National Prayer to end the Pandemic
Let us pray
“Gracious God, trusting in your providence and presence, we continue our prayers for an end to this pandemic.
We pray for your strengthening of those dear souls offering costly leadership during this crisis.
We pray for all who are ill.
We pray for those anxious about getting ill.
We pray for those full of grief and remember those who have died.
We pray for your grace to continue sustaining us as we do what we can to end this pandemic.
Your compassionate, peaceful and creative response to many crises is our example, as we read the Gospels and seek to live in Holy Spirit.
As we worship in resurrection faith, we offer our heartfelt prayer in your Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.
Reflection
From the Executive Officer Victorian Council of Churches (VCC)
There seems to be a sense of despair or uncertainty around us here in Victoria. With the number of deaths and large numbers of cases of COVID-19. it’s easy to sense that life as we’ve known it and grown accustomed to has gone and what lies before us is uncharted waters.
Reflecting on this community sentiment, I recalled a poem by a women cited by the King of England in the darkest days of World War II … It went, ‘I asked the man at the gate of the new year for a light that I may tread safely, his reply was... Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God, that to you shall be better than a light and safer than a known way…." Minnie Louise Haskins (1875 —1957)
The affirmation that God is the one who holds history ought to be a point of encouragement for us. May it be for us who follow the Christ, that we heed this wisdom and practice it daily.
Rev Ian Smith (August 2020)
#CandlesAtCurfew
Candles at Curfew: Lights of hope in the community
An initiative from the Anglican Church in Melbourne as the city enters Stage 4 restrictions.
‘The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it’
Lighting a candle is small action that all can share. Let’s light a light for Melbourne and Victoria.
"For Christians lighting a candle is a symbol of God’s light piercing into the darkness of our own despair. It’s our saying that God’s hope is the power that motivates us as we continue to endure these limitations and experience the sacrifice of this time." Archbishop Philip Freier, Anglican Archbishop St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
For more information on how to be involved : https://cathedral.org.au/candlesatcurfew/
Further reading from the World Council of Churches:
- Healing the World Bible Studies -https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/HealingtheWorldbiblestudies.pdf/at_download/file
- News - Spread the contagion of love - https://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/spread-the-contagion-of-love-pleads-new-wcc-bible-study?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
- How churches can support children during the pandemic - https://www.oikoumene.org/en/what-we-do/wcc-child-rights-engagement/how-can-churches-support-children-during-the-covid-19-pandemic
