|
Easter
Welcome to Easter season, which begins at sundown on Holy
Saturday. Easter Sunday is first Sunday following the first full
moon after the spring equinox. The equinox usually occurs on
March 21, which means the date of Easter can range between March
22 and April 25, depending on the lunar cycle. The season
extends for fifty days, ending on Pentecost.
An Image for Easter
Season
A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within
you;
and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you
a heart of flesh.
— Ezekiel 36:26
For Lent in 2007, I took long walks on the beach,
through the woods, and on neighborhood streets.
Here’s what I picked up and brought home
to share for the Easter season.
Prayers of the People for Easter Day
These
Prayers of the People were first used in the Easter Vigil and
Easter Day services, April 3-4, 2010, at St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church in Port Townsend, Washington.
More about
responsive prayer.
Leader's words are in plain text.
People's responses are in bold italic.
Sing aloud, O mothers and sons! Fathers and daughters, sisters
and brothers, rejoice and exult with all your hearts! Let us
offer our prayers and thanksgivings with one voice, calling out
the good news —
The tomb stands empty!
We look for our Savior among the living.
Jesus Christ is alive and in our midst today.
We pray for all faithful people — for every human soul that
turns to God in longing and in love. Today and every day, pull
us out of our graves and into your life.
The tomb stands empty.
We look for our Redeemer among the living.
Jesus Christ is alive and among us today.
We pray for the nations of the earth — for those in authority,
and for those under authority. Come from the four winds, O
Breath of Life, and we shall live together in peace.
The tomb stands empty.
We look for our Mediator among the living.
Jesus Christ is alive and within us today.
We pray for this world, our garden home — for the rain and the
snow, the seed and the sprout — for the birthing room and the
last place of rest — for every new creation.
The tomb stands empty.
We look for our Gardener among the living.
Jesus Christ is alive and beside us today.
We pray for those who are sick or suffering — for anyone who
needs extra help just now. We pray especially for those named
here today, aloud and in our hearts… (pause for names to
be said or remembered) …
Living Lord, renew them in Your love.
The tomb stands empty.
We look for our Sustainer among the living.
Jesus Christ is alive and with us today.
We pray for those who have died, and for all who mourn. We pray
especially for those named here today, aloud and in our hearts…
(pause for names) …
Eternal One, bring them home and gather them in.
The tomb stands empty.
We look for our Beloved among the living.
Jesus Christ is alive and in the midst of us today.
With joy and exultation, we give thanks for the triumph of life
over death, offering special thanks for those joys, sorrows,
challenges and delights named here today, aloud and in our
hearts… (pause for thanksgivings) …
We are amazed at what has happened.
The tomb stands empty!
We look for our Creator among the living.
Jesus Christ is alive and in our hearts today.
Holy One, even before we call, you answer; while we are yet
speaking, you hear. We offer up these prayers in the name of the
Risen Christ — our Savior, Redeemer, and Friend.
Amen.
Biblical references & inspiration
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and
exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!
Zephaniah 3:14
On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women who had
come with Jesus from Galilee came to the tomb, taking the
spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away
from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the
body. Luke 24:1-2
… "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is
not here, but has risen…. Luke 24:5
The Lord, your God is in your midst … he will rejoice
over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love …
Zephaniah 3:17
… I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from
your graves. … I am the Lord … O my people, I will put my spirit
within you, and you shall live. Ezekiel
37:12-14:
… Come from the four winds, O breath, … that they may live.
Ezekiel 37: 9
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and
do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it
bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and
bread to the eater, so my word … shall not return to me empty.
Isaiah 55:10-11.
For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth…
Isaiah 65:17
At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather
you. Zephaniah 3:20
But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in,
he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home,
amazed at what had happened. Luke 24:12.
Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I
will hear. Isaiah 65:24
Prayers for Easter
Season
At the St. Stephen’s Women’s Retreat, held at the Ocean Park
Retreat Center and Camp
on March 28-30, 2008, we experienced stormy winds, rain, snow,
hail, sunshine,
laughter, tears, and the fire of God’s Spirit in life and love.
