Prayer Of Thanksgiving For Pentecost Eucharist

The following prayer of thanksgiving for the liturgy of the Lord's Supper includes the themes of the Scripture readings for this day.

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, eternal God, creator and rule of the universe. With the majesty of your hand, you shaped this world and all that is in it. By your Holy Spirit, you breathed life into human form, and set us on the earth to praise and serve you. When we wandered from your ways and were lost in sin's wilderness, your truth burned in the hearts of prophets who called your people to return to the path of righteousness. In the fullness of time you sent your Son to be our deliverer. In every age your Holy Spirit has led us in your ways. 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. At his baptism by John, your Spirit came with gentle wings, settling on him your blessing. In the wilderness of temptation, your Spirit stood by with power. In his life and ministry, our Spirit led him to serve the poor, proclaim freedom from sin's bondage, open eyes with faith's sight, and befriend the friendless and the outcast. In all he did and said, he announced the coming of your saving might. By his death on the cross and rising from the tomb, he broke the power of death, and led the way to eternal life. Ascended to rule from on high, Christ prays for us and promises the coming of peace and power. (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 proclaim 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.) By the fire of your Spirit, O God, forge us into one church, many and different people, together in Christ's embrace. Set our hearts aflame with a love for the truth and the desire to do your will, that our witness to Christ may burn brightly in lives of joyful discipleship. Keep us faithful in your service until Christ comes in final victory and we shall feast with all your saints in the joy of your eternal realm. Through Christ, all glory and honor are yours, almighty Father, with the Holy Spirit in the holy church, now and forever. People: Amen.