(Uses words from the hymn by Walter Farquharson Would You Bless Our Homes and Families)
Would you bless our homes and families, Source of life who calls
us here;
in our world of stress and tension teach us love that
conquers fear.
On
this day we call Christian Family Sunday we remember our families
we
remember that our families can be sources of great support,
we
also remember that families can be sources of great struggle or pain.
We
give thanks for the gifts of families,
and
we pray with those whose relationship with family is strained or
breaking or broken.
In
this year of pandemic and distance we pray with those
who
have been unable to get together with family in the same way as
normal
who
have lost family members to the disease
who
have had relationships strengthened by time spent at home together
and
who have had relationships tested by so much time home together.
From
the homes in which we’re nurtured with the love that shapes us
there,
teach us, God, to claim as family every one whose life we
share.
God
who calls us all family, we pray for families of all shapes and sizes
and types:
the
families that have two parents and lots of children,
the
families with multiple parents in different houses, sharing children,
the
families with parents of different genders, the families with parents
of the same gender,
the
families where the children have four feet and fur,
the
families who do not include children,
the
families related by blood and the families made by choice,
the
families bonded by legal status and the families bonded by love,
the
families made up of friendships that have spanned the test of time,
we
see the wondrous diversity of families and we are thankful.
Parenting
God, on this day set apart to celebrate mothers
we
give thanks for those who have been mothers or been like mothers to
us.
At
the same time we pray with and for those who find this day
painful:
mothers alienated from children, children alienated
from mothers;
those
who have had to stand by a grave and say farewell to their children;
those
who have had to say farewell to their mothers;
those
who have wanted to bear children but for some reason it has never
been possible;
those
who have chosen not to bear children but have been told it was the
wrong choice;
those
who have become parents at a time they would not have chosen and have
sometimes felt trapped;
those
who made the hard choice to offer a child for adoption,
and
those who were pushed or forced to make that choice.
God
hear our prayer.
Let
us reach beyond the boundaries of our daily thought and care
till
the family you have chosen spills its love out everywhere.
God
of this large, diverse, sometimes strange, family of faith;
we
celebrate today with our siblings who sing and dance
we
weep today with those who grieve
we
pray with all those who struggle
we
strive to live out the love you call us to share,
love
that breaks down the boundaries and walls we create between each
other.
And
through all that life may offer, may we in your love remain;
may
the love we share in families be alive to praise your name.
Help
us learn to love each other with a love that constant stays;
teach
us when we face our troubles, love’s expressed in many ways.
All
these things, all the prayers of our lives
we
pray in the name of Jesus, the Risen Christ, our Rock and Redeemer,
our teacher and guide,
the
one we call Saviour, Friend, Messiah and who leads us on the path of
love.
AMEN
