Today’s Gospel reading is John’s account of the cleansing of the Temple: in which we see Jesus being angry.  Pray for all those who are angry at injustice – that they may learn from the Gospels how to place anger at the service of love, mercy and justice.

As part of the Call to Change by The Contextual Theology Centre and Church Urban Fund, the Centre has produced Urgent Patience – a reflection on the spirituality of Christian social action, which includes a meditation on the positive role of anger.

Pray also for the High Cross URC Youth and Community Project.  The first phase of this award-winning project, on ‘Anger Management and Finding Peaceful Ways of Resolving Conflict’, helped young people to help with volatile situations and those dealing with anger issues.

Following the riots in August 2011, the young people have requested a new phase of workshops on ‘Dealing with Anger; out of control behaviour, resolving conflict in peaceful ways, and exploring new activities for young people in the community’. The Church Urban Fund is supporting this initiative – in which people from High Cross and other local churches will be part of an anger management workshop series, equipping them to become peacemakers, and giving them a chance to do research in the community and have a young leader’s weekend away. Their research may result in future activities being run for young people in August 2012.