All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (July 25, 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 this link in a new tab to hear David Ashley White’s choral setting of Psalm 23, “The Lord My God My Shepherd Is.”

The Lord my God my shepherd is;
how could I want or need?
In pastures green, by streams serene,
he safely does me lead.

To wholeness he restores my soul
and does in mercy bless,
and helps me take for his Name’s sake
the paths of righteousness.

Yes, even when I must pass
through the valley of death’s shade,
I will not fear, for you are here,
to comfort and to aid.

You have in grace my table spread
secure in all alarms,
and filled my cup, and raised me up
in everlasting arms.

Then surely I can trust your love
for all the days to come,
that I may tell your praise,
and dwell for ever in your arms,

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 Omer Westendorf’s translation of the Latin hymn Ubi Caritas, "Where Charity and Love Prevail."

1 Where charity and love prevail,
There God is ever found;
Brought here together by Christ’s love,
By love we are thus bound.

2 With grateful joy and holy fear
His charity we learn;
Let us with heart and mind and soul
Now love Him in return.

3 Forgive we now each other’s faults
As we our faults confess;
And let us love each other well
In Christian holiness.

4 Let strife among us be unknown,
Let all contention cease;
Be his the glory that we seek,
Be ours his holy peace.

5 Let us recall that in our midst
Dwells God’s begotten Son;
As members of his body joined,
We are in Him made one.

6 No race nor creed can love exclude
If honored be God’s name;
Our family embraces all
Whose Father is the same.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

John 6: 1-21 Feeding the Five Thousand

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Silence is kept.

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

The Homily

Greater Things Than These

In the gospels we find several examples of Jesus’ breaking bread, sharing a meal, with all kinds of people—Pharisees, tax collectors, prostitutes, and other social outcasts, and his disciples. The feeding of the five thousand, however, is different. Jesus is feeding a hungry multitude of people. He is the one who is providing the food. He is feeding them with such an abundance of food that no one goes away hungry. Everyone goes away satisfied. And there is food leftover, baskets full of it!

Notice how his disciples, Philip and Andrew, react to the prospect of feeding such a large crowd of people. It will be too expensive! We don’t have enough food to go around!

Isn’t that the way we react to the prospect of feeding the food insecure in our communities and our nation? Feeding those who do not have “reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.”

We complain on social media that government food assistance programs cost too much. In these days of the COVID-19 pandemic and of climate change, of droughts, flooding, and wildfires, of overfishing and dwindling fish stocks, we read online about the growing problem of food scarcity. When we go to the supermarket, we may find some shelves empty. We think to ourselves, “We are running out of food!”

How does Jesus respond to Philip and Andrew's concerns? Jesus instructs them to tell the people to sit down—all five thousand of them. He takes a young boy’s lunch—five small loaves of hard barley bread, each loaf no bigger than our fist, and two finger-length dried fish and feeds the multitude with them!

Jesus, having suffered and died for us on the cross and risen to new life, has ascended to heaven, to the Father’s right side, and no longer walks the earth. Jesus has appointed us, his disciples, to be his agents here on earth.

The following words are attributed to Saint Theresa of Avila, Christian mystic, writer, and religious reformer, whose feast day, October 15, is observed by Anglicans, Lutherans, and Roman Catholics.

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

They remind us that we are Jesus’ agents. We are his representatives here on earth. We are expected to display the same compassion and generosity that Jesus himself displayed. Jesus miraculously fed the five thousand. We are expected to do greater works. We read further on in the Gospel of John, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12, NRSV).

How then can we show the kind of compassion and generosity that Jesus showed to the hungry and the food insecure? We can bear in mind that according to most recent estimates as many as 13 million children in the United States live in households which do not have enough food for every member of the household to live a healthy life. Their parents are not the only people who struggle to put food on their table.

We can erect more little food pantries for households that have no food due to an unexpected emergency and keep them and existing ones fully stocked with food. We can support our local food banks and food pantries with our money and food donations and as volunteers.

We can support organizations like Feeding America, Why Hunger, and the Meals on Wheels Association of America. We can start new backpack food programs at our local schools and support existing ones.

We can organize and conduct community kitchen feeding ministries and food distribution ministries. We can support existing programs. We can support local soup kitchens. We can form alliances with churches and community groups and organizations to tackle a community’s food insecurity problems

We can provide transportation to supermarkets and grocery stores to households living in food deserts, rural and urban areas that have no supermarkets and grocery stores. We can help heads of households to complete applications for government food assistance and to submit necessary verification of eligibility.

We can advocate for the hungry and the food insecure with Congress and our state legislature.

We can not only take advantage of existing opportunities to help the hungry and the food insecure, but we can also create new opportunities. We can truly learn what it means to be a neighbor to those in need.

Helping those in need is one of the many good works that God has prepared for us to walk in when he made us disciples of Jesus. When we give the hungry something to eat, help the food insecure to put food on the table, we are serving Jesus in them.

In his letter to the Galatians the apostle Paul wrote, “…while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people… (Galatians 6:10). In his first letter to the Thessalonians, he wrote, “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people” (1 Thessalonians 5:15). With Paul's words the Holy Spirit draws to our attention that God expects us to help people. It is not our place to decide whether they are deserving of our help. Our Lord was clear on that point. 

To John Wesley, a priest of the Church of England, a leader of the eighteenth century Evangelical Revival, and the founder of the Methodist Movement, are attributed these word, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.” Wesley recognized that we are created in Christ to do good works as our way of life, doing good even to those who are enemies, as our Lord teaches.

In the feeding of the five thousand Jesus showed the compassion and generosity of God. Now it is our turn. May God grant us grace to rise to the challenge.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open this link in a new tab to hear Dan Schutte’s adaptation of the Nunc Dimittis, “Let Me Go Now in Peace.”

1 Hear the prayer of your servant; let me go now in peace
To the home you have promised where our joys never cease.
I have seen with my eyes what the prophets have foretold.
I have held in my arms God, my Savior

2 I have walked in your temple in the soft morning light
And have knelt in your presence in the still of the night
I have seen with my eyes what the prophets have foretold
I have held in my arms God, my Savior

3 I have worn smooth your pathways that I've loved from the start
As you've carved loving furrows in the stone of my heart
I have seen with my eyes what the prophets have foretold
I have held in my arms God, my Savior

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

Gracious God,
you have placed within the hearts of all your children
a longing for your word and a hunger for your truth:
grant that, believing in the one whom you sent,
we may know him to be the true bread of heaven
and the food of eternal life,
Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be glory and honour
for ever and ever amen. 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 David Ogden’s choral arrangement of St. Theresa of Avila’s “Christ Has No Body But Yours.”

Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he sees,
Yours are the feet with which he walks,
Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.

1 Yours are the hands.

Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he sees,
Yours are the feet with which he walks,
Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.

2 Yours are the feet.

Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he sees,
Yours are the feet with which he walks,
Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.

3 Yours are the hands.
Yours are feet.
Yours are the eyes.

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

Open this link in a new tab to hear Christopher Walker’s choral benediction, “May God Bless and Keep You.”

May God bless and keep you.
May God's face shine on you.
May God be kind to you
and give you peace.

May God bless and keep you.
May God's face shine on you.
May God be kind to you
and give you peace.

[Instrumental interlude]

May God bless and keep you.
May God's face shine on you.
May God be kind to you
and give you peace.

May God bless and keep you.
May God's face shine on you.
May God be kind to you
and give you peace.