Today, we pray for widows, orphans and single parent families

Lord Jesus, today we pray for some of the ignored in our society – the widows, widowers, orphans and single parents. We pray that You will be the absent spouse, mother and father for them all. May Your love surround them when they are at their lowest. May Your Holy Spirit give them inner strength, courage and joy. May angels be at their service when they need them. Bless their families and friends too mightily, Lord. Forgive the ones who reject them and cause them suffering. Amen.

Collect: O God, who decreed that Saint Barnabas, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, should be set apart to convert the nations, grant that the Gospel of Christ, which he strenuously preached, may be faithfully proclaimed by word and by deed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.