All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (June 20, 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 Rufino Zaragoza’s hymn, “Radiant Light Hymn.”

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 adaptation of Psalm 23, “Shepherd Me, O God”

Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants,
beyond my fears, from death into life.

1 God is my shepherd, so nothing shall I want,
I rest in the meadows of faithfulness and love,
I walk by the quiet waters of peace.

Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants,
beyond my fears, from death into life.

2 Gently you raise me and heal my weary soul,
you lead me by pathways of righteousness and truth,
my spirit shall sing the music of your name.

Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants,
beyond my fears, from death into life.

3 Though I should wander the valley of death,
I fear no evil, for you are at my side,
your rod and your staff, my comfort and my hope.

Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants,
beyond my fears, from death into life.

4 You have set me a banquet of love
in the face of hatred,
crowning me with love beyond my power to hold.

Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants,
beyond my fears, from death into life.

5 Surely your kindness and mercy
follow me all the days of my life;
I will dwell in the house of my God forevermore.

Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants,
beyond my fears, from death into life.

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.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Ricky Manalo’s “Worthy Is the Lamb.”

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive honor and glory.
Worthy are the ones who believe
to receive the goodness of God.

1 Worthy are you, O paschal Lamb.
Wisdom and strength belong now to you.
You laid down your life and died upon the cross:
we've become a people of hope.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive honor and glory.
Worthy are the ones who believe
to receive the goodness of God.

2 Worthy are you, O Bread of Life.
Salvation and joy belong now to us.
By conquering death and rising to new life,
we've become a people of praise.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive honor and glory.
Worthy are the ones who believe
to receive the goodness of God.

3 Worthy are you, O risen Christ.
Wonders and signs, revealing your might.
Your power and glory shine upon our lives:
we've become your light for the world.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive honor and glory.
Worthy are the ones who believe
to receive the goodness of God.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

Mark 4: 35-41 Jesus Stills a Storm

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

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

The Homily

Who Then Is This?

When beset by the storms of this life, its trials and tribulations, to use an old phrase, we, like the disciples in today’s readings, may doubt. We live in an age of doubt, an age in which people distrust not only organizations and each other but also long held and at one time cherished beliefs. Our secular age looks upon those who believe in a supreme being, much less a personal God, as suffering from some form of cognitive distortion, a way of thinking that causes them to perceive reality inaccurately. It encourages doubt.

Indeed, in some population segments doubt is trendy. Those who believe in a personal God are seen as backward at best and often as not in a far less favorable light. It is easy enough to find people who reinforce this perception and to overlook those who believe in a personal God and do not fit the stereotype.

The purpose of this homily, however, is not to grumble about the secularism of the twenty-first century. Like modernism, post-modernism, post post-modernism, and the dozens of isms in today’s world, it is a part of the world in which we live. There is little point in moaning and groaning about it, indulging ourselves in “Aint It Awful” about whatever.

Jesus instructed his disciples to make more disciples. He did not promise them that they would have perfect conditions in which they were to carry-out this task.

Some readers may be tempted to dismiss the account of Jesus’s calming of the wind and the waves in today’s reading as a myth—a made-up story. Indeed, they may be tempted to dismiss all of Jesus’ miracles as fabrications.

The Jewish readers and hearers of Mark’s gospel would have seen a connection between his account of Jesus’ calming of the wind and the waves and the Old Testament account of creation. In the Old Testament the sea, the deep, symbolizes chaos. One of God’s first acts in the Old Testament creation account is to establish order over chaos. In today’s reading we see Jesus doing the same thing. This would not have been lost on Mark’s Jewish readers and hearers. The question that disciples ask each other, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” is a rhetorical question addressed to those reading and hearing Mark’s gospel. “Who then is this…?” It is not unreasonable to believe that one of the first thoughts that may have come to their minds is God. Now they may have brushed that thought aside as we may be apt to do if we have decided that there is no supreme being, no personal God.

But what if we are wrong? We are mistaken in our beliefs. No one likes to admit that they are wrong, but we do draw the wrong conclusions. The basis of our conclusions may be shakier than we think. As Hamlet tells Horatio in Shakespeare’s play, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Back in the fifteenth century most people thought that the world was flat and if a boat sailed too close to the edge, the boat and its crew would fall off. They did not realize that what made them sick was bacteria, microscopic parasites, and viruses.

