In our Benefice we meet every Saturday morning to share prayers. They vary greatly and are created and led by different lay ministers. Here are the Easter Saturday prayers I shared this weekend.

Today we have nearly made it through Lent for this year. A journey begun in a different world, where we could meet and mix freely, a journey which has brought us to a new place. If our faith is deepened because of our prayers, our study, our discipline and our giving this Lent, then we are closer to Jesus as we approach our special day, Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection tomorrow.

But perhaps the shock of coronavirus, and the restrictions we now live under, have distracted us from our Lenten journey. Like dreamers suddenly awakened, the daily news jolts us into anxiety, concern for others and for ourselves. The virus has set us on a different track, one for which we were not prepared. So even though we are at the close of our Lent journey, we have barely begun our unexpected journey separated in our households and finding new ways to share, connect and survive.

Prayers this morning are for that strange journey we have begun. It may be weeks or even months before what we used to see as our normal life can be resumed. So we ask God for his protection, his constant love and support as we set off together.

Psalm 121

Assurance of God’s Protection: A Song of Ascents.

1. I lift up my eyes to the hills—
    from where will my help come?

2. My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

3. He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.

4. He who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5. The Lord is your keeper;
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand 

6. The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

7. The Lord will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.

8. The Lord will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time on and for evermore.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now and shall be for ever, world without end. Amen

Our prayers will use this psalm of comfort and hope wrapped around us for our journey.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
    from where will my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

Lord we confess our need for your help. We bring before you all our worries, our fears: about health, about food, about money, about work, and our fears and worries for those we care about and feel powerless to help. It is to you, Lord, that we bring our cares, the problems we need to solve, the overwhelming lack of control we feel in the face of a new and unpredictable virus. There are times when our personal grief can make us blind to the world of your creation. But if we gaze on the world beyond the window, we will finally find your power at work, in the Spring growth, in the changing landscape, in the downs of Sussex, and we can begin to see our small place in your marvellous creation.

Silent prayer

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

On Easter Saturday we are all buried with Christ by baptism into his death, that we may walk in newness of life.  This is a time of emptiness but leads to hope. God, whose nature is mercy, sent his Son, who experienced the fullness of our own human suffering and makes all things new. We are still called upon to serve those within and beyond the church, and to care for the vulnerable, despite our exclusion from the buildings of the church. We are placed at the heart of our community and are called upon to be spokespeople for those of all faiths who experience difficulties. The homes in which we now find ourselves offer us a place in which our faith can be discovered afresh, where we can find the Church within.

                                                      (some words from Church of England website)

Gracious Lord, in our homes we find much sameness. The empty space left by our usual outward journeys and the people we can no longer invite in to our homes sits leaden sometimes on our spirits. Lord, we do not watch for some magical spirit from the hills to come to our aid; we look inwards to find you in ourselves, to hear your voice and to feel the inner peace that comes only from you.

Silent prayer

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.

He who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

Lord, we have time now in abundance, time which can so easily slip through our fingers. Some will be taking up new activities in this strange time, others will find their time completely absorbed in the care of the vulnerable, the sick and the care of children in the home. Yet others will be struggling to connect through the web and social media and phones in order to maintain contact with loved ones or work colleagues. Our usual routines and timetables and deadlines have vanished and in their place a sometimes exhausting re-calibration of our days. As we fall asleep, tired from trying to make sense of these days, we praise your changelessness, it is the constant on which we can rely. We give thanks for your love and safe keeping.

Silent prayer

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

Listening Lord, there are so many in our community and our nation and across the world for whom this period of shutdown means loss of income. For some this will be a temporary thing, but so many are worried about lasting consequences, about rising debts, about high interest rates on loans, about future jobs. Lord, guide our business leaders as well as our Government to think the unthinkable, to use every creative idea to keep us working and earning. We think not only of those of working age, but those whose pensions and savings must be safeguarded. Help us Lord, to find ways not just to preserve old ways of making do, but also to recognise that our needs are less than our wants, and that simpler alternatives to the way we live and work can offer us hope.

