St Peters RC Church Hamilton

“(S)he who sows obedience to You, Holy Spirit, will reap what You give: eternal life,” (based on v 8) as won for us by Christ Jesus, at the † of our forgiveness. 

As an Easter people, we must never lose sight of the victory gained at the †. Being forgiven, we must forgive. Being shown mercy, we must be merciful. Having received love, we must be loving.  

We need You, Holy Spirit, Lord, to both gain and maintain a Christian purpose to our daily life, the call to give of ourselves with love, for the sake of love, just as Christ Jesus showed us.   

Let us claim and proclaim our Christian vocation, that of laying down our life for others, serving sharing in the love and holiness of Christ Jesus. It is this godliness which attracts people towards the Christian faith.  

A widow gave her all when she put her last coin into the common pot for the general welfare. Holy Spirit, Lord, teach us to do likewise. Show us what skills and talents we have been given to offer and share.

We do this in the name of Christ Jesus, that high and holy name which is able to conquer all that is evil, thankfully. Please bring us fully alive in faith’s understanding of the power of holy love.

You are our energy, drive, resolve, decision, equipping, effort and prayer. “If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will Your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” (Matthew 7 v 11 NLT)

This reasoning is sound, it is but a part of the truth You spell out to us, the truth of who Christ Jesus is, what He stands for, teaches by example and accomplishes, especially through the †. 

Life can be tough and sometimes exceedingly so. But You, through Christ Jesus, are the comfort and consolation our merciful Father offers us, for He is merciful, generous and lovingly kind. Remind us of this when we struggle.

We are not defeatist for there is no reason to be so. We should not be apathetic because Your power of love can fire our enthusiasm for living by faith in Christ Jesus, as long as we pray.

When we are weary, sad, burdened, fretful, puzzled, perplexed, anxious, dismayed, disappointed, disillusioned, distressed, please, please turn our heart and mind once more towards Christ Jesus. 

You are the Faith Giver, the Life Changer, the Hope Builder, the Peace Sharer, the most joyous Spirit of a faith which learns to trust in You and depend upon You, tirelessly.

We are in the Easter season of joy, a time to become stronger, firmer, bolder in faith because of the victory of Christ Jesus at the †, triumphantly banishing sin’s condemnation, need for punishment.

You show us life beyond death, the weeping for a night which becomes joy in the morning. You accomplish this by allowing us to recognise how our sins are forgiven and are forgotten at the mercy of our Father, graciously gifting His Son for our redemption. 

We have been saved from evil that is evil, and we look to the †and proclaim Christ to be as He is, the King of Glory, the Word of Life here with us. 

You are faith’s Enabler, Developer, able, wanting and willing to make our life fruitful in the service of the Master. You are our Safekeeper, our Guide, our Paraclete and we thank You, truly we do.

Please help us to recognise our Saviour Brother in the breaking of Bread at the Holy Eucharist, where He is alive to feed and nourish our faith.

Please enable us to recognise the most precious, death defying, healing, life giving blood of Christ Jesus as shed at the †, as equally active and effective in the Sacramental Mystery of holy communion. 

When we partake of the Lord Jesus, we partake of the Three Persons of the Almighty Trinity, acting as One in complete unity, in full harmony of loving mercy, forgiveness and the blessing of replenishment.

What hope we find here at the altar! This hope is too, in all the other sacraments. Call us to partake of these as often as is appropriate and necessary for our faith’s welfare and development, its steadfastness and accomplishment.

Just as You were the Law Giver, but we found we are unable to live up to these high standards, You spell out the new law as placed before us by Christ Jesus. He tells us we must learn to love as He does, giving entirely of Himself for this very purpose.

Draw us ever close to Christ Jesus, conform us to His purpose of willingly, wholeheartedly serving our Father by working for us and with us, praying for us and with us, to make us really fruitful in service. We must cling to the Vine of Christ Jesus.

But You are the growth in faith Pruner. May we accept this as necessary and beneficial if we are to become as productive and effective in our faith’s outreach as we should be, tirelessly working to delight our Father.

This will happen when we dedicate ourselves to the Master, working together always according to Your power, Holy Spirit of love, our faith’s development and accomplishment.

Please ever be our Instructor in all we hope to make holy, work towards, offer up as our faith efforts, ambition, goal and purpose as we strive to live through Christ Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith.

Jesus is Lord, Master, Saviour, God’s Word of Life and offer of that merciful and kindly love which forgives us, allowing us to start anew through Your Holy Spirit, as we strive to more than merely survive.

We work and pray to become holy by sharing in the risen life of Christ Jesus, making Him King in our daily life’s choices, as You anoint us with godly purpose. We have to be willing to serve to offer our time, talents, resources, skill and energy properly.

Service in Christianity is putting our belief in Christ Jesus as Saviour and You as Sanctifier, the Upholder of the Law of love, just as Christ Jesus lived this. Thank You for teaching us to pray to share in the Father’s heart of love and mercy as offered to us in Christ Jesus, He who cares for us so fully, continuously.

Holy Spirit, Lord, please draw us away from erroneous ideas of self sufficiency, “…thinking we are all-powerful, while failing to realise that we are all in the same boat,” (Fratelli tutti 30 Pope Francis) in need of merciful help, ongoing healing and sound commitment.

May we commit to service in the Lord Jesus’ name of victory over sin and death, gifting us His purpose of holiness to give life a better, brighter, holier meaning, purpose and content.

Please ever remind all believers or show to those new to faith, that the Lord Jesus, the Prince of Peace as well as Lord of Glory, is ever our truest happiness and fullest fulfilment.

“ ‘Why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy’?” (Isaiah 55 v 2) We are seeing a lot of this as we gradually ease out of the lockdown the Pandemic of Covid 19 has caused. Will we never learn?

“Listen carefully to Me,” our Saviour tells us “Eat what is good.” We offer all thanks and praise for the Holy Eucharist. “And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me.” (Cont to v 3)

Oh, please help us to pray, listen, learn and obey that we shall live in the joy of Christ Jesus’ friendship now and eternally, Holy Spirit of hope. You show us what matters is that being a new creation, Christ Jesus alive in us, we live accordingly.

Holy Spirit of love and mercy, our Counsellor Sanctifier, please ensure the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is 

with us as Spirit touches spirit. It will be so if we pray! Please keep us praying for Your love’s power to become fully effective. 

I ask this in the name of the One who makes true love an instrument we can share, all thanks ever be to God, in the glory of holy love which pardons, reconciles and reopens our heart, mind, will and conscience.

How great is the need of our world to understand and appreciate this. No longer are we slaves to the world with all of satan’s demands. We are God’s children living by Your power Holy Spirit, Lord. May we then “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6 v 2)

Let us accomplish this through Christ Jesus’ possessing us, working within us by Your power of holy love, all to the glory of God. This will prove that Christ is truly risen, Alleluia! We rejoice to be an Easter people. Amen.