Lay Anglicana, the unofficial voice of the laity throughout the Anglican Communion.
This is the place to share news and views from the pews.

Get involved ...

Intercessions for Easter Day Year A: 20 April 2014

shutterstock_174993593

The Collect

Lord of all life and power, who through the mighty resurrection of your Son overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things new in him: grant that we, being dead to sin and alive to you in  Jesus Christ, may reign with him in glory; to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be praise and honour, glory and might, now and in all eternity.  Amen.

 

¶ The Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: Acts 10.34-43

Peter began to speak to those assembled in the house of Cornelius. ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ – he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

Psalm 118.1-2,14-24

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; *his mercy endures for ever.
Let Israel now proclaim, *‘His mercy endures for ever.’
The Lord is my strength and my song, * and he has become my salvation.
Joyful shouts of salvation * sound from the tents of the righteous:
‘The right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds; the right hand of the Lord raises up; * the right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds.’
I shall not die, but live * and declare the works of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me sorely, * but he has not given me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness, * that I may enter and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord; * the righteous shall enter through it.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me * and have become my salvation.
The stone which the builders rejected * has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing, * and it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made; * we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Second Reading: Colossians 3.1-4

Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

 

Gospel Reading: John 20.1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.“’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.


The RSCM said this about Easter Day Year A in 2008:

Not everyone will feel able to say and sing ‘Alleluia’ on Easter Day. Apart from those who do not know that it is Easter, there will be others whose life circumstances make this season less than celebratory. But there is room for them in the Easter story. For some considerable time the disciples knew only the confusion and contradiction of an empty tomb. Where was Jesus? Perhaps ministering to someone unnamed, unknown. Speculation? Yes, but entirely consistent with his availability to the multitudes throughout his earthly life.

Prayers of Intercession

I am the first and the last, says the Lord, and the living one;
I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore. Alleluia!

¶The Church of Christ

Lord, help us, members of the body of Christ:  in this life we are like the dwellers in a cave whose idea of reality is based only on shadows of your kingdom. So often we waste our energies in arguing about the shape of the shadows. Enable us rather, as we remember the day your Son escaped from the tomb to a new reality, to look outwards from ourselves and focus instead on the originals, flaming out with your grandeur like shining from shook foil, so that we may understand your love with a new clarity.

Lord, free us from the prisons of our own making to join in the dance of the heavens: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

¶Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority

Let us give thanks for the goodness of God, that we may dance together, friends and enemies; and that gratitude may dwell in the heart of every human being. Lord, you dwell in the seed of the smallest flower, and are not cramped. You dwell in the vast expanse of the universe and fill it all and beyond.  In the dangers we face you are with us; you came as one of us and set us free.  You have warmed our bitterness to compassion and channelled our anger for justice. We were pressed so hard we almost fell, but your power surged through our arms, you are our strength and our song.

Lord, free us from the prisons of our own making to join in the dance of the heavens: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

¶The local community

Lord, we pray for the communities we belong to, and give thanks for the pleasure of human contact and friendship, each linking us to one another in a great circle of warmth and compassion. We pray for all those who feel unable to join in this chain, and have a sense of being lonely and excluded. Lord of all people, roll away the stones that keep us apart, and let your love draw us closer together as we draw closer to you.

Lord, free us from the prisons of our own making to join in the dance of the heavens: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

¶Those who suffer

Lord, we give thanks for your mercies and your assurances that no one shall die and be forgotten, not one of us is lost. If even the hairs of our heads are numbered, who can doubt your compassion? We bring before you today all those who feel themselves unequal to the struggles of life, those who are weary or bewildered, and those who are in physical pain which seems never to leave them in peace.

Lord, free us from the prisons of our own making to join in the dance of the heavens: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

¶The communion of saints

Lord, blessed are those who have journeyed in your name, guided by your light along their paths. Now they have joined the everlasting throng in your kingdom for we are Easter people. May they rest in peace and rise in glory. Give us grace to follow in their footsteps, as they followed in the footsteps of your son. Keep alive their memory in us and grant that every remembrance which turns our hearts from things seen to things unseen may lead us always upwards to you, till we come to our own eternal rest.

Lord, free us from the prisons of our own making to join in the dance of the heavens: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Copyright acknowledgement: Colossians 3.1-4 © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Pub. Hodder & Stoughton. Some material included in this service is copyright: © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA. Some material included in this service is copyright: © The Archbishops’ Council 2000

3 comments on this post:

UKViewer said...
avatar

Thanks Laura

16 April 2014 05:58
Philip Manktelow said...
avatar

Dear Laura,

Greetings from Mornington, Victoria, Australia.

May you and yours have a very happy and Holy Easter. Bless you for your constancy in producing intercessory prayers and articles that feed and give scope to all of us who serve our Christ in our various ways.

Philip Manktelow

17 April 2014 05:18
dawn said...
avatar

Dear Laura
I really appreciate these prayers. Thank you.
Happy Easter.
Dawn- Gold Coast, Australia

19 April 2014 22:49

Leave a Reply to dawn Cancel reply

We rely on donations to keep this website running.