These prayers were written
during the retreat and prayed at our Sunday service. To read the
creed written
at the retreat, see Margaret’s Bench
for April '08.
Let us stand in grace together
And listen, old and young.
Fix our bounds of love
through stormy winds, fire and hail.
Help us light our lamp in hope and faith.
Opening prayer, March 30, 2008
Written by women of St. Stephen's,
Longview, Washington.
Holy Mother,
maker of earth, water, sky and sea:
You cradled this planet in your arms in the beginning,
And brought forth beauty and abundance.
You created us to know you and the power of love,
Giving us a measure of your own compassion, creativity,
And a capacity to perceive and appreciate
your creation in its fragile magnitude and potent
minuteness….
Your image within us bears witness to your abiding love
And calls us in the voices of prophets, poets, mystics,
martyrs, and mothers throughout history
to return to center in You….
May our lives be salt and light --
Sources of healing, hope, and transformation
In this world that you cherish.
from the Eucharistic Prayer, March 30, 2008
St. Stephen's Women’s Retreat
Written and compiled from various sources by Kathleen
Patton, Celebrant
Prayers of the People for Easter Season
These prayers were first used
on April 27, 2008 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Port
Townsend, Washington. They take language and inspiration from
the Bible readings for the sixth Sunday of Easter Season (Year
A), which you will find on
The Lectionary Page.
More about
responsive prayer.
O
God, who made the world and everything in it,
(Leader's words in plain text.)
we
pray with one voice, proclaiming your presence to all the earth.
For skeptics and believers, for clergy high and low;
For those who seek God at home, at work, in the streets, and in
the pews,
For all who search for life, come and listen:
And we will tell you what our God has done for us. (People's responses in bold italic.)
We are alive in the spirit.
We are saved through water.
Because Christ lives, we also live.
For we too are God’s offspring.
For presidents and prime ministers, for bosses and wardens;
For those who set the course at home, at work, in the streets,
and in the pews,
For all who wield power, come and listen:
And we will tell you what our God has done for us.
We do not fear what others fear.
We proclaim the hope that is in us.
Because Christ lives, we also live.
For we too are God’s offspring.
For friends and lovers, for neighbors and strangers,
For those who eat bread at home, at work, in the streets, and in
the pews,
For all who live in the world, come and listen:
And we will tell you what our God has done for us.
In God, we live and move and have our being.
From God, we have life and breath and all things.
Because Christ lives, we also live.
For we too are God’s offspring.
For the sick and troubled, for the fearful and alone,
For those in pain at home, at work, in the streets, and in the
pews,
For all who suffer, come and listen:
And we will tell you what our God has done for us.
Our prayers are not rejected.
Our souls are held in life.
In truth, our God has heard us,
and love is not withheld.
Because Christ lives, we also live.
For we too are God’s offspring.
For those kept in memory, for those long forgotten,
For all who ever took the breath of life at home, at work, in
the streets, and in the pews,
For the dead and those who mourn them, come and listen:
And we will tell you what our God has done for us.
We are blessed by your presence.
We are filled with the Spirit.
Because Christ lives, we also live.
For we too are God’s offspring.
God of heaven and earth, Companion in life, Spirit of truth,
to you alone we turn our eyes and lift our hearts.
Amen.
Bible
references
Acts 17:22-31 The God who made the world and
everything in it … Lord of heaven and earth … he gives to all
mortals life and breath and all things … whole earth … search
for God … In him we live and move and have our being … For we
too are his offspring … God's offspring.
Psalm 66:7-18 Who holds our souls in life … Come
and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he
has done for me. … But in truth God has heard me … Blessed be
God, who has not rejected my prayer, nor withheld his love from
me.
1 Peter 3:13-22 You are blessed … Do not fear what
they fear … the hope that is in you … made alive in the spirit …
saved through water
John 14:15-21 Spirit of truth … because I live, you
also will live.
Homily for the
Fourth Sunday of Easter
“A Picture of Abundant Life” -- Delivered at St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church,
Port Townsend, Washington, on April 13, 2008.
more...
Prayers of the People for
the Ascension With open hearts,
let us offer up our prayers together,
saying, Arise, O God, Hear our prayer...
more...
|