C. S. Lewis deals with the limitations of our perceptions in his science fiction novel, “Out of the Silent Planet.” Because we cannot see something, touch it, smell it, feel it, or taste it does not mean that it does not exist. It simply means that our senses are limited.

The more knowledge that we gain, the more realize what we do not know. Physicists are discovering new particles, particles that alter their understanding of the universe.

To my mind we should not be in too great a hurry to discard belief in a supreme being, a personal God. It may be fashionable in our secular age, but we are not bound to keep up with every fashion that comes along.

If we are wrong in our assumptions, God exists, and today’s reading is accurate in pointing to the conclusion that Jesus and God are one, what are the implications for us?

If Jesus and God are one, it certainly adds weight to Jesus' teaching and example. They are no longer one set of ideas competing with other sets of ideas. They gain a heft which may not be viewed as desirable by those who are not comfortable with what he taught and practiced. Love your enemies?! What a crackpot idea! No! We should kill them! Wipe them off the face of the earth! As a consequence, they are likely to resist this conclusion.

In case of those who are not adherents of a different world religion, this resistance, however, may be tied more to how modern-day Christians interpret Jesus’ teaching and example or to their spotty adherence to what he taught and practiced.

One idea that has gained popularity of late is the idea of an impersonal spiritual life force or energy pervading our world and the universe, a force or energy into which we can tap for good or evil. Anthropologists will tell us that this idea is not a new one. This concept is found in a number of cultures around the world, for example mana in Melanesian and Polynesian culture and chi in Chinese philosophy. In the nineteenth century early anthropologists speculated that it was a universal phenomenon that might explain the origins of religions. It is an appealing idea in our day which places great value on self-expression and which shrinks from anything that might limit the freedom of self-expression. The life force or energy that it conceives is manipulatable and therefore within our control. This life force or energy is not a being and therefore has no will of its own. Rather it is subject to the will of those who have learned how to control it. It is subject to their notions of what is right or wrong and does not shape its wielder’s notions of good and evil.

On the other hand, belief in a supreme being, a personal God, involves recognizing that there is a will outside our own, a will to which our own wills are subject. However benevolent that this being may be, the idea that their wills are subject to the will of such a being may not sit well with individuals in a culture that highly values self-expression.

The Jesus of the Bible affirms in his teaching the existence of a supreme being, a personal God. His teachings focus on the character of the one whom he calls “Father” as do his demonstrations of power. They draw attention to not only the benevolence of God but also to God’s expectations of us in our relationship with God and our fellow human beings. One of Jesus’ key teachings is harmonizing our wills with God’s will.

The heavenly Father of Jesus does place limits on our freedom of self-expression. For example, we cannot go around whacking off the heads of people who do not share our beliefs. At the same time there are benefits to living in harmony with God. One of them is that we can fully realize ourselves in a way that we cannot when we are not living in harmony with God.

At the end of the day, I do not believe that we or those whom Jesus identified as our neighbors would be worse off if we did good, did no harm, and took full advantage of those things that move us to live our lives in accordance with what Jesus taught and practiced than we would if we gave full play to our self-expression. Some forms of self-expression can be harmful to ourselves or to others. We might not make a big difference in the lives of others but we would be taking a meaningful step toward making our corner of this world a kinder, gentler place.

Who then is Jesus? God clothed in human flesh and sharing our humanity? Or a crackpot with impractical ideas like loving our fellow human beings who ran afoul of the religious authorities of the day and was crucified for being a troublemaker. Maybe we should be asking ourselves the questions that Jesus asked the disciples, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” What fear keeps us from putting our trust in Jesus? What is holding us back?

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.

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

O God our defender,
storms rage about us and cause us to be afraid:
rescue your people from despair,
deliver your sons and daughters from fear,
and preserve us all from unbelief;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God , now and for ever. 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 Kathrina von Schlegel’s hymn, “Be Still My Soul.”

1 Be still, my soul, the Lord is on thy side.
bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide,
In every change, he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2 Be still, my soul, when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know his love, his heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrows and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

3 Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be for ever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul, when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed, we shall meet at last.

The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us praise the Lord,
Thanks be to God.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore.
Amen.