Prayers for the Feast of the Visitation

And Mary Said
“I’m bursting with God-news
I’m dancing with the song of my Saviour God.
God took one look at me, and see what happened!
I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
The God whose very name is holy set apart from all others.

So we praise God for all that he has done in our own lives,
For the joy of our calling to follow him
And the freedom to worship that we enjoy.
As we give thanks for the life of this church
We pray that we may always dance the song of God’s kingdom
And we remember those for whom the music seems discordant,
Or who struggle to sing because they feel wounded or excluded by decisions taken by others, far away.
We rejoice with those who begin a new song
As they receive the grace of ordination this weekend, specially those made priest yesterday and deacon today in our own Cathedral Church of Gloucester.

Lord, set us free
To sing the song of your Kingdom.

His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
The callous rich were left out in the cold.

So we ask God to flood with mercy
Those people and situations who need it most.
We offer to him the innocent victims of war and hatred in many lands
Remembering specially the people of Iraq, of Afghanistan, of Israel and Palestine.
We repent of our own share in the injustice of the world
And give thanks that with the coming of the Kingdom the old order vanishes
And the world is turned upside down.
As we wait, we pray for the people and organistations who work tirelessly for justice and peace

Lord, set us free
To sing the song of your Kingdom.

He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It's exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.
And so we claim those promises for those who struggle,
Who have lost sight of God amid the anxiety and pain of illness
The darkness of sorrow or despair
The fear of death.
We ask that God will give to each of his children
A sense of their calling and their welcome in this loving arms

Lord, set us free
To sing the song of your Kingdom.

Merciful Father,
Accept these prayers
For the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.