prayer
holy week
Resource compiled by the Joint Liturgical Group
of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
Holy Week
Lord, we have journeyed the long road from Galilee to Judea,
we stand now looking over Jerusalem.
We have sung the Psalms of Ascents,
songs of trust in the God who delivers from distress;
of joy in the God who invites us into his house;
of hope in God's promised future.
The songs of the pilgrims journeying to Jerusalem,
journeying to the City of God
for the great feasts.
But what feast do we travel to?
You heard them sung Lord when first you were brought to this place,
and how many times have you sung them since?
"I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come?"
"I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord!"
"Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord."
But what feast do we travel to?
We have followed in trust, and joy, and hope,
from the shores of the Galilee to the glories of God's house.
We have come in expectation of the triumph of our Lord,
of glorious entry into the promised kingship of David.
We have come to see our hopes raised,
and our hopes shattered on the wood of the cross and in the stone of the tomb.
We travel to the feast of a promise.
A promise we only vaguely comprehend;
a promise which demands our trust,
which demands our faith.
Lord, we joyously welcome you into our hearts
as into Jerusalem;
we reject you in fear as we do not understand;
and yet in your sacrifice you hold out that promise to us - life.....
In trust, and joy, and hope, may we truly accept that promise.
