Sunday, May 5, 2013
Offered by Calum I. MacLeod, Executive Associate Pastor

As you came to your friends
in the days after Easter, Lord,
so you come to us, your friends, now.

As those first disciples knew
the joy of your risen presence,
today we celebrate the blessings
of your loving presence in our lives.
As your messengers carried the good news of new life
and changed lives,
today we praise you, O God,
that your love suffuses our being.
We give thanks for home and hearth,
for strength and health,
for work and rest and laughter and peace;
for the children who challenge us
to provide a future;
for the older folks who challenge us
to remember the past.
O God, who loves us as a parent,
we give thanks for those who nurtured us in faith and life,
parents and grandparents, Sunday School teachers and youth leaders.
Bless those who continue to teach our children of your love for them.
We give thanks for those hidden moments
when your grace confounds
our earthbound concerns
by providing a glimpse of heaven:
a glimpse of heaven
in the hungry one fed,
the alienated one welcomed,
the diseased one healed,
the sad one laughing.

As you came to your friends then,
you come to your friends now, Lord Christ,
with words of hope and peace.

So we pray for peace, Lord
and we pray for justice.
For peace in places where nations rage,
for peace in industries where corporations antagonize,
for peace in communities where gangs divide,
for peace in lives where disease brings fear.

We pray for justice
where the powerful intimidate the weak,
where the wealthy exploit the poor,
where the hungry are not given food,
and the merciful are not shown mercy.

And in the name of the one who taught us, we pray, Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church