First Sunday of Lent – February 21st, 2021

As we come before God with all our muddled priorities and conflicting agendas, we pray that we may be made whole as the Body of Christ; that we may have the strength to renounce evil, and the courage to announce the kingdom of peace.

With the world’s clamour ringing in our ears, with comfort zones beckoning us, but the pain of injustice refusing to be shut out, we pray for the world’s healing, and for an end to all lying and deceit.

We come with the demands of home, family, work and expectations warring in us for space and attention. We pray on behalf of those too busy or too exhausted to pray; that our daily lives may be washed in peace, ordered in holiness and lit up with joy.

We come with the needs and sorrows, pain and suffering of our brothers and sisters all over the world, who are aching – physically, emotionally or spiritually; we pray that they may be touched by God’s comforting and healing love.

In this Lenten season, we come to realign our lives in the context of eternity, and to commend to God’s love our own loved ones who have passed through earthly death to the life which has no ending.