All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (August 29, 2021)
Evening Prayer
The Service of LightJesus Christ is the light of the world.
A light no darkness can extinguish.
Open this link in a new tab to hear F. Bland Tucker’s translation of the Phos hilaron, “O Gracious Light.”
O Gracious Light, Lord Jesus Christ,
In you the Father’s glory shone.
Immortal, holy, blest is he,
And blest are you, his holy Son.
Now sunset comes, but light shines forth,
the lamps are lit to pierce the night.
Praise Father, Son, and Spirit: God
Who dwells in the eternal light.
Worthy are you of endless praise,
O Son of God, Life-giving Lord;
Wherefore you are through all the earth
And in the highest heaven adored.
O Gracious Light!
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.
Silence is kept.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Tony Alonso’s bilingual version of Psalm 141, Let My Prayer Rise/Suba Mi Oración.”
Refrain:
Let my prayer rise up
like incense in your presence,
the raising of my hands,
and offering to you
Estribillo:
Suba mi oración
como incienso en tu precensia,
el alzar de mis manos
como ofrenda de la tarde.
1 I have called to you, O God,
come quickly to help me.
Hear my voice when I call to you.
Let my prayer rise up like incense before you,
and my hands like an evening off’ring.
Refrain
1 Señor, te llamo ven mí.
Escucha mi voz,
cuando te invoco.
Suba mi oración
como incienso en tu precensia,
como incienso en tu precensia.
Estribillo
2 Set a guard on my mouth
and guard my ev’ry word,
keep watch on the door of my lips.
Let me never turn my heart to evil or revenge,
nor join the evil in their feasting.
Refrain
2 Coloca, Señor, una guardia en mi boca,
y vigilia la puerta de mis labias.
No me dejas inclinarme a la maldad,
ni comer con los hombres malvaldos.
Estribillo
3 When the just correct me,
I take their words as kindness,
but the oil of the wicked will not touch me.
So I pray to you, O God,
I pray to you, O God, against their hateful ways.
Refrain
Que el justo me goipee,
que el bueno me reprenda,
es un gran favor, oh Señor.
Pero que el óleo de impío no perfume mi cabezañ
Seguiré rezando en sus desgracias.
Estribillo
4 To you, O God, I turn my eyes,
in you I find refuge and safety.
From the trap that has been set
by those who wish me harm,
keep me safe, O God.
Refrain
4 Mis ojos, Señor, están vueltos a ti.
Señor, en ti me refugio.
Guarda mi vida,
líbra me, Señor, de la trampa de los malhechores.
Estribillo
5 Glory to the Father, glory to the Son,
and glory to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen
Refrain
5 Gloria al Padre, gloria al Hijo,
y gloria al Espíritu Santo,
como era en el principio,
ahora y siempre por los siglos de los siglos. Amén.
Estribillo
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 Bernadette Farrel’s adaption of Psalm 42, “O God, For You I Long.”
O God, for you I long,
more than those who watch for the dawn:
like the deer that yearns for water,
so I thirst for you, my God.
Like the deer that yearns for running streams,
so I long for you, my God,
as my spirit longs to behold
the God of my life.
O God, for you I long,
more than those who watch for the dawn:
like the deer that yearns for water,
so I thirst for you, my God.
I drink tears as if they were my bread
by night and by day
as I hear it said all day long:
“Where is your God?”
O God, for you I long,
more than those who watch for the dawn:
like the deer that yearns for water,
so I thirst for you, my God.
Why so sad within me, O my soul,
why cast down and grieving now?
Hope in God:
I will praise you still,
my Savior, my God.
O God, for you I long,
more than those who watch for the dawn:
like the deer that yearns for water,
so I thirst for you, my God.
Silence is kept.
Come, Creator Spirit, source of life;
sustain us when our hearts are heavy
and our wells have run dry,
for you are the Father’s gift,
with him who is our living water,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Carey Landry’s “Only a Shadow.”
The love we have for you, O Lord,
is only a shadow of your love for us,
only a shadow of your love for us,
your deep abiding love.
Our own belief in you, O Lord,
is only a shadow of your faith in us,
only a shadow of your faith in us,
your deep and lasting faith.
Our lives are in your hands;
our lives are in your hands;
our love for you will grow, O Lord,
Your light in us will shine.
You will never forget us, your people.
You have carved us on the palm of your hand.
You will never forget us;
you will not leave us orphaned;
you will never forget your own.
Like a father who loves his children;
or a mother, the ones she brought to birth:
You will never forget us;
you will draw us ever closer;
you will bring us home to live in you.
Our lives are in your hands;
our lives are in your hands;
our love for you will grow, O Lord.
