Author: Alan Mathew

Saturday (Holy Saturday) – Holy Week Prayer
Matthew 17:1-6; Lamentations 3:1-9, Lamentations 3:19-24

Lord God,
On the Sabbath,
Jesus rested.
He was in the grave.
He had finished his work.
To most people’s eyes,
It looked as if it were all over.
He was dead and buried.
But only as a seed dies when it is planted in the earth,
Not to decay, but to spring to new life.
Teach us to take refuge in you when we are afraid
Teach us that death is not our end
Teach us to hope always in you
And in the resurrection, the making of all things
New.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.

Almighty Father, look with mercy on this your family for which our Lord Jesus Christ was content to be betrayed and given up into the hands of sinners and to suffer death upon the cross; who is alive and glorified with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

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Eternal God, in the cross of Jesus we see the cost of our sin and the depth of your love: in humble hope and fear may we place at his feet all that we have and all that we are, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Father, hear our prayer and forgive us. Unstop our ears, that we may receive the gospel of the cross. Lighten our eyes, that we may see your glory in the face of your Son. Penetrate our minds, that your truth may make us whole. Irradiate our hearts with your love, that we may love one another for Christ’s sake. Father, forgive us.

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Prayers From and For the People and The Lord’s Prayer

O crucified Jesus, Son of the Father,
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary,
eternal Word of God, we worship you.
You came into the world not to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through you,
so that all who trust in you
might be delivered from the power of sin and death
and become heirs to eternal life.

Hear our/my prayers
for the whole Church:
for its witness and service wherever it is found,
for its leaders and the people whom they serve,
increase your love and preserve your peace in it.

Silence

Hear our/my prayers
for all nations and all peoples:
for those in authority and those who seek office,
and for all who serve for the common good.

Assist them, O Spirit,
that they may seek your justice and truth
so all people may live in peace and harmony.

Silence

Hear our/my prayers
for all who suffer in body, mind or spirit:
for the hungry and the homeless,
for the destitute and the oppressed,
for those suffering persecution, doubt, or despair,
for the sorrowful and bereaved,
and especially for …

Comfort and relive them, O Father,
grant them knowledge of your love,
stir up in us/me patience and desire to minister with them.

Silence

Hear our/my prayer
for all who have not received your Good News:
for those who have never heard the words of salvation,
for those who have lost their faith,
for those who have become indifferent to Christ,
for those who are enemies of your cross and your disciples.

Open their hearts to truth, O Christ,
teach us/me how to lead them to faith and obedience.

Silence

Eternal God of unchanging power and light,
look with mercy upon your whole Church.
Bring completion to your saving work.

Hear us/me now O Lord as we pray the prayer you taught us/me to say:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever.
Amen.

Morning Prayer for Holy Thursday
Reading: Mark 14:12-23

At sunset on this Holy Thursday, the church begins the great three days. In Latin this time is called the Triduum. Beginning with the Lord’s Supper tonight and in a continuing vigil through Good Friday and Holy Saturday, we rehearse the great story of our redemption. For this reason we end each service in silent departure, since the liturgy does not so much end as it breaks for a while and then continues through the Easter Vigil service that begins at sunset on Saturday.

Our Passover, Son of God’s passion, Story Weaver:
On this day you directed two disciples to follow a man carrying a water jar
and so to know where to eat the Exodus meal.
We bless you that Lent’s journey now brings us to the waters of baptism
and to the Paschal Mystery.
Gather us together
for story, footwashing, and Eucharist
so that we may proclaim anew your saving deeds,
your cross-shaped glory.

In these three days enfold your church
in the central story of your passion:
the arrest, “trial,” crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection.
Birth new disciples in the rites of initiation
and let us be awestruck at the wonder of our shared dying and rising with Christ.
Reconcile penitents with towel and basin,
and mutual forgiveness for hurt we have caused one another.
Draw seekers to observe and be amazed
at these dramatic acts of your extravagant grace.
In all our ritualizing and reflection,
remember the suffering ones among us
and touch them with our hands in your name.

Morning/Evening Prayer for Holy Wednesday

Reading: Matthew 26:1-5, 14-25

In the synoptic gospels Jesus is portrayed as being more human, more subject to the vicissitudes of human experience than the Jesus told by John’s gospel. Yet his perception and anticipation of what is ahead of him seems to be strikingly keen in the synoptics.

He knows and tells the disciples

that with the coming of Passover he will be crucified,
that the woman’s act of anointing his feet is preparation for his burial,
that a certain man will allow his house to be the dining room for Jesus and his disciples to eat the Passover meal,
that one of his disciples will betray him.
He even knows somehow that it was the one who had just at the moment dipped his bread in the bowl of sop and that fickle as the rest were they would simply chicken out when the pressure was on.

Morning has come again, Teacher Jesus,
and it is Holy Wednesday,
the 39th day of Lent in our reckoning.
But what time is it really? That is the trick.
How did you know?
How did you know so much?
Was it prescience?
Were you following a script written for you
that you simply played out in dogged obedience?
Was it a keen sense of the way things were lined up
and seeing the dots you connected them
like a gifted child who know her numbers in a something-to-do-book?
Who was the “certain man” in the city
who would know the code words
“The Teacher says my time has come”?
Are we the certain man, the certain woman?
Are we the ones whose names are unknown but to you?
Are we the ones your emissaries approach this Holy Wednesday, saying,
“The Teacher says, My time is near…
I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.”
Is that where we come into the story?
Just out of sight …
Not named …
Seemingly hidden,
but still essential to the drama unfolding?
Still stewards of a place,
an interior space
where the Passover Haggadah can again be passionately told?
Where food can be shared in the context of sacred story?
Where God’s deliverance of an oppressed people
can again be rehearsed in the present moment?
Where the impending cross
will be interpreted not as a miscarriage of justice,
but as love’s self-giving?
And bleeding out is named
as the making of a covenant of forgiveness and the promise of eating together again?
Where do we come into today’s gospel drama, Teacher?
If we have something you need,
will we offer it when the stranger approaches?
If we have a space that can be turned to sacred use,
will we welcome the request
without signing papers to protect our interests?
If your time is near today, will we be able to be found
in the city,
in the workplace,
among the family,
in the crowd,
in the silence?
Will we be available to love you and welcome you
as your story is told anew this Holy Week?
Will we stand just out of view,
unnamed and unknown except to you,
and do our part today?
Who or what will get our attention?
The calendar that calls today Holy Wednesday?
A phone call or an email from someone hurting?
A news story about Red Lake or Darfur?
A prompting to just stop and enter the silence?
What or who will get our attention today?