Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu
melekh ha'olam,
Blessed
are You, LORD, our God, King of the universe,
You
have brought us through another year,
a
year of challenges and struggles
nd
yet you are there in all of it.
Creator
of all that is, you share your vision of how the world could be.
Btu
the world as it is falls short of that vision.
Every
year, on this day we call Good, we pause to name the broken-ness of
the world.
On
this day we remember a story of execution,
a
story of powerful striking out against a different vision for the
world,
a
story of passion and commitment,
and
as we remember the story we wonder how it speaks to our current
reality.
Today,
God of Grace, we lift up those who have been broken by the world:
the
ones who have been sacrificed in the name of bigger profits or lower
taxes...
the
ones who have been shut out of decision making and power...
the
ones who have been targeted because of race, or gender identity, or
sexuality...
the
ones who live on the margins, or who have been labelled expendable...
the
ones who are not treated equally or fairly by the systems of
society...
the
ones who know that they are not welcomed just as they are...
all
those who have been made to feel as if their lives, their welfare, is
less important.
God
hear our prayer that they would be lifted up.
May
this broken world be made whole, may healing flow.
Ever-present
God, on this day when we mourn and grieve,
we
join our hearts in prayer with all those whose hearts are heavy with
grief:
for family members they can not visit in this time of
pandemic precautions...
for
those who have died of COVID-19...
for
those who have been driven to despair and have given up on life...
for
those who are lonely and isolated...
for
those who share the Psalmist’s cry Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani.
My God, My God, Why have you
forsaken me...
may
all those who carry today a load of pain, of grief, of anxiety, of
fear,
know
that they are not alone, that they are held in a love that will never
let them go.
God
of Passion, the story we tell today reminds us of commitment,
of
devotion to your vision for the world,
of
Passion for the Kingdom.
Plant
in us, we pray, that sort of passion and devotion.
Strengthen
us to have to ability to offer of ourselves for a greater cause.
Give
us the wisdom to know how best to advance your Kingdom
and
help heal the broken-ness of the world
God
of the Cross,
God
who is with us in life and in death and in life beyond death,
we
pray all these things in the name of Jesus, the crucified Messiah,
who
challenges us to follow The Way that leads to Your Reign,
even
though the path goes to a cross on a hill and a tomb in a garden
and
a mystery that brings new hope.
Amen
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