People's Prayers

Monday, December 23, 2024

Prayers of the People: Carry the Lamp ~ 1st Sunday After Christmas Day '24 WLWC* Yr C

For Sunday, December 29, 2024, WLC* Year C, Readings: 1 Kings 8:12-13, 27-30,41-43;

Ps 68:15-17, 19-20,24-27, 31-35; Revelation 22:10, 22-27; Luke 2:41-51

Incline toward the prayer of your slave and his supplication, HOLY ONE OF OLD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer…Hear the supplication…hear in your dwelling place in the heavens; hear and forgive. [1 Kings 8:28, 30]

Our God is the God of Salvation; The SOURCE OF LIFE IS God, to whom belongs escape from death. [Psalm 68:20]

And the city has no use of sun or moon to shine in it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb…And its gates will not be shut by day and there will be no night there. [Revelation 21:23, 25]

Now the parents of Jesus went yearly to Jerusalem for the festival. And when he was twelve years old they went up as customary for the festival…when the festival was completed, they returned while the boy Jesus stayed in Jerusalem, and his parents did not know it…they returned to Jerusalem to search for him…after three days passed they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. [Luke 2:41-43, 45-47]

We fast forward briefly in this reading from Luke’s Gospel in Dr. Gafney’s text, interrupting our more usual recounting of chronology of the early days of Jesus to which we will return quickly. Here we suddenly find him at 12 years old, listening to the teachers in the Temple and amazing those teachers with his questions, his understanding and his answers. Perhaps it’s just the kind of abrupt change we need while we are still in the thrall of Christmas. We are, of course, on the cusp of the end of one year and beginning of another. The music, the lights, and the now unwrapped presents are all still claiming our senses though slightly on the wane as thoughts begin about the cleaning up phase. We’re not quite out of the holiday mood even if all the necessities in daily life are creeping in. As with the ending of the annual festival in Jerusalem, Jesus returns home with his parents and was subject to them, remember those days of yours ~ back to cleaning up your room and going back to school. Yet there is still a nano-second of time, enough to breathe deeply and inhale the air still holding some excitement for the sacred and Holy Infant's birth. We are also working to keep hope alive regardless of our expectations for the New Year.

As we fill our lungs the Creator-given oxygen disperses throughout our own life’s blood energizing every cell and tissue. On our exhale, we can thoughtfully, consciously, and intentionally send our doubts and fears of uncertain faith and the everyday concerns into the heavens. We inhale deeply again to refresh our souls’ sights to set our course for a new start, a new birth in ourselves, an awakening, a fresh awareness of the presence Christ within us and in everyone around us ~ every single one, even, and especially, those with whom we disagree mildly or strenuously.

For many of us this is also a special emotional moment to breathe in the memories of and deeply held hope for the journey of those no longer with us in this life. Our faith gives us comfort for their continuing new life in a joy-filled eternity where our mutual love lives forever.

Yet, while we try to keep the glow of spiritual and earth-bound celebrations lingering a bit longer, we are to remember the sacred obligation given to us by Jesus to help others struggling with their ongoing day-to-night-to-day life issues of serious illness, severe poverty, homelessness, and/or hopelessness. In this particular season of beauty and fun and exhilaration, it is all too easy to look away from and even blame those in poor and often desperate conditions. Perhaps you have given donations of much needed money, food, and/or clothing to worthy organizations. And now is the time, as the New Year approaches, to mark your calendar to search for ways to continue to give, in any way possible, beyond that once a year thought, even adding time occasionally or regularly to volunteer to help at food banks or a church food closet, clothing distributors, shelters, or perhaps pre-paying for meals at a trusted local restaurant.

Let us spend these last moments of Christmas, the Season, to continue to be amazed at the breadth and depth of the short, extraordinary, exceptional, and unparalleled life of Jesus, our Redeemer Christ, whose story continues to be celebrated well over 2,000 years later. And more important than a date on a calendar, let us move forward into all the Seasons of Christ’s life by listening, learning, and asking questions to broaden our commitment as the Christians we are meant to be. It is time to re-dedicate ourselves to living out his teachings, to carry the Lamp of God’s Light to brighten the path of this life for ourselves and for others in all ways, large and small. Let us choose to be subject to God in Christ with the Holy Spirit.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O HOLY ONE OF OLD, our God, the glory in our lives is Your light and the lamp that carries it is Christ our Lamb. As we are reminded again to breathe in this glorious Light that dwells always within us, forgive us, we pray, for all our faults, minor and more grievous. Renew us with the continuing desire and intent to enter your always open gates to listen, to learn, and to bring honor to Jesus in every conscious moment of our earthly time.

