Lector: O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us. May all these prayers, and all that we do in the coming week flow from our deep connection with you and all beings. Hear our hearts’ longings for the healing of our troubled world and for protection of what is good. Knowing you are hearing us better than we are speaking, we offer these prayers in all the holy names of God. Amen.
We praise you for all your goodness, your gifts, your shining reminders that all is not lost. Foremost in our gratitude are our priests, Berto and Hugh; their tireless contributions do much to help our souls thrive during this time of global pandemic. Thank you, too, for the meticulous ongoing assistance of Bill Bangs in making virtual services possible and widely available, and to Marianne and Carl Lewis for their heartfelt musical contributions.
Oh Great Love, you are our refuge and our strength.
Thank you for all the loving souls who help keep us going: our bishop and the shopkeepers, the health care workers, the police and fire departments and EMTs, the mercy flight pilots, for those preparing food for the school children, for the teachers and their students, the librarians, the food bank, the farmers, all volunteers and service personnel throughout the community and many others not named today.
Oh Great Love, you are our refuge and our strength.
We see a nation divided, distrustful, and misinformed. Help us all to recognize your way midst the rubble of disruptive ideas. Help all to hear and heed the voice of conscience and feel the constant beating heart of your enduring love in all the choices we make. Throughout this nation nothing disrupt our efforts to exert our rights as citizens.
Oh Great Love, you are our refuge and our strength.
We see a world beset by illness, fear, erratic weather, political turbulence and general confusion. May we of Emmanuel, and all people who care about your creation, become brighter beacons of loving sanity. May we take responsibility for healing the damage caused by human greed. Our prayerful outreach extends to all sentient beings in the wider world, especially those who cannot help themselves.
Oh Great Love, you are our refuge and our strength.
O Great Love, our hearts reach out to all of those on our Parish Prayer List who are in particular need of encouragement and healing at this time, including …
We pray also for special intentions known privately to us [pause] and for all those for whom no one prays. [pause] Bring comfort to the families and loved ones of the recently departed, particularly those lost in recent fires, and those affected by COVID-19 throughout the world. Help the homeless everywhere to find shelter for body and spirit.
Oh Great Love, you are our refuge and our strength, our hope in time of need, our grace and our Redeemer.
Amen.