For Sunday, May 31st:

We give you thanks, Almighty God, for this Pentecost Sunday and for the Holy Spirit that came to the disciples so long ago. On that day, they gathered to give thanks even as their lives were filled with grief, sadness, and fear. You responded by pouring out your Spirit, empowering them to carry on what Jesus had begun. Thank you, O God!

You know, O Lord, that the world is huddled in grief, sadness, and fear once more. A dread disease threatens human life all over the globe. Economic shutdown have millions unemployed and worried about their financial survival Prejudice and racial divisions have torn our country apart and unrest is everywhere. Lord, we need your Holy Spirit now more than ever. We need your wisdom to guide us as we address the injustices we have allowed to live in our hearts and in our institutions. We need your compassion to help heal the brokenness of the physical and spiritual diseases that assail us. We need you love to temper our anger and dispel our fear.

Help us to see, as the disciples saw so long ago, that thankful hearts pave the way for the work of the Spirit, and then move us to become more thankful. Grant that an attitude of gratitude can help us, as it helped them, to focus on your intentions for all the world—then guide us as we seek to make your intentions live among us. Grant that we might proclaim your word of love and justice with renewed commitment to bringing that word to life in ourselves and our institutions. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen!