Those Who Started With Bread – Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A: Prayer of the Faithful

Quick Reference

Date: 3 May 2026

Season: Easter – Fifth Sunday

Readings: Acts 6:1–7 ,  Psalm 33 ,  1 Peter 2:4–9 ,  John 14:1–12

Response

Reader: Lord, hear us.   All: Lord, graciously hear us.

Theme

The heart that makes room – leaders who served, communities that know each other by name, the rejected welcomed home.

Celebrant Introduction

Jesus told his disciples: do not let your hearts be troubled. He did not say: do not feel. He said: do not let the heart fill up so completely with its own weight that there is no room left. We come to these prayers with hearts that carry much. We bring it all – the grief, the hunger, the longing, the gratitude – and we set it down here, before the One who already knows it, and we ask.

Intercessions

For the Church —

That she may always choose her leaders from among those who began with service – who know what it is to carry the basket, to stand in the queue, to look into the face of someone who is hungry. May those who lead the Church never forget the weight of bread in their hands.

Reader: Lord, hear us.   All: Lord, graciously hear us.

For wisdom in the sharing of tasks —

That communities, ministries, and institutions may have the courage to distribute their sacred work – not hoarding responsibility out of fear or pride, but trusting that the Spirit moves through the whole body. May we be freed from the exhaustion of doing alone what was always meant to be carried by all.

Reader: Lord, hear us.   All: Lord, graciously hear us.

For communities strong enough to hear a complaint —

That wherever a voice is raised in our parishes to name an injustice – a group overlooked, a need unmet, a widow forgotten – we may have the wisdom to stop, to listen, and to discern the truth beneath the grievance. May we never be so busy with the word that we stop hearing the people the word was given to serve.

Reader: Lord, hear us.   All: Lord, graciously hear us.

For the community gathered here —

That we may come to know one another by name. Not the face we recognise from three pews away. The name. The story. May this Sunday’s gathering be one small step toward a community where no one is invisible, and no one slips through unnoticed.

Reader: Lord, hear us.   All: Lord, graciously hear us.

For all who feel rejected —

For those who have been discarded by institutions, by families, by their own sense of worth – that they may find their way to the cornerstone, the one who was also rejected and became, in that very rejection, the hinge on which everything turns. May they know that what the world throws away, God chooses.

Reader: Lord, hear us.   All: Lord, graciously hear us.

For all who have lost their way —

For those who no longer know which direction is forward, who have stopped trusting the road beneath their feet – that they may hear again the quiet voice that says: I am the way. Not the destination you must reach by tomorrow. The way. I am already with you on it.

Reader: Lord, hear us.   All: Lord, graciously hear us.

For those who have died —

That all who have gone before us in faith may dwell in the many rooms of the Father’s house, in the place prepared, in the light that no darkness reaches.

Reader: Lord, hear us.   All: Lord, graciously hear us.

Celebrant Conclusion

God of the living stone and the loyal heart – you do not ask us to arrive before we have walked. You ask only that we keep walking, and that we walk together. Gather these prayers, and all that we could not find words for, into the one prayer of your Son, who is the way we are on and the home we are walking toward. Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Practical Notes

Tone: unhurried and grounded. These petitions carry some weight – the one for the rejected, the one for those who have lost their way – and the reader should allow each one space to land before moving to the response. This is not a list to get through. It is a series of doors being opened.

Adaptability: the intercession for the local community (knowing each other by name) can be made more concrete if your parish is in a particular moment of growth or transition. Name it if it is true. General language is safer but less alive.

The intercession for those who feel rejected may land close to home for some in the congregation. Read it quietly, without drama. The weight is already in the words.

More Resources

The Heart That Learned to Ring Out – An overview of This Sunday theme and symbols.

The Stone That Learned to Sing – Going deep into all four readings of this Sunday.

From Music to Worship – A post-communion Taizé practice for This Sunday

Follow the Mystery of Senses

This week’s Echoes of Yourself and Born to Recognise are both tracing the theme of the blessing of one’s heart. Come back towards the end of the week for a story speaking into the art of emptying oneself – and a set of practices on how to translate it into your own world.