Lent Day 1: Learning to walk backwards

As we embark on another Great Lent, the call to return to God and be one with God is loud and clear. God’s love towards human beings reflected in the incarnation of God’s son Jesus Christ is then commemorated with seven weeks of the life, ministry, healing, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. As much as we see the Great Lent as something we have to do, it is also a response to God’s call to reconcile with God. This reconciliation is also then supposed to be with other human beings and all of creation as Jesus has asked us to love one another as he has loved us and as he loves his Father.

But how can we hear, see and experience God? This calls for a retreat and a walking back. People earlier have tried to walk backwards for a novelty, to break a record or for a cause. But this is not something done usually. Now research suggests that walking backwards as an exercise is good because it makes our knees and ankles strong, makes us sharper and heals our body in some significant ways.

I would like to suggest walking backwards and retreating as a way to enter into the experience of lent because it helps us see God, see one another and see ourself as well. The retreating and walking back creates a space to think, to look, to realize and to change. It is an opportunity to realize that we have erred somewhere, that we need to change, that we can do something differently and we can simply give space to someone.

The wedding at Cana in St. John 2: 1-11 is a very common bible passage, known even to non-Christians. St. Mary informs Jesus that the wine has run out. But Jesus is not very interested and says his time has not come. What St. Mary does now is a lesson in retreating and walking backwards. She steps back and tells the servers to do whatever he tells them. The element of faith of St. Mary is the faith in God’s son, the faith in Jesus her son and her faith in goodness. Yet, she realizes that she has done something wrong or inappropriate. So she steps back and yet does not lose her hope.

The stepping back or the walking backwards helps. Jesus tells the servers to fill the stone jars with water which then is transformed into wine. It is a wonderful model for the start of lent and for our life in general. Have faith in God and in one another. How much ever we love someone, be prepared to retreat and walk back. Be ready to give space and prevent them from being suffocated by our love. Husbands do likewise to your wife, wives to your husband, parents to their children and children to their parents, friends to one another and colleagues likewise. Nothing is to be taken for granted and yet hope has to remain. Everyone needs their space to act, to perform and to do.

Lent is a time to allow God to perform miracles. But the credit of the miracle is for God and we need to create that space. Priests have to create a space for the people to see God and witness to God. The closeness to God should turn to a retreat and walking backwards because otherwise others won’t get to see God. St. Mary’s walking back turns a private miracle into a public proclamation of faith. Do what we have to do and then stand back for God to work. Amen.

Make up your mind during lent

Every time we are confused with certain things in our life we take a break, go for a retreat, meditate and think about where we are. Lent is a time to get our act straight and decide what our priorities are. It is to come to an understanding that we are observing lent to reiterate that we are with God and we are working for God’s kingdom.

St. Matthew 6:24 tells us that we cannot have two masters. “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” We can either serve God or serve mammon (wealth, money). It is clearly one and not two simultaneously. Many sermons are tweaked to explain that although we have loads of money we can still serve God. This is not possible and lent is a painful reminder of that. We can serve only one master. What then is the essence of all that we are doing? We are working and insist on being paid and feel that money is important for every small thing in life. There is also the parable of the worker in St. Matthew 25:14-30 who buried his talent and was admonished by his master because he buried the talent given to him. So it is not to say that we must leave everything but to say that God should be primary. Everything else comes later. God and not money should determine the decisions we make.

Putting it this way, lent is a reminder that we can do with much lesser and we don’t need to hoard and keep away so that we can be assured of a better life. Rather, lent reminds us that we can cut down on several things and still be happy. It is an opportunity to remind our children that everything can’t be bought with money and important things can never be purchased. During lent we have to remember that our partner is a gift of God and is with us because of our love and not because of the money we have. If it was money, we would not be able to keep our partner. It is only love which is a gift from God which can do that. Lent is a beautiful reminder of this by making us feel that our love for Christ is so much that we can make do with very little because love satisfies all hunger.

