All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening (July 25, 2020)



Evening Prayer

The Service of Light

Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
A light no darkness can extinguish.


Joyous light of glory of the immortal Father,
Heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
And we look to the evening light.
We sing to God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy of being praised with pure voices forever.
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
The universe proclaims your glory,
your glory, your glory.

Thanksgiving

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

We praise you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe!
Your word brings on the dusk of evening,
your wisdom creates both night and day.
You determine the cycles of time,
arrange the succession of the seasons,
and establish the stars in their heavenly courses.
Lord of the starry hosts is your name.
Living and eternal God,
rule over us always.
Blessed be the Lord,
whose word makes evening fall.
Amen.

Psalm 141 is sung and incense may be burned.


Like burning incense, O Lord,
let my rise to you.
Like burning incense, O Lord,
let my prayer rise to you.

1 I call out to you,
Come quickly to my aid.
My song cries out to you,
O listen to me now.
I raise my hands in off’ring to you.

Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)

2 Let me speak your truth;
watch over all I say.
Keep my thoughts on you;
let goodness rule my heart.
Keep me far from those who do harm.

Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)

3 Never let me dine
with those who seek to harm.
Keep your holy ones
always at my side.
Plant your wisdom deep in my soul.

Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)

4 I look to you for help;
I seek your loving eyes.
Guard my life for you;
Spare me from all wrong.
Keep all evil far from my heart.

Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)

5 Glory be to God
and to God’s only Son,
glory to the Spirit,
three in one,
now and for ever. Amen.

Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)

Silence is kept.

Let the incense of our repentant prayer ascend before you, O Lord, and let your loving kindness descend upon us, that with purified minds we may sing your praises with the Church on earth and the whole heavenly host, and may glorify you forever and ever. Amen.

The Psalms


O God, you search me, and you know me
All my thoughts lie open to your gaze
When I walk or lie down, you are before me
Ever the maker and keeper of my days.

You know my resting and my rising
You discern my purpose from afar
And with love everlasting, you besiege me
In ev'ry moment of life or death, you are.

Before a word is on my tongue, Lord
You have known its meaning through and through
You are with me beyond my understanding
God of my present, my past and future, too.

Although your Spirit is upon me
Still I search for shelter from your light
There is nowhere on Earth I can escape you
Even the darkness is radiant in your sight.

For you created me and shaped me
Gave me life within my mother’s womb
For the wonder of who I am, I praise you
Safe in your hands, all creation is made new.

Silence is kept.

Creator God,
may every breath we take be for your glory,
may every footstep show you as our way,
that, trusting in your presence in this world,
we may, beyond this life, still be with you
where you are alive and reign
for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if a brother sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy times seven.

‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.  When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’

The Gospel of Christ
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

Do to Others What You Would Have God Do to You

During the 27 odd years that I worked in the city of New Orleans, I became acquainted with a young man who was waiter at the vegetarian restaurant across the street from my office. The restaurant was owned by his older sister and her husband and was managed by his mother. On one visit to the restaurant I learned that the young man had been murdered. It was late at night. He had stopped his car to talk to a friend. A passerby thought that it was a drug deal in progress and tried to rob the two friends. The young man had tried to flee in his car.  As he attempted to make his escape, the would-be-robber had shot and killed him. The family was grief-stricken. The restaurant had already experienced two robberies.  The death of young man was the final blow. The family decided to close the restaurant. The would-be robber was caught and put on the trial for murder. At the trial the members of the family forgave the defendant and asked for clemency for him. The family were not practicing Christians but they placed a high value on all life, including the life of a murderer. They lived in accordance with their principles. As his mother told me, “Executing him will not bring back my son. It will just take another life.”

At the same time I am also aware of individuals who identify themselves as Christians but who never forgive anyone whom they think has injured them. They not only carry grudges for years but actively seek to revenge themselves upon those whom they have think have injured them. The injury may be slight or even imagined but that inconvenient fact does not keep them from seeking to inflict injury far greater than that which they may have received.

Peter’s question is a very reasonable question for his day. Other rabbis set limits on the number of times their disciples needed to forgive someone. Once their disciples passed that limit, they could stop forgiving the other person.  They could hold a grudge against that person without any feelings of guilt. They could nurse their grievance against that person for having insulted or wronged them for the rest of their life.

Jesus’ answer, I suspect, took Peter by surprise. From the way his question is worded I believe that we can safely assume that he was expecting an answer along the lines of what other rabbis were telling their disciples. But Jesus’ answer is that we must forgive the other person seventy times seven. In other words, our forgiveness should have no bounds. It should be limitless. Jesus was not saying that we should carry a pocket counter with us and click off each time we forgive a particular individual and once we reach seventy times seven, whammo! We can hate and despise that individual to our heart’s content and take revenge upon him for the insult or the wrong that he did us and ruin his life if we choose to.

Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the unforgiving slave. I am not going to retell the parable. However, I am going to draw attention to a number of things that are important in understanding the point Jesus is making. The unforgiving servant’s debt to his lord was tremendous. A talent is equal to 15 years of daily wages. Even if the lord had done what he first decided to do, he would not have recouped the money that the servant owed him. In comparison the fellow servant’s debt to the unforgiving servant was relatively small. A denarius is one day’s wages for a laborer. The leniency that the lord showed the unforgiving servant when he begged for mercy was on the same scale as the unforgiving servant’s debt to the lord. It was tremendous. Having been shown such great leniency, the unforgiving servant shows no lenience to his fellow servant and therefore deserves the punishment that the lord meets out to him.  With the parable Jesus gains the full attention of those listening to him. He then hammers home his point. If they do not forgive others, how can they expect God to forgive them. God forgives those who forgive. He withholds forgiveness from those who withhold forgiveness.

When we forgive someone, we make a conscious, rationale choice to let go of whatever that person did to us or to someone else. It is not that we no longer recognize what the other person did was hurtful or wrong. However, we do not hold it against them. We do not make it an excuse for treating that person unkindly or unlovingly. We show toward the other person the mercy that we would have God show toward us. The other person may never change. They may never recognize what they did was hurtful or wrong.

When we forgive someone, we do not let a hurt or a wrong fester in our hearts, in our inner selves. We do not let it poison us or our relationships with others. For this reason, Jesus tells us not to let the sun go down on our anger. When we cling to a hurt or a wrong and the anger and bitterness that it stirs up in us, we open ourselves to attack from the evil one. He will exploit the hurt or the wrong and the accompanying anger and bitterness to further injure us and to injure others.

Jesus, when he taught the disciples to pray told them to include this petition in their prayers. “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. In the older versions of the Lord’s Prayer, this petition is sometimes rendered as, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” or forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are indebted to us.” What we are asking God in this petition is to treat us as we treat others. This petition is a reminder that we cannot expect forgiveness if we ourselves are unforgiving.  Jesus not only teaches that we should do to others what we would have done to us but also we should do to them what we would have God do to us.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle


My soul proclaims the Lord my God.
My spirit sings God’s praise,
Who looks on me, and lifts me up,
That gladness fills my days.

All nations now will share my joy;
For gifts God has outpoured.
This lowly one has been made great.
I magnify the Lord.

For those who fear the Holy One,
God’s mercy will not die.
Whose strong right arm puts down the proud,
And lifts the lowly high.

God fills the hungry with good things,
And sends the rich away;
The promise made to Abraham
Is filled to endless day.

Then let all nations praise our God,
The Father and the Son,
The Spirit blest, who lives in us,
While endless ages run.

Intercessions

Let us complete our evening prayer to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For peace from on high and our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the welfare of all churches and for the unity of the human family, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For (name), our bishop, and (name), our pastor, and for all ministers of the Gospel, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For our nation, its government, and for all who serve and protect us, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For this city (town, university, monastery…). For every city and community, and for all those living in them, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the good earth which God has given us and for the wisdom and will to conserve it, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the safety of travelers, the recovery of the sick, the care of the destitute and the release of prisoners, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For an angel of peace to guide and protect us, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For a peaceful evening and a night free from sin, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For a Christian end to our lives and for all who have fallen asleep in Christ, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
In the communion of the Holy Spirit (and of all the saints), let us commend ourselves and one another to the living God through Christ our Lord.
To you, O Lord.

Free Prayer

In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.

The Collect

Lighten our darkness,
Lord, we pray,
and in your great mercy
defend us from all perils and dangers of this night,
for the love of your only Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer is said

And now, as our Saviour has taught us,
we are bold to say,

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory
for ever and ever.
Amen.

Dismissal


“Forgive our sins as we forgive,”
You taught us, Lord, to pray;
But You alone can grant us grace
To live the words we say.

How can Your pardon reach and bless
The unforgiving heart
That broods on wrongs and will not let
Old bitterness depart?

In blazing light Your cross reveals
The truth we dimly knew:
How trifling others’ debts to us;
How great our debt to You!

Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls
And bid resentment cease;
Then, by Your mercy reconciled,
Our lives will spread Your peace.

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Lord bless us and keep us.
The Lord make his face to shine upon us
and be gracious to us.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon us
and give us peace. Amen

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