January 31st, 2015

God of light and love;
We pray especially for all who find Mothering Sunday painful:
We pray for mothers who watch over children who are ill
and children who watch over their suffering mothers;
We remember mothers who are apart from their children
and mothers who grieve because their children have died,
remembering especially the parents of the young people who died in York’s rivers in recent weeks
and those who grieve for relations who were lost on the Malaysian Airlines jet MH370;

For those who longed for children and who have none
For those without their mothers because of illness or death
And who, in their longing, know themselves to be alone;
For children who are abused or neglected,
For children missing their mothers on this day
And all who suffer the impact of family breakdown
We ask that you would be a light in the darkness.

Tender and compassionate God
surround us all in your loving embrace;
and hold us always in your care.

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

We commit our struggling world and the conflicts that spoil our relationships into your hands of love, naming before you today the pain of Syria, Egypt and Southern Sudan.
For people we know who are sick and for those close to death,
We ask for peace.
For all who offer us love and compassion
And nurture us into growth and wholeness
we give you thanks.

May we walk more faithfully with Jesus
and follow him, as Mary did,
to the foot of the cross
and onwards into the light of resurrection hope.

In the company of one another and of all the saints in glory
May we gaze on Jesus, the light of the world that will never be overcome.

Merciful Father,
accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son
our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.