Fire and Bread

This book of Eastertide resources covering the period from Easter Sunday to Trinity Sunday is a follow-up to Ruth Burgess's previous popular collections of material, such as Eggs and Ashes, Candles and Conifers and Hay and Stardust. It offers prayers, responses, liturgies, songs, poems, reflections, meditations, sermons and stories, written by Iona Community members, associates, friends and others, and is suitable for use by groups and individuals. The resources cover the weeks from Easter Day to Trinity Sunday, including Ascension Day, Pentecost, Saints’ days, Rogation days, environmental days and many more.

God of Eastertide –
of blazing bonfires and familiar gestures,
of serious questions and tears and laughter,
of conversations on the road –

come close to us as we walk,
as we warm ourselves,
as we dance in firelight,
as we share stories and food.

Bless us as we celebrate your rising in us,
closer to us than breathing,
life-giving as fire and bread.

Ruth Burgess