Lent

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ.

When you gave him to save us from our sin,

your Spirit led him into the wilderness,

where he fasted forty days and forty nights to prepare for his ministry. 

When he suffered and died on a cross for our sin, you raised him to life, 

presented him alive to the apostles during forty days, 

and exalted him at your right hand.

By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection

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.

Now, when we your people prepare for the yearly feast of Easter,

you lead us to repentance for sin and the cleansing of our hearts,

that during these forty days of Lent we may be gifted and graced

to reaffirm the covenant you made with us through Christ.

“The Great Thanksgiving for Early in Lent”

This week and next week we pray for: Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany

Give thanks for: Reconciliation between France and Germany after the end of the Second World War. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany and its families. The witness of such ecumenical centres as the Taizé community, which has revitalized worship, particularly among young people. Those working for tolerance and support for immigrants and refugees, so that hatred and violence based on ethnicity are eliminated. Magnificent church art and architecture, which tell the gospel story and praise God.