Written in 2005 for use at my parish. Please feel free to use as you wish and as your Bishop has permitted. But let me know!
The people remain standing. The Presider faces them and sings or says
May God be with you.
People And also with you.
Presider Lift up your hearts.
People We lift them to our God.
Presider Let us give thanks to the Holy One.
People It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Then, facing the Holy Table, the Presider proceeds
It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and every-
where to give thanks to you, Almighty God, fountain and
Foundation of all Creation.
Here a Proper Preface is sung or said on all Sundays, and on other
occasions as appointed.
Preface:Through Jesus Christ our Lord, our Holy Wisdom, who was humbled in every way as we are, yet did not succumb to temptation. By his grace we are able to gather the noble and the outcast together into one body, and to live no longer for ourselves alone, but for him who brought us to triumph over the powers of death and darkness.
Therefore we join our voices to offer you glory, singing with Angels and Archangels, with all the just and noble company of the heavens, who for ever raise this hymn to proclaim your glorious Name:
Presider and People
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
The people stand or kneel.
Then the Presider continues
Holy God: We give you thanks for the tender balance and just order which you have revealed to us in your creation. You established in the midst of this great company of stars a paradise; where all things given shelter there might live in harmony and peace. You filled it with myriad wondrous things and commanded each to their own purpose, great and small, mighty and humble – every creature given voice to sing in concert with the whole Creation.
As a final crowning glory, you fashioned from the clay our human kind, to be vessels for your creative and life-giving Spirit. You breathed your Word into them and set them in the midst of paradise, that they might find their home there and live in perfect peace. Gathering all things to themselves, you asked only that they should celebrate and nurture all that you had made. Yet, even when we dishonored your purpose, you did not fail us.
Through Truth Seekers and Wise Ones you called us to remember our place. Through Abraham and Sarah, you called us to set out on the journey to follow you. With Moses, Aaron, and Miriam you dedicated a people to yourself; and brought us to a fresh land that might shine with witness to your love for all people. Over and again, through your word and law, you called us to re-establish the order and balance that we had lost.
When, at last, the time had come, having been long heralded by Angels, you sent your Christ, the Righteous One. Incarnate of the Holy Spirit, given flesh and form by your Most Favored One, he entered the world to reveal your kingdom among us, so that finally your harmony might be restored as was intended. Through noble teachings and deeds of wonder, he taught us about justice and mercy. He called to himself outcasts and children, the sick, the humble and the maimed, and proclaimed their righteousness. He restored the lowly and the needy to a place of honor and called us to do the same for all people.
It was a difficult word for us to bear, and in time, we heaped upon him the sum of our indignations. Yet, determined to show that nothing would cause you to repent of your great love for us, he willingly bore the burdens and humiliations of our human kind even unto death among thieves and sinners. Offering himself into your hand, trusting in your justice alone, he was delivered from the grave in triumph, making the whole creation new again.
At the following words concerning the bread, the Presider is to hold it
or lay a hand upon it; and at the words concerning the cup, to hold or
place a hand upon the cup and any other vessel containing wine to be
consecrated.
On the night we handed him over to death upon the cross, our Lord Jesus took bread as a symbol of our hunger; and when he had given praise and thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his companions, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which I give willingly for you. When you hunger for righteousness, remember me and what I did for you.”
After supper he took the wine as a symbol of our need; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, “Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Promise, which is shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you thirst for justice, remember me and what I did among you.”
Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Presider and People
Christ, our mercy, has suffered death.
Christ, our mercy, is risen from the grave.
Christ, our noble Christ, will come again.
The Presider continues
We celebrate the salvation of our loving God, by offering you our praise and humble thanks. Recalling Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension to your right hand, we offer you these gifts from this magnificent Creation within which you have established us.
Make them life-giving by your Holy Spirit; to be for your people the
Body and Blood of Christ, the holy food and drink of renewed invitation to unending life in him. Unite us to your Christ in this most holy blessing, that we may faithfully receive him at this sacred Banquet. Bind us to mercy and peace, that we may serve you as a people dedicated to your inclusive reign; that we, like this bread, may be given to restore the world the the harmony which you intended. And that none who come to you may feel excluded from your justice and love, give us strength to proclaim your Good News to all people, leaving no one behind, so at the last day every man, woman and child may rejoice with saints and angels in your eternal kingdom.
All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ, your Incarnate Word. By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all praise and honor is yours, Almighty God, until the end of time. To you alone be glory. AMEN.
