Easter Day 2012

Good Friday crosses at Creaton church

All week I have been struggling with grief, trying to understand the Easter story in the context of loss. 
This morning I am reminded that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna and Salome, 
stricken with grief, fear and responsibility, also had to cope with the unexpected.  They saw Jesus both 
on their way to tell others but also later near the tomb. They, like many people in our world today, 
didn’t 
have the hope and understanding of resurrection that we as Christians have.

Grief doesn’t disappear in an instant.  The comfort of a loving God dawns gradually and gently on our 
pain. 
When 
the four women were at the empty tomb of Jesus they must have cried out and their faith must have 
been 
tested.

So I invite you, as Christians , to join me prayers of Intercession, holding our hands together uplifted to 
our 
Lord 
God in supplication and pleading, on behalf of those who can’t or will not pray themselves.

Today I cry out to you, loving God, for all the things in this world that are troubling. We are the lucky 
ones, having 
the privilege of knowing of your forgiveness we intercede for those in pain, confusion and fear.

Fear of the unknown, of oppression, and poverty in this country and elsewhere in your stricken world.

            Disunity -The Bosnia's Serb Republic decision to ignore the solemn remembrance of the day 
marked by 
row upon row of empty red chairs, one for each of the 11,541 who died that day, 20 years ago in 
 Sarajevo 
at 
the 
beginning of this terrible war.

            Violence - in Syria as it approaches the date of the cease fire, the killing has not abated, we pray 
for 
peace

            Fairness and peace - In Burma despite there being some signs of progress, democracy is 
still a long way away.

            Hope for religious tolerance.-   as shown by Cuba’s decision to mark Easter with a public holiday 
on Good Friday, for the first time in decades.

So also we pray for freedom to worship for those in countries where this has not been possible, peaceful coexistence in divided communities and fairness in access to the necessities of life on your wonderful 
earth.

Strengthen those who are trying to promote fairer government especially in those countries where human 
rights are secondary to greed and corruption.

Discourage those who seek to impose unnecessary bureaucracy on our lives, particularly as we face up to 
the 
lack of privacy already imposed by our internet age.

Be close to those who’s lives are limited by illness, addiction, and worries about employment and money. 
Enfold 
them 
in the warmth of your love and ease their troubled minds. We pray for peace for the parents of a 
six-year-old 
girl who 
died 
at a campsite in Hampshire

and in a moment of contemplation we name silently those know to us who are in need of your comfort 
and care..........................

Be close to all who suffer and help us to have the strength to support, in any way we can, those less 
fortunate 
than ourselves. Support, we pray all who minister as they seek to lead us forward to 
the glory of your 
name and, help us to use the privilege of faith in you, to see and act on opportunities to display our faith 
through 
thought and action.  

As Christians today we celebrate the resurrection of your son who died for us and our sins. Loving, 
caring, 
compassionate God; we place all of our prayers into your hands, knowing that through your gift of Jesus 
into our 
world 
we can pray like this today in his name.

Amen    (c) Jenny Theairs