All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (June 13, 2021)
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 Rufino Zaragoza’s hymn, “Radiant Light Divine.”
Radiant Light Divine,
shine throughout this night.
Jesus, Holy One,
praise to you our Light.
As the daylight fades,
and come eventide,
dwell among us, Holy Fire.
Cristo,
Luz del mundo,
Luz y Amor.
Cristo,
Luz del mundo,
Luz y Amor.
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 Tony Alonso’s responsorial setting of Psalm 141, “Like Burning Incense, O Lord.”
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
Open this link in a new tab to hear Marty Haugen’s responsorial setting of Psalm 113, “Blessed Be the Name.”
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name of the LORD
for ever!
Praise, O servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD!
May the name of the LORD be blest
both now and forevermore!
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name of the LORD
for ever!
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
praised be the name of the LORD!
High above all nations is the LORD,
above the heavens his glory.
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name of the LORD
for ever!
Who is like the LORD, our God,
who dwells on high,
who lowers himself to look down
upon heaven and earth?
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name of the LORD
for ever!
From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from the ash heap he raises the poor,
to set them in the company of princes,
yes, with the princes of his people.
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name of the LORD
for ever!
Silence is kept.
Lord Jesus, surrendering the brightness of your glory, you became mortal so that we might be raised from the dust to share your very being. May the children of God always bless your name from the rising of the sun to its going down, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Carl Schalk’s choral arrangement of Luke Connaughton’s hymn, “His Voice Is in the Thunder, in the Storm.”
1 His voice is in the thunder, in the storm,
The quiet whispering breeze, the sounding sea,
Christ speaks in shouting gale and rustling leaf;
All sounds are his, the Lord of tongue and voice.
2 The Word of God before the world began,
The tempest is his trumpet in the clouds,
The whirl wind is his marching messenger,
His breath makes music in our hearts and mouths.
3 His is the wisdom, mind beyond all mind;
To know is life, to speak is to create;
Through him, Eternal Word, creation’s voice,
The world was uttered by the mouth of God.
4 The Lord of speech, the Word of God on earth,
Beginning uncreated, perfect end,
The Alpha for without him none goes forth,
And Omega, the home of all return,
5 Give praise to him, the Christ, the voice of God,
The everlasting Wisdom brought to earth,
The Lord, the Word, through the mute shall speak,
Unloose the prisoned tongue and sing for joy.
The Proclamation of the Word
The Reading
Ezekiel 17:22-24 Israel Exalted at Last
Thus says the Lord God:
I myself will take a sprig
from the lofty top of a cedar;
I will set it out.
I will break off a tender one
from the topmost of its young twigs;
I myself will plant it
on a high and lofty mountain.
On the mountain height of Israel
I will plant it,
in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit,
and become a noble cedar.
Under it every kind of bird will live;
in the shade of its branches will nest
winged creatures of every kind.
All the trees of the field shall know
that I am the Lord.
I bring low the high tree,
I make high the low tree;
I dry up the green tree
and make the dry tree flourish.
I the Lord have spoken;
I will accomplish it.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
The Homily
In the passages that precede today’s reading we learn that the royal offspring whom the king of Babylon appointed to rule Judaea and Jerusalem under him has not kept his word, has rebelled against the king of Babylon, and is seeking to form an alliance with the Pharaoh of Egypt. God was a party to the oath which he swore to the king of Babylon. In breaking his oath to the king of Babylon, he has also broken his oath to God. God will not spare him from the consequences of his oath breaking. The Pharaoh of Egypt and his army will not prevent the king of Babylon from laying siege to Jerusalem and taking him back to Babylon where he will suffer whatever punishment the king of Babylon chooses to inflict upon him.
In today’s reading God speaking through the prophet Ezekiel strikes a different note. God promises to one day restore the kingdom of Judaea and Jerusalem. God will break a sprig from the newest growth of a cedar tree and plant it “on the mountain height of Israel.” Cedar trees can be grown from cuttings, provided the cutting is taken from the most recent growth of a cedar tree at a time of the year when the tree is dormant and the slap has slowed. This is what God says that he will do.
