RESPONSIVE READING

God of health and wholeness, we thank you that you care about each of us— children, youth, young adults, those of us who are older. We thank you that you desire abundant life for all of Creation. 
Lord, from the midst of our perceived abundance, plunge us deep into a sense of sadness at the pain of our sisters and brothers inflicted by war, prejudice, injustice, and indifference. Help us to learn again to cry as children until our tears baptize us into people who touch with care those we now touch in prayer. Today we especially remember in prayer the millions who have been robbed of health and wholeness because of HIV/AIDS.
God, we pray for those in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. We pray for those in the U.S., North Carolina, and around the world. We pray that all those who endure the physical effects and stigma of HIV/AIDS may feel your loving and welcoming arms and sense our compassion, concern and solidarity as well.
We pray for those who are ill;
We pray for those who are dying;
We pray for mothers lamenting the illness of babies;
We pray for children who have been left alone to become heads of families;
We pray for partners watching a loved one slowly die;
We pray for grandparents who now have young children to care for.
We pray for those who are wrestling with ways to confront the stereotypes, stigma and prejudices fostered by culture and religion. Give them strength.
We remember also and give thanks for those who are developing programs of prevention, education and advocacy.  May their efforts be creative and effective and may we learn to be creative and effective from them.
Help us, O God, to continue to pray, but also to act so that the conditions that foster HIV/AIDS will be changed.
Help us, O God, to hear the cries of those who are pleading with us, “Please come to us without delay.”
Help us to respond faithfully like Peter and the other disciples, who without hesitation offered hands of healing and comfort to the sick and the dying.
Help us to encourage our government’s participation in acts of awareness and generosity and help us to call the pharmaceutical industry into acts of solidarity and compassion as well.
Help us to find ways to contribute to the efforts of organizations in North Carolina and of partner churches to address HIV/AIDS.
We ask these things in the name of Jesus, our Savior, brother and friend. Amen.

(Adapted from “Prayers of the People,” The United Church of Canada, www.united-church.ca/beads/pdf/studyguide/3.pdf)

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

O God, we confess our sin in the midst of HIV and AIDS.
We confess our fear, our selective compassion, and our conditional love.
We have denied and avoided sisters and brothers, families and friends.
We have become disconnected from our neighbors.
We have become disconnected from our own sexuality.
And therefore, we have become disconnected from you, O God.
We have removed them from our midst to hospitals.
Forgive us, O God.
Bring us back to the center of your presence where you hold all who call upon your name.
Help us to break the silence.
Help us to reach out to restore the connections
With all whom you love.
We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

(From “World AIDS Day Worship Resources,” www.presbyterian.ca/pwsd/hivaids/sunday2.html)

Prayer and Reflection for Social and Economic Justice in the HIV/AIDS Era

God of liberation and justice, defender of the poor and marginalized, we seek Your guidance.
Give us the vision and the confidence to become prophets when resources are looted.
Let us hear the cry of the widows. Let us feed the orphans. Let us denounce injustice by the powerful.
May we demand drugs for the sick.
May we demand care for the abandoned.
May we denounce wastefulness by the affluent.
Forgive our silence. Forgive our complicity.
In Your mercy forgive our condemnation of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Forgive us when we deal lightly with the wounds of Your people.
Forgive the times when we have offered artificial solutions. Empower us to tackle corrupt systems.
Make us instruments of Your peace. Make us agents of Your transformation.
In the strong name of Christ we pray,
Amen.

(From Church World Service, “Offering of Prayers,” www.ncccusa.org/missioneducation/aids/document/HIV_GeneralPrayers.pdf)

AIDS and the Power of God’s Goodness and Grace: A Responsive Reading

We gather in the name of the crucified and risen Christ,
Over whom death had no power and through whom there is life eternal.
We gather as a remembering and a caring community,
A community of faith and hope united by God's love.
We come to give thanks for those we love,
Those who have cared for us. Those who have brought joy to our lives.
Those we love and pray to be reunited with when the time is right.

God calls to us:
To care for one another, to be compassionate and merciful.
We celebrate God's goodness and grace,
In the love we give, receive and remember.
We experience God's goodness and grace
Through arms that embrace us when we are filled with fear.
We are the creation of one Creator God.
The child who cries is every child. The woman weakened and tired is every mother, wife, sister, daughter.
The man is every father, husband, son and brother.
AIDS leaves gaping wounds in the lives of those who have lost the ones they love the most.
God, give us the strength and courage to be present in the midst of loss.
Across the infinity of space and time a common heart beats in every breast,
Forbearing pain and clinging to hope we are brought to a deeper understanding of our common humanity.
We are a family of nations united by our common priceless humanity.
AIDS is a worldwide crisis in the midst of which there is no “we” and “they.”
We confess that we are all affected,
When one of God's creation suffers we all suffer.
We know Jesus identifies with all who suffer;
Through our faith in Him, healing and wholeness take place.
In AIDS ministry there is giving and receiving;
Like a chalice filled and drained and filled again, we receive Christ and have Christ to give.
When we care for a person who has AIDS we show that we love Christ;
To touch, to bathe, to feed, to clothe the one who is ill is to do this unto Christ Jesus.
Today we are called to be a joyful, thankful people,
Upheld by God's goodness and grace which has the power to disarm AIDS.

In thankfulness we commit ourselves to being a caring, justice-seeking, nurturing community.
We covenant together in commitment to God and to one another.
We will be a caring community;
We welcome into our community and our church all persons whose lives have been touched by HIV and AIDS.  We say to all: “You are welcome here.”
We will be a justice-seeking community;
We will oppose all forms of discrimination against persons with HIV and AIDS. We support the right of all persons with HIV and AIDS to housing, employment, services, transportation, accommodations and health care.
We will be a nurturing community;
We will care for one another and love one another. We will pray for God's creation.
We will be Christ's presence in each other's lives. We will be witnesses to God's unconditional love.
Through Christ's example we are made finer, gentler, stronger;
Through Christ, the Savior, and the power of God's goodness and grace we are set free to love, to seek justice, to become all God intends us to be. Amen.

(edited, by Cathie Lyons, from http//gbgm-umc.org/cam/memorials/goodness.html)