including embodied Prayers of the People
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Blessing and honour, glory and power
are rightly yours, O Living God.
For this is the day when we celebrate
the fulfillment of your promises to your people
through an irrepressible resurrection dawn.
Truly, your light shines in the darkness
and the darkness can never overcome it!
Still, like Mary and all the disciples before us,
we look for you in all the wrong places.
Finding the tomb empty,
we are overcome by fear and confusion,
hopelessness and sorrow.
Yet here you stand, barefoot in this Easter garden.
You call each one of us by name,
asking us who we are looking for;
and inviting us to let go of what holds us back
from seeing and believing and going and telling
the good news song of eternal praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Here, at this table, we celebrate your happy return,
the springing of hope,
and the goodness of the earth that comes from your hand
to lead us each day into new life.
So we remember ….
When he was at supper with his friends,
our Lord Jesus Christ took bread and gave you thanks,
broke it, gave it to his disciples and said:
‘Take this, all of you, and eat it:
this is my body given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.’
When supper was ended, he took the cup,
gave you thanks, gave it to them, and said:
‘Drink from it all of you.
This is my blood of the new covenant,
poured out for you and for everyone,
so that sins might be forgiven.
Do this in remembrance of me.’
Therefore, Oh Life-giving God, we celebrate this Easter Feast,
remembering through gifts of bread and wine,
your crushing, your bruising, your three-day fermenting,
your rising to make free the hearts of all.
Dying, you destroyed our death.
Rising, you restore our life. Alleluia!
Lord Jesus, come in glory.
Now, I invite you to hold a hand over your heart,
to feel it beating life through your body,
to consider the state that it’s in –
strong or stressed out,
broken or whole,
happy or hurting.
What, in this moment, is its longing?
Offer that in prayer to God.
Reach out your arm to another,
rest your hand on their shoulder if you can,
or, if you like, put your hand in theirs
and feel the connection –
whether friend or family member or stranger –
the gift of life,
the dignity of our humanity,
the belonging together in all our unity and diversity.
What in this moment, do you long for for them?
Offer that in prayer to God.
Now hold your arms in a circle
as though you are embracing the world within them –
all the bruising,
all the crushing,
all the death,
all the darkness.
Hold it tenderly, hold it lightly
before the One who came to bear the burdens of us all.
And, when you are ready, picture one person or one place.
What is your longing for them on this resurrection Sunday?
Offer that in prayer to God.
Now, when you are ready to receive the gifts
of our risen Lord, lift up your hands:
The bread and cup are lifted up.
Spirit of Life, with and within us,
come upon these gifts of life
that they may be for us the stuff of life –
the body of Christ given for our healing,
the blood of Christ poured out for our freedom,
the love of God holding, reaching, enfolding.
FRACTION
The bread is broken.
Let us receive what we are;
let us become what we receive:
the Body of Christ.
Communion is shared.