O GOD, The SOURCE OF LIFE

RESPONSE: Hear our prayer, hear and forgive

~ O HOLY ONE OF OLD, our God, may we not rest or keep silent in seeking Your justice, mercy, and and peace among all nations, all local communities, and among all leaders everywhere. Cause the changes we seek in others to spring up in ourselves in our daily thoughts and actions. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O HOLY ONE OF OLD, our God, lift the lowly from their distress and bind up the wounds of all hurting bodies and souls. Renew the love and energy of all who give care and support. We now join our hearts to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O HOLY ONE OF OLD, our God, heal the hearts broken by grief as those we love now live again, swathed in the glory and rejoicing in the exquisite bliss of Your Eternity. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O HOLY ONE OF OLD, our God, We pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials… add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O HOLY ONE OF OLD, our God, may the Holy Spark of our Lamb forever blaze through the hearts and souls of those anointed to lead us on our journey toward Christ’s everlasting redemption. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

The Celebrant adds: Jesus, God’s Ever-Present Glory and Truth, You came into this world as flesh and blood among us in Your humanity, and our life-long Teacher in Your divinity. Guide us to be the carriers of Your Light, Your Love, and Your Actions in every day of our lives. We ask through our Abba, who together with You, our Lamp of Divine Light; in the unity of Holy Spirit, are One God, now and forever. Amen.

*Readings for our Parish in this Year C are from The Rev. Dr. Wilda [Wil] Gafney, Womanist biblical scholar, and is the Right Rev. Sam B. Hulsey Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. She is the author of A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church Yr C, ©2024 Wilda C. Gafney, Church Publishing (here after designated on my posts as WLWC) and translator of its biblical selections. Learn more about her and her work at her website: https://www.wilgafney.com/. In her book for Year C, Dr. Gafney explains her process and sources of translation of each reading she uses, and gives preaching notes. Fascinating and illuminating, not merely because of the womanist highlighting, but for a greater appreciation of and fresh perspective in each biblical reading as most are not, or rarely, used in Daily or Sunday Preaching Lectionaries.

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Thursday, December 19, 2024

Prayers of the People: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day '24 WLWC* Yr C

For Tuesday, December 24, 2024, Readings: Children’s Service Christmas I: Isaiah 26:16-19, Psalm 68:4-11, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Luke 2:1-20. Late Service Christmas II: Reading at Creche, Luke 2:1-7; then: Isaiah 26:16-19, Psalm 68:4-11, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Luke 2:8-20. For Wednesday December 25, 2024, Christmas III: see separate Prayers of the People below for Wisdom 9:1-6, 9-11; Psalm 33:1-9, Colossians 1:15-20, John 1:1-14

HOLY ONE, in distress they sought you, they pressed out a whispered prayer…as an expectant mother writhes in labor…we too were expectant, we writhed in labor…No victories have we won on earth, neither do the inhabitants of the world fall. Your dead shall live; their corpses shall rise. Awake and sing for joy you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is a radiant dew, and the earth shall release these long dead. [Isaiah 26: 16-17a, 18b-19]

Sing to God, sing praises to her name…HOLY is her name, rejoice before her! …God you provided in your goodness for the oppressed. The AUTHOR OF LIFE gave the word; the women who proclaim the good news are a great army. [Psalm 68:4-5, 10b-11]

Now we do not want you to be ignorant…about those who have fallen asleep…For since we believe that Jesus died and rose, even they who sleep, will God by Jesus, bring with him…Jesus himself…will descend from heaven, and the dean in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive who are left...will…meet Jesus in the air…we will be with Jesus forever. [1 Thess 13-14, 16b-17a]

And immediately there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly array, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among peoples whom God favors!”

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.

