Oh Sacred Mystery: We gather in gratitude and prayer….We are especially grateful that one war has ended and we offer prayers for the restoration and recognition of a beleaguered people.  We look at you with awe, as a consuming fire—a brilliant center of light embraced by innumerable angels. We long for you, we reach for you, oh hear our prayers!

For you are our God and we are your people.

Help nations who have been at war to make a new covenant with you.Help all to build and to plant and to restore peace and well-being to all who have suffered during these two years of war in the middle east. 

Your love is the water of a spring that never fails. 

 Let us trust in that water and ask that it heal the thirsty souls who suffer in distant lands, and in our own country. Guide us in restoring the harm your children inflict upon one another, on  your beautiful planet, and other living creatures. Open our minds and hearts that we may respond generously to the needs of the less fortunate living among us.

You are the repairer, the bringer of life, the peacemaker, the restorer of the broken.

Your love is shining truth. We thank you for our priests, Berto and Hugh, who show us how to live as you would have us live—lovingly accepting all races, genders, and religions. We thank you for our Bishop Philip, whose leadership inspires better ways to reach and protect the young and shelter the poor. We honor you by celebrating the newly appointed Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, whose feminine leadership promises better protection for children,  and all those suffering from war, prejudice, starvation and inadequate health care.We pray for the well being of spiritual leaders throughout the world, honoring them for bringing  wisdom and compassion to those in need. Keep their hearts—and our own—faithful and open. Keep their feet—and ours— securely on love’s path.

For what else is there but love, and a heart that is happiest when giving.

Let us offer sincere prayers for all those on our Parish Prayer List:  (please read slowly)  and those for whom no one prays; may they be comforted by your Holy Spirit.  

And let us take time to recall the special concerns known privately to us, as we share our common prayer. (Silence; or say names aloud ) And let us pray together for those forgotten souls for whom only the angels pray. (Silence) Let us hold all these intentions in our hearts and deeds during the coming week.

Let your Holy Word be written in our hearts.

We pray for all who suffer the loss of their loved ones(…especially—take a few moments to name them …) and look forward to our reunion within the eternal soul  of all creation.  Amen.