All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening (February 13, 2021)

Evening Prayer

The Service of Light

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

Open this link to hear Carl P. Schalk’s setting of the Phos Hilaron, “Joyous Light of Glory.”

Joyous light ,
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,
we sing to God,
we sing to God,
we sing to God
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
You, you are worthy of being praised,
of being praised with pure voices forever.
O Son of God,
O Son of God,
O Son of God,
O Son of God
O Giver of life,
The universe proclaims 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.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Peter Inwood’s setting of Psalm 141, “O Lord, Let My Prayer Rise Before You Like Incense.”

O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.

1. Lord, I am calling:
hasten to help me.
Listen to me as I cry to you.
Let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.

O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.

2. Lord, set a guard at my mouth,
keep watch at the gate of my lips.
Let my heart not turn to things that are wrong,
to sharing the evil deeds done by the sinful.
No, I will never taste their delights.

O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.

3. The good may reprove me,
in kindness chastise me,
but the wicked shall never anoint my head.
Ev’ry day I counter their malice with prayer.

O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.

4 To you, Lord, my God, my eyes are turned:
in you I take refuge;
do not forsake me.
Keep me from the traps they have set for me,
from the snares of those who do evil.

O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.

5 Praise to the Father, praise to the Son,
all praise to the life-giving Spirit.
As it was, is now and shall always be
for ages unending. Amen.

O Lord, let my prayer rise before you as incense,
my hands like an evening offering.

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

Open this link in a new tab to hear Thomas Keesecker’s arrangement of Carl P. Daw Jr.’s paraphrase of Psalm 84, “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place” for SAB choir, organ, and optional assembly.

How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of Hosts, to me!
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of Hosts, to me!

How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of Hosts, to me!
My thirsty soul desires and longs
within thy courts to be;
my very heart and flesh cry out,
O living God, for thee.

How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of Hosts, to me!

Beside thine altars, gracious Lord,
the swallows find a nest;
how happy they who dwell with thee
and praise thee without rest,
and happy they whose hearts are set
upon the pilgrim's quest.

How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of Hosts, to me!

They who go through the desert vale
will find it filled with springs,
and they shall climb from height to height
till Zion's temple rings
with praise to thee, in glory throned,
Lord God, great King of kings.

How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of Hosts, to me!

One day within thy courts excels
a thousand spent away;
how happy they who keep thy laws
nor from thy precepts stray,
for thou shalt surely bless all those
who live the words they pray.

How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of Hosts, to me!
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of Hosts! Amen!

Silence is kept.

Lord God,
sustain us in this vale of tears
with the vision of your grace and glory,
that, strengthened by the bread of life,
we may come to your eternal dwelling place;
in the power of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

Luke 5: 1-11 Jesus Calls the First Disciples

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.

Silence is kept.

Homily

Jesus’ Fisherfolk

Scripture tells us what we need to know. It often does not tell us what we might like to know. For example, in today’s reading, was this Jesus’ first encounter with Simon Peter and his partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee? Or had he met them before? Jesus got into Simon’s boat and asked Simon to put out a little way from shore. He then sat down and taught the crowd from the boat. This suggests that Jesus had met Simon before. Scripture does not tell us how often Jesus came to the shore of Gennesaret. Nor does it tell us whether he stopped to talk to the fishermen on its shores, cleaning and mending their nets.

I think that we can safely assume that Simon was listening to Jesus as he taught the crowd, gently dipping his boat oars into the water of the lake to keep the boat close enough to the shore so that the crowd could hear Jesus. I can imagine what it must have been like in that boat—the sound of Jesus’ voice, the sound of Simon’s breathing, the slap of the water against the side of the boat, the creak of the oars, the drip of the water from their blades. I do not think that we can assume that Simon hung on every word. He would have been preoccupied with keeping the boat from drifting too far from shore. But I think that we can safely assume that he heard what God intended for him to hear.