During lent, as a family we can come together and understand that we have had difficult times out of which God helped us. There could also be bad times in the future and this experience of lenting will prepare us for such a time. During lent, as a family we are reminded that the love for God over shadows the love for everything else. God and not money matters! Together with this we also understand that all that God has given us matters more than wealth. And this includes our parents, siblings, partner, children and friends. We cannot put a price on them. Lent makes us understand this better.

I remember an incident when a man came forward to help his uncle who was in the hospital. The doctors gave up and the extended and immediate family followed suit. This man though said he would spend the money for the operation even though there was a minimal chance of success. The patient died but the man still had a point. He said that one cannot put a price for family. To save a life we have to give everything we have because everything we have won’t measure up to our family! I found much faith in the man and his convictions that all the money he had made meant nothing to him as long as they could not be of help to someone.

Ecclesiastes 5 is a passage for us to learn from. Verse 10 says that the lover of money will not be satisfied with money. This is because money can’t offer everything. It only suggests it can but at the end we realize that by itself it is of no use to us. In verse 12 it is mentioned that the labourers will have sweet sleep whereas the extra burden of the rich will not allow them good sleep. During lent we try to lose all the excess baggage so that we can sleep heartily. So lent is a time for the rich to trim their wealth and in the process get much needed peace of mind. Verse 15 says that we will go back naked just like we came from our mother’s womb. It suggests that how much ever you make, you simply can’t take it with you. Lent is a good reminder of this. By deciding to follow God we will get peace of mind which we won’t get by hugging our wealth.

Lent is difficult sometimes because we haven’t made up our minds. It is not to make up our mind on whether we should observe lent or not but to make up our mind as to who we should follow. Observing lent is an opportunity we get to reiterate our commitment to God. The richer we are the more we have to let go. Contrary to what we think, most of the self made billionaires in the world don’t live lavish lifestyles. They give away a lot of what they make. We must also understand that God is working through us so that we help the less fortunate and those pushed away from main stream society. Our boss in this sense is God and we are working every minute for God and not for ourselves. The more we let go and give away the more we will have because we will learn to live with minimalist things.

There are two symbolisms I would like to leave you with. They are both impulsive behavior and yet yield different results. One is online shopping and the other is giving to the poor and needy. Both are done impulsively sometimes and both give satisfaction. It is estimated that in the U.S. impulsive behaviour leads to sales worth 4 billion dollars with 62% of store purchases considered impulsive. In India this figure is much lesser but Geetha M. and Bharadwaj in their article "Impulse Buying Behaviour in India: An overview" say that even though research suggests there is close to 16% impulsive buying, this figure could be much higher because people living in collectivistic societies like India would not divulge actual information even though they may be buying impulsively. This said, the satisfaction that we get when we help someone is more than any other satisfaction. While shopping online we may feel happy but later on the product we bought will stare back at us with no emotion because it is a product of wealth. On the other hand a human being who is helped will smile back at us because the human is a creation of God. When we are tempted into impulsive buying we buy things which we don't actually need but anyway buy them because we worship them. On the other hand helping people is considered not so important because we are not worshiping God enough. Let this lent be a time for meditation, retreat, prayer and more than anything else, for making up our mind that we serve God. Let it also be a time when other human beings look and smile at us instead of looking like the cold lifeless products we buy.

Quiet day third session worship order

Opening prayer
Open the doors of mercy to us O God, as we come broken and dejected into your presence. Our rejected selves are always looking for mercy from you. We come naked to be clothed by your mercy, we come dressed to be stripped into being merciful. We are all sinners and yet there is the great possibility of being mercy givers. Help us God to rid ourselves of all that prevents us to love and become God bearers not by being holy but by being merciful. Amen.

Thanksgiving (Together)
Let us give thanks to God for having being created as we are, with all the gifts and creativity we have received. We thank you merciful God for our parents and siblings, our family members, partner, friends, colleagues, co-participants and all those who have put in small pieces of our puzzle so that we can live a smooth life. Every second dear God is a gift. We are thankful to you God for giving us this moment. Amen.

