A Pentecost Communion Prayer for Scattered Embers

Rev. April Fiet is a pastor and author She published this excellent prayer. I’m reposting here with her permission.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/april-fiet/a-pentecost-communion-prayer-for-scattered-embers/10157396389716446/

A Pentecost Communion Prayer for Scattered Embers

Invitation to the Table

Friends,
We are like the disciples after the ascension,
wondering,
watching,
waiting.
We may be afraid, or restless,
frustrated, or grieving the loss of normalcy.
We want to be together, and we are weary of being apart.
When the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost,
the disciples were all together in one place.
We long for that - to be all together in one place.
Today, even though we remain distant from one another,
we gather with confidence that the Spirit’s divided tongues of fire
will unite us across whatever obstacles might separate us.
Let us gather around our many tables,
assured that the same Spirit who united the church so many years ago
is able to unite us all even now.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Creator God, we give you our thanks and praise!
In the beginning, when you created the heavens and the earth,
your Spirit hovered over the waters.
When you created the first human being,
you breathed breath into his body.
When the bones in the valley seemed too dry to be revived,
you breathed your breath, and they lived.
Just as you breathed your Spirit upon so many
and transformed their lives,
we ask you to move and stir in our hearts today.
From our various homes and our differing circumstances,
we lift our voices together as one:

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. 

Loving Jesus,
in a world that is often lonely, harsh,
and divided, you called together a community - the Church.
When your disciples were afraid and hiding themselves away.
you appeared among them, and told them not to be afraid.
You breathed your Spirit upon them,
and shared your peace.
As we gather around your banquet table,
sign of the kingdom and foretaste of what is to come,
we are in need of your Spirit and your peace.
Remind us as we celebrate this feast,
that you will never leave us nor forsake us,
and that even now you are continuing to work through us,
your body, even as we are scattered.
Help us live into these mysteries of our faith.

Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.

God of Pentecost, stir your Holy Spirit within us
and send your Spirit upon this meal,
so that the bread we share and the cup we drink
may be for us the communion of the body and blood of Christ.
Unite us by your Spirit with Jesus Christ,
and with all who share his name,
that, though we are scattered, we may be one.
Feed us, nourish us, and sustain us,
as we navigate these challenging days as your body.
Uphold us in new ways.
Refresh us in new ways.
Send us in new ways, like scattered embers over a smoldering fire.
Until the day when we may all be face to face again.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

http://aprilfiet.com/

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