Prayer for Holy Week

Here’s a prayer for the start of Holy Week from lutheranjulia.  It was posted on RevGalBlogPals.

Prayer at the Start of Holy Week

Holy God,

you have fed us all

out of your own generous and gracious hands.

From them, we have received welcome,

nourishment, hope, and consolation.

May these things grow in us,

alongside the gift of faith,

so that we may plant their seeds

in the world around us.

Through the Holy Spirit,

guide us in the week [days] ahead

to re-member our place

in your great and on-going story

of resurrection, redemption, and restoration

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

~ written by lutheranjulia, and posted on RevGalBlogPals. http://revgalblogpals.org/2016/03/18/friday-prayer-something-is-coming/

Invitation to the Table: Holy Week

Here is an invitation to the Table on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday (depending on your practice). It was written by Ann Siddall and posted on the Stillpoint Spirituality Centre website.

Invitation to the Table

This was just a cup filled with wine

(gesture towards the cup)

this was just ordinary bread, baked for guests

(gesture towards the bread)

until Jesus took them

took and drank from the cup,

even though it was his cup of pain,

filled with the agony of the world;

took and broke the bread –

even though his body

was too young to be broken.

This (gesture towards self),

and these (gesture to the community)

would be ordinary lives

unless the bread, unless the wine,

is poured into them:

and the mystery of grace takes place.

Come, not because you fully understand,

but because you need to reach out

and receive the life that is offered to you.

~ written by Ann Siddall, and posted on the Stillpoint Spirituality Centre and Faith Community website. http://stillpointsa.org.au/prayer/prayers-and-liturgies/

Passion Week Prayer: Surely Not I?

Here’s a prayer of confession and commitment for Palm/Passion Sunday or Maundy Thursday. It was inspired by Jesus’ comment to his disciples at the Last Supper and their response: “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” … “Surely, not I?” (Mark 14:18-19). It was written by Steve Garnaas-Holmes and posted on Unfolding Light.

Prayer: Surely Not I?

(inspired by Mark 14:18-19)

Surely.

I would never betray you, never deny you.

Surely?

Beloved,

give me the faith to doubt

my righteousness.

Give me the assurance to question,

to examine myself honestly,

to ask.

Give me the confidence to wonder

how I might betray your perfect love,

to see.

Give me grace to confess

how my promises are broken, my heart

broken.

Give me the peace to be troubled

by my smugness,

and repent.

Open my eyes to see that you see,

you know, and knowing, you keep right on

eating with me.

~ written by Steve Garnaas-Holmes and posted on Unfolding Light.https://www.unfoldinglight.net/ 

Holy Week Confession

Here is an act of confession for Holy Week. It was posted on Life in Liturgy (see link below).

Confession for Holy Week

Forgive us, Lord, for forgetting your sacrifice

and for thinking your grace is cheap. 

Forgive us, Lord, for using the cross as a trinket,

forgetting the agony it represents.

Forgive us, Lord, for taking our worship for granted,

forgetting the struggle that has assured its freedom. 

Forgive us, Lord, for being calloused to human cruelty,

forgetting that every victim is a creature of God. 

Forgive us, Lord, for being nonchalant about injustice,

forgetting that it still nails innocence to the cross. 

Forgive us, Lord, for thinking that sacrifice is obsolete,

forgetting that we still contend against the powers of darkness.

 

Receive our prayers offered in all humility,

as we remember and honor Christ our Lord who prays for us still.  Amen.

~ posted on Life in Liturgy, from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). https://lifeinliturgy.wordpress.com/

Maundy Thursday: Greatness Redefined

Here’s a thoughtful meditation and prayer of response inspired by the events of Maundy Thursday (see John 13:1-17). It was written by Nigel Varndell, and published on the Sanctuary Centre website. 

Meditation: Greatness Redefined

Why did you wash their feet?

I don’t understand, it makes no sense.

Why did you do something so demeaning,

so distasteful,

when you did not have to?