Confession (In unison)
We confess our shortcomings of looking back and looking beyond O God our creator and in the process forgetting the moment. We have rejected what we can do in the moment and have instead got stuck in the past and are fearful of our future. Forgive our sins of silence, ignorance, hurting others, being insensitive, defensive and using our temporary positions to hurt others. Amen.

Absolution
Forgiving and receiving forgiveness is the most exciting and soothing experience one can have. God forgives us and in it God is pleased and happy. By being absolved of our sins we become free to move on and work for the benefit of God’s creation, more effective and more involved than before. May God forgive us all. Amen.

Intercession
We pray gracious God for all those who are confused about their self. What is confusion for us is only the path chosen by them. May people choose the land they want to stay in, the occupation they want to do, the preferences they have, the food they want to eat and the life style they want to have. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray merciful God that all forms of violence are shunned in society and that people may never take recourse in violence as a solution to a perceived problem. May mob violence, genocide, hate crimes, state violence, war and struggles involving loss to innocent lives come to an end. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray loving God for preparation and patience to start the lent in the hope that we will experience the life and passion of Christ and be led to the experience of resurrection. May lent mean not just diet restrictions but whole hearted change of heart to accept each other as they are and as they want to be. May lent be a time to change ourselves and not others. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for the retreat leader, for those who are attending the Quiet day retreat and those who haven’t been able to make it due to various reasons. May the soothing and comforting presence of the Holy Spirit be with us and guide us to being in fellowship with one another and may we be strengthened to do God’s work in whichever way we can. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

Let us pray for our personal needs………….Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

Affirmation of faith (All together)
We affirm that the creator God created us to live in peace and harmony and to be in dialogue with all. Differences are normal and dialogue is the only way to understand and accept what others are experiencing. Our mandate is to be in constant dialogue and we affirm that the absence of this creates tension and trouble and stands far from what God hopes for.
We affirm that the crucified Lord sought to speak even when remaining silent. Christ’s death on the cross was a reaching out to all who spoke the language of violence and hatred. By preaching Christ we have to also reach out to all within and outside. Our quest for dialogue should be inspired by the cross.
We affirm that the Holy Spirit moves people towards understanding and coming together. In the midst of diversity we understand that the Holy Spirit will move us to stand firm in our commitment to offer hope to the hopeless. Our faith in God transcends all tangible and intangible barriers of discontent from within.
We affirm that there cannot be hope without social justice and that the poor and marginalized have to experience hope first. Hope cannot be for a few but should be for all to feel and experience amidst the diverse contexts of injustice in our world. Hope for a few is no hope at all. Women and men together have to experience hope in its entirety.
We affirm that the communicator God inspires us to be prophetic voices of hope in society. Through strong voices we should accept our call to bring hope and change in our living contexts. The hope of resurrection was visually seen and understood by women who lived in unshakeable hope. They then passed it on to the men who had almost lost it. Amen.

Closing hymn

Lord’s prayer
Our God, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.


Closing prayer
Violence and taking life is never a solution to anything. Let us pray that we never use violence of any form, through words, actions and inactions. May the love of Christ who overturned the violence of society and religion be with us. Be assured that those who leave violence will never die but always be alive just as Christ showed us. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and forever more. Amen.

Quiet Day second session worship order

Opening prayer
Gracious God, we come into your presence thankful for the rest, restoration, renewal and revival you have offered to us. As we start a new day give us the mind and the patience to prepare ourselves to retreat and offer ourselves for realizing where we stand and where we need to go in relation with our life and our relationship with God. Open our hearts merciful God to new thoughts and creative expressions which will help our spiritual forming and nurture. Amen.

Bhajan
Bible reading
Sermon

Confession (All together)
Understanding God who knows every step we take and yet gives us the freedom to be ourselves in every way and manner, help us to realize the Godly and ungodly acts around us. We accept our inability and our inconsistency in understanding what God and belief are. We have based our faith on a powerful God forgetting that Jesus underwent the struggle of being human even while he was divine. Forgiving God we tag along with Christ on the cross in disbelief knowing that it will lead us to true belief. Amen.

