Christmas 2015 community prayers

Joyce Sasse, Spiritual Gleanings

Ever Loving, Ever Living God, you are the Breathe that feeds our spirits and enlivens our existence.

• As a helpless child, You came to live among us … to show us how much You understand our frailties and vulnerabilities.
• For a while the child’s family were refugees – fleeing from the selfish powers of a jealous king.
• As the child grew to adulthood, he brought new understandings to his family and the teachers in the Synagogue.
• As he matured, he struggled to find ways to channel understandings about who You are and how You care.
• At a time when he could best exemplify all that is good in life, others plotted against him … It was a time of pain and suffering … and death.
• What we celebrate to this day is that he, and we, have meaning and purpose for our lives … even beyond death.
• Whether we live or die, we are blessed by Your care and Your keeping.

So we pray that this Christmas we may be a blessing to others as we try to live Christ-centred lives.

• That we may be a blessing as we work with the world community to try to offset the ravages of climate change …
• That we may be a blessing as we open ourselves to be accepting of refugees from away, and of being inclusive of our First Nations’ Peoples with whom we share this land …
• That we may be a blessing as we offer our care and support to the lonely, those who are poor of health and their care-givers, and those who grieve …
• That we may be a blessing as we celebrate with family, friends and those whose lives we touch, all the gifts of hope, peace, joy and love that this season affords …