Oh Holy Mystery, beyond all knowing.  Your glorious presence penetrates the known and unknown, the sacred and the profane, reaching beyond time to the outer reaches of space, filling our hearts with wonder. We seek you, long for you, and love you. Help us to love you more by blessing us with the will to live as you have taught us to live. Help us to put you first in all that we do, following the teachings of your beloved child, Jesus Christ.

We are but clay in your hands, form us anew that we may become stronger vessels of your enduring love.

We have so much to be thankful for.  We praise the beauty of our island home, our lovely church and kind-hearted community.  We are thankful for fresh, abundant water and food. For books and music and art.  For forests and gardens and waterfalls. We are grateful especially for our priests, Berto and Hugh, whose guidance and example inspire us daily. We pray fervently for their well-being, and for spiritual leaders everywhere, including our presiding bishop Michael,

and our dear bishop Greg as he prepares for a new phase in his life’s journey.

 We celebrate you and pray for your well-being and happiness.

 We are thankful for the labors of all who help our lives to run smoothly and easily:  the roofers and carpenters, gardeners and farmers,  plumbers, electricians, computer technicians, water engineers, foresters, park employees, road workers, ferry workers, food preparers and all those working in the restaurant industry, for barbers, for cleaners, for artists, and so many more whom we count on for comfort and convenience. 

 We celebrate you and pray for your well-being and happiness.

We also  pray for teachers and students who are starting another year of education with fewer restrictions brought about by the pandemic.  Bless them with health of body, mind, and spirit so they may inspire all to move forward to help the struggling world and all living beings. Help all those in the medical and care-giving professions to serve with care and respect, and inspire others to take on this difficult and much needed work.  

 We celebrate you and pray for your well-being and happiness.

We pray fervently for the mentally ill, the lost children, for broken families, and for the streams of refugees fleeing oppression, flood, and fire.   Help us to find better ways to help the destitute and the forlorn as they attempt to shape new lives in the wake of natural and human-caused catastrophe.

We are but clay in your hands, form us anew that we may become stronger vessels of your enduring love.

We pray now for those most dear to us in special need of prayer at this time. (Pause, to mention silently or aloud).  And to this we add those on our Parish Prayer list (Insert prayer list) … and those for whom no one prays, may they be comforted by your Holy Spirit.

We pray for the recently dead, especially Lorinda Roland, and all who struggle with the loss of loved ones.  May their hearts be filled with the knowledge that death is but a transition and that love never really dies.

May all find enduring comfort in the Great Mystery that is You.

…..We are but clay in your hands, form us anew that we may become stronger vessels of your enduring love.