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This Communion Prayer is a part of the library of free liturgical resources available on enfleshed.com.
The Holy One be with you
And also with you
Open your hearts to the One who is Love
We open our hearts to you, O God
Let us give thanks to God, who welcomes the stranger
To the One who reaches across every border, we give thanks and praise
In wonder of your expansive embrace, we give you praise, O God. Through your radical welcome, you reveal the limitations of our own imaginations. You break down walls and boundaries we don't even realize we have erected.
Like the magi guided by the light of star through foreign territory, you call us all towards you.
You lead your people across borders of hate and into lands of curious and different. You strengthen us as we journey, learning and unlearning stories about one another. Gathered in your presence, we come to recognize the gifts of community rich in diversity.
Therefore we join our voices with your people on earth and all the company of the heavens,
singing praise to you,
Holy, Holy, Holy One
God of justice and love
Heaven and earth are full of your wonder
Hosanna among us
You move in mysterious way, O God. This journey with you is filled with more questions than answers. Each time we think we have you figured out, you surprise us again, revealing yourself in new ways.
In Jesus, we saw your radical welcome of strangers extended in challenging ways. Ways that disrupt our traditions and unsettle our comfort zones.
Jesus broke religious rules in order to include all people.
He lifted up the sacredness of the people and places deemed unclean.
He cared more about the well-being of the oppressed than his own reputation.
Jesus taught us to rethink your presence among us, but we couldn't accept it. Resistant to transformation, your people sent him to the cross.
On the night of his arrest, Jesus shared a meal with his companions.
He took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to his disciples and said:
"This is my body which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
After the meal, he took the cup, blessed it, and shared it saying:
"This cup that is poured out is the new covenant."
In remembrance of all you have done to save us,
we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
Christ was birthed among us.
Christ was killed among us.
Christ rises again among us.
May the same Spirit that lifted Christ from the grave be poured out on these gifts. Make this bread and this cup be an extension of your welcome that knows no bounds. Fill us with the courage and faith to join you in the work of tearing down walls that exclude and pointing to the Sacred in the margins.
In collective longing for a taste of your Kindom on earth,
we join together in echoing the prayer of Jesus:
Our Creator, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name
Thy Kindom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kindom, the power, and the glory for ever.
Amen.
Prayer after receiving
God, this meal we shared together is a remembrance of your radical embrace of the outcast and oppressed. May it strengthen us as we open our minds and hearts to new ways of recognizing your presence among us. Amen.