Why humble yourself and wash the feet of your own disciples?

You are the Messiah,

it makes no sense for you, of all people,

to do something that should be done by the least of all people,

not by the greatest.

It is not what we want our Messiahs to do.

Unless…

unless we have got it wrong and that,

somehow this is a measure of what Messiah means?

Not that it is defined in greatness

but that somehow, in your world the first will be last,

and the greatest, least and servant of all?

But if we are to follow you,

does it mean that we must follow your example too?

Are you suggesting that we too should make ourselves humble?

That we must wash the feet of the people whom we would rather ignore,

or scapegoat,

or deride?

Must we too become the servants of the least among us?

the refugee,

the disabled,

the homeless,

the addicted,

the anti-social,

the child?

Was that what all of this was about?

To try and put us in our rightful place,

not at the centre of our own world,

but at the centre of yours,

where we are no longer the most important person?

Is that it?

Were you trying to teach us this simple truth,

that other people,

all other people,

should matter too?

Is that why you washed their feet?

A prayer of response

Messiah I come,

Brought to my knees by astonishing grace.

In the presence of such humility

From one so great

What can I do but kneel and praise?

Messiah I come,

Challenged to bow to the King who kneels.

I want to pour out mercy and bring tender healing,

But I am proud, judgmental, and self-absorbed

And you are the only one

who can lead me to first-becoming-last greatness.

I would wash and serve, wash and love,

Like you do.

But first Lord Jesus,

Wash my feet, cleanse my heart

Till I am – like you –

Humble and ready on my knees.

~ in “Daily Meditations and Response prayers for Holy Week” by Nigel Varndell. Copyright © 2011 Nigel Varndell (Meditations) and 2012 www.thesanctuarycentre.org/whereworldandworshipmeet.  Posted on the Sanctuary Centre website.  http://www.thesanctuarycentre.org/

Invitation: if nothing else

It takes faith to wait without hope,
to trust that although there is no sense to this
we must do it anyway.

At the limits of our capacity to make sense of the world
at the edges of our grace, energy and love
lie this:

bread and wine.

Take and eat.

If nothing else, it will keep you alive.

~ written by Cheryl Lawrie, and posted on [hold this space].  http://holdthisspace.org.au/

An Invitation at the Table

Here is a simple prayer at the Table from the Third Space website.

Prayer at the Table

Receive this bread;

feed on it with thanks;

it is the gift of God to sustain and nurture;

it is Jesus incarnated and given for us.

Give thanks.

Drink this wine with thanks;

it is the gift of God to bring us joy;

it was a hard won battle;

it is Jesus poured out for our redemption.

Give thanks.

~ posted on the Third Space website. http://third-space.org.uk/blog

Invitation: Bread and Wine of Remembrance

Here is an invitation to the Lord’s Table from Richard Bott. It was posted on the Liturgy Alive website.

The Bread and Wine of Remembrance

When the time was right,

God sent Jesus to be among us.

Born into this life,

seeing Your grace revealed in all things,

he laughed with those who laughed,

and mourned with those who mourned.

Through Your love, he healed the sick,

he welcomed the outcast,

he challenged those in power,

and the structures that kept them there.

And he called us back to Your love.

In the power of the Holy Spirit,

the Christ laughs and cries,

heals and welcomes,

challenges and loves,

again and again and again.

We have been told that,

on the night before he was taken

to be tortured to death on a cross,

Jesus sat with his disciples,

and ate with them, in a meal of remembrance.

Jesus took a loaf of bread,

asked Your blessing upon it, broke it,

and gave it to his disciples saying:

“Take this – all of you – and eat it.

This is me. My Body. Given for you.

Each time you eat it, remember me.”

Close to the meal’s end,

he took a cup filled with wine,

asked Your blessing upon it,

and gave it to his disciples saying:

Take this – all of you – and drink it.

This is me. This is my promise in my life’s blood -

poured out for you and for the world.”

Each time you drink it, remember me.

