Palmerston North
Bishop Peter Cullinane
6 April 2011
Bishop Peter Cullinane offered this prayer at the thanksgiving service at the Scandinavian Festival in Norsewood on Sunday February 27.
God of all creation and of all nations
we turn to you in thanksgiving
for the wonderful gift of life itself
and life within our families, our nations,
and the family of nations.
Throughout the ages you prepared this land
that we all now call home.
You peopled it with those who came here first
and whom we acknowledge as the tangata whenua.
Then you further enriched it
with new migrations from further afield
and as far away as Scandinavia.
We ask you to bless our ongoing efforts
to create a nation.
Give us a strong sense of social, political and
economic responsibility
and of responsible care for the land,
mountains and sea.
As you have been generous to us
make us generous to those who have
not been so fortunate.
We think of those whose families and homes
have been broken by the earthquake in Christchurch.
We think also of migrants and refugees
and those who have nowhere they can call home.
Help us to reach out to them
as you have reached out to us.
Bless us as we journey together
towards our true home with you and one another
in the life won for us by him
in whose name we make our prayer,
Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Images:
- Top: The Norwegian dancing group, The Hallingdale Valley Mountaineers, pictured with Palmerston North mayor Jono Taylor, third from left, who visited the city before going to Dannevirke and Norsewood for the Scandinavian Festival on February 25 to 27.
- Bottom: Some of the Danish dancers at Norsewood School, February 25, 2011.