On the day God restores the kingdom of Judaea and Jerusalem, the trees of the field will know that God is Lord. In the reading the trees of the field are the nations of the earth, particularly the nations surrounding Judaea and Jerusalem.
When studying a passage of Scripture like today’s reading, I look for underlying biblical truths and principles that apply today as well as in Ezekiel’s time. We learn from this passage that God controls the fate of nations. He makes a nation great and brings a nation low. He causes a vigorous nation to decline and a declining nation to regain its vigor.
We are inclined to associate the greatness of a nation with the deeds of its people. But what this passage from Ezekiel is telling us is that a nation’s greatness is God’s doing. What we learn from this passage and other passages in the Old Testament is that God may choose to humble great nations and reduce them to dust.
Jesus alludes to today’s reading from Ezekiel in the Parable of Mustard Seed, a parable of the Kingdom of God. God’s Kingdom begins as the tiniest of seeds and grows into a huge bush on whose branches birds may perch. Jesus may have also had this passage and other passages of the Old Testament in mind when he told his disciples that nothing was impossible for God, after having told them that it was impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. Today’s reading concludes with these words, “I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it.” We are reminded that, when God sets his mind to doing something, he brings about what he purposes. His word does not return to him empty.
God did restore Judaea and Jerusalem. God is now building a far greater kingdom. It is a kingdom that is not confined one nation. It is a kingdom that covers the whole earth. It is the Kingdom of God. It is the kingdom that we entered by the grace of God, and not by our own effort, when we surrendered our lives to Jesus, when we accepted Jesus as our Saviour and our Lord. We show ourselves to be citizens of the same kingdom when we live our lives in according with Jesus’ teaching and example, when we live our lives to the glory of God. One day that kingdom will stretch from pole to pole like a great field of ripened wheat ready for harvest. All the nations of the earth will confess, “God is indeed Lord.”
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear John Michael Talbot and Jackie Francois’ adaptation of the Magnificat, “My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
and my spirit exalts in God my Savior.
For he has looked with mercy on my lowliness,
and my name will be forever exalted.
For the mighty God has done great things for me,
and his mercy will reach from age to age.
And holy, holy, holy is his name.
And holy, holy, holy is his name.
He has mercy in ev’ry generation.
He has revealed his power and his glory.
He has cast down the mighty in their arrogance,
and has lifted up the meek and the lowly.
He has come to help his servant Israel;
he remembers his promise to our fathers.
And holy, holy, holy is his name.
And holy, holy, holy is his name.
And holy (holy), holy, holy is his name.
And holy (holy), holy, holy is his name.
Holy is his 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
Almighty God,
without you we are unable to please you:
mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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 Marty Haughen’s choral arrangement of Jaroslav J. Vajda’s hymn, “God of the Sparrow, God of the Whale.”
1 God of the sparrow
God of the whale
God of the swirling stars
How does the creature say Awe
How does the creature say Praise
2 God of the earthquake
God of the storm
God of the trumpet blast
How does the creature cry Woe
How does the creature cry Save
3 God of the rainbow
God of the cross
God of the empty grave
How does the creature say Grace
How does the creature say Thanks
[instrumental interlude]
4 God of the hungry
God of the sick
God of the prodigal
How does the creature say Care
How does the creature say Life
5 God of the neighbour
God of the foe
God of the pruning hook
How does the creature say Love
How does the creature say Peace
6 God of the ages
God near at hand
God of the loving heart
How do your children say Joy
How do your children say Home
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us praise the Lord,
Thanks be to God.
Christ encircles now every heart.
Christ from us ne’er depart,
Christ guard us ‘gainst every foe,
Christ guide us where’er we go.
Christ shield us through the night,
Christ bring us to the morning light.
Amen.
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