On the Anniversary of the first Lockdown on the 23rd of March, we will undoubtedly reflect on all that has happened in the past year and acknowledge the profound impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had upon us personally and communally. There is not one of us who has not felt the impact of these times in one way or another. Above all else, we shall acknowledge the loss of life and recognise that behind each number recorded there lies a person whose life is known to God and who is mourned by those who have loved them. In their passing, we are the poorer. In the remembrance of a life given by God, we are the richer.
The Letter to the Hebrews records that: ‘In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears’. (Hebrews 5: 7) Jesus is called to take the place of the one who offers prayers on behalf of us all, and does so with ‘cries and tears’ because he himself has ‘suffered’. (Hebrews 5: 5-10) He shares in the suffering of the world and brings the suffering of the world before God. In all our reflections at this time, we remember the One who prayed for us in ‘the days of his flesh’ and who, even now, lives to pray for us once more. We pray:
Living God, in whose image we are made,
Hear us we ask, through your Son who prays for us.
Hear us, as we recall all we have endured as community and Nation
In the year that has passed.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Living God, who knows us in all our suffering,
Hear us we ask, through your Son who prays for us.
Hear us, as we reflect across the Nation
And remember those who have suffered the deepest loss.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Living God, whose name is Love,
Hear us we ask, through your Son who prays for us.
Hear us, as we reach out our hand to those who suffer still
And stand with them in the face of all that is to come.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Living God, who gives good gifts to all Creation,
Hear us we ask, through your Son who prays for us.
Hear us, as we give thanks for those who, in hospital and in care home,
Have cared for the dying and the sick.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Living God, who inspires Hope,
Hear us we ask, through your Son who prays for us.
Hear us, as we acknowledge and give thanks for all who have created the vaccines
That give hope to the peoples of all Nations.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Living God, who gives Light to the World, even in the face of Darkness,
Hear us we ask, through your Son who prays for us.
Hear us, as we bow in the presence of the One who,
In the days of his flesh, shed tears for us.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Signed by:
- Rt. Rev. Dr Martin Fair, Moderator of the General Assembly, Church of Scotland
- Most Rev. Leo Cushley, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, Roman Catholic Church
- Most Rev. Mark Strange, Primus, on behalf of the College of Bishops, Scottish Episcopal Church
- Rev. John Fulton, Moderator, United Free Church of Scotland
- Rev. Donnie G. MacDonald, Moderator, Free Church of Scotland
- Rev. Paul Whittle, Moderator, United Reformed Church (Scotland)
- Rev. Martin Hodson, General Director, Baptist Union of Scotland
- Rev. Mark Slaney, District Chair, Methodist Church (Scotland)
- Rev. May-Kane Logan, Chair, Congregational Federation in Scotland
- Lt. Col. Carol Bailey, Secretary for Scotland, Salvation Army
- Adwoa Bittle, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
- Rev. Claire Fender, District Superintendent, British Isles North District, Church of the Nazarene
- Pastor Chris Gbenle, Provincial Pastor, Province of Scotland, Redeemed Christian Church of God
- Bishop Francis Alao, Church of God (Scotland)/Minority Ethnic Churches Together in Scotland (MECTIS)
- Rev Fred Drummond, Director, Evangelical Alliance (Scotland)