All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening (July 3, 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 Stephen Sturk’s choral arrangement of the Phos hilaron, “O Gracious Light.”

1. O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the
everliving Father in heaven.
O Jesus, Christ, holy and blessed!

2. Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,

we sing

we sing
we sing thy praises, O God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3. Thou art worthy

thou art worthy 

at all times

at all time
to be praised 

to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified

be glorified

through all the worlds

be glorified 

through all the worlds 

be glorified 

through all the worlds

be glorified 

through all the worlds

be glorified

through all the worlds 

be glorified

through all the worlds.

Thanksgiving

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

Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
eternal creator of day and night,
to you be glory and praise for ever.
Now, as darkness is falling,
hear the prayer of your faithful people.
As we look for your coming in glory,
wash away our transgressions,
cleanse us by your refining fire
and make us temples of your Holy Spirit.
By the light of Christ,
dispel the darkness of our hearts
and make us ready to enter your kingdom,
where songs of praise for ever sound.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever. Amen.

Psalm 141 is sung and incense may be burned.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Peter Inwood’s responsorial 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 in this link in a new tab to hear Bernadette Farrell's paraphrase of Psalm 139, "O God, You Search Me, and You Know Me."

1 O God, you search me, and you know me
All my thoughts lie open to your gaze
When I walk or lie down, you are before me
Ever the maker and keeper of my days.

2 You know my resting and my rising
You discern my purpose from afar
And with love everlasting, you besiege me
In ev'ry moment of life or death, you are.

3 Before a word is on my tongue, Lord
You have known its meaning through and through
You are with me beyond my understanding
God of my present, my past and future, too.

4 Although your Spirit is upon me
Still I search for shelter from your light
There is nowhere on Earth I can escape you
Even the darkness is radiant in your sight.

5 For you created me and shaped me
Gave me life within my mother’s womb
For the wonder of who I am, I praise you
Safe in your hands, all creation is made new.

Silence is kept.

Creator God,
may every breath we take be for your glory,
may every footstep show you as our way,
that, trusting in your presence in this world,
we may, beyond this life, still be with you
where you are alive and reign
for ever and ever.
Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear John Rutter’s choral arrangement of Jane Eliza Leeson’s hymn, “Loving Shepherd of Thy Sheep”

Loving Shepherd of thy sheep,
keep thy lamb, in safety keep;
nothing can thy power withstand,
none can pluck me from thy hand,
none can pluck me from thy hand.

Loving Shepherd of thy sheep,
keep thy lamb, in safety keep;
nothing can thy power withstand,
none can pluck me from thy hand,
none can pluck me from thy hand.

I would praise thee every day,
gladly all thy will obey,
like thy blessèd ones above
happy in thy precious love.

Loving Shepherd, ever near,
teach thy lamb thy voice to hear;
suffer not my steps to stray
from the straight and narrow way,
from the straight and narrow way.

Where thou leadest I would go,
walking in thy steps below,
till before my Father's throne
I shall know as I am known.

Loving Shepherd of thy sheep,
keep thy lamb, in safety keep;
nothing can thy power withstand,
none can pluck me from thy hand,
none can pluck me from thy hand,
from thy hand.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

2 Corinthians 12: 2-10 Paul’s Visions and Revelations

I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power [or my power] is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Silence is kept.

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

The Homily

Strength in Weakness

We can only speculate on what was the nature of the “thorn” that afflicted the apostle Paul. God’s response to Paul’s prayers asking God to take away this affliction was “my grace is sufficient for you.” God would provide Paul with grace to endure the affliction. God would not heal him.

God sometimes answers prayer in this way. We may find ourselves in a difficult situation and we will pray that God will deliver us from this difficult situation. But God does not answer our prayer in the way which we hoped that he would. That does not mean that God has turned his back on us. God may not make the difficult situation go away. However, God will sustain us with his grace. God will enable us to keep going, to persevere.

It is in our weakness, Paul points to the attention of the church at Corinth and to us that we will experience the power of Christ. In our weakness we will know the strength that comes from Christ.

The culture in which we live here in the United States places a high value upon being strong, being independent, and being self-reliant. We are encouraged to look with contempt upon those who are weak, vulnerable, and dependent upon others.