Absolution
The cross is the symbol of violence and the symbol of peace. It is the chance of retribution and that of reconciliation. The right of one is the wrong of another. God always offers a way where there seems to be none anywhere. May God who felt powerless and confused on the cross in God’s effort to understand human suffering forgive our efforts directed towards capturing power, holding on to it at any cost and causing hurt to others in the process. Amen.

Intercession
We pray powerless God who chose to be powerless and confused for the sake of humanity and showed us true love is when we give up our power and our positions. Help us to give up power in churches and instead to form communities of love, sacrifice, caring and understanding. We pray for churches which are undergoing turmoil based on arguments on basic fundamental human rights and governance. We are very well part of such churches and we seek your guidance our friend God to do good and dispel harm in our communities of faith. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for Lance Naik Hanamanthappa who was rescued six days after being buried alive in the Siachen glacier. We pray for his family who are undergoing mixed feelings and are confused to the core on the happenings. We hope that you help him recover and come back to a life to be lived with his family and friends. We also pray for peace on our borders with Pakistan and China and friendly relations with Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Nepal. May we stop trying to become a super power and rather be a super peer concerned about the good will of our neighbours just as we are about our citizens. Lord in our mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for gender justice in India and the world. It is after all based on the concept of patriarchy which is associated with power and conquest. May this wrong notion of power end and bring about a life based on Christ on the cross where we are shown the vulnerability, the powerlessness, the love and the sacrifice of God. May we as a church come together to speak against gender violence and bring about equal participation in church and society. Power and might can never be a criteria for the church and for living a harmonious life. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for those affected by the Zika virus and various diseases all over the world. We realize that these are the result of our wish to conquer the world and markets. Pharmaceutical companies, media, governments and middle men come together to make sure that people are always dependent on vaccines, medicines and money to escape all forms of viruses. May Christ on the cross be a model for a more sustainable and ecofriendly living which gives space for all forms of creation to exist side by side not based on power but on powerlessness. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for those who are still in abject poverty because of wrong government policies and decisions. It is a sin that people on earth are dying of hunger and there is no justification for this. We pray that governments and dispensations encouraging war to capture power will turn around and encourage peace because we can’t capture one another as everything belongs to God, who by God’s own decision chose to give up everything. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for the UTC community. Help us O God to prepare ourselves to accept each other, live with one another knowing that those who want to be first have to be last and those who want to be served, have to serve. May we this day and in the days to come accept each other whole heartedly and work as sisters and brothers with the model of Christ on the cross as our inspiration. We pray for those who are sick, recovering from ailments, undergoing stress, trying to overcome fears and putting in their best in studies and their life on this campus. May we hold hands and live as one despite coming from different backgrounds and churches. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

Affirmation of faith (In unison standing)
We believe in God, the powerless initiator who
created heaven and earth.
We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the compassionate Holy Spirit,
born of the ever sacrificing Virgin Mary,
suffered under the powerful Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the powerless dead.
On the third day he rose again without power;
he ascended into heaven because he lowered himself,
is seated at the right hand of God,
and will come again to assemble the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the one powerless church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Closing hymn- On a Hill Far Away (The Old rugged cross)

Lord’s prayer
Our God, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Closing prayer and benediction
How nice it is to put off all burdens and pressures from our shoulders. The pressure of administration, church work, studies, research, teaching, living and praying need not be done alone but can be a collective effort. How good it is to know that even Christ was confused even up till the cross. Go in peace, knowing that we know nothing and yet that is something. We cannot have everything in life but through God we share the gift of something which will be our everything this day and in the days to come. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with us now and forever more. Amen.

Quiet Day first session worship order

Order of worship
Opening prayer
God is in our midst. Shall we forget about our bothersome thoughts and burdens and concentrate on the presence of God, our friend and companion in happiness and in sadness. We thank you Lord for giving us the opportunity to come together for a quiet time of reflection. Instigate and challenge us we pray to realize the truth of the gospel and live in hope and joy. Amen.

