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Posts Tagged "Intercessions for Trinity Sunday Year A":

Intercessions for Trinity Sunday Year A – 15 June 2014

'Bavnehøj Kirke' by Gunnar Bach Pedersen via Wikimedia

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity: keep us steadfast in this faith, that we may evermore be defended from all adversities; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, 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:  Isaiah 40.12-17,27-31

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,  and weighed the mountains in scales  and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the spirit of the Lord, or as his counsellor has instructed him? Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice? Who taught him  knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales; see, he takes up the isles like fine dust. Lebanon would not provide fuel enough, nor are its animals enough for a burnt-offering. All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God’? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 8

O Lord our governor, * how glorious is your name in all the world!
Your majesty above the heavens is praised * out of the mouths of babes at the breast.
You have founded a stronghold against your foes, * that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, * the moon and the stars that you have ordained,
What are mortals, that you should be mindful of them; * mere human beings, that you should seek them out?
You have made them little lower than the angels * and crown them with glory and honour.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands * and put all things under their feet,
All sheep and oxen, * even the wild beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fish of the sea * and whatsoever moves in the paths of the sea.
O Lord our governor, * how glorious is your name in all the world!

 

Second Reading:  2 Corinthians 13.11-13

Brothers and sisters, put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 28.16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’


Let us turn once more to Jane Williams :

You may not be able to measure every drop of water in the world, or weigh a mountain, but God can and has. Your very insignificance is, funnily enough, a reassurance…When they are too tired, bewildered and woebegone to find any way out of their plight, they can remember that their God is inexhaustible. They can remember, reach out and feel the potent, unending energy of God…In creation, incarnation and Pentecost we see God at work, patiently, with infinite attention to detail, drawing us into his incomprehensible freedom and life. So when Matthew and Paul end their writings with references to the Trinity, they are not just paying lip-service to something they have inherited and feel they must mention, but are witnessing to the thing that motivates them, and that they believe can energize the hard-pressed and doubting congregations to whom they are writing….If we wish upon ourselves the ‘communion’ of the Holy Spirit, we are praying to be unified, as Father, Son and Spirit are unified. We do not pray to be made indistinguishable, but we do pray to be made inseparable, and to give and get meaning only in each other.

 (pp 76-77. I suggest you follow the link and search 'fiercely' 
which will lead you to the whole page).

So, for me, this Trinity Sunday is primarily about movement, using the energy that we have been given through Pentecost to join the triune cosmic dance, as was discussed here in connection with Andrei Rublev’s icon of the Trinity.

Prayers of Intercession

¶The Church of Christ

Lord, you have poured your energy into the Church through the miracle of Pentecost. Help us now to build on that, as did the disciples, so that every day we may see your son more clearly, love him more dearly, and follow him more nearly, drawn into communion with you and the Holy Spirit.   May we thus be inspired to give ourselves freely to your will for the world and find our true selves in belonging together as members one of another as we endeavour to live out the gospel.

Lord, you have promised to be with us always, even unto the end of the age: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

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

Creator God, source of all life, when we look at creation, the moon and stars majestic in the heavens, the eagle soaring in the air and the dolphin ploughing the sea, the gazelle leaping the wind and the sheep grazing in the meadows, who are we human beings that you care so much for us? Stewards of the planet you give us as our home, how awesome a task you trust to our hands, how fragile and beautiful is the good earth. Amid the immensities of the universe, you seek us out to be your partners. O Lord, help us not to fail you.

Lord, you have promised to be with us always, even unto the end of the age: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

¶The local community

Lord, we speak of the mysteries of the Trinity but one thing above all you have made crystal clear to us: we are to move constantly out towards one another in self-giving, living and being in that perfect oneness we call by the name of ‘love’. Help us to realise that it is truly in giving that we receive, and that in serving one another we are serving you. What we gave, we have; what we spent, we kept; and what we kept locked inside ourselves for safekeeping, we lost.

Lord, you have promised to be with us always, even unto the end of the age: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

¶Those who suffer

Lord, make us to know that there is truly a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole.  When we feel discouraged, and think our work in vain, you send your Holy Spirit to revive our hopes. We pray for all those that are in physical pain, as well as facing discouraged hopes. We pray for those who are facing terminal illness, that they may have strength to endure and find acceptance and peace.

 Lord, you have promised to be with us always, even unto the end of the age: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

¶The communion of saints

Lord, we pray for all those whom we love but see no more. May they rest in peace, and rise in glory, buoyed up on the sea of your eternal love.

 Lord, you have promised to be with us always, even unto the end of the age: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Copyright acknowledgement (where not already indicated above): 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. Collect (Trinity Sunday) © The Crown/Cambridge University Press: The Book of Common Prayer (1662)

The image is ‘Bavnehøj Kirke‘ by Gunnar Bach Pedersen via Wikimedia

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