I do not believe that Simon became Jesus’ first disciple by accident. It was more than a chance encounter. Whatever Simon heard was working in his heart. Such was the power of Jesus’ spoken words to those who were listening, to those who were open to hearing what he was saying. In Simon’s heart there was the stirring of faith.

When Jesus asks Simon to put out in deep water and let down his nets for a catch, Simon hesitates. But then he does what he is asked. We do not know what went through his mind at the moment. We can only guess.

When the two boats became so filled with fish that they begin sinking under the weigh of the catch, Simon-Peter has an epiphany—the sudden realization that he is not in the presence of an ordinary man. He intuitively grasped from the size of the catch that he is in the presence of the divine. His reaction is to fall on his knees, to confess his sinfulness, and to acknowledge his unworthiness to be in Jesus’ presence. His reaction is reminiscent of Isaiah’s. “And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’” Did that thought go through Simon’s mind? Did God for a moment open Simon’s eyes so that he truly saw Jesus for whom he is? Once more we can only guess.

Jesus tells Simon not to be afraid. From that moment on he will be catching people.

A second passage from the Book of Isaiah comes to mind. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!’”

Today’s reading closes with these words, “When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.” They left behind their boats, their nets, their amazing catch of fish, what until then had been their livelihood, the central preoccupation of their lives—feeding themselves and their families—and followed Jesus. They went as Isaiah went when the Lord called him.

The most common way Jesus calls people to himself in our day is through us—through our words and through our deeds. We now are Jesus' fisherfolk. We cast our nets with kind, gentle words and loving, thoughtful deeds, with words of grace and encouragement and deeds of generosity and compassion. We cast our nets by listening to others and their stories and by making a place for them in our fellowship while they are still nonbelievers. We do not forget that Jesus’s first disciples began to follow him before they fully realized who he was, before they fully surrendered their lives to him. We show that we are true witnesses to Jesus when others hear Jesus in our words and see him our deeds.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open this link in a new tab to hear Ann Krentz’s choral arrangement of “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness.”

My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.

My soul proclaims your greatness, Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
You looked upon my lowliness,
and I am full of grace.
Now ev’ry land and ev’ry age
this blessing shall proclaim—
great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.

My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.

To all who live in holy fear
Your mercy ever flows.
With mighty arm you dash the proud,
Their scheming hearts expose.
The ruthless you have cast aside,
the lonely throned instead;
the hungry filled with all good things,
the rich sent off unfed.

My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.

To Israel, your servant blest,
your help is ever sure;
the promise to our parents made
their children will secure.
Sing glory to the Holy One,
give honor to the Word,
and praise the Pow’r of the Most High,
one God, by all adored.

My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name,
and holy is your name.

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

Be present, merciful God,
and protect us through the hours of this night:
that we, who are wearied by the changes
and chances of this fleeting world,
may rest on your eternal changelessness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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

Open this link in a new tab to hear Michel Joncas’ arrangement of Canon John Fennelly’s hymn, “Christ Be Near at Either Hand.”

1 Christ be near at either hand,
Christ behind, before me stand,
Christ with me where e’er I go,
Christ around, above, below.

2 Christ be in my heart and mind,
Christ within my soul enshrined.
Christ control my wayward heart;
Christ abide and ne’er depart.

3 Christ my life and only way,
Christ my lantern night and day;
Christ be my unchanging friend,
guide and shepherd to the end.

4 Christ be all my strength and might,
Christ my captain for the fight,
Christ fulfill my soul’s desire,
Christ ennoble and inspire.

5 Christ the King and Lord of all,
Find me ready at his call,
Christ receive my service whole
head and body, heart and soul.

6 Christ the King of kings descend,
and of tyrants make an end.
Christ on us and all below
Concord, love, and peace bestow.

7 Thanks to him who, for our food,
gives his sacred flesh and blood,
praise to him unceasing rise,
Christ whose glory fills the skies.

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us praise 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