Frances Ellen Watkins Harper – Fishers of men

I had a dream, a varied dream:
Before my ravished sight
The city of my Lord arose,
With all its love and light.

The music of a myriad harps
Flowed out with sweet accord;
And saints were casting down their crowns
In homage to our Lord.

My heart leaped up with untold joy;
Life’s toil and pain were o’er;
My weary feet at last had found
The bright and restful shore.

Just as I reached the gates of light,
Ready to enter in,
From earth arose a fearful cry
Of sorrow and of sin.

I turned, and saw behind me surge
A wild and stormy sea;
And drowning men were reaching out
Imploring hands to me.

And ev’ry lip was blanched with dread
And moaning for relief;
The music of the golden harps
Grew fainter for their grief.

Let me return, I quickly said,
Close to the pearly gate;
My work is with these wretched ones,
So wrecked and desolate.

An angel smiled and gently said:
This is the gate of life,
Wilt thou return to earth’s sad scenes,
Its weariness and strife,

To comfort hearts that sigh and break,
To dry the falling tear,
Wilt thou forego the music sweet
Entrancing now thy ear?

I must return, I firmly said,
The strugglers in that sea
Shall not reach out beseeching hands
In vain for help to me.

I turned to go; but as I turned
The gloomy sea grew bright,
And from my heart there seemed to flow
Ten thousand cords of light.

And sin-wrecked men, with eager hands,
Did grasp each golden cord;
And with my heart I drew them on
To see my gracious Lord.

Again I stood beside the gate.
My heart was glad and free;
For with me stood a rescued throng
The Lord had given me.

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A litany for Peace in troubled times

God the Father, have mercy on us.

God the Son, have mercy on us.

God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.

Holy and blessed Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

In these days of trouble, fear and sorrow, have mercy on us.

In our despair at the violence that seems to fill the world, have mercy on us.

In the pain of lost life and shattered hopes, have mercy on us.

In our grieving for those who have died, have mercy on us.

In our compassion for all who are bereaved, have mercy on us.

From the history of violence that corrupts every society and our own,
O Lord, deliver us.

From the greed and injustice that divide the world into rich and poor,
O Lord, deliver us.

From the urge for revenge that adds to the cycle of violence,
O Lord, deliver us.

From the fear that grows into hatred for people who are different,
O Lord, deliver us.

From being too quick to attribute blame and demand retribution,
O Lord, deliver us.

From believing ourselves safe through anything other than your grace,
O Lord, deliver us.

From dying suddenly and unprepared,
O Lord, deliver us.

For those who plan and carry out acts of violence,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For all who seek justice and ensure the rule of law,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For the victims of war and terrorism everywhere on earth,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For all who live in fear, and for refugees from violent regimes,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For courage to resist demonising and dehumanising others,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For wisdom in choosing the paths of peace,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For solidarity with the suffering of the dispossessed,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For generosity in sharing fairly the world’s resources,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For respect in conversation with people of other faiths, and none,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For honesty in knowing and confessing the sin in our own hearts,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For grace to change and be changed as you forgive us,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For rescue workers and medical teams treating those injured in conflict zones,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For aid agencies and workers, responding with practical care in dangerous places,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For the leaders of all the nations, looking for ways to work together beyond fear and suspicion,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For people of goodwill, responding generously to the needs of suffering communities,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For all who have friends and family involved in areas of conflict and disaster,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For communities that are terrified by missiles, snipers, vigilantes or death
Lord, hear our prayer.

For the vulnerable and defenceless in conflict zones, for the children, the elderly, the disabled, the sick:                                                                                            
Lord, hear our prayer.

For Christ to bring all the peoples of the world into one flock with one shepherd, we pray to you, O God.

For Christ to bring healing and comfort for those we love who are sick or in mourning, we pray to you, O God.

For Christ to lead us into the paths of peace, writing the law of love on our hearts, we pray to you, O God.

For Christ to bring us, with all who have died in faith, to a joyful resurrection, we pray to you, O God.

God of all peace, have mercy on our broken and divided world, and on your people who cry out to you for healing, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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This year, we are holding an Easter Celebration with our Ukrainian friends As part of our service in St Patrick’s on Sunday May 5th – the Orthodox date. The difference in dates stems from 1582 when the Roman Catholic Church adopted a revised system of calculating the Calendar, but the Orthodox Church did not. Ho-hum. Another great example of Christian Unity…

As well as the date change, some traditions vary too. In the West, we observe increasing secularisation, with the focus tending to be on chocolate and cuddly bunnies; the Orthodox tradition specifies what you should – and what you should not – do.

What you should do :
Say hello correctly. The classic greeting “Christ is risen — truly risen!” is accompanied by triple kisses on the cheek between loved ones and friends.

Collect an “Easter basket”. This is a wicker basket, decorated with an embroidered towel, candles and willow twigs. It is in it that the paska and eggs are laid, as well as the food that will be eaten later during lunch.

Spend Easter lunch. It’s lunch, not dinner. And the main thing is not to emphasise the use of alcohol.

Bake paska or kulich. These are different things. Kulich is a product made of dough, and paska is made of cheese. But their ritual meaning is absolutely the same.

Decorate the eggs. Krashanka is purely monochromatic colouring, for example in onion peel or other dye. Pysanky is a coloured painting of an egg with paints. Krapanka is painting using melted wax with scratches of some pattern on the eggshell.

Sing songs. Not only church thematic psalms, but also folk songs. Such songs are called “grooves”.

What you should not do:
Swear and argue.

Engage in physical labour and housework. All food should be prepared in advance, and the house should be organised.

Throw away what was consecrated in the church. Even the shell from the Easter eggs should not be sent to the rubbish bin. It is better to bury or burn it.

Go to the bathhouse or cut your hair. Get yourself in order in advance.

Visit cemeteries or commemorate the dead. After all, this is a holiday of resurrection, not death.

For me, this service and tradition is a reminder that even though we have different ways of marking the Holy days of the Christian year – not just at Easter, but throughout that Year, we celebrate the same thing – our Saviour Jesus, risen from the dead. All too often, we allow our differences to become important to us – and that isn’t he way it works. Paul to the Galatians v.3:38 – There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

An ancient folk tale recounts the Blessed Mary decorating some eggs to offer to Pontius Pilate in a plea for sparing her son’s life. As she prepared the eggs, her tears fell onto the shells, forming dots of brilliant colours. When Mary came before Pilate, she dropped to her knees, and the story goes that the eggs rolled out across the floor, a symbol of their distribution world wide. To this day, in honour of Our Lady’s tears, dots are often incorporated into the egg designs. At Easter time, these eggs are still distributed to commemorate Christ’s teachings of Peace and Love.

Worldwide.

We pray for peace and the laying down of weapons.
We pray for all those who fear for tomorrow,
that your Spirit of comfort would draw near to them.
We pray for those with power over war or peace, for wisdom, discernment and compassion to guide their decisions.
Above all, we pray for all your precious children, at risk and in fear, that you would hold and protect them.
We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Amen