Bhajan
Bible reading
Skit
Sermon
Confession
How far we have come away from you dear God? How close can we get? We have concentrated on scandals of popular culture and have forgotten the scandal of all time, the scandal of the cross. This is a scandal for a rich and self-consuming culture but a reality and joy for us that rejection by humans is acceptance by God. We come to your presence gracious God offering ourselves in humble state mindful of our short comings and sins. Forgive us and give us the strength to move on. Amen.

Absolution
A confessing heart is worth an entire life time’s wait, an understanding mind is the work of decades of humility, the grace of God is possible through the realization of a moment that what was done was wrong. May God pardon us all and may we go in peace to prepare ourselves to accept each other and work together. Amen.

Intercession
We pray that acts of violence and gross injustice are not repeated but that we come to understand each other and live in this world and country as one. None of us own what we inhabit but it all belongs to God the creator. We pray that acts of intolerance as was seen in Bangalore last week are not repeated and pray for the Tanzanian student who was affected by the mob attack on her. May her recovery be speedy through our bold and sure acts of assurance as by our strong prayer for her. Help us to live together as the present and future of the world is in living together and in harmony. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for Rohit Vemula and for his bereaved family, friends and comrades. We hope that his death does not settle down and go for nothing but will rather lead to people stopping caste and racial violence and will work in the interest of the poor and down trodden. May we see Christ in each other and may we understand the scandal of the cross from the perspective of those who suffer and find it difficult to make ends meet. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for the one million refugees and migrants who crossed over to Europe in 2015. We pray for Syria, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq, Albania, Pakistan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Serbia and Ukraine from where they are migrating. May war and violence end and may people be able to go back to their homes and land. We also pray for the countries hosting them and accepting them, to find the ways to fight internal problems of anti-refugee movements and nationalism related threats and help in this massive movement to help each other and offer houses to one another just as Christ would have done. It may be a scandal to others but it is what has to be done. We pray that repressive regimes will accept proposals of peace and joint administration and stop killing innocent people. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for free education, food, shelter, and jobs for the unreached in India. Even as we enjoy food we pray that right to food, right to education and right to a job become fundamental guarantees to all residents of this nation. This may sound scandalous to many but reservation is only a social corrective where the downtrodden will get a chance to feel the same as everyone else. We pray that community specific jobs are done away with and people can choose the job they want and every job will have its own dignity. May tables not be reserved for the rich and the famous but be open equally for all. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for those assembled here and for the UTC community, its well-wishers, friends and all those who have stepped into the campus and have had some association with this college and campus. Gracious God have mercy on us and allow us to enter the preparation of understanding your sacrifice and passion for us. May we forgive each other and seek forgiveness from one another. We submit our own wishes and needs and put forward our fears and sorrows. Fill each one of us with your mercy loving God. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

Affirmation of faith
We believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.


Lord’s prayer
Our God, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Closing prayer and benediction
We have seen a scandal, we were part of a scandal, and we are because of a scandal! May the divine scandal of Christ Jesus be with us and strengthen us to teach, preach and practice the gospel as assurance for many, acceptance of all and liberation of the poor. May God be with us all. Go in peace and go in assurance of God’s presence with us. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and forever more. Amen.

Quiet day/retreat worship order

Opening prayer
With all my heart I praise the LORD, and with all that I am I praise his holy name! With all my heart I praise the LORD! I will never forget how kind he has been. The LORD forgives our sins, heals us when we are sick, and protects us from death. His kindness and love are a crown on our heads. Each day that we live, he provides for our needs and gives us the strength of a young eagle. (Psalm 103:1-5) Gracious and merciful God, we congregate again in your presence seeking your guidance for everything that we do. May we come to terms with the difficult times and pain that we have experienced over the last one year. Let this worship be a time to forgive and move on rather than to get stuck in time and be bitter over past experiences. Be with us God as we prepare to take the very difficult step of forgiving others. Amen.
Bhajan

Bible reading

Skit

Sermon

Confession
We seek forgiveness from you God for all the ways in which we have gone against your commandments and wishes. We come to your abode of mercy and ask you to forgive us so that we may move on with our lives and do your will. Triune God, we have done unspeakable and unimaginable things to others because of our own insecurities and misunderstandings. Be with us at this time to reassure us that you are with us when we want to take the difficult step of forgiving others for what they have done to us. May our forgiveness not be conditional but be natural and expressive and from the heart. We confess in all faithfulness and sincerity. Have mercy on us O God. Amen.

