Prayer for Sunday, April 5

6th Sunday : Palm Sunday - Who is this Jesus?

Scripture for reflection: Mark 15:1-39

Reflection – Announcing the Kingdom.
The King approaches –
Not on a stallion but on a donkey.
Not with battle cry but with tears.
So is announced the upside down kingdom,
the feast of fools, the banquet of the outcasts.
Let us not replace the crown of thorns with a wreath of empire.
Let us not replace the cross with a bejewelled throne.
The land of milk and honey will come.
It will be all-encompassing rather than oasis.
The wilderness will be flooded out by springs of living water.
Streams in the desert will blossom flowers that for too long
have been bent over in the withering glare of drought.
Hearts broken by shame and grief will beat healthily again,
and a smile will creep across the tear-stained face of the outcast.
Guns and mortars will be smelted into the tools of the garden.
Funeral dirge will turn to praise
and the bent and downtrodden will find themselves dancing.
Maranatha! – ‘Come O Lord’
May we speed the day.

Prayer for the Lent Event project : Zambia

Scripture for reflection: Matthew 9:35-38

The church must participate with energy and commitment in Africa’s
reconstruction and development. . . faithful to continuing the mission
of Christ, the church must also continue to raise the collective public
conscience about the ethical choices that lie at the heart of the current global
financial, trade and political systems.
--South African Council of Churches

Prayer: Even a cup of water offered in your name honours you, loving God. Even a
widow’s tiny gift, humbly given, receives your praise. Even a prayer privately
offered is upheld by you. We confess that in the face of overwhelming need, our
responses seem so miserly, so useless, so inadequate. Touch our spirits, we pray,
that the little we offer may reflect your generosity and be helpful for people. You
lavish your world with love. Trouble us with its unequal distribution. Some have too
much food while many die of hunger and thirst. Some have rooms to spare while
many shiver in the cold. Some have power and many have no voice. Overturn
this world. Establish your rule. And as we look to your coming in fullness, may
the deep bowels of our being be stirred with your compassion. When we grab
breakfast, catch lunch or dine out for dinner, connect us with those who lunch in
Mwandi in Zambia, for whom a simple meal means salvation. Bless those who
offer cups of water there, and those who fetch the water, those who provide
meals every day, and those who eat them. Through Jesus Christ. Amen.