So we, his disciples,

eat bread and drink wine – and remember.

~ from Richard Bott’s “Communion Liturgy for Advent.” Posted on the Liturgy Alive website. http://www.bibleclaret.org/liturgy/CycleA/june05/26_hugh.htm

Prayer at the Table

Here’s an approach to the prayer at the Table on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, or any other time. It comes from Jonny Baker.

He writes: “Maundy Thursday is a day particularly to remember Jesus’ meals with friends and to share bread and wine at the table. We chatted about the various meals and tables Jesus had and was round. I invited people to complete a sentence that began 'this is a table...' and that then became a prayer of thanks as we read them out and shared bread and wine to remember.”

Prayer at the Table

This is a table of new expectations

This is a table where everyone can come to receive

This is a table for those who haven't met Jesus before

This is a table with the Lord of the harvest and catch

This is a table where the host is often in the dependent position

This is a table where we are reconciled

This is a table where there is safety and acceptance

This is a table which welcomes, invites, provides, unites

This is a table where uncomfortable things happen

This is a table that was the natural place to be

This is a table that was the place to meet people

This is a table where strength is restored

This is a table, this is our community

~ written by Johnny Baker, and posted on jonnybaker. http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2013/10/your-grace-is-enough.html

Prayer: Between Light and Shadow

Here is a prayer for Holy Week from Thomas Turner’s everyday liturgy website.

Between Light and Shadow

Holy God,

We are caught in the tension of
light and shadow, death and resurrection.

You spoke the world into being,
you illuminated the universe by your very speech,
then filled the void with life.
Indeed, you have filled the void
of darkness and death,
the empty promises of the abyss,
with new life and new creation.

We look to you in the space between the world and the Kingdom,
longing for the fulfillment of your word
in the work of the Holy Spirit
and the reign of Christ, our Creator and King.

Amen

~ written by Thomas Turner, and posted on everyday liturgy. http://everydayliturgy.com/

Pastoral Prayer for Holy Week

Here is a pastoral prayer for Holy Week. It was written by John Vest, and posted on his website (see link below).

Pastoral Prayer for Holy Week

God of our lives,
Six weeks ago we gathered in this place to begin our Lenten journey.
We reflected on our mortality, on our need for each other, on our need for you.

Since that day of ashes, we have journeyed day by day to Jerusalem,
to the procession of palms and hosannas,
to the temple and to the streets,
to the Garden of Gethsemane and what lies beyond.

It has not always been an easy journey.
We have been stretched and challenged,

as we will continue to be in the days to come.
We are grateful, God, that we have not been alone on this way.
We are grateful that you have been with us all the while,
supporting us even as you confront us.

And we are grateful that we have had each other as travelling companions.
You have created us to be in community with each other,
and in days like this we know why.
Thank you for this sacred community,

cast in your image, shaped by your love.
Help us, as we follow Jesus together,

to broaden our concept of community,
to include not only those we know and love,

but also strangers both near and far,
and, yes, even our enemies and those who hate us.

Capture our hearts and minds with a vision of your kingdom,
and inspire us to work tirelessly to bring it to be in this world.

You have shown us, God, what is right and just;
you have shown us what it means to love as you love.
In Christ, you have shown us what it means to give everything to this call,
to live lives of radical obedience, radical humility, radical love.

Lord, may we live our lives with such determination and focus
that we might find the courage to lay aside

the pleasures, comforts, and needs of our own lives
in order to give life to others—indeed, abundant life for all.

God, you call us to be a part of your kingdom;
you call us to lead others to it.
So hear us now as we pray for the coming of that kingdom,
in the words Jesus taught us long ago.

Our Father…

~ written by John W. Vest, and posted on John Vest. http://johnvest.com/

Invitation to the Table

Here is an invitation to the Table from Ann Siddall. It was posted on the Stillpoint Spirituality Centre website.