[from The Nicene Creed, US Book of Common Prayer, p. 358]

The time is now, because of and in spite of days of darkness, worry, fear, and anguish, to remember how to feel the Excitement, the Joy, the Wonder, the Thrill of Christmas AGAIN! Jesus, our Christ, is born today! It’s time again to re-awaken the Spirit within, remember the Reason it begins, open to a new spiritual start, a fresh opportunity. It's time ~ NOW ~ to push into the unknown, even if painfully, frighteningly, but with great anticipation to experience our own rebirth, again, as a New Creation in Christ.

We each carry the fertile seed, the Divine Spark within us ~ Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Atheist, Agnostic, Oblivious, Naughty, or Nice. We each choose how the Spark drives us ~ we tend, nurture, anticipate or ignore, abuse, or perhaps deny that innermost part of ourselves. But now, what was is gone. As with infants, we move into new light, new sound, uncertainty, anxiety, and every day is a new beginning. Even if we have tried before, distraction, disinterest, life circumstances may have stopped our momentum. Yet we, too, are called as part of the Good Tidings of Great Joy that is Christ the Lord!

We are the Reason he was born to us. We are the shepherds in the field called to see and wonder and listen and allow ourselves to be transfixed and transformed as if for the first time. Let the Joy and Peace of now begin with me and let me, with you, carry Christ forward into this Day, into our everyday lives every day, into all the Earth we inhabit. The Great Light in the Darkness has come!

It's time! Hallelujah!

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O Holy Jesus, God’s True Light, You come at last, filled with grace and truth. Our joy is unbounded for the arrival of our Glorious Child, One in Being with God and the Holy Spirit, who redeems and claims us for the work of Heaven on Earth.

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

RESPONSE: Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O Holy Jesus, God’s True Light, grant us energy and courage to give continuous voice to Your truth in all places of political, elected, and authoritarian power throughout this World, this Nation, and this Community. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!
Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O Holy Jesus, God’s True Light, we ask You who were homeless as you entered this world, to enfold all who are homeless, hungry, sick, and downhearted, that they may feel Your loving embrace on this Day of Days and always. We now join our hearts together to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!
Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O Holy Jesus, God’s True Light, lift up our hearts in the joy and the hope of the Love that never ends, as we remember and celebrate all who have left the woes of this earthly plain to live forever, deep in the heart of God. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!
Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O Holy Jesus, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials… add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!
Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O Holy Jesus, God’s True Light, continue to excite the hearts of all who lead us in Your Church, with imagination and inspiration. Guide all our hearts to rebirth in a Spirit-filled life in Your service. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!
Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

The Celebrant adds: Most High Lord Jesus, the Word, the Imprint, the Incarnate Grace of God sent to live among us, we sing to You a new song of rejoicing. Let each breath we take draw You into ourselves, that we may give out Your glory and praise in all that we are, and all that we do. Guide us, guard us, goad us to live into Your divine will. We ask through You, Prince of Peace; and through the Holy Spirit, our Compass; who together with our Mighty Creator from the beginning, live and reign as one God, now and forever. Amen.

For Wednesday December 25, 2024, Christmas III: Wisdom 9:1-6, 9-11; Psalm 33:1-9, Colossians 1:15-20, John 1:1-14.

O God of my ancestors and Author of mercy…give me the wisdom that sits by your throne…With you is Wisdom, she who knows your works and was present when you made the world…Send her forth from the holy heavens…that she may labor with me, and that I may learn what is pleasing to you…and she will guide me wisely in my actions and guard me with her glory. [Wisdom 9:1a, 4a, 9a, 10a,c;11b]

Rejoice in the ALMIGHTY, you righteous…Praise SHE WHO IS MAJESTY…sing for her a new song…for the word of WISDOM is right…she loves righteousness and justice; the faithful love of the MOTHER OF ALL fills the whole earth…Let all the earth revere SHE WHO IS WISDOM. [Psalm 33:1-9]

Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation…all things have been created through him and for him. Jesus himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Jesus is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning…in Jesus all the fullness of God was well pleased to dwell and…pleased to reconcile Godself in all things whether on earth or in heave…making peace through the blood of his cross. [Colossians 1:15, 16b, 17, 18a, 19-20]

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…What has come into being in the Word was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the bleakness…The true light…was coming into the world…to all who did accept him…he empowered to become children of God…And the word became flesh and lived among us…full of grace and truth. [John 1:1, 3b-5a, 9, 12, 14]

