A Service of Prayer

in the Celtic Tradition

(From the Corrymeela Community, N. Ireland)
For the Week of Sunday, November 22 2020
“The Reign of Christ Sunday”
The Rev.Dr. Chris McMullen, Parish of Upper Kennebecasis
Call to Worship
We begin our day alone,
honouring this life, with all its potentials and possibilities.
We begin our day with trust,
knowing we are created for loving encounter.
We begin our day with hope,
Knowing the day can hold love, kindness,
forgiveness and justice.
(Pádraig Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer: With the Corrymeela Community.
[Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2017] page 3)
Hymn of Praise
“The King of Love My Shepherd Is”
The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his
and he is mine forever.
Where streams of living water flow,
my ransomed soul he leadeth,
and where the verdant pastures grow,
with food celestial feedeth.
Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
but yet in love he sought me,
and on his shoulder gently laid,
and home rejoicing brought me.
In death’s dark vale I fear no ill
with thee, dear Lord beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still,
thy cross before to guide me.
(Continued…)
 (2)

Thou spread’st a table in my sight;

thy unction grace bestoweth;
and O what transport of delight
from thy pure chalice floweth!
And so through all the length of days
thy goodness faileth never;
good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
within thy house forever!
Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877)
(Public Realm) Tune: St. Columba.
Prayer of Approach
Jesus our rewarding friend,
You knew need.
You knew thirst and hunger.
And so do we.
We praise and honour
the surpassing providers
of comfort and care.
We praise and honour them.
May their work increase.
We praise and honour them
because without them
we thirst.
Amen.
(Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer, “Day 13,” p. 21)
Psalm 23
1-3 
God, my shepherd!
    I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
    you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
    you let me catch my breath
    and send me in the right direction.
4 
Even when the way goes through
    Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
    when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
    makes me feel secure.
(Continued…)
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5 
You serve me a six-course dinner
    right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
    my cup brims with blessing.
6 
Your beauty and love chase after me
    every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
    for the rest of my life.
(Eugene H. Petersen, The Message, 1992, 2002, 2018)
Prayer for Grace
God of the story,
You are in and out of the stories we read,
calling us into them, and calling us out of them.
Give us courage to listen to our own curiosities
as we read old stories.
Dare us to ask the questions
hidden in the heart of the text.
Lead us to mine –with heart and mind
and desire and desperation–
the many meanings in the one story.
Because this is where we find you,
and where you find us.
Amen.
(Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer, p. 61)
Scripture Lesson
Ezekiel 34: 1-25a
Meditation
Affirmation of Faith
Courage comes from the heart
and we are always welcomed by God,
the Croí* of all being.
*(Pronounced “kree”, “heart”, the name of a chapel space at Corrymeela)
We bear witness to our faith,
Knowing that we are called
to live lives of courage,
love and reconciliation,
in the ordinary and the extraordinary
moments of each day.
(Continued…)
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We bear witness, too, to our failures

and our complicity in the fractures of our world.
May we be courageous today,
May we learn today.
May we love today.
Amen.
(Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer, p. 5)

Prayers of Intercession
We recall our day yesterday.
May we learn, may we love, May we move on.
We make room for the unexpected.
May we find wisdom and life in the unexpected.
Help us to embrace the possibility,
respond graciously to disappointment
and hold tenderly to those we encounter.
Help us to be fully present to the day.
We pray for all whose day will be difficult,
May we support, may we listen,
may we change.
We resolve to live life in its fullness:
We will welcome the people who will be part of this day.
We will greet God in ordinary and hidden moments.
We will live the life we are [given].
(Silent personal prayer)
God of all humanity,
in times of violence
we see how inhuman we can be.
We pray for those who, today, are weighed down by grief.
We pray for those who, yesterday, were weighed down by grief.
And the day before,
and all the days before the day before.
We pray, too, for those who help us turn towards justice and peace.
Turn us all towards justice and peace,
because we need it.
Amen.
(Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer, pp. 3 f., 43; slightly altered.)
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Prayers of Thanksgiving
For love shared
We are grateful.
For provision and nurture,
We are grateful.
For kindness given,
We are grateful.
...[In our] encounters with you today, in friend and stranger,
[May] we bid you welcome.
In the encounters we may miss today,
We [trust] that you will always see us,
even when we don’t see you.
For [today, and, we pray, a little wiser, for] tomorrow
May we see you [and rejoice in you]
in ways expected and unexpected.
Amen!
(Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer, p. 7, altered. )
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in Heaven, Your name be hallowed ever;
Your Kingdom come; your will be done on earth.
Give us today, our bread for this day’s journey;
Forgive our sins; make us forgiving, too!
And lead us not into the trials of evil’s snares;
Deliver us; give aid against all foes;
For yours the Kingdom, power and all the glory,
For e’er and e’er, in Heaven and on earth!
--to the tune “Danny Boy”; Chris McMullen, 2020.
Hymn
“Jesus, Shepherd of Our Souls”
The Hymn Book (Anglican and United Churches of Canada, 1971) #
224
(Underlined vowels carried for two notes)

Jesus, shepherd of our souls,

Selfless in your caring,
Lead us out to days of peace
And of thoughtful sharing.
Free our life from ill and war;
What is good in us restore.

(Repeat first two lines of each verse after the verse…)

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Jesus, be our shepherd still,

though the settings alter;
(Continued…)
Grant us for our changing days
Faith that will not falter.
Bless us in our modern scene
Of computer and machine.

Living Lord, renew the charge

At your rising given:
That the church in love should bring
To this earth your heaven.
Give us insight, show us how
Life is here, the time is now.

May we with a shepherd's heart

Love the people round us,
Still recalling how your love
In our straying found us.
Keep us, Lord, in humble ways;
Lead us clearly all our days.
Fred Kaan 1929-2009 © 1968 Hope Publishing Co.
Altered by C. McMullen to sing to “The Skye Boat Song”
Used permission CCLI # 3117248
The Benediction
[Father,] May we find the wisdom we need.
God be with us.
[Jesus,] May we hear the needs of those we meet.
God be with us.
[Spirit,] May we love the life that we are given.
God be with us.
(Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer, p. 4, altered.)
(The Corrymeela Community was founded in 1965 as an organization seeking to aid
individuals and communities which suffered through the violence and polarization of
the Northern Irish conflict. Its first members were Christians in Northern Ireland from
diverse backgrounds who wanted to begin a new community which could counter apathy
and complacency and open up new possibilities. Corrymeela was awarded the Niwano
Peace Prize in 1997, in honour of "its contribution to interreligious cooperation, thereby
furthering the cause of world peace." Pádraig Ó Tuama was its leader from 2014 to 2019.