All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (May 2, 2021)

Evening Prayer

The Service of Light

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

Open this link in a new tab to hear Carl P. Daw Jr.’s evening hymn, “O Light Whose Splendor Thrills and Gladdens.”

O Light whose splendor thrills and gladdens
with radiance brighter than the sun,
pure gleam of God's unending glory,
O Jesus, blest Anointed One;

as twilight hovers near at sunset,
and lamps are lit, and children nod,
in evening hymns we lift our voices
to Father, Spirit, Son: one God.

In all life's brilliant, timeless moments,
let faithful voices sing your praise,
O Son of God, our Life-bestower,
whose glory lightens endless days.

Thanksgiving

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

Blessed are you, O Lord Redeemer God,
You destroyed the bonds of death
and from the darkness of the tomb
drew forth the light of the world.
Led through the waters of death.
we become the children of light
singing our Alleluia
and dancing to the music of new life.
Pour out your Spirit upon us
that dreams and visions bring us
ever closer to the kingdom
of Jesus Christ our Risen Savior.
Through him and in the Holy Spirit
all glory be to you, Almighty Father,
this night and for ever and ever.
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 William Ferris’ responsorial setting of Psalm 8 –“O Lord, Our God, How Wonderful Your Name in All the Earth!”

O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place -
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?

O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet:

O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

Silence is kept.

We bless you, master of the heavens,
for the wonderful order which enfolds this world;
grant that your whole creation
may find fulfilment in the Son of Man,
Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear John Ritter’s choral arrangement of Henry Baker’s Psalm 23, “The King of Love My Shepherd Is.”

The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his
And he is mine for ever.

Where streams of living water flow
My ransomed soul he leadeth,
And where the verdant pastures grow
With food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love he sought me,
And on his shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.

In death's dark vale I fear no ill
With thee, dear Lord, beside me;
Thy rod and staff my comfort still,
Thy cross before to guide me.

Thou spread'st a table in my sight;
Thy unction, grace bestoweth:
And O what transport of delight
From thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
Within thy house for ever.

Silence is kept.

O God, our sovereign and shepherd,
who brought again your Son Jesus Christ
from the valley of death,
comfort us with your protecting presence
and your angels of goodness and love,
that we also may come home
and dwell with him in your house for ever.
Amen.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

John 15: 1-8 Jesus the True Vine

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

Silence is kept

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

The Homily

Faithful Branches, Fruitful Branches

With these words our Lord encouraged the apostles before his arrest. They are also words from we can take encouragement.

The words that Jesus heard from the Father, the words that Father gave him, the words which he spoke to the apostles and to the multitude, the words which the gospels record, are like a pruning knife, the sharp knife that the vine dresser uses to cut away the excessive foliage and dead branches of a grape vine every winter so that the vine will yield fruit the next year, God uses them to cut away what will keep us from producing fruit and becoming Jesus’ disciples.

God uses Jesus’ words to cleanse us, to draw to our attention where we are falling short, where we need to change, and to show us how we can live in ways that are pleasing to God. The pruning we may receive may be a drastic one. But unless the excessive foliage and the dead branches are cut away, we will yield little fruit if we yield any fruit at all. The superfluous foliage will take all the nutrients that we receive from our environment, from the soil, the rain, and the sun, and from Jesus himself, our mother vine, and turn them into leaves, not fruit. The mother vine is the original plant which sends out runners, runners from which the new, young grape vines grow. It provides them with nutrients during their early and later stages of growth.

Jesus’ words are not only a means by which God prunes us, they are also a means by which God nourishes us like the mother vine nourishes the new, young vines. Life flows through them to us. They invigorate and strengthen the mystical union that joins us to our Lord, the mystical union through which we abide in Jesus as he abides in us. They are channels of God’s grace to us. Without God’s grace enabling us, we cannot do anything. As Jesus tells the apostles, “apart from me you can do nothing.”

When we abide in Jesus and Jesus’ words abide in us, we can ask for whatever we wish and it will be done for us because we will be abiding in God’s will and what we wish will be God’s will. If our prayers are not answered, we may not be fully aligned with God’s will. God may also be telling us to wait. Now may not be the time for what we wish to be done for us.

When we abide in Jesus and Jesus’ words abide in us, we cooperate with God and permit Jesus’ words, his teachings and his commands, to permeate our innermost being, our hearts and minds, our subconscious mind as well as our conscious mind, our thoughts and our emotions, and to transform and reshape our lives.

Early in my childhood I was taught to live by the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you,” treat them as you would wish them to treat you. As I have grown older and reflected on the Golden Rule and Jesus’ other teachings and commands, I have come to a deeper understanding of them.

Jesus taught that we should love our neighbors as ourselves, love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, and love one another, our fellow Christians, as he loved us. What Jesus did not teach us is that in being unreserved in our love of others, whether our neighbors, our enemies, or each other, we should expect them to reciprocate, love us in return.

I do not think that I am wrong in believing that we all want to be loved and affirmed. Even those who have chosen hate and rejection over love and affirmation (and some people make that choice) at one point in their lives wanted to be loved and affirmed. I know that I would prefer to be loved and affirmed over being hated and even worse, being ignored.

But loving and affirming others does not mean that they will respond in kind. They may respond with irritation or indifference. Some people may appreciate our kindness; others may take it for granted. A few may resent it. We have no control over the reactions of others.

Abiding in Jesus’ words means doing whatever Jesus taught and commanded whatever may come from it. God may use our love to touch the lives of those toward whom we are showing love. God may use our love to remake us.

One of the dismissals at the conclusion of the revised Roman Catholic Mass is “Go in peace. Live your lives to God’s glory.” A prayer that we might offer at the beginning of every day whatever our church tradition—Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Congregationalist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, or Reformed—is “Heavenly Father, enable me to bear much fruit and become a true disciple of your Son, glorifying you in my life this day and every day; through Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord. Amen.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open this link in a new tab to hear the Carl P. Daw Jr. 's paraphrase of the Magnificat, "My Soul Proclaims with Wonder."

Refrain:
My soul proclaims with wonder
the greatness of the Lord;
rejoicing in God's goodness,
my spirit is restored.

For God has looked with favor,
on one the world thought frail;
and blessings through the ages will echo
the angel's first "All hail."
Refrain

God's mercy shields the faithful
and gives them safe retreat
to arms that turns to scatter
the proud in their conceit.
Refrain

The mighty have been vanquished;
the lowly lifted up.
The hungry find abundance;
the rich, an empty cup.
Refrain

To Abraham's descendants
the Lord will steadfast prove,
for God has made with Israel
a covenant of love.
Refrain

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

Saving God,
who called your Church to witness
that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself:
help us to proclaim the good news of your love,
that all who hear it may be reconciled to you;
through him who died for us and rose again
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

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 Steven C. Warner’s hymn, “I Am the Vine.”

Refrain:

I am the vine,
you are the branches,
remain in me
and you will bear abundant fruit.
I am the vine,
you are the branches,
remain in me
and you will bear abundant fruit.

I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vine-grower.
He trims away ev’ry barren branch,
but the faithful ones he trims
to increase their yield.
Refrain

Live on in me,
as I do in you.
No more than a branch
can bear fruit alone,
can you bear fruit
apart from me.
Refrain

If you live in me,
and my words lives on in you,
ask what you will,
it will be done for you.
Through your work,
God is glorified!
Refrain

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

May the God of peace, who brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ,
the great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make us perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in us what is pleasing in his sight.
Amen.