Gathering at the table

We come with honest hearts – dust and breath, longing and fear.
We come to the table of mercy.

A call is spoken: return.
Turn us again towards love that is real.

This is Christ’s table.
Not a reward for the spotless,
but grace for the broken.
Not a prize for those who perform holiness,
but bread for those who come as they are.

We come to confess and to be held.
We come to begin again.

The Peace

Peace is not denial – it is mercy that meets us in the truth.
The peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.

(Share peace in ways that honour boundaries – words, a nod, a wave, a hand on heart.)

The Great Thanksgiving

The Spirit is here.
The Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the God of love.

Let us give thanks to the Holy One.
It is right to give thanks and praise.

It is right, and a faithful thing,
to give you thanks, God of compassion and cleansing fire.
You do not despise a truthful heart.
You do not turn away from tears.
You do not confuse repentance with shame.

You call your people to return –
not with empty displays,
not with religious performance,
but with hearts opened to mercy
and lives reshaped by justice.

You invite us to a quiet faith –
to prayer that is real,
to generosity that is humble,
to fasting that makes room for love,
to treasure placed where moth and rust cannot reach.

In Jesus, you come close to our dust and weakness.
You speak reconciliation.
You make a way back into belonging.
You meet us in the wilderness and do not abandon us there.

And so, with angels and ancestors,
with all who turn towards you in honesty,
with all who long for renewal,
we sing the song of heaven:

Holy, holy, holy One,
breath of all that lives, fire of all that loves,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes to heal and to set free.
Hosanna in the highest.

Thanksgiving and story

Blessed are you, Holy One.
You speak to us in the truth of our lives –
in what we have done,
and in what has been done to us.
You call us back to yourself –
not to condemn,
but to heal.

Jesus taught us to seek you in secret –
not for applause,
but for freedom.
He warned us against a faith that performs,
and he invited us into a faith that gives, prays, and returns
with humility and joy.

He came not to bargain with our guilt,
but to reconcile us.
He carried our pain and our harm into his own body,
and he opened the door of grace wide.

Here at this table, you give us what we cannot earn –
mercy that restores,
bread that strengthens,
a cup that holds the promise of new beginnings.

Words of Institution

On the night before he gave himself for us,
Jesus took bread;
he gave thanks, broke it, and said:
“Take, eat. This is my body, given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the meal was ended,
he took the cup;
he gave thanks, and said:
“Drink from this, all of you.
This is my blood of the new covenant,
poured out for you and for many,
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of me.”

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

Prayer of the Spirit

Pour out your Spirit on us gathered here,
and on these gifts of bread and cup.
Make them for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we may be for the world the body of Christ:
truthful in love,
gentle in strength,
brave in repentance,
steady in hope.

Where we hide, bring light.
Where we perform, bring honesty.
Where we are stuck, bring release.
Where we have harmed, bring repair.
Where we have been harmed, bring healing.

Teach us to fast from what dehumanises.
Teach us to give ourselves to what restores.
Teach us to pray without pretending.
Teach us to store up treasure in mercy, justice, and peace.

Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all honour and glory are yours,
God of promise and presence,
now and always.
Amen.

The Prayer Jesus taught

As Jesus taught us, we pray:
(Use your community’s preferred wording/version.)

Breaking the bread

We break this bread
to share in the body of Christ.
Though we are many, we are one body,
because we all share in one bread.

The gifts of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.

Sharing the bread and cup

(Words such as these may be used during the distribution.)

Mercy for you.
Strength for the journey.

(If people receive a blessing instead of the elements: “May Christ be close to you; may love hold you.”)

Prayer after Communion

God of mercy,
we thank you for meeting us at this table.
You have fed us with grace,
and steadied us for the road ahead.

When we feel ashamed, remind us we are loved.
When we feel defensive, give us courage to change.

Send us out into Lent with honest hearts –
to practise prayer in secret,
to give without display,
to seek justice with tenderness,
to begin again, and again.
God of compassion,
now and forever. Amen.

Sending

Go in peace – not because everything is easy,
but because mercy goes with you.
We will return to love. We will practise truth. We will begin again.