Clarion Call Day 387 - Funeral of The Duke of Edinburgh
Psalm 104:24-35
24 How many are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the Lord.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Praise the Lord.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
(Rev Professor Norman Drummond)
O God our loving heavenly Father
We thank you that you are closest to us when we are most in need of you and so it is to you that we turn at this time of sadness and earthly parting as we give thanks for the life and many contributions of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
In the quietness of our hearts, we call to mind his several qualities which made him the person that he was in this life – his calmness and steadiness under fire, his wisdom and patience in the face of difficulty and uncertainty, his ability to deeply connect with people of all ages and backgrounds not least the young in whom he placed such hope and future confidence, his loyalty and devotion to Her Majesty The Queen and their Family of several generations and his unstinting courage and commitment to those things in life and science which really do matter and which will last.
In our mind’s eye we gratefully remember Prince Philip leading the way in several fields as well as ‘a step behind’ supporting The Queen in all her years of service to Scotland and throughout the United Kingdom and far beyond and not least to the Commonwealth of Nations. For all of his exceptional private and public service we give you thanks.
We pray for The Queen and all members of the Royal Family, those who knew and loved Prince Philip best and who will miss him most. In your loving kindness sustain them all and all those who mourn at this time.
Guide us all we pray to more deeply share in the quiet unassuming Christian faith which was his to the end that one day in your time we shall indeed be reunited with those whom we have known and loved and have gone on before us.
And for those of us who remain may your grace and mercy and peace surround and strengthen us all, enabling each of us to love you more dearly and to follow you more nearly.
May we in our turn walk in the footsteps of those who have inspired us because they knew you and were loved by you with your perfect love which casts out all fear.
In the abiding strength and comfort of your Holy Spirit, we make these our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, our constant companion on this voyage through life until we meet again.
AMEN
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
(Very Rev Dr Susan Brown)
We give you thanks, Lord God, for each and every new day.
We give thanks to you as the Creator and as the giver of life.
We praise you that through Jesus, your Son, that life becomes eternal -
Through his Easter activity and his promise of life forever more,
and through faith in him.
We give you thanks for the people who enrich our lives,
They too are gifts from you.
For their friendship, their love, their companionship, we praise you.
And in a world where too many are isolated
We bring to you those for whom friendship and love
Are luxuries they don’t have.
We hold before you those fleeing their native countries
For safer ground
And who are left to feel unwelcome.
We pray for those whose lives have been turned upside down
Through warring, through violence, through grief.
We bring to you the governments of the nations of this world
and we pray, in your name Lord Jesus,
that they may know wisdom
and seek peace and justice above all else;
caring for all those who are their citizens
across nations and across borders.
We hold before you all who grieve
And we think particularly at this time,
Of the Royal Family
And of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, whose loss is so great
And who faces a gap in her life that can never be filled.
For all who mourn:
For all who mourn long-standing relationships
And relationships that were unable to be formed, we pray.
We hold each one before you
Asking Lord God, for your peace, your comfort,
For your strength, and for your courage.
We offer you the families of this world;
Those who have lost children unborn,
Those who have lost young people and adults, parents and friends.
Envelop all of them in your love this day and always.
These prayers we offer, Creator God,
Holding onto the promise of your constant presence with us
Throughout all eternity.
In the name of Christ.
AMEN