Assurance of pardon
God is so merciful and slow to anger. God is loving, caring and understanding. God is always present in our lives, minds and bodies. God always sees and appreciates a confessing heart. The big step to confess from our part is now reciprocated with double the intensity by God who loves us in every way and loves us more. May God forgive your sins and make you wholesome, kind and at peace with yourself. Amen.

Intercession
We pray for the deceased former president of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. May his life be an inspiration to many and may people all over the country who are in mourning be assured by the peace of God which passes all understanding. We hope that his life and thoughts live on and that people sacrifice for the sake of the country and the world transcending class, caste and religion. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We seek honest, just and inclusive approaches by the government and other ruling dispensations. Let decisions be made on the basis of thorough investigations and compassion. May people share what God has given freely so that poverty, hunger and homelessness will be a thing of the past. God shows no partiality and may we also learn to treat everyone the same. May we all work together for the present and future of people in the church and society. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for those who are in need of pastoral care and our time and proximity. We pray that those who are lonely may be visited, those who are hungry may be fed, those who thirsty may be filled, those who are naked may be clothed and those who are sick may be healed. May their problems be ours and may we embrace others into our life and treat them as family. Help us God, son and Holy Spirit to minister to those in need and spare time for those who need our presence, our comforting words and support. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for the environment and all that is in it. May we be able to figure out how to share and live in harmony. We are stewards and care takers. Let us not possess land and resources and hoard food to please our own appetites. Instead let us allow God’s creation to breathe, live and survive. The world is not ours to do as we wish. Instead it is God’s and God has given it to us to take care, to water and to let grow. Let togetherness be brought out by sharing spaces with human beings, animals, trees and every living organism. Let not greed but need determine our actions. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We intercede for the UTC community of children, women and men. Help us God to use this wonderful opportunity to live with and understand people from different cultures. May we share food, stories, history, love and human hood with one another. When one falls let the other support, when one cries let the other cry along, when one feels excluded from a circle let us make wider and newer circles. In all that we do let it be done knowing that we are a small but significant community, experimenting and strengthening faith, belief and ecumenism. Help us God to help ourselves and in the process help one another. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for the sick and those who are in need of healing and help from God. We pray for the bereaved families of those who died in the terrorist attack in Gurdaspur, Punjab. We pray for those who are battling cancer, heart problems, back problems, tumors, neurology related issues, dengue, viral fever and other sickness. We also pray for those studying various courses, looking for jobs, running counseling centers, hospitals and palliative care units. May we pray for each other and offer our support by being present in the day to day struggles of people. Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

Lord’s prayer

Prayer of forgiveness
Triune God we pray that you forgive us for our short comings and give us the strength to forgive those who have hurt us in any way. May we accept those we have to live with and work with and move on, forgetting the past and concentrating on the present and the future. Be with us Holy Spirit as we do what we are uncomfortable to do but which we have to so that we receive inner peace and healing. (Please shake the hand of those next to you and forgive those who you think have done anything against you and say…) “I forgive you in the name of God, Son and Holy Spirit and pray for you and your soul just as I hope you will pray for mine.” Amen.

Hymn

Closing prayer and benediction
Forgiving is not admitting defeat but healing our own inner beings. By forgiving we are becoming stronger and being freed of any bondage that has bound us for long. Go out from here into the world as agents of forgiveness, touching and healing the lives of people you come across. Laugh, celebrate and accept one another in big ways and reflect Christ in what you do. You are healed and you are being sent forth to be healers and people of God. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with us all. Amen

(First term Quiet day worship.)