oceans by the application of artificial whale poo.  

Prayers for the ecosystems of Europe

Friday 29th April 2022 

The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. Psalm 24:1

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace.

A Reading Ephesians 2:8-10 (The Living Bible)

Because of God’s  kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago God prepared that we should spend these lives in helping others.

To conclude the series we started in Lent, today’s prayers focus on Europe. 

Europe is the western peninsula of the “supercontinent” of Eurasia  and is  is divided from Asia by a series of watersheds, including the Ural River. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas to the south. Europe has been a dominant economic, social, and cultural force throughout recorded history, exerting influence (for good and ill) beyond its own territories. The North European Plain extends from the southern United Kingdom east to Russia. It is crossed by many navigable rivers, including the Rhine, Weser, Elbe, Oder, and Vistula. The climate supports a wide variety of seasonal crops. These physical features allowed for early communication, travel, and agricultural development. The Central Uplands extend east-west and are heavily wooded. They are lower in altitude than the Alpine region to the south. This region includes a few active volcanoes.  The continents forests were drastically reduced as a result of intense urbanisation throughout human history. Intense trade introduced many species, which often overtook native plants. The forests and grasslands of western and central Europe have been almost completely domesticated, with crops and livestock dominant. Today, around 15 percent of Europes animal species are threatened or endangered, mainly by habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation, and competition from invasive species. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/europe-physical-geography/

Glory to God,

Creator of rivers and streams, lakes and mountains. 

We praise you for the majesty of the Alps, their glittering snowy peaks 

and the frozen waters stored in their glaciers. 

 Glory to God, 

Creator of forests and plains:

We thank you for the vast lands where we can grow crops, for hillsides where we grow vines, and for meadows where sheep and cattle may graze.

Glory to God

Creator of rocks and minerals:

We thank you for the wealth of raw materials with which we can make so much; 

we thank you for fast flowing waters that provide us with energy.

Glory to God, 

Creator of  curiosity and ingenuity:

We thank you for the wisdom we have learnt from the study of your world; thank you for the skills we have learnt in harnessing the resources you have given us.

Forgive us when we have misused that wisdom; forgive us when we have used those skills for ill. 

Merciful God,

Creator of human kind, 

Forgive our greed that has mined land and sea for fossil fuels, jeopardising our future.

Forgive our greed that industrialises farming, destroying soils and draining lakes. 

Forgive our greed that turns animals into commodities and disregards their sentient nature. 

Forgive our greed for consumer goods that strips the earth’s reserves.

Merciful God,

Creator of our brothers and sisters:

Forgive the casualness with which we let the rich grow richer 

and the poor poorer.

Forgive the casualness with which we let the rich break the laws 

and yet still penalise the poor.

Forgive the carelessness with which we discard what we buy 

ignoring the meagre pay of those who labour. 

Guiding God,

Source  of all wisdom, 

Transform our hearts and minds, turn the direction of our hands and feet 

so that with alacrity and commitment we will reform our lives 

and live only in harmony with your creation. 

Amen.

The Grace

Easter Day Intercessions – the egg

17th April 2022

Can I invite you to cup your hands, 

and imagine that in them you are holding an egg.

Feel the smoothness and the hardness of the shell. It is there to protect the  young chick inside.

Let us pray for those people and situations who need protection. For the people of Ukrainian living with the dangers of war and especially for young children and those who have been separated from their families. For the people of the Philippines living with the dangers of flooding and mudslides in the aftermath of Storm Megi, and for the people of South Africa suffering from storm force rains and floods. For the Javan rhinoceros threatened with extinction by trophy hunting, poaching and habitat loss. We pray for the climate which needs protection from our human stupidity.

Lord in your mercy: hear our prayer.

Now imagine that you can hear a small tapping sound as the chick in your egg uses its beak to break open the shell.

Let us pray for those places and situations where people are trying to free themselves. For refugees and asylum seekers. For people trapped by poverty. For people in abusive relationships. For people working in unsafe environments. For the work of Tree Aid planting trees to free communities from the worst affects of the climate crisis. For the people of Shanghai trapped by rising covid infection rates. For Just Stop Oil trying to free us from our dependency on fossil fuels.

Lord in your mercy: hear our prayer.

Now imagine that the shell is breaking open and out struggles a small damp and floppy chick, 

needing warmth and comfort to gain its strength.

Let us pray for those who need care and comfort and healing. For ecosystems struggling to cope with the climate crisis and the pressures of human consumption. For those who are lonely, for those in pain.  For those who feel anxious and afraid. For those who are sick.

Lord in your mercy: hear our prayer

Now imagine that the chick perched in your hands  is all fluffed up and warm, with a beady eye and a happy cheep. 

Let us give thanks for the wonder and joy of life, for the beauty we see around us and the love we encounter day by day, for the resilience of nature. 

On this day of resurrection we remember those who have died recently, 

And those whose year’s mind occurs now, 

Let us give thanks for the hope and reassurance that God gives us through the resurrection of his Son,  Jesus Christ. 

 Merciful God accept these prayer for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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