The Beatitudes are an enumeration of particular kinds of blessings for particular people in particular circumstances. Today we are thinking about God’s blessings for those who experience any kind of mourning or sorrow. When we worship, we worship a God who is not oblivious to our needs, but who willingly and wistfully longs to satisfy us in our needs. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship the God of those who mourn.
Pastoral Prayer
We praise Thee, Creator God, for fashioning the universe and the world. We marvel at Thine inestimable patience for continuing the process of creation over billions of years, and how new galaxies and stars and planets are being created even if it occurs too far away for us to see it happening. We are struck by the benevolence of Thy nature compared to our own flawed nature, and we thank Thee for Thy love which refuses ever to let any of us go. We realize we can never become God-like, but we ask Thee to help us to become more fully human than we are. We also ask Thy forgiveness when we fail, especially when we deliberately fail.
We pray this day for any in our midst or anyone else who is in deep mourning: for those who have lost loved ones, and who cannot seem to move beyond the constant awareness of the pain caused by their deaths; for those who mourn because of the sins of the world, and who continually are thrown into despair over foolish actions by foolish people; for those who mourn because of their own sins, and will not forgive themselves, let alone allow Thee to forgive them; for people who are grieved because of their own physical deterioration through the aging process; for those who despair because life has not turned out as they wanted or hoped. Comfort all of these, Thy sons and daughters, O God of comfort.
We pray for people who are seeking to make the world a better place by means of their vocations: for public servants of various kinds who seek the greatest good for the greatest number of their fellow citizens; for leaders of business who attempt to make better products so that life shall improve for their customers; for dedicated politicians who try to produce legislation designed to deepen life for an electorate who often resist their attempts; for religious leaders who seek to represent Thee and Thine interests to believers who hold many similar and also conflicting beliefs. Help us to disagree more agreeably in our disagreements, and to accept and affirm one another more readily in our disputes. We offer our prayers to Thee in the name of the one we perceive to be Thy unique Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now we pray together as he taught us, saying, Our Father….