rhianprime

Nov 2, 20204 min read

All Souls Day Worship - Rick Gratton

Welcome to You All as We Reflect on All Souls Day

As We Gather Together

We meet today to remember those we have known and loved who have died, to renew our

trust and confidence in Christ, and to pray that together we may be one in him, through

whom we offer our praises to the Father.

As a father cares for his children: so, the Lord cares for those who fear him.

For he himself knows of what we are made: he remembers that we are but dust.

Our days are like the grass: we flourish like a flower of the field.

When the wind goes over it, it is gone, and its place shall know it no more.

But the merciful goodness of the Lord endures for ever on those who fear him: and his

righteousness on children's children.

The Collect

Almighty God,

you have knit together your elect

in one communion and fellowship

in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord:

grant us grace so to follow your blessed saints

in all virtuous and godly living

that we may come to those inexpressible joys

you have prepared for those who truly love you;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,

be the kingdom, the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Readings

Lamentations 3. 17-26

My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, ‘Gone is my

glory, and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.’ The thought of my affliction and my

homelessness is wormwood and gall! My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed

down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast

love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new

every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,

‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul

that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Psalm 23

The Lord / is my / shepherd:

therefore / can I / lack / nothing.

He makes me lie down in / green / pastures:

and / leads me be/side still / waters.

He shall re/fresh my / soul:

and guide me in the paths of righteousness

/ for his / name’s / sake.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will / fear no / evil:

for you are with me;

your / rod and your / staff, they / comfort me.

You spread a table before me

in the presence of / those who / trouble me:

you have anointed my head with oil

/ and my / cup shall be / full.

Surely goodness and loving mercy shall follow me

all the / days of my / life:

and I will dwell in the / house of the / Lord for / ever

1 Peter 1. 3-9

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has

given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from

the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept

in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a

salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a

little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your

faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may

be found to result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him

now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you

are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

An Opportunity for Private Reflection

(Please light a candle in Remembrance or if you prefer a name on a pebble)

God of grace and glory, we come to remember especially before you today ….

(The names of those to be remembered may be read aloud. Silence may be kept

after each name, or group of names, or after all the names have been read.)

We thank you for giving them to us to know and to love as companions in our

pilgrimage on earth. In your boundless compassion console those who mourn. Grant

us that we may see in death the gate of everlasting life and continue our course on

earth in faith, though Jesus Christ our Lord, the Life and the Resurrection of all who

put their trust in him.

Please Say aloud your loved one`s names. Can write it on the stone too if you wish

and then place around the lit candle.

Prayers

Merciful Father,

On this day, we are called to remember those who have died,

Particularly those who have died in the past year,

And pray for their joyful reunion with you, their loving creator.

As your son taught us to call the stranger

neighbor, our fallen are many—

Names we will never know,

Voices we have never heard,

In lands we may never visit,

Yet brothers and sisters all.

And so we pray.

For victims of war, caught in the crossfires of

conflicts we could not quell,

for soldiers and civilians,

adults and children, we pray …

Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

For those migrants who have died seeking a

haven where they hoped to find safety

and opportunity for themselves and for their families, we pray …