Dr. Wilda Gafney’s* readings, as usual, offer an array of new insights into “other” readings not generally seen. For these three pieces that my Episcopal parish is using, Christmas Eve for two services, and especially Christmas morning for one. I am not posting the full readings. This week is crunch time for everyone. As always, I found many of her thoughts from her Christmas III notes and preaching prompts quite interesting, and importantly thought-provoking, especially in these current times. For example, she refers to Colossians as using the masculine pronouns repeatedly and, that in the Greek text of this letter the name of Jesus is not included. So, she says, “I have substituted it [the name of Jesus] for some of the pronouns for smoothness and clarity.” She continues to say that the traditional focus in John’s Gospel on the preexistent Christ [has been] a concept expressed in grammatical gender but ontologically beyond gender. This, she says, gives us a chance to think about why we and our spiritual ancestors…gender things the way we do and what that really means. She says more about the use of slave language from her translations and acknowledges how difficult it is to use in scripture, prayer, and liturgy; doubly so for Black folk.”

*Readings for our Parish in this Year C are from The Rev. Dr. Wilda [Wil] Gafney, Womanist biblical scholar, and is the Right Rev. Sam B. Hulsey Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. She is the author of A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church Yr C, 2024, Church Publishing, (here after designated on my posts as WCL) and translator of its biblical selections. Learn more about her and her work at her website: https://www.wilgafney.com/. In her book for Year C, Dr. Gafney explains her process and sources of translation of each reading she uses, which is impossible to offer in this space. Fascinating and illuminating, not merely because of the womanist highlighting, but for a greater appreciation of and fresh perspective in each biblical reading as most are not, or rarely, used in Sunday preaching or Daily Lectionaries. For slightly more information see: [for slightly more detail, see my blog post for December 1, 2024, Advent I WCL, see link: https://prayersofthepeople.blogspot.com/2024/11/prayers-of-people-advent-ure-begins.html]

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O Holy Jesus, God’s True Light, we REJOICE in the Almighty for the word of WISDOM is right. She loves righteousness and justice and gives us her faithful love, with the energy and courage, to give continuous voice to Your truth in all places of political, elected, and authoritarian power throughout this World, this Nation, and this Community. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O Holy Jesus, God’s True Light, lift up our hearts in the joy and the hope of the Love that never ends, as we remember and celebrate all who have left the woes of this earthly plain to rise and live forever, deep in the heart of God. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O Holy Jesus, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials… add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O Holy Jesus, God’s True Light, continue to excite the hearts of all who lead us in Your Church with imagination and inspiration. Guide all our hearts to rebirth in a Wisdom- and Spirit-filled life in Your service. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

The Celebrant adds: O Jesus our Savior, God’s Word made Flesh, the light of all people. Your light shines through the bleakness, and rescues us all from the power of darkness, to transform our anxieties into fruitful action. Keep us striving toward Your purpose, as we offer our labor to soothe the sufferings of humanity near and far. We ask through Jesus, the image of our invisible God; and the Holy Spirit, the very Breath of Love; who together with You are our One God, the Word of, in, and for our lives every day, in every way, now and forever. Amen.

Prayers of the People: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day '24 RCL Yr C

For Tuesday, December 24 and Wednesday December 25, 2024, Readings: Isaiah 9:2-7, Psalm 96,

Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

And immediately there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly array, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among peoples whom God favors!” [Luke 2:13-14]

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.

[from The Nicene Creed, US Book of Common Prayer, p. 358]

It's time! Hallelujah!

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O Holy Jesus, God’s True Light, You come at last, filled with grace and truth. Let our joy be unbounded for the arrival of our Glorious Child, One in Being with God and the Holy Spirit, who redeems and claims us for the work of Heaven on Earth.

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

RESPONSE: Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

~ O Holy Jesus, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials… add your own petitions

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven!

Grant Peace on Earth to Us All

Monday, December 16, 2024

Prayers of the People: The One of Peace ~ 4th Sunday of Advent '24 Yr C

For Sunday, December 22, 2024, Readings: Micah 5:2-5a, Canticle 15/Luke 1:46-55, Psalm 80:1-7,

Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-45

But you, O Bethlehem... from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days…when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel...and he shall be the one of peace. [Micah 5:2, 3b, 5a]

And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. [Hebrews 10:10]

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord...for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant...He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. [Luke 1:46a, 48, 51-52]

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb...And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." [Luke 1:41-42, 45]

We light the Candle of Love on this final and only partial week of Advent. Here is yet another chance to pause in the midst of all the busy-ness. Listen deeply to the reading from Micah, as he names the very town from which the one who is to rule Israel is to come and, further he says, when she who is in labor brings forth her child the rest of Israel will return home.

