All Souls and Saints
A Eucharist
This service contains a new Eucharistic Prayer celebrating both creation and our ancestors.
Introit
The Holy One abides in mystery and compassion.
O come, let us join our hearts in prayer and hope.
Opening Hymn
Collects
We gather together with wounded souls and worried hearts to share our hope for a different world in which peace and justice are treasured by all.
Open our hearts to possibility; open our minds to learning; open our souls to hope.
Holy and Creating Presence,
hover over us now as in the beginning. May we see a path before us where Your Beloved has walked. May we see the holiness in all the you have made and continue to make. May we act with the courage of the ancestors, and the compassion of the saints. And so we pray,
Amen.
The Readings
A reading from the message of John for the churches of his time. (Revelations 7:9-17)
Psalm 34:1-8, p. 744 The Book of Alternative Services (BAS)
A reading from the first letter of John 3:1-3
May God be with you. And also with you.
The good news as told by Matthew (5:1-12)Glory be to you O Christ.
The Gospel of Christ. Praise be to Christ.
The Sermon
The Prayers
We give thanks for those who lived before us, especially today we name…
We pray for the world. We hold in our hearts all those people broken by war. We pray for the earth as it is scourged by human violence. We pray for the creatures, destroyed by our blindness. Come into our hearts O Blessed One. Show us the path of hope so that we may choose our words and our actions with compassion and integrity.
Forgive us our indifference, our lack of kindness, the secrets that shame us. Bring us into the present where your love will heal and we will know your light shining within us.
Amen.
Absolution
May the Holy One heal you, free you, and teach you to forgive yourself so that you may be a light for others who walk in the twilight of fear and remorse. May the blessing of the holy Trinity transform you in love.
Amen.
The Peace
Offertory Hymn
Prayer Over the Gifts
We offer our assets and outlives for the use of the Holy One, who will guide to new possibility.
Amen.
The Great Thanksgiving
May God be with you. And also with you.
Lift your hearts with the rising tide of hope. We raise them with joy and courage.
It is right to gather our prayers into one. In holiness, we praise the One.
From the beginning until the end, you are the Holy One. You make everything that has been and will be. You place your Spirit in all life, in oceans and mountains, in the creatures of water and of land. To all and for all, you are God. You call us to remember that we are connected to you forever, in our births and through our deaths. You are the open door of life and new vision. With all creation, with angels and all the saints, we praise and glorify you.
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and beauty,
All the earth is full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Most High.
Hosanna in the highest!
Holy One, into human history, you have placed prophets and poets to guide us and show us the way. For us, you revealed your power and love in Jesus of Nazareth, your servant and your Beloved. In him, we glimpsed the wonder of your holiness; in him, we saw how to live within your dream for the earth. Jesus welcomed everyone, seeking mercy and healing and wisdom. At his table, he welcomed saint and sinner, rich and poor, wise and foolish. In all people, he saw the mark of your love.
The last time he ate with his family and friends, he took bread and broke it. Looking at them all, he said, “This bread is my body.” That bread was the sign of his compassion, and his work. Then he took a cup of wine and said, “This is my life blood.” That blood would connect his disciples then and to this day to him, to his mission, to ourselves in our time, and to the Sources of all holiness.
Let us come to this table to share in this work.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow, we offer ourselves in service,
and we welcome his growing presence in our lives.
As we trust in his resurrection, and in our eternal connection to his life, we receive the Spirit upon us, in this bread and this wine.
Through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all creation shares in the life of the Maker.
Amen. Alleluia. Amen.
Jesus Prayer
As Jesus taught us, let us pray: Our Father…
Breaking of the Bread
p. 212, #4 The Book of Alternative Services (BAS)
Prayer after Communion
Holy One,
as we have shared at this table, so may the Spirit which has bound us, keep us connected. May that connection reveal the brightness of your hope and love to all whom we meet.
Amen.
Doxology
Blessing
May you recognize the presence of Jesus to encourage you on your journey. May the Spirit of tides and seasons make you courageous through the storms and grateful throughout the calm. May the Maker cradle you in the rhythm of the ocean as you are called from shore to shore. May your body live in harmony with all creation and your soul abide in the love that is forever.
Amen.
Final Hymn
Dismissal