Abstract
All Saints Day
A collect
All-holy God,
who in every age calls forth
men, women, and children
to carry the light of Christ and show his love
in every walk of life:
as we commemorate your saints
may we learn their way of self-giving,
their compassion and their impatience,
that we may proclaim in our lives
the way to healing, reconciliation, and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour, Amen.
Thanksgiving for the Saints. The nine categories in italics in the course of the prayer are derived from the Calendar of the Uniting Church in Australia where Christian women and men of all eras, remembered for an outstanding contribution to church and society, including in the Pacific region, are added to recognised saints of the church. The categories adopted (italicised) serve as a reminder that people today potentially belong among the saints.
We give you praise, O God, for the saints
whose response to the call of Christ
has brought strength to the church
and set the pattern of our Christian witness,
and who now strengthen and support us:
for witnesses to Jesus
companions in his lifetime
whose stories and testimonies
have made Christ real to us;
for the apostles
travelling between the new communities,
inspiring, chiding, teaching, and listening
as the church found its form and its voice;
for the martyrs
living their faith in earlier times of persecution,
risking their lives to save others in modern conflicts,
that others may believe the gospel we proclaim;
for faithful servants
who in their own walk of life,
writers, artists, preachers, leaders, care-givers,
have in the use of their gifts reflected Christ the Servant;
for renewers of society
who have challenged injustice and discrimination,
giving voice to those unnoticed and unheard,
creating a welcoming society where all are valued;
for reformers of the church
who have recognised where changes in society
and fresh opportunities for study and service
have called for new patterns of worship and witness;
for Christian thinkers
whose insights have clarified understanding,
opened new avenues for the spirit,
and inspired fresh initiatives in love and service;
for Christian pioneers
who took the gospel where it had not been heard,
adapting the message of hope to new cultures,
deepening our understanding of the Word of God;
for persons of prayer
in silence, writing, icon and song
drawing others into an inner pilgrimage
as they engaged with the life of the world,
developing patterns that enriched the spirit.
We believe that they praise you still;
help us to praise with like fervour
and with holy joy.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
November 7
Hebrews 9.24–28, Mark 12.38–44
A prayer for humility
Great lover of humanity,
you reach out to all your creatures,
seeking their good.
Even when we turn aside
to follow our own ambitions,
careless of the effect on others,
even when we test to destruction
the trust others have placed in us,
even then you embrace us,
sweeping all our mistakes
into your good plan for humankind.
Yet how much more might we offer
if we were to go about our lives
with a humility before God and each other,
if we were to give out of our poverty
rather than offer what costs us little?
Teach us reverence not only in worship
but in our dealings with others day by day,
a reverence that comes from a simplicity of heart,
a right-sizedness that does not seek power over others
or attempts to convince God of our goodness.
Teach us the humility that learns from others,
taught by the powerless, made rich by the poor,
that we may find our greater worth in the eyes of God
and follow in the steps of the servant Christ.
We pray for those who do not love themselves,
who feel they are of little worth,
who cannot face the turmoil in their souls,
who make themselves ill with bitterness,
who become sick with self-loathing.
Restore them and help them to live with themselves
that they may joyfully live with others.
November 14
Mark 13.1–8
A prayer of intercession
Time after time, God of the ages,
when stones have been cast down,
a people driven out, fields destroyed,
have you not come to the rescue,
breaking the bows of the mighty,
causing the feeble to find strength,
raising the poor from the dust?
We call upon you today, Lord,
when so many have been driven from their homes
and for whom the end of the world seems to have come.
In their millions, they surge across the globe,
storm borders, take to the seas, overflow the encampments,
seek new life in strange lands.
Yet you, O Lord, from the time of incarnation
are now so much a part of this,
suffering too, struggling too,
but showing where hope lies,
offering life in the midst of death and despair,
as close to this world as a potter to the clay,
endlessly making and remaking.
So we offer our prayers as materials
for the reworking of your peace amongst us,
for the shaping of hope, for outlining new life.
We bring before you those who share in this reworking,
those who refuse to let evil alone,
who like the prophets challenge and cause discomfort,
who act and pray and remain expectant
and refuse to be disappointed.
November 21: Christ the King
Revelation 1.4b–8; John 18.33–37
Opening prayer
God, creator, whose glory the heavens are telling,
night and day speak of the wonder of your work.
We give thanks that when humankind does its worst,
and despoils the face of the earth and the firmament,
Christ comes, reigning in servanthood,
modelling the way of self-giving love,
powerful to restore and renew.
Lord, forgive:
when we have borrowed your majesty
and applied it to things we admire and which excite us,
making gods out of nationalistic ideals,
letting lifestyles control our every decision,
elevating celebrities and living their stories at second hand,
allowing diets or packaged spirituality or political programmes
to fill our horizons, nurture our souls, direct our lives.
We give thanks for those in whose lives
the love of the shepherd king
has found an outlet and a destination,
breaking new ground in serving others’ needs.
We pray for all such kingdom-bearers,
who sometimes doubt the way they have chosen,
often isolated from those who might affirm them,
but in their work and lives bringing good,
and by their actions telling the story of reconciliation.
Help us, O Lord, to carry these words of prayer
into the fabric of our lives
and stir us up to live these these prayers
that our actions as well as our words bring new possibilities;
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
November 28: Advent 1
Jeremiah 33.14–16; Luke 21.25–36
Opening prayer
God of eternity,
when the voice of the prophet was silent
and the faith of your people low;
when darkness had obscured light
and indifference displaced zeal;
you saw that the time was right,
and prepared to send your Son.
Set us free from fear and faithlessness
that we may be ready to welcome him
who comes as Saviour and Lord.
Lord Jesus Christ,
your world awaits you:
in the longing of the persecuted for justice;
in the longing of the poor for prosperity;
in the longing of the privileged
for riches greater than wealth;
in the longing of our hearts for a better life;
and in the song of your Church.
O come, Lord, liberator of humanity.
O come, Lord, O come, Immanuel.