Prayer

God of courage,

We live in a world full of challenges that so often seem to threaten to overwhelm us. We continue to battle a global pandemic, continue to struggle for racial justice, continue to care for the planet, and continue to confront the difficulties and sorrows that are perhaps known to us alone. Perhaps now more than ever, we need the gift of your courage, a courage that can help us to face the issues that surround us. Fill us with your Holy Spirit that we might turn to you in moments of trial. May we have the strength to face our challenges with faith and hope in you. We pray in God’s name. Amen.

Prayer

God of love,

As our lives set out on the journey of living in the light of Easter, fill us with the power of your Holy Spirit that we might lead lives shaped by your profound love for us. May we strive to allow your love that is stronger than death to find expression in and through each one of us. Help us recognize that it is your love that will truly transform the world, remaking it, and us, in the image of the kingdom your son Jesus proclaimed and embodied, particularly in his death and resurrection. With trust in the power of your Son’s resurrection, we pray. Amen.

Prayer

Eternal and ever-living God,

Today, we celebrate the joyous feast of Easter, a feast that commemorates both the victory of love over death and the beginning of God’s new creation. Through Jesus’ victory over death, you offer us the gift of eternal life and the freedom to live fully in the here and now. May the joy of this feast renew our hearts and lives and inspire us to live in the light of new life made possible by Jesus’ resurrection. We make this prayer through Christ our Risen Lord. Amen.

Prayer

God of those who mourn,

Yesterday, we commemorated the death of your son Jesus on the cross. The disciples of Jesus saw in the crucifixion an expression of defeat, of vanquished hopes. Far too many people in our world live in the shadow of death, live in despair of a new and better day. Transform our mourning into a desire to walk with the grieving and the hopeless. Open our hearts to your love that we might use our gifts to help turn the world’s sorrow into joy, the world’s despair into hope. In the name of our crucified God, we pray. Amen.

Prayer

Crucified God,

The irony at the heart of Jesus’ story is that he was killed because of his ability to give life, life to the full. On this Good Friday, as we recall the death of Jesus on the cross, fill us with a sense of profound gratitude for the gift of his sacrificial love. May our gratitude for the gift of God’s saving love in Jesus expressed in and through his cross and in all the crosses erected throughout history, stir within our hearts a desire to take up our cross each day in the service of building the reign of God which Jesus proclaimed and for which he died. We make this prayer through Christ our crucified Lord. Amen.

Prayer

God of goodness and truth,

On the night before he died, your son Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, giving us a timeless example of leadership and love. May our celebration of the Lord’s Supper fill us with greater love for you and with a profound desire to live by his example. Open our minds to the wisdom of his example that life is not about titles, power, riches, and authority but the gift of self in loving service. Bless us with the courage we need to embody the model he has given us, that we might, each in our own way, transform the world. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Prayer

God of justice,

Your son Jesus came to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and to announce and embody a kingdom in which all were welcome. Today, we celebrate Cesar Chavez Day. Along with Dolores Huerta, Chavez founded the United Farm Workers union and was a tireless activist on behalf of farm workers and Latino American civil rights. May his dedication to the cause of equality and freedom through non-violent action inspire us to dedicate ourselves to promoting the dignity of all and contributing to the construction of a world of goodness and truth, stewardship and integrity. Amen.