Praying Together 2021

156 Gather Light a candle as a sign of God’s presence and sit quietly. Ring a bell or chime to start the prayer. The Lord be with you! And with your spirit. COLLECT On Sunday we will celebrate Fathers’ Day. We remember our fathers with love for the gentle way they care for us. Let us pray for our fathers and for the generations of fathers before them. (pause) You care for us, O God, as a father cares for his children. Bless, protect and strengthen all the fathers of the world. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. SCRIPTURE A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans 8:6, 10, 14-16 If our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. Christ lives in you. Yet God raised Jesus to life! God’s Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit. Only those people who are led by God’s Spirit are his children. God’s Spirit doesn’t make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father. God’s Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. RESPONSE What a wonderful gift it is to be one of God’s children. We can always call God ‘our father’ and we can talk with God in prayer at any minute of the day or night. This Sunday we remember especially our fathers and grandfathers here on earth. What are the qualities you love most about your dad? Perhaps these could be written down as the young people offer their ideas so that everyone can watch the list grow. The prayer leader could pray the following aloud: “God our Father in heaven, thank you for the gift of our fathers and grandfathers and for the joy they bring to our lives. Please bless them in a special way this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” DISMISSAL May God’s fatherly love surround us. Amen. May God bless us in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Ring the bell or chime to signal the end of the prayer. Extinguish the candle. Thursday Week 22 Ordinary Time 2 September 2021 “We become his children and call him our Father.”