A Eucharistic Prayer for Justice (long version)
Written in 2005 for use at my parish. Please feel free to use as you wish and as your Bishop has permitted. But let me know!
The people remain standing. The Presider faces them and sings or says
May God be with you.
People And also with you.
Presider Lift up your hearts.
People We lift them to our God.
Presider Let us give thanks to the Holy One.
People It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Then, facing the Holy Table, the Presider proceeds
It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and every-
where to give thanks to you, Almighty God, fountain and
Foundation of all Creation.
Here a Proper Preface is sung or said on all Sundays, and on other
occasions as appointed.
Preface: Through Jesus Christ our Lord, our Holy Wisdom, who was humbled in every way as we are, yet did not succumb to temptation. By his grace we are able to gather the noble and the outcast together into one body, and to live no longer for ourselves alone, but for him who brought us to triumph over the powers of death and darkness.
Therefore we join our voices to offer you glory, singing with Angels and Archangels, with all the just and noble company of the heavens, who for ever raise this hymn to proclaim your glorious Name:
Presider and People
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
The people stand or kneel.
Then the Presider continues
Holy God: We give you thanks for the tender balance and just order which you have revealed to us in your creation. You established in the midst of this great company of stars a paradise; where all things given shelter there might live in harmony and peace. You filled it with myriad wondrous things and commanded each to their own purpose, great and small, mighty and humble – every creature given voice to sing in concert with the whole Creation.
As a final crowning glory, you fashioned from the clay our human kind, to be vessels for your creative and life-giving Spirit. You breathed your Word into them and set them in the midst of paradise, that they might find their home there and live in perfect peace. Gathering all things to themselves, you asked only that they should celebrate and nurture all that you had made. Yet, even when we dishonored your purpose, you did not fail us.
Through Truth Seekers and Wise Ones you called us to remember our place. Through Abraham and Sarah, you called us to set out on the journey to follow you. With Moses, Aaron, and Miriam you dedicated a people to yourself; and brought us to a fresh land that might shine with witness to your love for all people. Over and again, through your word and law, you called us to re-establish the order and balance that we had lost.
When, at last, the time had come, having been long heralded by Angels, you sent your Christ, the Righteous One. Incarnate of the Holy Spirit, given flesh and form by your Most Favored One, he entered the world to reveal your kingdom among us, so that finally your harmony might be restored as was intended. Through noble teachings and deeds of wonder, he taught us about justice and mercy. He called to himself outcasts and children, the sick, the humble and the maimed, and proclaimed their righteousness. He restored the lowly and the needy to a place of honor and called us to do the same for all people.
It was a difficult word for us to bear, and in time, we heaped upon him the sum of our indignations. Yet, determined to show that nothing would cause you to repent of your great love for us, he willingly bore the burdens and humiliations of our human kind even unto death among thieves and sinners. Offering himself into your hand, trusting in your justice alone, he was delivered from the grave in triumph, making the whole creation new again.
At the following words concerning the bread, the Presider is to hold it
or lay a hand upon it; and at the words concerning the cup, to hold or
place a hand upon the cup and any other vessel containing wine to be
consecrated.
On the night we handed him over to death upon the cross, our Lord Jesus took bread as a symbol of our hunger; and when he had given praise and thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his companions, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which I give willingly for you. When you hunger for righteousness, remember me and what I did for you.”
After supper he took the wine as a symbol of our need; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, “Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Promise, which is shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you thirst for justice, remember me and what I did among you.”
Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Presider and People
Christ, our mercy, has suffered death.
Christ, our mercy, is risen from the grave.
Christ, our noble Christ, will come again.
The Presider continues
We celebrate the salvation of our loving God, by offering you our praise and humble thanks. Recalling Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension to your right hand, we offer you these gifts from this magnificent Creation within which you have established us.
Make them life-giving by your Holy Spirit; to be for your people the
Body and Blood of Christ, the holy food and drink of renewed invitation to unending life in him. Unite us to your Christ in this most holy blessing, that we may faithfully receive him at this sacred Banquet. Bind us to mercy and peace, that we may serve you as a people dedicated to your inclusive reign; that we, like this bread, may be given to restore the world the the harmony which you intended. And that none who come to you may feel excluded from your justice and love, give us strength to proclaim your Good News to all people, leaving no one behind, so at the last day every man, woman and child may rejoice with saints and angels in your eternal kingdom.
All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ, your Incarnate Word. By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all praise and honor is yours, Almighty God, until the end of time. To you alone be glory. AMEN.