Easter Communion

Invitation
Fresh from the tomb
Jesus greets you in love
With wounds just beginning to form scabs
Jesus stretches out his arms and beckons
Signalling that all are welcome at his table
So come with trepidation as Mary did
Or running as Peter did
And meet the risen Christ
Holding out bread and wine
for you.

Communion Thanksgiving
Risen Christ
you meet us here in bread and wine
You listen to our stories
of journeys we have shared
and the folk we have met on the way
You draw out our laughter
and dry our tears
and you walk with us along the way
And still, after all you have done,
you offer more
- yourself
broken, bruised, battered,
but risen and made new.
We don't know how
but we know why -
Out of infinite love
you keep on giving more
until we are ready
to pick up the pace with you.
Your infinite love is matched
by infinite patience
as you slow your stride
or wait awhile
to let us catch up.
So thank you
for bringing resurrection
into our everyday.
We pray, Risen Lord
for those children
you squat beside,
those you lie down with
because they are so broken by life
that they cannot stand up.
We pray for places in our world
that are as dark and foreboding
as Calvary.
Risen Christ
you came to change the world.
To bring healing
To bring hope.
To bring peace.
And you entrust us with that mission.
So help us, with a resurrection spring in our step
to find out where and how
you want us to serve
and get on with the mission
that you make possible
because you are alive in us.
Send your Spirit on these gifts
of bread and wine,
symbols of your body broken
and your blood shed for us.
As we share in this feast
may we know communion
with you, Risen Lord,
with each other
and with the world
that you call us to serve.


Prayer after Communion
Risen Lord Jesus
As we travel on
nourished by the food
of your rising again
may we be conscious of you
journeying beside us,
wedged into every space we inhabit
butting into all our conversations
resting with us when we begin to weary
energising us to keep hope alive.
And wherever we are
may we show the risen Lord
alive in us
today and always.
Amen.


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