Your light in us will shine;
'til we meet face to face.
The Proclamation of the Word
The Reading
Mark 7: 1-8, 14-23 Jesus exposes the danger of man-made traditions
And now Jesus was approached by the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem. They had noticed that his disciples ate their meals with “common” hands—meaning that they had not gone through a ceremonial washing. (The Pharisees, and indeed all the Jews, will never eat unless they have washed their hands in a particular way, following a traditional rule. And they will not eat anything bought in the market until they have first performed their “sprinkling”. And there are many other things which they consider important, concerned with the washing of cups, jugs and basins.) So the Pharisees and the scribes put this question to Jesus, “Why do your disciples refuse to follow the ancient tradition, and eat their bread with ‘common’ hands?”
Jesus replied, “You hypocrites, Isaiah described you beautifully when he wrote—‘This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’. You are so busy holding on to the traditions of men that you let go the commandment of God!”
Then he called the crowd close to him again, and spoke to them, “Listen to me now, all of you, and understand this, There is nothing outside a man which can enter into him and make him ‘common’. It is the things which come out of a man that make him ‘common’!”
Later, when he had gone indoors away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about this parable.
“Oh, are you as dull as they are?” he said. “Can’t you see that anything that goes into a man from outside cannot make him ‘common’ or unclean? You see, it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, and passes out of the body altogether, so that all food is clean enough. But,” he went on, “whatever comes out of a man, that is what makes a man ‘common’ or unclean. For it is from inside, from men’s hearts and minds, that evil thoughts arise—lust, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, arrogance and folly! All these evil things come from inside a man and make him unclean!”
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
The Homily
It Is What Is In Us That Matters
The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, in fact, all the Jews, were obsessed with ritual purity. They believed that if they did not follow certain traditional practices, they would defile themselves. They would make themselves impure or unclean.
The ancient Egyptians in whose land the people of Israel had been slaves had many purification rituals of their own. They constructed wooden chests upon which they inscribed spells and incantations and in which they would place ritual objects to purify them. The priests of their temples underwent purification rituals before they were able to approach their gods in the inner sanctuary of a particular temple. Similar beliefs were found elsewhere in the ancient Mediterranean world and the ancient Mid-East.
We may have difficulty understanding what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law believed because we do not have many equivalent beliefs. Those that we do have are no longer as widely-held as they once were
The few practices that we have retained, and which reflect the kind of thinking behind their beliefs are for the most part carryovers from pre-Christian times. Most of these practices are passed down as family traditions. They are generally viewed as superstitions.
Examples are knocking on wood to avoid ill luck or misfortune or crossing our fingers for good luck; throwing a pinch of salt over our left shoulder to avert bad luck when we accidentally spill salt; walking sunwise and not widdershins to avoid attracting the attention of malevolent spirits; crossing ourselves to ward off evil; avoiding walking under a ladder; saying “white rabbits” on the first day of the month for luck; and swinging a tiny spider on its thread around our head and letting it go for good fortune.
A few are church traditions, for example, dipping our finger in holy water, water blessed by a priest, and applying it to our forehead and making the sign of the cross upon entering a church to purify ourselves, to recall our baptism, and to protect ourselves from evil
Jesus’ point was that it was not a failure to perform the traditional practices of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, which made an individual impure or unclean. Rather it was the evil desires and the evil thoughts that arise in ourselves, in our hearts and our minds, which make us unclean. “Lust, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, arrogance and folly” originate inside us.
In his Notes on the Gospel According to St. Mark, John Wesley offers a helpful explanation of the meaning of the word “wickedness.” The word Wesley explains means being ill-natured; unkind; cruel; inclined to harbor angry, hurt, or resentful feelings because of our bad experiences or a sense of unjust treatment, to harm someone in retaliation for a perceived injury, to cause distress to their feelings, and to show no restraint in how we harm them; given to a perverse desire to cause trouble and to do injury; lacking in good sense or judgment; tending to act impulsively or thoughtlessly; having all kinds of wild imaginings and unrestrained passions.
Psychologists have observed a connection between our feelings and our thoughts. The more negative feelings that we have toward someone, the more negative thoughts we will have toward them. The more negative thoughts that we have toward them, the more negative feelings we will have toward them. And so on. If we wish to do good, do no harm, and grow in our love of God and our love of other people, we must interrupt this vicious cycle.
Positive feelings, on the other hand, give rise to positive thoughts and positive thoughts in turn give rise to positive feelings.
