Prayerful Concerns of Our Parish Community
We post our Prayers of the Faithful each week because so many have asked for them as prayer prompts to use throughout the week. Here you will find the Prayers of the Faithful from Palm Sunday (April 1-2, 2023), heading into this solemn Holy Week.
In these days we hold sacred, many hopes have been heard, many hearts have been healed, many regrets have been removed, and many restless minds have found their peace. Here in these holy days is when you come close and make yourself known to your people whom you treasure and love. Here in these days we pray….
We remember that going up to Jerusalem cost Jesus his very life. Forgive us for the shallowness of our faith, and the timidity of our following: forgive us for the ready excuses we make for going our own way and claiming it as yours….we pray to the Lord.
We pray that Holy Week this year be more than a memory or a ritual, but a real encounter in which we know both our need and the depth of your love for us, for all of us, without exception. We pray to the Lord.
We give thanks that in the midst of so much ill-feeling and misunderstanding, there were people at Bethany who welcomed Jesus. We give thanks for those now and down the ages who in their homes have offered havens of welcoming and understanding to family, friends and strangers who have been hurting, in danger, rejected. May our hearts and homes be like that home in Bethany, we pray to the Lord.
To those suffering from natural disasters, Lord, bring hope and help from others. For our brothers, sisters, children, hurt or killed by gun violence bring not only blessing but, at long, long last, a resolve to face the truth, and a willingness to stand down the powerful in business and politics who try to convince us that endless violence is just collateral damage. We pray to the Lord.
For Tyler, Matthew, Michael, Jon and Bo Yolande Miller who will be baptized and confirmed and fed at the Lord’s Table at the Easter Vigil, for Owen who will be confirmed this spring and for the young people of our parish who will be confirmed and receive Eucharist on Pentecost, for their teachers, sponsors, and families, we pray to the Lord.
The Kingdom of God is among us, and we are called by our baptism to live in Jesus’ way of faith, hope, compassion and honesty. We pray that our brothers and sisters who have completed that journey, now know the rest of the blessing in the presence of God. On this Palm Sunday we especially remember:
4:30 PM Virginia (Caminiti) Shaw by Ralph & Peter DeSarno
7:30 AM The People of the Parish both Living & Deceased
9:30 AM Virginia Shaw by Mark & Roberta Hutchins
5:00 PM Beverly Oliver by Husband & Family
We pray to the Lord
We entrust to you, God of love, these prayers and those we hold in our hearts. Neither race nor gender, neither wisdom nor age, neither strength of faith nor lack of certainty make a difference to you. You welcome one, you welcome all, friends and strangers. One and all you care for and love with the deepest passion of your heart and your soul. That is the lesson of this week. For this we give thanks. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.