All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (December 12, 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 John Scott’s arrangement of “Creator of the Stars of Night.”

Creator of the stars of night
Thy people’s everlasting light
O Jesus, Saviour of us all
Regard thy servants when they call

Thou, grieving at the bitter cry
Of all creation doomed to die
Didst come to save a ruined race
With healing gifts of heav’n’ly grace

Thou camest, bridegroom of the bride
As drew the world to eveningtide
Proceeding from a virgin shrine
The Son of Man, yet Lord divine

At thy great name, majestic now
All knees must bend, all hearts must bow
And things in heav’n and earth shall own
That thou art Lord and King alone

To thee, O holy One, we pray
Our judge in that tremendous day
Preserve us, while we dwell below
From ev’ry onslaught of the foe

All praise, eternal Son, to thee
Whose advent sets thy people free
Whom with the Father we adore
And Spirit blest, for evermore. Amen.

Thanksgiving

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

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, ruler of the universe,
creator of light and darkness.
In this holy season.
you renew your promise to reveal among us
the splendor of your glory,
enfleshed and visible to us in Jesus Christ your Son.
Through the prophets
you teach us to hope for his reign of peace,
Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
you open our blindness to the glory of his presence.
Strengthen us in our weakness.
Support us in our stumbling efforts to your will
and free our tongues to sing your praise.
For to you all honour and blessing are due,
Now and for ever. 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 the evening psalm, “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.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

Luke 3: 7-17 John Heralds the Coming of Christ

So John used to say to the crowds who came out to be baptised by him, “Who warned you, you serpent’s brood, to escape from the wrath to come? See that you do something to show that your hearts are really changed! Don’t start thinking that you can say to yourselves, ‘We are Abraham’s children’, for I tell you that God could produce children of Abraham out of these stones! The axe already lies at the root of the tree, and the tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Then the crowds would ask him, “Then what shall we do?”

And his answer was, “The man who has two shirts must share with the man who has none, and the man who has food must do the same.”

Some of the tax-collectors also came to him to be baptised and they asked him, “Master, what are we to do?”

“You must not demand more than you are entitled to,” he replied.

And the soldiers asked him, “And what are we to do?” “Don’t bully people, don’t bring false charges, and be content with your pay,” he replied.

The people were in a great state of expectation and were inwardly discussing whether John could possibly be Christ. But John answered them all in these words, “It is true that I baptise you with water, but the one who follows me is stronger than I am—indeed I am not fit to undo his shoe-laces—he will baptise you with the fire of the Holy Spirit. He will come all ready to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to clear the rubbish from his threshing-floor. The wheat he will gather into his barn and the chaff he will burn with a fire that cannot be put out.”

Silence is kept.

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

Homily

Wheat and Chaff

In the last two verses of today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke John compares the Jesus’ effect upon people with the method that was used in ancient Judaea to separate wheat kernels from chaff.

In ancient Judaea wheat was first threshed and then winnowed. In the process of threshing the wheat kernels, the edible part of wheat for human beings, was separated from their chaff, their husks protective casings. Livestock can eat the chaff, but humans cannot eat it. If the chaff is not fed to livestock, it is ploughed back into the soil or burned.

The wheat was threshed with a flail, separating the wheat kernels from the chaff. The flail is a wooden staff with a short, heavy stick attached to one end of it in such a way that the stick can swing back and forth. The grain was beaten with the flail until the chaff came lose from the kernel.

The threshed grain was then thrown into the air, using a winnowing fan or a winnowing fork or shovel. The wind blew away the lighter chaff and the heavier wheat kernels fell to the ground. A threshing floor, the place where the wheat was threshed was located in a spot in which there was a breeze.

The threshing floor had a particular significance for the Jews. The Temple in Jerusalem had been built on a threshing floor on top of Mount Zion, a threshing floor where the Ark of the Covenant had come to rest when David was transporting it to Jerusalem.

In today’s reading John employs the imagery of Jesus as someone ready to use a flail to thresh wheat, ready to use a windowing basket or winnow fork or shovel to separate the wheat from the chaff, and someone ready to clear away the threshing floor of rubbish.

Note that the threshing floor is Jesus. It not borrowed from someone else. He owns it.

The chaff which John tells those who came to hear him, Jesus will burn with unquenchable fire. The chaff, when was burned, since it was burned in a windy spot, burned at a high temperature very quickly. John is telling us that Jesus will burn the chaff with a very hot fire which cannot be extinguished. This would have not been lost on John’s audience.

Using the analogy of threshing and winnowing, John is describing how Jesus will sorting out of those who recognize Jesus for whom he is, God enrobed in human flesh, from those who refuse to recognize his divinity. He is also describing the consequences of that sorting out for the wheat and the chaff. While these verses share some imagery with Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the weeds, the primary focus is upon the reaction of people to Jesus, not the admixture of good and evil.

People had three reactions to Jesus during his earthly ministry. They rejected him. They followed him for a while but then fell away. They remained faithful to Jesus although their faith at times failed them. In the first two instances it became evident that they were chaff. But in the third instance it would become evident that they were wheat.

We have the same reactions to Jesus in our own day. The ups and downs of this life can be compared to the beating of a flail and the tossing of a winnowing basket. They reveal whether we are wheat, faithful even in adversity to Jesus, or chaff.

Being faithful to Jesus means that we not only believe in Jesus, but we adhere to his teaching and follow his example. We emulate his character. Our actions reflect our faith. On the last day Jesus will acknowledge us as his and we shall be gathered into his barn.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open this link in a new tab to hear Ann Krentz’s choral arrangement of the Magnificat, “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness.”

My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.

1 My soul proclaims your greatness, Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
You looked upon my lowliness,
and I am full of grace.
Now ev’ry land and ev’ry age
this blessing shall proclaim—
great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.

My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.

2 To all who live in holy fear
Your mercy ever flows.
With mighty arm you dash the proud,
Their scheming hearts expose.
The ruthless you have cast aside,
the lonely throned instead;
the hungry filled with all good things,
the rich sent off unfed.

My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.

3 To Israel, your servant blest,
your help is ever sure;
the promise to our parents made
their children will secure.
Sing glory to the Holy One,
give honor to the Word,
and praise the Pow’r of the Most High,
one God, by all adored.

My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name,
and holy is your 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

Almighty God,
you sent your Son into a world
where the wheat must be winnowed from the chaff
and evil clings even to what is good:
let the fire of your Spirit purge us of all corruption,
so that, purified, we may await eagerly for him
whose coming is certain, whose Day draws near,
your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer is said.

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 “The Seed Is Christ,” James Quinn’s translation of Seán Ó Riada’s "Ag Críost an síol, ag Críost an fómhar."

The seed is Christ’s, the harvest is his
May we be stored within God’s barn
The sea is Christ’s, the fish are his
May we be caught within God’s net
From birth to age, from age to death
Enfold us Christ within your arms
Until the end the great rebirth
Christ be our joy in paradise

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

May God, Creator, bless us and keep us,
may Christ be ever light for our lives,
may the Spirit of love be our guide and path,
for all of our days. Amen.