We all have a natural inclination to feel, think, speak, and act in ways that are harmful to our relationship with God and our relationship with other people; to not love God with every atom of our being or to love our neighbor as ourselves, as Jesus taught us; to not treat other people as we would like to be treated, to not treat them in a spirit of kindness, the spirit of Jesus.
We have no natural deposit of good in ourselves whatever we may like to believe. Jesus taught that we could store up good in ourselves, as well as evil, but he said nothing about us having an existing deposit of good.
What good we have in ourselves is the result of God’s influence, his grace working in us. It is a gift from God. The more we open our hearts and minds to God’s grace, the more this store of good will grow in us.
God himself is behind the positive feelings and the positive thoughts that we have. God is ultimately their source and God gives life to such feelings and thoughts, strengthens them, and encourages them. As the apostle John wrote, “love comes from God.” It is God who inspires us to love and enables us to love.
Psychologists have identified a number of distorted patterns of thinking that may help to engender evil desires and evil thoughts in our hearts and our minds. They describe these thought patterns as “cognitive distortions.”
We all have cognitive distortions to one degree or another. They may be described as habitual errors in thinking. They affect how we see ourselves, other people, and the world. They can cause us to make the wrong decisions, to do evil, and to harm other people and ourselves.
One common distorted thinking pattern is mind reading. We mistakenly believe that we know how someone else feels toward us or thinks about us. The difference between mind reading and empathy is the conclusions that we draw are negative. This thought pattern can cause us to misinterpret or misunderstand someone else’s motives. We may see them as harboring bad intentions toward us when their intentions are quite innocent. Our misperceptions may prompt us to treat them badly and to encourages our friends, acquaintances, and others to treat them badly.
A second common distorted thinking pattern is mental filtering. In this thought pattern there is “the tendency to ignore positives and focus exclusively on negatives.”
Imagine a cave which has veins of coal and veins of diamond. If we have this habit in thinking, we are going to see only the veins of coal. We will not see the veins of diamonds. In our relationships with other people, we will tend to see only their bad points. We will tend to overlook or dismiss their good points.
This habit in thinking often leads to relationship difficulties. In focusing on the negatives, we will eventually become unhappy in a relationship and will end the relationship. We may use the negatives, real and imagined, to justify ghosting the individual with whom we had the relationship. Or to treat them badly in other ways. This thought pattern is not an uncommon way of avoiding emotional closeness in a relationship. By focusing on an individual’s bad points, we can keep that individual at a distance.
Emotional reasoning is a third common distorted thinking pattern.
“Emotional reasoning is the false belief that your emotions are the truth — that the way you feel about a situation is a reliable indicator of reality.”
We may develop an aversion to someone without a rational cause-and-effect explanation being present to ourselves and to them. This aversion may color how we relate to them.
On the other hand, we may be feeling bottled-up anger and resentment toward them over things that they did or said, which while not done or said with malicious intent, rubbed us the wrong way. We may be holding these things against them. They may have caused us to take an unwanted look at ourselves. They may have caused us embarrassment. In response to our own actions and words they may have failed to react the way that we were expecting them to react, and triggered feelings of anxiety in us.
Like the other cognitive distortions, emotional reasoning can also lead to relationship difficulties. If someone tries to get too close to us, we may experience fear and emotional distress. This fear and emotional stress may be unrelated to our present situation but to past experiences. We may react to that individual based on these feelings. They may affect how we perceive the individual, their actions, and their words. We may see them as a threat to us when they present no threat to us at all. We are simply not comfortable with that degree of closeness. We may pull away from them, leaving them in confusion over why we are acting the way that we are. We may respond with all kinds of negative behavior, intended to create a distance between ourselves and them.
A fourth common distorted thinking pattern is labeling. In her article, “What Are Cognitive Distortions and How Can You Change These Thinking Patterns?” Rebecca Joy Stanborough describes this thought pattern.
Labeling is a cognitive distortion in which people reduce themselves or other people to a single — usually negative — characteristic or descriptor, like “drunk” or “failure.”
When people label, they define themselves and others based on a single event or behavior.
Labeling is often used to justify the unkind treatment of other people. It can also be used to stigmatize them.
When we label someone, we do not relate to them as a whole person. We relate to them on the basis of one thing, a thing that we may have misperceived or blown out of proportion.
Ms. Stanborough identifies six other common distorted thinking patterns in her article. Her article may be found on the healthline website online at https://www.healthline.com/health/cognitive-distortions?c=1080570665118.
These thought patterns can also help evil desires and evil thoughts grow in our hearts and our minds. They can act like a bag of fertilizer spilled on a patch of weeds.