In the Letter to the Hebrews, we find the Old Testament writings of Psalm 40:6-8, Amos 5:21, and Jeremiah 6:20b remembered in verses 5-7 of Chapter 10. Christ says that the sacrifices of the Old Covenant are dismissed. Burnt and blood offerings do not please God and do not cleanse us from sin. Jesus, as the One expected from heaven, came to please God by obedience to Divine will and to teach us how to follow.

Another important moment to listen, to hear, and to feel, is in the beauty of the exchange between two kinswomen and consider who they were in their time and who they have become to us. The elder Elizabeth, was a barren woman for so many years until suddenly she is with child, a very important child, John, the Baptizer, who will prepare the way of the Lord. In her day she was likely ostracized in her community for most of her adult life, or at the very least considered a failure because of her seeming infertility. The much younger Mary, generally considered to be between the ages of 12-14, recently told by an Angel that she is bearing the Son of God, (can you imagine?!), would perhaps bear shame in her community as well as the uncertainty of Joseph, her betrothed, because of her condition. Would he be able to come to terms with this mystery in such a time? Would we, in our own time? (Of course, we already know he'll have an angelic visitation of his own in Matthew 1:18-25, and will be a loving, protective husband.)

These women come together and speak to us, to awaken us from the haze of frantic preparations for a celebration that is increasingly more earth-bound than spiritual. In their greetings to each other we discover the unexpectedness of this moment of expectation, the message of embracing the twists and turns of life, and recognizing that God is present at all times ~ when we feel elated and when we feel shamed or anxious or uncertain. We are not alone in the darkest of times or in the happiest. Jesus comes as the face of God to sanctify and save us. Stop, sit, breathe in the peace of the quiet. Even as the clock and calendar call, let us not race ahead, but remain in the stillness for a time, in the space between not yet and almost, savoring the expectation of Christ's birth, and finding an unexpected freshness in the joy of anticipation for the one of peace [Micah 5:5a]. In days of worry, anger, fear, grief, or any other part of life that is unsettling, let us find our inner faith made stronger in knowing that the One of Peace Who is coming, is already here to peace us all together as His own.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O Mighty One, our God, open our souls to proclaim Your greatness, and call upon our spirits to rise in joy, as we await the coming of the One of peace, the Light from Light begotten to sanctify and save us.

O Lord of Strength and Mercy

RESPONSE: Magnify our Faith

~ O Mighty One, our God, help us to lift up all bowed low in this World, in our Nation, and in our Community from war in its many guises, from the poverty of heart and spirit, and anger born of fear. Fill us with the courage and constancy to remind our earthly leaders to persevere in the cause of peace, justice, and mercy for all of Your children of every size, color, age, and struggle. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord of Strength and Mercy

Magnify our Faith

~ O Mighty One, our God, grant peace, relief, and hope to all enduring chronic illness, poverty, or emotional anguish, and bring comfort to all who love them and give them care. We now join our hearts to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

O Lord of Strength and Mercy

Magnify our Faith

~ O Mighty One, our God, unburden the hearts of all who grieve with the assurance of new life for those who now rest forever in Your radiant glory. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord of Strength and Mercy

Magnify our Faith

~ O Mighty One, our God, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently… add your own petitions

O Lord of Strength and Mercy

Magnify our Faith

~ O Mighty One, our God, bestow extra grace upon those who are anointed to bring us Your Word and Sacraments, as they guide us all to discover and act upon Your will in our lives. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord of Strength and Mercy

Magnify our Faith

The Celebrant adds: O God, our Savior, as we make ready to receive the One who comes, restore us to Your purpose that the fruits of our life’s labors may always be a reflection of Your infinite blessings. We ask through Jesus, our Joyful Expectation; and the Holy Spirit, Your Sacred Breath; who together with You, live and reign as One God, now and forever. Amen.