Yorkminster Park Baptist Church was the birthplace of The Canadian Council of Churches and we continue to be grateful for the rich blessings of the ecumenical movement upon our life as a church. We give thanks too for the rich relationships between denominations forged nationally through the Canadian Council of Churches and for the local fellowship of churches we share through our involvement in the Churches on-the-Hill.
The scriptures remind us that we are part of a great fellowship marked by a mutual sharing of joys and sorrows. Therefore we can’t help but be moved to pray for our sisters and brothers of the Roman Catholic community on the death of their pontiff. Humbly I offer the following prayer in the hope that it might guide you in your prayers.
Let us pray…
Gracious and merciful God, we offer you our thanks for the life and leadership of Pope Francis and the remarkable impact he had on the church worldwide. We are especially grateful for his pastoral warmth and wisdom born of his deep devotion to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We pray that his humility and grace in all things will continue to inspire the world for generations to come. We give thanks for the manner in which his words and deeds so often served to remind us of all that we have in common as followers of Christ and of the call of Christ to care for the poor and marginalized and work and pray for peace and justice.
We also give thanks that after all Pope Francis had been through in recent months, he arrived at Easter and on the last full day of his life able to bless all who came to celebrate the good news of Christ’s resurrection. In this Easter season we give thanks for the victory of Christ over sin and death and for the gift of faith that enables us to look to him with the assurance that in the end he will carry us home to the Father’s House, where suffering and sickness, mourning and dying will be no more.
In this season of grief as we give thanks for Pope Francis’ life and mourn his loss, we pray for the strength to keep alive in our hearts his prayerful longing for justice and peace in this world. And as we give thanks for his leadership we also pray for the Roman Catholic Church as they mourn his passing and for the leadership of the Roman Catholic community as they prayerfully seek to identify your calling upon one of their members to become the Bishop of Rome. Gracious Father, may they look to you as Francis did and may they truly sense the guidance of your Holy Spirit and bring honour to your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In Christ,
Peter