Indeed, weeds are good way to look at the evil desires and evil thoughts in our hearts and our minds. Some weeds are pretty and may appear harmless, but if we allow them to grow, they will spread and choke out the good plants in our garden. For this reason, we must dig them up, root and all, to allow the good plants room to grow. We must carefully tend the good plants, caring for them and encouraging them to grow, just as we would our children and their children.
One of my former pastors was a gardener. He loved working in his garden, tending the flowers planted there. He treated his parishioners in much the same fashion as he did the flowers. He cared for them and encouraged them to grow. A lesson that I learned from him is that it is God’s will that we tend with loving care not only the good God has planted in us, but also the good that he has planted in our brothers and sisters in Christ and in those who do not yet know and love our Lord.
In his teaching Jesus, when he compares God with a gardener, shows God as someone who has our best interest at heart and who tends us so that we will flourish and grow. As disciples of Jesus were called to be imitators not only of our Savior and Lord but also of God. We are to be gardeners nurturing the good in others and ourselves, which our merciful and gracious God has planted there.
We can no longer feel, think, speak, or act toward others and ourselves like our non-Christian friends and acquaintances do. As disciples of Jesus we must pattern our thinking on the mind of Christ. We must learn to feel, act, and speak like Jesus did, as well as think like he did. Where others may want to get even, we are to be forgiving. Where others may want to show unkindness, we are to be caring and considerate. Where others may be hateful and nasty, we are to be loving. Where others may want to do harm, we are to do good.
We may develop an aversion to someone without a rational cause-and-effect explanation being present to ourselves and to them. This aversion may color how we relate to them.
On the other hand, we may be feeling bottled-up anger and resentment toward them over things that they did or said, which while not done or said with malicious intent, rubbed us the wrong way. We may be holding these things against them. They may have caused us to take an unwanted look at ourselves. They may have caused us embarrassment. In response to our own actions and words they may have failed to react the way that we were expecting them to react, and triggered feelings of anxiety in us.
Like the other cognitive distortions, emotional reasoning can also lead to relationship difficulties. If someone tries to get too close to us, we may experience fear and emotional distress. This fear and emotional stress may be unrelated to our present situation but to past experiences. We may react to that individual based on these feelings. They may affect how we perceive the individual, their actions, and their words. We may see them as a threat to us when they present no threat to us at all. We are simply not comfortable with that degree of closeness. We may pull away from them, leaving them in confusion over why we are acting the way that we are. We may respond with all kinds of negative behavior, intended to create a distance between ourselves and them.
A fourth common distorted thinking pattern is labeling. In her article, “What Are Cognitive Distortions and How Can You Change These Thinking Patterns?” Rebecca Joy Stanborough describes this thought pattern.
Labeling is a cognitive distortion in which people reduce themselves or other people to a single — usually negative — characteristic or descriptor, like “drunk” or “failure.”
When people label, they define themselves and others based on a single event or behavior.
Labeling is often used to justify the unkind treatment of other people. It can also be used to stigmatize them.
When we label someone, we do not relate to them as a whole person. We relate to them on the basis of one thing, a thing that we may have misperceived or blown out of proportion.
Ms. Stanborough identifies six other common distorted thinking patterns in her article. Her article may be found on the healthline website online at https://www.healthline.com/health/cognitive-distortions?c=1080570665118.
These thought patterns can also help evil desires and evil thoughts grow in our hearts and our minds. They can act like a bag of fertilizer spilled on a patch of weeds.
Indeed, weeds are good way to look at the evil desires and evil thoughts in our hearts and our minds. Some weeds are pretty and may appear harmless, but if we allow them to grow, they will spread and choke out the good plants in our garden. For this reason, we must dig them up, root and all, to allow the good plants room to grow. We must carefully tend the good plants, caring for them and encouraging them to grow, just as we would our children and their children.
One of my former pastors was a gardener. He loved working in his garden, tending the flowers planted there. He treated his parishioners in much the same fashion as he did the flowers. He cared for them and encouraged them to grow. A lesson that I learned from him is that it is God’s will that we tend with loving care not only the good God has planted in us, but also the good that he has planted in our brothers and sisters in Christ and in those who do not yet know and love our Lord.
In his teaching Jesus, when he compares God with a gardener, shows God as someone who has our best interest at heart and who tends us so that we will flourish and grow. As disciples of Jesus were called to be imitators not only of our Savior and Lord but also of God. We are to be gardeners nurturing the good in others and ourselves, which our merciful and gracious God has planted there.
We can no longer feel, think, speak, or act toward others and ourselves like our non-Christian friends and acquaintances do. As disciples of Jesus we must pattern our thinking on the mind of Christ. We must learn to feel, act, and speak like Jesus did, as well as think like he did. Where others may want to get even, we are to be forgiving. Where others may want to show unkindness, we are to be caring and considerate. Where others may be hateful and nasty, we are to be loving. Where others may want to do harm, we are to do good.
