EDINBURGH NORTHWEST KIRK
MAY PRAYER DIARY
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3 : 16)
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Prayers for each day
5 May - for Rev. Julia Cato and her family
6 May - for the meeting of the Kirk Session today
7 May - for the political leadership of Scotland
8 May - for aid agencies providing support in Gaza
9 May - for the latest attempts for peace in Gaza
10 May - for the CrossReach ministry at The Elms in Edinburgh, a specialist residential care home for older people with a diagnosis of dementia
11 May - for Bethany Christian Trust in their work with the homeless
12 May - for Christian Aid Week which starts today
13 May - for the many activities taking place in the parish to raise funds for Christian Aid
14 May - for Christian Aid’s activities in Afghanistan after the earthquake in September 2023. Head of Christian Aid Scotland, Val Brown, said: The Scottish Government funding allowed us to scale up our response and reach those in more remote locations, who may otherwise have been forgotten. Our local partner says they were able to support families, including 93 women-headed households, who’ve lost their home and all their possessions. The cash grants allowed them to meet their immediate needs, as they start rebuilding their lives.
15 May - for the visiting team and the elderly in the parish
16 May - for the work of Fairtrade
17 May - for the ministry of Fresh Start
18 May - for the new Moderator Rev Dr Shaw James Paterson from Strathaven who takes up his new role today at the start of the General Assembly
19 May - for the discussions and debates at the Assembly that they may be productive and helpful
20 May - for those attending the Assembly from overseas that they may feel welcome and appreciated
21 May - for the Turi children’s project in Kenya
22 May - for those struggling with ill health and those providing care
23 May - for the King and the Princess of Wales in their cancer treatment
24 May - for staff, patients and volunteers in our local hospitals
25 May - for hospital chaplains and their ministry
26 May - Help us become a community where all feel welcome
27 May - for all staff and patients in local hospices
28 May - for the Teams of elders supporting the work of North West Kirk
29 May - for our two Session Clerks, Edith Butler and Graham Madeley
30 May - for the induction service of Rev. Julia Cato this evening
31 May - for this new phase in the life of our parish
1 June - for the guidance of God as we look to the future
Reflection
Love is the hallmark of discipleship in the Gospel of John, and the disciples are to mirror the love that God has for Jesus, that Jesus has for his Father, and that Jesus has for his disciples. This love, however, is not an abstract commandment but has already been embodied in Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.
As Jesus experienced abundant love when Mary anointed his feet, he then takes that love forward into Jerusalem, into the hour, and is able to wash the feet of his betrayer, Judas, and his denier, Peter. Jesus takes Mary’s love with him to the garden, his arrest, trial, the cross, and into the darkness of his tomb.
By loving one another, the disciples will carry their love forward in their own loss and grief ahead. It is the love that they have for each other that will get them through not only Jesus’ absence but what is to come once they leave the house, cross the Kidron Valley, and enter the garden. The community of the disciples is commanded to do works of love, but loving one another makes possible loving the world God loves. God cannot love the world without the love they take into the world. And they will do this embodied love together, just as Jesus has embodied limitless love.
This is what it looks like to lay down one’s life for one’s friends: to be present for each other in times of threat and crisis. Note that Jesus does not say, “Lay down your life for me” but “for your friends.” To be Jesus’ friend is to be loved by him and then to love as Jesus has loved. “Jesus’ words about laying down his life articulate the very real choices that he makes for his own life and that guide his relationships in the world.”
The disciples will have to make real choices for each other in the hours to come and in the days following Jesus’ resurrection. The love shown to one another is the love Jesus has shown as he has accompanied his disciples. He loved them to the end, to the full extent of love. In their love for one another, they hold on to and keep experiencing Jesus’ love for them. What a friend we have in Jesus.
Karoline Lewis, Professor and the Marbury E. Anderson Chair of Biblical Preaching, Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota
If you have a prayer request or a favourite prayer which you would care to share in a future Prayer Diary, please e-mail office@cramondkirk.org.uk