We receive the message not only from our culture but also from our families that showing our feelings is a sign of weakness. We should keep our feelings to ourselves and conceal them from others. We may learn to respond with disapproval and even disgust when other people show their feelings.

Many of us do not realize it but we all carry baggage from our childhood—attitudes and behaviors which our parents exhibited toward us and which we now exhibit ourselves to other people. We may find ourselves disparaging the feelings of other people, in our minds if not openly, because our parents rejected those feelings in us when we were little, or they rejected those feelings in themselves or each other. We may reject those feelings in ourselves for the same reasons. We may fear receiving disapproval from other people as we received from our parents and, consequently, we may also fear being rejected by other people.

Paul’s admission of weakness and his attitude toward his weaknesses may come as a shock to us. Paul not only acknowledges his weaknesses, but he also boasts of them. We do not accept our weaknesses. We try to hide them from other people and ourselves. We must not in our way of thinking be seen as vulnerable and weak, certainly not needy.

Paul goes on to claim that in his weakness, he is strong. In making this claim Paul appears to defy logic. How can someone who is weak be strong?

The grace that we receive from God, the merciful kindness that God shows us, is not tied to how independent we are, how strong we are, how self- reliant we are. We do not earn God’s grace like some children must earn their parents’ approval. It is not conditioned on what we do. God’s grace is freely given.

God’s grace enables us to please God and not the other way around. God’s grace enables us to obey God. It enables us to keep loving our neighbors, our fellow Christians, and those who do not see themselves as our friends even though they do not respond to our love, much less return it. It enables us to hear our loving Shepherd’s voice and to resist the temptations that would cause us to stray. It enables us to follow his lead and to walk in his steps. It enables us to push on when the going gets tough and the road gets hard and rocky.

This is what Paul is telling us in today’s reading. In our weakness God will sustain us with his grace. God will strengthen and support us. We will be strong, not in our own strength, but in the strength that God supplies. We should not be ashamed of our weakness, our vulnerability, for our weakness and our vulnerability show our need of God, our need of God’s grace.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open this link in a new tab to hear Bernadette Farrell - Owen Alstott’s setting of the Magnificat, “My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord.”

1 My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
My spirit sings to God, my saving God,
Who on this day above all others favored me
And raised me up, a light for all to see.

2 Through me great deeds will God make manifest,
And all the earth will come to call me blest.
Unbounded love and mercy sure will I proclaim
For all who know and praise God's holy name.

3 God's mighty arm, protector of the just,
Will guard the weak and raise them from the dust.
But mighty kings will swiftly fall from thrones corrupt.
The strong brought low, the lowly lifted up.

4 Soon will the poor and hungry of the earth
Be richly blest, be given greater worth.
And Israel, as once foretold to Abraham,
Will live in peace throughout the promised land.

5 All glory be to God, Creator blest,
To Jesus Christ, God's love made manifest,
And to the Holy Spirit, gentle Comforter,
All glory be, both now and ever more.

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 Lord our God,
you are always more ready to bestow
your good gifts upon us
than we are to seek them;
and more willing to give than we desire or deserve:
in our every need,
grant us the first and best of all your gifts,
the Spirit who makes us your children.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and 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 Molly Ijames’ choral arrangement of Scott Wesley Brown and Jeff Nelson’s hymn, “Grace Alone.”

Every promise we can make
Every prayer and step of faith
Every difference we can make
Is only by His grace.

Every mountain we will climb
Every ray of hope we shine
Every blessing left behind
Is only by His grace

Grace alone
Which God supplies
Strength unknown He will provide
Christ in us, our cornerstone
We will go forth in grace alone.

Every soul we long to reach
Every heart we hope to teach
Everywhere we share His peace
Is only by His grace,
Is only by His grace.

Every loving word we say
Every tear we wipe away
Every sorrow turned to praise
Is only by His grace.

Grace alone
Which God supplies
Strength unknown He will provide
Christ in us, our cornerstone,
Cornerstone,
We will go forth,
We will go forth,
We will go forth,
We will go forth in grace alone.

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

The God of all grace bless us now and forever. Amen.