Our guiding principle in life is to love as Jesus loved. Or as John Wesley put it in his three simple rules: Do good. Do no harm. Grow in our love of God and our love of our fellow human beings. Either way we are to be instruments of God who is love in a world that needs love.
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear Marty Haugen’s adaptation of the Magnificat, “My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of God.”
My soul proclaims the greatness of God,
Rejoicing in God my Savior.
The Holy One has raised me up,
I live in God’s love and favour.
1 The Mighty One works great thinks in me:
My soul rejoices in God.
All faithful servants God’s mercy shall see:
My soul rejoices,
sings and rejoices,
gladly rejoices in God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of God,
Rejoicing in God my Savior.
The Holy One has raised me up,
I live in God’s love and favour.
2 The arm of God is justice and might:
My soul rejoices in God.
God puts the proud and the scheming to flight:
My soul rejoices,
sings and rejoices,
gladly rejoices in God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of God,
Rejoicing in God my Savior.
The Holy One has raised me up,
I live in God’s love and favour.
3 God topples ev’ry tyrant and crown:
My soul rejoices in God.
The lowly raised and the mighty brought down:
My soul rejoices,
sings and rejoices,
gladly rejoices in God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of God,
Rejoicing in God my Savior.
The Holy One has raised me up,
I live in God’s love and favour.
4 With wondrous things God’s banquet is spread:
My soul rejoices in God.
The rich go hungry; the hungry are fed:
My soul rejoices,
sings and rejoices,
gladly rejoices in God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of God,
Rejoicing in God my Savior.
The Holy One has raised me up,
I live in God’s love and favour.
[Coda]
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
Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
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 to hear Shirley Erena Murray’s "Go Gently, Go Lightly."
Go gently, go lightly,
go safe in the Spirit,
live simply, don't carry
much more than you need:
go trusting God's goodness,
go spreading God's kindness,
stay centered on Jesus
and where he will lead.
Go singing, go bringing
the gifts of the Spirit,
go hopefully searching
for things that are true:
in living, in loving,
whatever befalls you,
God keep you, God bless you
in all that you do.
Go gently, go lightly,
go safe in the Spirit,
live simply, don't carry
much more than you need:
go trusting God's goodness,
go spreading God's kindness,
stay centered on Jesus
and where he will lead.
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us praise the Lord,
Thanks be to God.
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear Marty Haugen’s adaptation of the Magnificat, “My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of God.”
My soul proclaims the greatness of God,
Rejoicing in God my Savior.
The Holy One has raised me up,
I live in God’s love and favour.
1 The Mighty One works great thinks in me:
My soul rejoices in God.
All faithful servants God’s mercy shall see:
My soul rejoices,
sings and rejoices,
gladly rejoices in God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of God,
Rejoicing in God my Savior.
The Holy One has raised me up,
I live in God’s love and favour.
2 The arm of God is justice and might:
My soul rejoices in God.
God puts the proud and the scheming to flight:
My soul rejoices,
sings and rejoices,
gladly rejoices in God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of God,
Rejoicing in God my Savior.
The Holy One has raised me up,
I live in God’s love and favour.
3 God topples ev’ry tyrant and crown:
My soul rejoices in God.
The lowly raised and the mighty brought down:
My soul rejoices,
sings and rejoices,
gladly rejoices in God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of God,
Rejoicing in God my Savior.
The Holy One has raised me up,
I live in God’s love and favour.
4 With wondrous things God’s banquet is spread:
My soul rejoices in God.
The rich go hungry; the hungry are fed:
My soul rejoices,
sings and rejoices,
gladly rejoices in God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of God,
Rejoicing in God my Savior.
The Holy One has raised me up,
I live in God’s love and favour.
[Coda]
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
Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
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 to hear Shirley Erena Murray’s "Go Gently, Go Lightly."
Go gently, go lightly,
go safe in the Spirit,
live simply, don't carry
much more than you need:
go trusting God's goodness,
go spreading God's kindness,
stay centered on Jesus
and where he will lead.
Go singing, go bringing
the gifts of the Spirit,
go hopefully searching
for things that are true:
in living, in loving,
whatever befalls you,
God keep you, God bless you
in all that you do.
Go gently, go lightly,
go safe in the Spirit,
live simply, don't carry
much more than you need:
go trusting God's goodness,
go spreading God's kindness,
stay centered on Jesus
and where he will lead.
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us praise the Lord,
Thanks be to God.
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
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