Liturgical material for Prisoners’ Sunday, August 5^th, 2001

The world belongs to God,

The earth and all its people

How good and lovely it is

To live together in unity

Love and faith come together

Justice and peace join hands

God’s people come together

To tell of God’s gift

Lord, open our lips

To speak forgiveness and reconciliation

Amen           

(In Spirit and In Truth, WCC, 1991 adjusted)

* * * * * *

Confession

We confess to you Lord,

What we are:

We are not the people

We like others to think we are;

We are even afraid to admit to ourselves

What lies in the depths of our souls.

But we do not want to hide

Our true selves from you.

We believe that you know us as we are,

And yet you love us.

Help us not to shrink

from self knowledge;

Teach us to respect ourselves

And affirm our uniqueness and worth;

Give us the courage to put to our trust

In your guiding power

Raise us out of the paralysis of guilt

Into the freedom and energy

Of forgiven people.

And for those who through long habit

Find forgiveness hard to accept,

We ask you to break their bondage

And set them free.

Though Jesus Christ our Lord

Amen

Absolution

Through the Cross of Christ

God has mercy on us,

Pardons us,

And sets us free.

Know, then, that we are forgiven

And can be at peace.

May God strengthen us

And keep us in eternal life. Amen.

* * * * * *

Intercessions

Holy God,

As a community which imprisons people, we are on a journey –

we take comfort that you are with us.

From our prisons we hear stories of great pain and some of small joys –

and hold the people at the heart of each story before you.

We hear disturbing statistics which equate to personal pain –

and recognise You in that pain.

We hear proposals to alleviate some of the pain –

and You are involved.

We hear and we need to act.

Holy God, you have heard our grief and our passion.

Be with us as we work to find better ways.

We pray for the government and all Members of Parliament that they may be committed to change.

We pray for ourselves, for our patience, love and passion to be the marks of our commitment to change

We pray for our community, that it may be marked by justice and compassion.

Be with us on the journey, O God.

Amen.