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Intercessions for Seventh Sunday of Easter Year B: 17 May 2015

"Wien - Steinhof - Engel auf der Otto-Wagner-Kirche" by Haeferl - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 at via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wien_-_Steinhof_-_Engel_auf_der_Otto-Wagner-Kirche.jpg#/media/File:Wien_-_Steinhof_-_Engel_auf_der_Otto-Wagner-Kirche.jpg

Otto Wagner Kirche, Vienna via CCL

 

The Collect

O God the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: we beseech you, leave us not comfortless, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

¶ The Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: Acts 1.15-17,21-26

In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred and twenty people). He said, ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus – for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. So one of the men who have accompanied us throughout the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us – one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.’ So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

 

Psalm 1

Refrain: The Lord knows the way of the righteous.

Blessed are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, * nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the assembly of the scornful.
Their delight is in the law of the Lord * and they meditate on his law day and night.
Like a tree planted by streams of water bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither, * whatever they do, it shall prosper. R
As for the wicked, it is not so with them; * they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked shall not be able to stand in the judgement, * nor the sinner in the congregation of the righteous.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, * but the way of the wicked shall perish.

Refrain: The Lord knows the way of the righteous.

 

Second Reading: 1 John 5.9-13

If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

 

Gospel Reading: John 17.6-19

Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed: ‘Father, I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.’

The RSCM (2009) says: “St John’s Gospel gives us Jesus’ long prayer to the Father for his followers, present and yet to come. It is beautiful in its intimacy, both in the way Jesus speaks to his Father and the things he asks for his friends. To know oneself to be the subject of such a prayer is astonishing. It must have sustained the disciples in that ‘in-between time’ after the Ascension and before Pentecost, a time almost as dark as his absence on Easter Eve. It can sustain us too.”

Prayers of Intercession

 

¶The Church of Christ

Lord, giver of life, you bless us when we delight in your truth and ponder your law.  We struggle with evil in our hearts, tossed to and fro like chaff in the wind. Save us, we pray,  from the desert of faithlessness, and nourish us with your living water so that in due season we may bring forth fruit whose leaves shall not wither away. *

Lord, keep us true to your way: in your mercy, hear our prayer

 

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

Lord, help us to build on the values of your eternity. We pray for all those who must make decisions that will affect the lives of others. Impress on them the great privilege they have been afforded, and its accompanying responsibilities.  Fill them with your wisdom and compassion so that they may never abuse their authority, but instead be steadfast in seeking the common good and your greater glory.

Lord, keep us true to your way: in your mercy, hear our prayer

 

¶The local community

Lord, you have set us in the world, while holding before us the beacon of the celestial city. Help us to base our own communities on that city. When we have short-term setbacks, or when we find each other difficult to work with, let us remember that vision of a shining city on a hill and give us renewed strength, we pray, to do what we can, with what we have, where we are, to build it here on earth.

Lord, keep us true to your way: in your mercy, hear our prayer

 

¶Those who suffer

Lord, shine your light into our darkness and despair.  We pray for all who are struggling with their faith. For those who are in mental anguish, either because of their own pain, or because they watch the sufferings of those whom they love. For families, where relationships have broken down. For all who are ill or in chronic pain. May all know the reality of your presence, and thus be strengthened and comforted.

Lord, keep us true to your way: in your mercy, hear our prayer

 

¶The communion of saints

Lord, we pray for loved ones departed, that in you they may know newness of life. Bring us, also, at the last to rejoice with you

Merciful Father, accept these prayers…

 

 


 

Prayer after Communion

Eternal God, giver of love and power,
your Son Jesus Christ has sent us into all the world
to preach the gospel of his kingdom:
confirm us in this mission,
and help us to live the good news we proclaim;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christ our wisdom,
give us delight in your law,
that we may bear fruits of patience and peace
in the kingdom of the righteous;
for your mercy ’s sake.

 

* Based on Jim Cotter’s meditiation on Psalm 1.

Copyright acknowledgement (where not already indicated above): Post Communion (7th of Easter) © 1985 Anglican Church of Canada: The Book of Alternative Services 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 Some material included in this service is copyright: © The Archbishops’ Council 2002 Blessing (Day after Ascension Day until Pentecost; Guidance) © The Archbishops’ Council Collect (7th of Easter) © The Crown/Cambridge University Press: The Book of Common Prayer (1662)

1 comment on this post:

UKViewer said...
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Thanks Laura

15 May 2015 06:28

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