Invitation to the Table

(based on 1 Corinthians 11)

This is for you,

but it may change you

from one who is anxiously concerned

about their own redemption

into one who knows

that Christ’s body is the earth

and all who walk upon it,

are one in Him

into knowing that

we are not redeemed

by our being good

but by our being connected

into knowing that

daring to eat

at the table of Jesus Christ

has unimaginable consequences.

So come,

come to be made whole,

and to participate in the work

of making us one with Him and each other.

~ written by Ann Siddall, and posted on the website of the Stillpoint Spirituality Centre.  http://www.stillpointsa.org.au/

Maundy Thursday: As Christ Has Washed Us

Here’s a responsive prayer for a service of footwashing on Maundy Thursday.  It was written by Karen Turner and posted on the Lifeway website.

Prayer for Maundy Thursday

(inspired by John 13:1-17)

Merciful Savior,

We have traveled this long, dusty Lenten journey.

Our feet are tired, dirty, aching, and calloused.

You have shown us Your love

by becoming a humble servant.

Humble us when we try to travel without You.

As Christ has washed us,

so let us wash one another.

Humble us when we believe some work is below us.

As Christ has washed us,

so let us wash one another.

Humble us when we are too proud

to accept help, or care, or love.

As Christ has washed us,

so let us wash one another.

Humble us when we do not fully receive

the gift of Your amazing and bountiful grace.

As Christ has washed us,

so let us wash one another. Amen.

~ written by Karen Turner, and posted on the Lifeway website.  http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/files/lwcF_PDF_LW_MaundyThursday.pdf

Benediction for Maundy Thursday

Here’s a benediction for Maundy Thursday from the Starters for Sunday website.  It was written by Rev. Dr. Clare McBeath and Rev. Tim Presswood.

Maundy Thursday Benediction

So may the blessing of the God who calls the people out of Egypt

call us out from our comfort and our safety

to embrace a journey of challenge and risk

May the blessing of the Son who kneels and washes our feet

call us out from our comfort and our safety

to embrace and serve those we meet on the journey

May the blessing of the Spirit who weaves dreams of a new community

call us out from our comfort and our safety

to provide welcome and hospitality to strangers as well as friends.

~ written by Rev. Dr. Clare McBeath and Rev. Tim Presswood.  Posted on the Church of Scotland’s Starters for Sunday website http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk

Call to Worship for Holy Thursday

Here’s a responsive call to worship for Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday), the day before Good Friday.  It comes from the Ministry Matters website.

Call to Worship

(inspired by John 13, 1 Corinthians 11, Exodus 12)

A table is set before us. A feast is prepared for us.
A meal of bread and wine, of meat and bitter herbs.
The Lord calls us to this supper of remembrance.
The Lord calls us to serve and to be served.
As we break the bread and share the cup,
our understanding may fail us.
But we will never forget Christ’s example.
We will never forget the full extent of his love.

~ posted on the Worship Elements page of the Ministry Matters website. http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/2478/worship-elements-holy-thursday-2015

Footwashing Prayer

Here’s a prayer for a service of foot washing service from Ann Siddall.  It was posted on the website of the Stillpoint Spirituality Centre.

Prayer for a Service of Foot Washing

(inspired by John 13:1-17)

“Unless I wash you

you have no share with me.”

If only it were otherwise.

If only I could present my credentials,

show my record of service,

get some kind of unlimited pass.

In every area of my life

I am more used

to proving how adequate I am,

presenting a polished image,

gaining certain privileges.

But you, Lord,

you bring me down

to where you are kneeling,

and take hold

of the feet I prefer to hide.

We are here together,

near the ground,

and in this humble position

I am touched by you

and made clean.

We are here together,

near the ground,

and in this humble position

I am touched by you

and made clean.

~ written by Ann Siddall, and posted on the website of the Stillpoint Spirituality Centre.  http://www.stillpointsa.org.au/

Prayer: The Love of Jesus

Here is a prayer for Holy Week (and beyond) from John Birch.

Prayer:  This is Love

This is love.
Not that you spoke words of comfort,
walked with the unclean and unloved,
shared wisdom, bread and wine,
brought healing into lives
and challenged the status quo.

