Prayers of the People, Palm Sunday, Year B
Collect appointed for the day
Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Let us pray.
Beloved in Christ, on this Sunday of Christ’s passion, let it be our gift to hear once again the story of our Savior’s journey from joy into sorrow, from life into death, and to discover as our greatest treasure God’s life giving grace and mercy flowing from the cross to bear us at last into eternal life with God.
But first, let us pray for the needs of God’s whole world, for peace and goodwill over all the earth; for the mission and unity of the Church. We pray for this Diocese in particular and ask for God’s guidance as we elect a new suffragan bishop next month.
We pray for our nation. As Jesus entered Jerusalem with great humility, we pray that our appointed leaders may follow his example and work together in a spirit of gracious respect of one another.
We pray for those who serve in our military, that they, like the centurion, may come be witnesses for Jesus, the Son of God. We pray that they may carry out their appointed duties with strength and with compassion. We pray especially for those on our prayer list: Alexander, David, and Collin; Gordon, Daniel and Jeremy, John, and Jeffrey and Joseph.
We pray for the welfare of this earth. We thank God for the goodness of creation, for the beauty of this season of warmth and growth. We ask that we may care for all of creation in ways that reflect the graciousness of God’s love for us.
We pray for the concerns of this community. We thank God for the history and the beauty and the peace of Port Royal, and we pray that the green and growing hope of new life will spring up in this community.
We offer to God now, either silently or aloud, those thanksgivings and concerns held close in our hearts and minds, some known only to God alone.
Silence.
We pray for those in need, especially for those seeking fulfilling employment. We pray for those in need of healing. We pray for those whose needs are known only to God.
We pray for the people on our prayer list:
We pray for those who have died, the faithful whose lives have changed, not ended, who dwell eternally with God and who continue to live with us through the love we have shared with one another in this mortal life, especially Lester Samuels, the father of Andrea Pogue.
We pray that all who grieve may find the comfort and peace of God’s presence with them in their sorrow.
All of these things we ask in the name of our Lord and Savior , who rode with majesty into Jerusalem, who was mocked in a purple robe, and who died naked on the cross, so that we may come to be clothed in the royal robes of God’s eternal mercy and love for each and every one of us.
Amen.