Praying Together 2021

187 Gather Light a candle as a sign of God’s presence and sit quietly. Ring a bell or chime to start the prayer. The love of God be with you! And with your spirit. COLLECT Saint Teresa of Avila in Spain, a great spiritual writer, can teach us how to pray. Let us pray that we will learn to persevere in prayer. (pause) God of mystery, may we praise you when we are happy and turn to you in our sorrows. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. SCRIPTURE A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 5:43-45 Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard people say, ‘Love your neighbours and hate your enemies.’ But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong.” The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. RESPONSE Jesus taught us to pray even for people we would call our enemies! St Teresa of Avila, whose memorial we celebrate today, is remembered for her writings which helped people to grow closer to God through prayer. There are many different ways to pray. You can ask God to bless a person, you can praise God, you can ask God for help, or for forgiveness. This video teaches us about prayer by telling the story of four people from the Bible who all talked to God in different ways. It is called “God’s Story: Prayer” b y Crossroads Kids’ Club. DISMISSAL May the love of Christ inspire 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. Friday St Teresa of Jesus 15 October 2021 “I tell you to love your enemies.”