Liturgical Resources for Lent

Prayers for Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, Easter, and a Lenten communion liturgy

Prayer for Ash Wednesday
We come from dust, to dust we shall return.
It seems so straightforward, how theoretical. 
Then we consider how settlers uproot an olive tree in the West Bank. 
Forcible removal of life from sacred dust and earth.
Wanton disregard for creation.
As thousands of reports of settler violence sit in our souls, we pray with those under attack by colonial violence.
Human life thrown to the ground, a return to dust before God deems it so.
Merciful creator, will you teach us a better way?
May each beloved soul return to dust in your timing, not a second sooner.
Amen.

Rev. Sam Kinsman

Prayer for Palm Sunday
Divine spirit of disruption,
we lift up our hands and hearts,
our palms and our passion,
always aware that praise and procession must be both proclamation and provocation,
that Hosanna is not decorative poetry but a demand for collective salvation.

Teach us to more actively hear the Hosannas of Palestine.
Teach us to balance spectacle with vulnerability,
Teach us that sustainable resistance does not arrive armored, but exposed and activated.
Teach us to name both harm and hope in public,
Combining them into an emphatic No to domination and occupation.

May we hold this ancient story of collective revolution close,
Not as concretized fairy tale but as living invitation.

And as resolved cheers give way to unresolved threats,
steady us for what comes next.

Teach us not to disappear when the cost becomes clear,
not to trade justice for comfort,
not to abandon love when it is no longer loudly celebrated.

May our continuing procession reshape our persistence,
so that even when the shouts fade and the shadows lengthen,
we remain,
Ready to follow our call all the way to the end and to the beginning.
Amen

Rev. Micah Bucey

Prayer for Maundy Thursday
Gracious God, you have given us a commandment—to love others as Christ loved us. This has been our call for over 2000 years, though we have often struggled to follow it all the way to the cross. We have let fear of reprisal or repercussions stop us from following in the way of radical love. Forgive us for our silence and renew in us the courage that comes from being grounded in Christ’s love. May we hear the cries of our siblings who suffer injustice, from our hometown to the Holy Land, and may we respond accordingly. May we understand that our call to love as Christ loved does not stop at borders, walls, or fences, it cannot be controlled by the powers that be, and it refuses to remain buried under the rubble. Remind us of our call to Christ’s radical love once more, and strengthen us to be servants of that love, no matter where it leads. We pray in the name of Jesus, our Christ, Amen.

Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

Prayer for Good Friday
Still-speaking God, we are born into a world of violence. 
We live in a world that has yet to choose peace.
As Christ was taunted, forsaken, and crucified, so too are innocents in the Holy Land.
Our Palestinian siblings are regularly displaced, denied aid, and killed. 
Suffering like Christ.
As we consider the hope and resurrection yet to come, 
we’re too accustomed to violence.
The overwhelming data obscures our connection to humanity.
Loving creator, may we not deify suffering this Good Day.
Awaken us out of shock and numbness; clarify our call to serve.
We await the resurrection yet to come.
Amen.

Rev. Sam Kinsman

Prayer for Holy Saturday
God of the aching in-between,
we so often sit in this long liminality,
between sealed-shut, stone-covered unknowing
and the bold breath we dare not yet call resurrection.

Help us to trust this quietude not as barrier but as threshold,
As invitation to embody solidarity with the most endangered among us.

In this waiting,
May we hold the people of Palestine in ever-expanding attention.
May we roll away rubble and commit to creating new life
amidst grief that rarely gets a third day promised.

May we vigilantly hold vigil,
Not forcing the hope but embodying it in the hush,
Not anesthetizing the pain but feeling the pull toward empowerment,
Not rushing but steadily recommitting.

May this ritual become resistance,
sharpening this momentary silence into resolve,
until justice rises from this shadowy hole not as a mere miracle,
but as living liberation made by many holy hands and held by many holy hearts.
Amen

Rev. Micah Bucey

Prayer for Easter Sunday
God of resurrection, in this life we contend with death on a daily basis. We witness the destruction of life from Gaza to the streets of our own cities. We see death-dealing forces colonize the vulnerable, oppress the marginalized, and strip away the self-determination of your children. And yet, we know that death, failure, and loss are not the end of the story. We know that life prevails, even in impossible situations. May your sustaining spirit bring new life to us this day, restoring our weary bodies and binding up our broken hearts. Resurrect us from the tombs of our despair and ground us in the joy of knowing that love and truth never die. Lead us this day from death to life, from despair to hope, from failure to new beginnings. In the name of our living Christ we pray, Amen.

Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

Lenten Communion Liturgy
We gather to remember a meal that began long ago. A meal that continues beyond our understanding. We gather to bear witness to the profound resilience of occupied peoples across the world. As ancient symbols are made new, we share this communion meal with Palestine.

As Jesus gathered with beloved family and friends in the upper room, communities across time and space have shared in this meal. Now, it’s our turn. Our style, tone and choreography might differ in each of our rooms, but our hearts of loving-kindness erupt with the same divine heat.

Take us to that upper room, O God. Our communion brings us to the heart of faith, the heartbeat we share with the suffering of our kindred. Move us from complacency to loving action.

We gather to celebrate our communion in love, we bring the bread back to the Holy Land. This bread breaks to release the bonds of oppression and violence holding so many under the thumb of tyranny. As Christ’s body was broken for many, restore the brokenness in the Holy Land.

	*lift the bread*

The cup of the new covenant pours out, straight into the soil. May the living waters of the new covenant liberate, deepen our Palestinian siblings’ hope and faith for peaceful days yet to come. May the new covenant of Christ’s love be awash with laughter, the cool waters of reconciliation and peace.

	*lift the cup*

Bind us to each other, almighty God. Connect each breath and every ritual to the suffering of our unified church. Pour out your mercy and wisdom over each and all, so that we can become a more just and peaceful church.

Now, we enter into this meal for ourselves and for our neighbors near and far. This meal is for all who are hungry, all who are parched for justice to reveal itself. May we take part in this communion with full-throated calls for accountability and truth, here and abroad.

May God’s love move us towards healing, may our meal never be interrupted by craven avarice.

All has been made ready, beloved.

Rev. Sam Kinsman