All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (June 30, 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 to hear It’s About the Word’s adaptation of Psalm 143, “Show Me the Way."

O Lord, hear my pray
Listen to my cry for mercy
In your faithfulness
Come to my relief
As your servant Lord
Save me from your judgement
For no one is righteous before you

Show me the way that I should go
Only to you I lift my soul
Your unfailing Love and mercy fill my days
Teach me to do your will much more
Than I ever have before
Let me hide myself in you
For your name sake
Show me the way

I consider the past
And the ways you have shown your mercy
I'm amazed most of all
By what your hands have done
In your steadfast Love
You shelter me from evil
For I am here to serve you, Lord

Show me the way that I should go
Only to you I lift my soul
Your unfailing Love and mercy fill my days
Teach me to do your will much more
Than I ever have before
Let me hide myself in you
For your name sake
Show me the way

Silence is kept.

Jesus, our companion,
when we are driven to despair,
help us, through the friends and strangers
we encounter on our path,
to know you as our refuge,
our way, our truth and our life.
Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear John Rutter’s choral arrangement of St. Patrick’s Breastplate, “A Prayer of St. Patrick.”

Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ above me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

Ephesians 4: 25-32 Rules for the New Life

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Silence is kept.

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

The Homily

Ministers of Grace, Ministers of Healing

“Rules for the New Life.” The title of today’s reading is not Scripture. It is not a part of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. The translators of the New Revised Standard Version came up with it to describe this passage in Paul’s letter. For those who bristle at the very mention of the word “rules,” it may have been a poor choice.

For me, the word “rules” brings to mind the rules that I learned when I first went to school as a small boy. Most of them were “Don’ts.” “Don’t run in the hall!” “Don’t talk in the classroom!” Most of us I suspect did not realize that they were for our benefit. If I ran in the hall, I might run into someone and knock them down. I might trip and fall. Someone might trip me. If I talked in the classroom, I might not hear the lesson. I might keep my classmates from hearing the lesson. I would make the task of learning more difficult for those of my classmates who were slower to learn than I was or who might be hard of hearing.

I may have had an advantage over my classmates. I was a teacher’s son whose grandmother’s father had been a school master. I learned that the purpose of rules was not to dampen our childish ebullience, our cheerfulness, energy and excitement, but to help us to help our fellow students and not to harm them.

When we embark on the life of a follower of Jesus, we cannot go on thinking, feeling, talking, and acting like we did before we made that important decision to become one of Jesus’ disciples. In the Bible a disciple is someone who actively imitates the life and teaching of the one whom they call master. As a follower of Jesus our aim is to become a “living copy of the master,” to become the very embodiment of what he exemplified and taught. When people see us, they will see Jesus. When they hear us, they will hear Jesus.

The principles of living that Paul commends to the Ephesian church in today’s reading mirror what Jesus himself practiced and taught. In this homily I am going to take a look at one principle in particular, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.”

The Greek word which the NRSV translators render as “evil,” can also be rendered as “corrupted,” “bad,” and “worthless.” It is the same word that in the Synoptic Gospels Jesus uses to describe the tree that bears evil fruit. “Evil talk” will produce evil fruit just like a “corrupted” tree will produce bad fruit. No good will come from it.

“Evil talk” includes but is not limited to encouraging someone else to do something to harm someone, to wrong them; gossiping about someone; “speaking about someone in a spiteful, critical manner;” spreading malicious rumors about them; speaking harshly and dismissively to someone; urging someone else to do what is evil in God’s eyes and egging them on when they do; spreading untruths and falsehoods; and lashing out at people who do not agree with us.

“Evil talk” does not build up. It tears down. It rejects. It belittles in one way or another. It acts like a slow poison, eating away at the soul. It not only affects the soul of the one at whom it is directed but also the souls of those who let evil talk come out of their mouths. We curse when we should bless. In cursing others, we put a curse upon ourselves.

The more we speak evilly, the weaker our inhibitions against speaking evilly grow. At the same time, we may not notice what is happening. We may be surprised when a friend asks us why we are always saying unkind things about other people. Why are we always being so ugly toward them?

