PRIEST: November is the month of remembrance – remembering those who have died in both war and in peace; remembering those we have loved and are now ‘gone before us marked with the sign of faith.’ But we are an Easter People and Alleluia! is our song – we are children of the Resurrection, children of our God. As we celebrate Baptism today we know we die with Christ in the waters of baptism in order to rise to a new life in Him, now and for all eternity. So we remember with living faith, knowing that the dead are fully alive in the Resurrection in ways we can only glimpse darkly. Today also marks a most important day for our world, our planet, as the United Nations COP 27 Conference gathers in Egypt. This Conference must make binding and effective decisions to arrest Climate Change before it is too late and we condemn our children and grandchildren to inhabiting a dangerous world! In a moment silent prayer, let us remember our beloved dead, and pray for the success of COP 27 and the future of our planet.
READER: For our fears that stop us trusting God
for being unwilling to sacrifice ourselves in the service of others …
LORD HAVE MERCY…
When we fail to give our world a witness to eternity;
when our lives are little different from those around us…
CHRIST HAVE MERCY…
Because Jesus has destroyed death and restored life
in the power of his death and resurrection…
LORD HAVE MERCY…
PRIEST: May the God of the Living embrace us with forgiveness,
heal us with tenderness, empower us with mercy,
and bring us into everlasting life…
AMEN!