Ecumenical Open Air Service, West Camel Green, 18 April 2014
Crucified Lord, on this sober day, at the foot of your cross
We reflect that you were crucified by people just like us:
Religious people, political people, social people.
And we make our prayers for those being crucified with you in our world today.
Jesus, you were crucified by people just like us:
Religious people, who, you once said ‘on the outside look righteous to others, but inside … are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness’
We are saddened and repentant of all the wrongs which are being done today in the name of religion, and pray for those who are wronged:
- Christians in Sudan, Pakistan and other parts of the world being persecuted and killed for their faith;
- Muslims in the UK being ostracised, unjustly demonised and excluded from our society;
- All those who are keen on God, inspired by Jesus but find the church too difficult a community to belong to any more.
For those being crucified with you by religion:
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Jesus, you were crucified by people just like us:
Political people, concerned with keeping power and position at any costs, who will ‘kill the prophets and stone those sent to you’, as you once said,
We are saddened and repentant of all the political violence in our world today, and pray for those who are wronged:
- All victims of war and terror, in Syria, Ukraine and other troubled parts of the world;
- All those suffering poverty in poor nations exploited by wealthy corporations, and all those suffering poverty in wealthy nations like ours, and being blamed for their situation rather than aided;
- All those driven from their homeland to escape persecution and the effects of famine or war, finding it hard to find a welcome anywhere else.
For those being crucified with you by politics and power:
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Jesus, you were crucified by people just like us:
Socialised people, ‘sheep without a shepherd’, you called them,
Crowds chasing dreams, tossed and blown from one trend to another, from Jesus to Barabbas:
We are saddened and repentant of our pursuit of those things which will never satisfy us, and pray for those whose lives are especially damaged in this way:
- Those addicted to drugs or wealth or sex or winning;
- Those driven towards suicide through a sense of failure and lostness;
- Those disappointed by you because you won’t end suffering, and cannot see that you suffer with them;
For those being crucified with you by the potent power of the crowd and its desires:
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
A moment of silence for our own thoughts and prayers at the foot of the Cross.
Lord Jesus Christ,
look with mercy on we, your family
in our constant betrayals of you
and of those who we give up to suffer with you as you suffered upon the cross;
for you are alive and glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer is said
Standing at the foot of the cross,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray
Our Father, who art in heaven, ….