Silent prayer

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

Lord, there are others who will not slumber or sleep at this time. They are the volunteers and the healthcare professionals, the military, the drivers, the scientists, the suppliers of food and medicine and the leaders of governments. Each with their cross to bear, each demonstrating a determination to do their job to the best of their ability, whatever it takes. Lord we hold these people to your constant care as they risk their health and strength for us.

Silent prayer

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

The Lord is your keeper;
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

Lord, we are frail creatures of habit. We face change with fear, as our human routines and patterns are the ties that bind us and keep us safe. Be our guardian Lord, our protector as we live through such times of change. Help us not to hit out at those who are trying to support us; not to interrogate every rule as if we know better how to make things work. Instead, guide us to come together as a community and as a nation in defeating the destructive force of the virus on our lives.

Silent prayer

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

Lord, we offer you prayer for the nations of the world, all of whom must find ways to adapt to the current threat and protect their people. Protect all nations and their governments and help them to lay aside the enmities of the past in order to deliver good healthcare, and the means to live through shelter, food and work to all under their care. We pray especially for those nations whose healthcare systems are poorly resourced and limited, keep the contagion from them and help them to build for the needs of their people. Encourage governments to work together for the common good, sharing knowledge and resource to protect the most vulnerable, just as you protect us.

Silent prayer

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

Gracious Lord, we pray for all whose faith is tested at this time. Show them your everlasting love and mercy. We pray especially for all who lead your church on earth, in whatever denomination, language or liturgy. We give urgent thanks and praise for all clergy who have learned new and creative ways to engage with their parishioners and the world. We pray for church leaders who feel their skills are tested as their usual patterns of worship are altered and they strive to meet their commitments to you and to their congregations. Help them to know each day your guardianship, your shade at their right hand. We pray for ministry leaders in our town and villages, and particularly for Rev’d Mitch and Rev’d Torhild in our benefice; they have already shown such devotion and care to us: their flocks and friends.

Silent prayer

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time on and for evermore.

Dear Lord, we hold to you all whom we know who suffer from any illness, including Covid 19. Keep those who are admitted to hospital in the safe care of medical staff in the NHS, help them to cope with whatever life-giving and life-saving treatments are available. Lord, we pray for all in care homes, residential and nursing homes whose vulnerability is known to you, bless them with your comfort and mercy. Calm the fears of all who must be contained within groups, whether in medical care, local authority care or in prison or on remand. And as we hear each day the figures rise of deaths associated with the virus, we offer our prayers for those who have died and those who mourn them, for whom an expected funeral may be denied but a connection will not be severed as they remain in our hearts.

Silent prayer

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

Lord,

We would love to be with our friends and our wider family and our church family as they manage such hardships.

We would love to hold their hand and whisper words of comfort.

We would love to change their situation and bring new happiness.

We would love to give them peace as they lie to rest.

We would love to wake them with new hope every morning.

We would love to know how to lead them through this hard time.

We would love to bless them with peace and joy and hope.

You are closer, stronger, wiser than us, you keep our lives from evil.

You are with them Heavenly Father.

You are with them, and will hold these loved ones and protect them forever.

We trust in you.

Amen.

All-powerful and ever-living God, your only Son went down among the dead and rose again in glory. In your goodness raise up your faithful people, buried with him in baptism, to be one with him in the eternal life of heaven, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen

As we move to the next stage of our journey through this strange time, we may not be able to go out, we have to stay in, but our travel towards you is not diminished. On this Easter Saturday, help us to take comfort from your Psalm, knowing your everlasting care and strength is within us, the church within. We end with a Celtic blessing for this journey, followed by the Grace.

God bless the path on which you go

God bless the earth beneath your feet

God bless your destination.

God be a smooth way before you

A guiding star above you

A keen eye behind you

This day, this night, and forever.

God be with you whatever you pass

Jesus be with you whatever you climb

Spirit be with you wherever you stay.

God be with you at each stop and each sea

At each lying down and each rising up

In the trough of the waves, on the crest of
 the billows.

Each step of the journey you take.

Amen

– Celtic Blessings, Prayers for Everyday Life, compiled by Ray Simpson (Loyola Press 1999)

May the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, for evermore. Amen