Prayer Of Thanksgiving For Lenten Eucharist

The following prayer of thanksgiving is appropriate for use in Lenten liturgies of the Lord's Supper. Notice how the images suggested in the prayer complement the Scripture readings for Lent and the idea of Lent as a spiritual pilgrimage and time of repentance and renewal.

Minister: The Lord be with you. People: And also with you. Minister: Lift up your hearts. People: We lift them to the Lord. Minister: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. People: It is right to give our thanks and praise. Minister: It is truly right and our greatest joy to give you thanks and praise, O God our creator and redeemer. In your wisdom, you made all things and sustain them by your power. You formed us in your image to love and serve you, but we forgot your promises and abandoned your commandments. In your mercy, you did not reject us but still claimed us as your own. When we were slaves in Egypt you freed us and led us through the waters of the sea. You fed us with heavenly food in the wilderness, and satisfied our thirst from desert springs. On the holy mountain you gave us your law to guide us in your way. Through the waters of Jordan you led us into the land of your promise, and you sustained us in times of trial. You spoke through prophets calling us to turn from our willful ways to new obedience and righteousness. You sent your only Son to be the way to eternal life. Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with choirs of angels and with all the faithful of every time and place, who forever sing to the glory of your name: (The people may sing or say:) Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. (The minister continues:) You are holy, O God of majesty, and blessed is Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord. He took upon himself the weight of our sin and carried the burden of our guilt. He shared our life in every way, and though tempted, was sinless to the end. Baptized as your own, he went willingly to his death and by your power was raised to new life. In his dying and rising, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. (If they have not already been said, the words of institution may be said here, or in relation to the breaking of the bread.) Minister: We give you thanks that the Lord Jesus, on the night before he died, took bread, and after giving thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup, saying: This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Remembering all your mighty and merciful acts, we take this bread and this wine from the gifts you have given us, and celebrate with joy the redemption won for us in Jesus Christ. Accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving as a living and holy offering of ourselves, that our lives may proclaim the One crucified and risen. (The people may sing or say one of the following:) 1 Minister: Great is the mystery of faith: People: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. 2 Minister: Praise to you, Lord Jesus: People: Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory. 3 Minister: According to his commandment: People: We remember his death, we proclaimP his resurrection, we await his coming in glory. 4 Minister: Christ is the bread of life: People: When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus, until you come in glory. (The minister continues:) Gracious God, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these your gifts of bread and wine, that the bread we break and the cup we bless may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ. By your Spirit unite us with the living Christ, and with all who are baptized in his name, that we may be one in ministry in every place. As this bread is Christ's body for us, send us out to be the body of Christ in the world. (Intercessions for the church and the world may be included here.) Help us, O God, to be obedient to your call to love all your children, to do justice and show mercy, and to live in peace with your whole creation. Guide us through the desert of life, quench our thirst with the living waters, satisfy our hunger with the bread of heaven. Give us strength to serve you faithfully until the promised day of resurrection, when the redeemed of all the ages we will feast with you at your table in glory. Through Christ, all glory and honor are yours, almighty Father, with the Holy Spirit in the holy church, now and forever. People: Amen.