Worship & Prayers for Easter Day

Opening Rite 

If you’re at home you might wish to light a candle, make sure you are sitting comfortably and take a few deep breaths to still yourself.  

The Lord is here.  His Spirit is with us.

Prayers of Penitence

Christ our passover lamb has been sacrificed for us.  Let us therefore rejoice by putting away all malice and evil and confessing our sins with a sincere and true heart

1 Corinthians 5.7,8

Silence for reflection

Lord Jesus, you raise us to new life. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you forgive us our sins. Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you feed us with the living bread. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen

The Collect   

You might like to keep a few moments of silence

Lord of all life and power, who through the mighty resurrection of your Son overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things new in him: grant that we, being dead to sin and alive to you in Jesus Christ, may reign with him in glory; to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be praise and honour, glory and might, now and in all eternity. Amen

Acts 10:34-43

Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Psalm 118:14-24

/R: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! 

The Lord is my strength and my song; and he has become my salvation.  Joyful shouts of salvation sound from the tents of the righteous.  /R: 

The right hand of the Lord does mighty deed; the right hand of the Lord raises up, the right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds, I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord /R: 

The Lord has punished me sorely, but he has not given me over to death.  Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter and give thanks to the Lord. /R: 

This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. /R:

This is the Lord’s doing; and it is marvellous in our eyes.  This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. /R:

Colossians 3:1-4

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

The Gospel according to John                                             Chapter 20:1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.  But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

This is the Gospel of the Lord    Praise to you O Christ

Reflection

John’s account of the resurrection contains a complex interweave of seeing and believing; or rather, ‘not seeing and yet believing’, and also ‘seeing and yet not being able to believe or understand’.  Mary sees that the stone has been rolled away and fears grave robbers. Later, she plucks up courage to look inside the tomb. Through the blur of her tears she sees two angels in white, but seems quite unable to process this sight. When they ask her, ‘Why are you weeping?’ she does not receive this as a challenge to rethink what is happening, but as a conversational gambit from two strangers. She responds with a thought about grave robbers: ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ The story reaches a climax as she turns and sees Jesus, but fails to recognise him and continues with the same train of thought: ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him’ (v.15). None of these sights – the empty tomb, two angels in white or even Jesus himself – is able to take her from the agony of her loss to a new place of faith. Seeing is not believing. It is hearing her own name that changes everything.  Simon Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved both respond in a characteristic way. John reaches the tomb first, but does not dare to enter. Peter comes running up behind and goes straight in; he is nothing if not full of courage. He needs to know and see, and this place of the dead will not inhibit him. Peter takes careful note, not only of where the linen wrappings are lying, but also the fact that the cloth which had been on Jesus’ head is rolled up by itself. He has the details in his sights, but cannot see the wood for the trees. What does it all mean? Only the beloved disciple, finally plucking up courage, comes into the empty tomb and sees and believes.

Reproduced with permission www.rootsontheweb.com 2002-2021  

Prayers

Spend a few moments praying for the people you know and love, for the world, for peace and for the relief of refugees everywhere. 

On Easter Day

God of glory, by the raising of your Son you have broken the chains of death and hell: fill your Church with faith and hope; for a new day has dawned and the way to life stands open in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

Praying for the Earth          Sea creatures and all that live in the waters

We give thanks for the diversity of life in the seas and rivers of the world, for the grandeur of whales, the beauty of fish and the intricacy of coral reefs. Bless those who make their living from the sea, and help us to strike a wise balance between fishing for food and preserving the integrity of the marine environment. Amen

From the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer for the Church

Porvoo Communion:  Diocese of Uppsala (Church of Sweden) Diocese of Llandaff (Wales)

Anglican Communion: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps 122.6)  La Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico Primate: The Most Reverend Alba Sally Sue Hernández Garcia

Diocese of Botswana: Parish of Francistown:   The Venerable Bakang (Banks) Lesetedi (Archdeacon - North), Fr George Callender, Fr Andries Matlhare, Fr Samuel Moraloki, Fr Lekono Malabola, Fr Reuben Bogatsu, The Reverend Mosetsanagape Sepora, The Reverend Lesedi Bahayesi, Fr Neo Michael Mosima and Fr Thapelo Sebokolodi

Corbridge Deanery:   St Mary’s Abbey Church, Blanchland

From our Parish Prayer Cycle this week 

pray for all residents of Winchcombe Place and Boundary Gardens

For the sick and those being cared for in hospital or at home      

For those in residential care    

For those who have died recently

         Brian Smart

For those whose year’s minds are this week 

Margaret Carver, Arthur Howe, Ivy Sylvia Ireland, Dorris Cooper, Janet Orr and Frank Fenwick

You might like to end your prayers with The Lord's Prayer  

Our Father,  who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Conclusion

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

Let us bless the Lord! Thanks be to God!