This is love.
That you spoke the word of God,
walked a painful road to the Cross,
shared living water, bread of life,
brought Salvation to the world
and died for the sake of all.

This is love.
It is a seed
sown in the ground,
which germinates,
blossoms,
and spreads its sweet perfume.

~ written by John Birch, and posted on Faith and Worship. http://www.faithandworship.com/

Pastoral Prayer for Maundy Thursday

Here’s a pastoral prayer for Maundy Thursday from the United Church of Christ website.  (See below for link.)

Maundy Thursday Prayer

Gracious God,
As those who strive to follow Jesus in our living
and to trust your power in our dying,
we gather to reflect upon the life that ended on a cross.

We recognize in ourselves

the strengths and weaknesses of Jesus’ disciples:
although they loved him,

they disappointed and failed him.

And yet, gathering with these imperfect friends at this last meal
Jesus washed their feet in service, and then
extended the bread and cup to each.
Jesus called them to love one another,

and invited them to share in his very life
and in his acceptance of the road ahead.

We are humbled, honored and inspired
by the deep love Christ extended to the world,
and we take seriously the calling

to be the body of Christ today.

Forgive us when we disappoint and fail you,
and guide us back to a place of trust and faithful living.
Grant us the vision to see the world as you see it,
with love and compassion for each creature and all of your creation.
We ask this in the name of Jesus,

who taught us to pray to you. . .  [Lord’s Prayer]

~ from “Come and Remember: Prayers for Maundy Thursday,” written by the Rev. Kelly Burd.  Posted on the United Church of Christ website. http://www.ucc.org/

Litany for Celebrating the Passover

Here is a small portion of an intriguing Maundy Thursday or Passover celebration that makes clear parallels with the current refugee crisis. It was written by Rev. Dr. Clare McBeath and Rev. Tim Presswood and posted on Starters for Sunday.  See below for a link to the entire litany.  

Passover Call to Worship

“Wear your traveling clothes as you eat this meal,

as though prepared for a long journey.

Wear your sandals and carry your walking sticks in your hands.

Eat the food quickly, for this is the Lord’s Passover.”  Exodus 12:11

for tonight we remember

the story of Passover

where home was not

a place of safety

where the people lived in fear

and were not free

for tonight we remember

the story of Passover

where home was not

a place of safety

where at any moment

you might have to up and flee

for tonight we remember

the story of Passover

where home was not

a place of safety

quick, grab what you can carry

and go

and as we remember

we pray for those today

who have to grab what they can

and go

for those fleeing war and violence

only to arrive at closed borders

and as we remember

we pray for those today

who have to grab what they can

and go

for those making treacherous journeys

carrying children and plastic bags

and as we remember

we pray for those today

who have to grab what they can

and go

for those who are out in the cold

making their home in a city of tents

~ copyright © Rev. Dr. Clare McBeath and Rev. Tim Presswood. The entire litany can be found on the Starters for Sunday website at http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/31683/24_March_2016_Holy_Week_Thursday.pdf   For more from Rev. Dr. Clare McBeath and Rev. Tim Presswood, visit their Dancing Scarecrow website. www.dancingscarecrow.org.uk 

Opening Prayer for Holy Week

Here’s an opening prayer for Palm Sunday or Maundy Thursday, inspired by Psalm 118 and Luke 19.  It comes from the Ministry Matters website.

Opening Prayer

(inspired by Psalm 118 and Luke 19:28-40)

Save us Lord!
Hosanna!

Praise the Lord!
Alleluia!

To you who triumphed over death,
we sing our praise.
Your steadfast love endures forever.
As we face your death
and recall the week of your suffering,
may we do so with a joy
that anticipates the celebration
of your resurrection;
may we do so with the confidence
to turn to you
in both life and death. Amen.

~ posted on the Worship Elements page of the Ministry Matters website. http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/3661/worship-elements-palm-sunday-2013