Document
Opening Prayer
God of light;
God of life;
God of truth;
God of love;
you created us in your own image and likeness, sharing with us your breath.
You heard the cries of your people in Egypt, the groans of the oppressed,
hungry for freedom and thirsting for justice.
You fed them mana and quail in the wilderness, as you led them to a promised land.
Once again your people cry for justice and liberation. Hear and answer us we pray. Amen.
(Pilgrim Prayer, adapted, 195 - 196)
Responsive Psalm 78: 1 – 7
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children;
that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without end, Amen.
Scripture Reading: Joshua 5: 10 – 12
10 While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. 11 On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.
The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Reflection Question: A change in food supply signalled that God was shifting the Israelites to think and act differently in their pilgrimage. What changes can we discern as being evidential of a new direction in our current pilgrimage?
Prayers of Intercession
Gracious God, today as we remember the people and churches of Fiji, Melanesia, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Polynesia and the Solomon Islands, we pray for your empowering presence so that they may stand together, speaking and acting as one body against oppressive and exploitative power structures, which deny the dignity of human life.
Lord of all, hear our prayers.
May your people be emboldened in their fight against unjust systems which prevent self-determination, in order to maintain the status quo.
Lord of all, hear our prayers.
Grant them wisdom and courage as they battle against oppressive and unjust economic structures, which reduce human beings to means of production and consumption, and perpetuate, breaks or fractures relationship between human communities and the environment.
Lord of all, hear our prayers.
May they not grow weary as the fight against oppressive ideologies and doctrines, which cause neighbours to hate instead of love one another.
Lord of all, hear our prayers.
Lord of the land, sea and sky – and all that is within it – fill their sails with the breath of your Holy Spirit, guide their vaka (canoes) and help them to work as one.
Lord of all, hear our prayers.
Guide and comfort them so that as they follow the course which your Son our Saviour set for us, together we may cross the stormy seas of violence, pass through the jagged reefs of injustice, and enter the lagoon of compassion.
Lord of all, hear our prayers.
In our pilgrimage of justice and peace, may we find your Island of Hope; where life is affirmed, truth is spoken, and unconditional love is celebrated.
Lord of all, hear our prayers.
Lead all your people in our quest to establish your Kingdom in the earth, where there is food and drink and shelter and clothing for all; and where your justice reigns. This we ask, in the name of he who spoke truth to power, your Son, our Saviour Jesus the Christ.
Lord of all, hear our prayers.
(Pilgrim Prayer, adapted, 196)
The Lord’s Prayer (each in the language of our heart)
Benediction
Lord, oil the hinges of my heart‘s door,
that it may swing gently and easily to welcome your coming. Amen
(Pilgrim Prayer, 196)
