Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
We feast on the abundance of your house.
You let us drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life.
In your light we see light.
—Psalm 36:5-9
PASTORAL PRAYER FOR FAMILIES
O God, you are the benevolent parent of all. Like a Father you love us and bring us joy. Like a Mother you nurture and protect us. Where families are healthy, homes are comfortable, and jobs are secure, we pray that you will fill hearts with gratitude and generosity. Amid the blessings you send, keep all of us mindful of you, the Giver of all good gifts.
O Son of God, the joy and sorrow of Mary’s heart, we pray for families who have been visited by grief or abandoned by love.
Where joblessness is a reality or homelessness is a threat, where relatives are unsupportive or children are wayward, where the burden on one individual is too great while others take them for granted, where laughter and song are absent, where illness has darkened the door: Lord Jesus, in the desert of despair, give your grace and your strength.
O Comforter—Spirit of unity, wisdom, and love: We pray for all of us as we face the transitions in life and the turning of our world. Reconcile us to the fact of change, both in each other and in ourselves. Teach us that constant love does not mean unaltered love. Strengthen our relationships through all their triumphs, challenges, and even defeats. Help us to remember the past with thanksgiving, accept the present with peace, and to look to the future with trust.
All this we pray in your Name, O God, Three-in-One, for we give you the praise and glory, both now and forever. Amen.
O Son of God, the joy and sorrow of Mary’s heart, we pray for families who have been visited by grief or abandoned by love.
Where joblessness is a reality or homelessness is a threat, where relatives are unsupportive or children are wayward, where the burden on one individual is too great while others take them for granted, where laughter and song are absent, where illness has darkened the door: Lord Jesus, in the desert of despair, give your grace and your strength.
O Comforter—Spirit of unity, wisdom, and love: We pray for all of us as we face the transitions in life and the turning of our world. Reconcile us to the fact of change, both in each other and in ourselves. Teach us that constant love does not mean unaltered love. Strengthen our relationships through all their triumphs, challenges, and even defeats. Help us to remember the past with thanksgiving, accept the present with peace, and to look to the future with trust.
All this we pray in your Name, O God, Three-in-One, for we give you the praise and glory, both now and forever. Amen.
—inspired by Chalice Worship, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
This prayer may be prayed by two voices, or by leader and congregation.
We thank you for all the women of faith who have done your will throughout the ages.
We thank you for Sarah and Deborah, Ruth and Naomi.
And we thank you for Elizabeth and Mary Magdalene, and for Mary, the Mother of our Lord.
God of our ancestors, we ask your blessing upon the faithful women of this congregation:
Our sisters and friends, our spouses and daughters, our grandmothers and mothers.
Bless them and all women who place their trust in you.
Keep them steadfast in your word and look with favor upon their lives in Christ.
May they wait upon the Lord and renew their strength:
Soaring up with wings like eagles, running and not growing weary,
walking and not becoming faint.
We pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
—inspired by This Far by Faith, ELCA
BENEDICTION
We come here alone or in groups of two or three or four.
But when we leave, we are family.
So go forth as the children of God, sisters and brothers
of the One who taught us the meaning of true commitment. v And may the love of the Creator,
the grace of Jesus Christ,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be within you and rest among you always. Amen.