“Evil talk” does not give grace to those who hear.

Grace may be described as “the merciful kindness” by which God exerts his holy influence upon our souls. By grace God turns our hearts to Jesus. By grace God preserves, strengthens, and increases our faith in Jesus, our knowledge of him, and our affection for him. By grace God sparks in us the desire to live our lives in the way that Jesus taught us to live when he was on earth, to pattern our lives on his, and to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Grace flows from God’s love for us, from his goodwill and favor toward us.

God works directly in us and in others. God also works indirectly through us and others. God works through our words and our actions, through their words and their actions.

“Evil talk” may not be intentional. Somethings that we do, we do out of long habit, habits which we may have acquired before we embarked on the life of a Jesus’ follower. It may arise from mistaken ideas about how our words and actions affect others. We may cause hurt to someone when we are seeking to avoid hurting them or experiencing pain ourselves. We may desire to do the right thing but may end up causing unintended hurt.

“Evil talk” may also arise from frustration, disappointment, anger, and fear. We let our feelings get the better of us, to color our judgment.

If we are in the habit of bottling up our feelings, hiding them from ourselves as well as others, out of the fear of rejection or for other reasons, we may discover our feelings manifesting themselves in unexpected ways. We may snap at someone from irritation that has nothing to do with what they are saying or doing. We may surround ourselves with a wall of bitchiness and cattiness. We may be snotty, unkind, and unpleasant to others because we want to keep a distance between them and ourselves.

I am not singling out women as my choice of words might appear to infer. Men take their anger out on those who are innocent of any wrongdoing. Men are bitchy and catty too.

By his grace God not only enable us to live our lives in accordance with the example and teaching that Jesus gave us, but God also provides us with the healing that we may need to do so. As with grace itself we must open our hearts and minds to benefit from this healing. When we use words that minister grace to others, we are also ministering healing. The two go hand in hand. We are not only ministering healing to whomever we are speaking, but also we are ministering healing to ourselves. As the Shaker song, “Gentle Words,” reminds us--

"What the dew is to the flower,
Gentle words are to the soul,
and a blessing to the giver,
and so dear to the receiver,
we should never withhold."

“Gentle words kindly given” indeed have a healing power. God uses them to heal us and to heal others. If we take anything away from today’s homily, let it be that we as followers of Jesus are ministers of healing as well as ministers of grace. We are to do as little harm as we can as long as we can. We are to do as much good as we can as long as we can. We are to grow each day in our relationship with God through every means that God has given us to grow in that relationship and to help each other to grow in the selfsame relationship. As Paul wrote the church at Phillipi, we are to “shine like stars in the world,” guiding stars that point the way to Jesus.

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 Christ for whom we search,
our help when help has failed:
give us courage to expose our need
and ask to be made whole,
that, being touched by you,
we may be raised to new life
in the power of your name. 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 Kevin Sigfried’s arrangement of the Shaker song,“Gentle Words.”

What the dew is to the flower,
Gentle words are to the soul,
and a blessing to the giver,
and so dear to the receiver,
we should never withhold.

What the dew is to the flower,
Gentle words are to the soul,
and a blessing to the giver,
and so dear to the receiver,
we should never withhold.

Gentle words kindly spoken
often soothe the troubled mind,
while links of love are broken
by words that are unkind.

Then O, thou gentle spirit,
my constant guardian be,
"Do to others," be my motto,
"as I'd have them do to me."

What the dew is to the flower,
Gentle words are to the soul,
and a blessing to the giver,
and so dear to the receiver,
we should never withhold.

Gentle words kindly spoken
often soothe the troubled mind,
while links of love are broken
by words that are unkind.

Then O, thou gentle spirit,
my constant guardian be,
"Do to others," be my motto,
"as I'd have them do to me."

Gentle words kindly spoken
often soothe the troubled mind,
while links of love are broken
by words that are unkind.

Then O, thou gentle spirit,
my constant guardian be,
"Do to others," be my motto,
"as I'd have them do to me."

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.