Prayer of Intercession for Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday in the Southern Hemisphere

The Autumn Equinox passed by a couple weeks ago

And the mornings and evenings are darkening; the nights overshadow the days.

              Lord, I prefer the light, you know I do.

              I love the bright mornings, the long twilights, the sunsets

              But you made the dark too, Lord, and it has its own beauty and meaning.

A later dawn means I see it more often.

We praise you for the dark.

The first day of Autumn slid by last week

And it’s cooling off, mornings are cold, nights are chilly.

              Lord, I love the warmth, you know I do.

              I love hot sun on my back, bright days of summer

              But you made the winter too, Lord, and it has its own rhythm and pace.

The cold dark brings us together indoors, time for blankets and hot dinners.

We praise you for the cold.

Daylight Savings turned over last week

And the leaves are coming down, blackberries ripe in the hedges.

              Lord, I love the green leaves and flowers, you know I do.

              I love crocus and snowdrop, lilac and forsythia, azalea and cherry,

              Rose and kowhai, iris and daisy and buttercup and rata

              But you made the leaves to fall, Lord, and they are colourful and lovely too.

The natural world takes a rest, I could learn from that.

We praise you for rest.

As Autumn swirls in, we pray for people in the dark:  lost, ignorant, alone, blind, heartbroken, sick, dying.

We pray for people in the cold: the homeless, the heartless, those travelling away from home, those who don’t have a home, people without a blanket or a place to go or hope.

We pray for people with no autumn harvest: not enough food, no clean water, no extra income for treats, no prospect of a better future, no work, no purpose, no joy.

We pray for others, as we pray for ourselves:

God give us light, Christ keep us warm, Holy Spirit enrapture and enfold us.

The world around us tells the story:  The colour, light and heat that is Summer cools and fades into Autumn and Winter.  But Holy Week and Easter show us that darkness, cold and bleakness have their purpose, and they cannot last.

Abby Smith

14 April 2019