All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening (January 22, 2022)
One or more candles may be lit.
Light and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord
Thanks be to God
EVENING HYMN
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!
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Dear Jesus,
as hen covers her chicks with her wings
to keep them safe, do thou this night
protect us under your golden wings. Amen.
SCRIPTURE
1 Corinthians 12: 12-31 The Body of Christ
A person has only one body, but it has many parts. Yes, there are many parts, but all those parts are still just one body. Christ is like that too. Some of us are Jews and some of us are not; some of us are slaves and some of us are free. But we were all baptized to become one body through one Spirit. And we were all given the one Spirit.
And a person’s body has more than one part. It has many parts. The foot might say, “I am not a hand, so I don’t belong to the body.” But saying this would not stop the foot from being a part of the body. The ear might say, “I am not an eye, so I don’t belong to the body.” But saying this would not make the ear stop being a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, it would not be able to hear. If the whole body were an ear, it would not be able to smell anything. If each part of the body were the same part, there would be no body. But as it is, God put the parts in the body as he wanted them. He made a place for each one. So there are many parts, but only one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the foot, “I don’t need you!” No, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are actually very important. And the parts that we think are not worth very much are the parts we give the most care to. And we give special care to the parts of the body that we don’t want to show. The more beautiful parts don’t need this special care. But God put the body together and gave more honor to the parts that need it. God did this so that our body would not be divided. God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. If one part of the body suffers, then all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part is honored, then all the other parts share its honor.
All of you together are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of that body. And in the church God has given a place first to apostles, second to prophets, and third to teachers. Then God has given a place to those who do miracles, those who have gifts of healing, those who can help others, those who are able to lead, and those who can speak in different kinds of languages. Not all are apostles. Not all are prophets. Not all are teachers. Not all do miracles. Not all have gifts of healing. Not all speak in different kinds of languages. Not all interpret those languages. Continue to give your attention to the spiritual gifts you consider to be the greatest. But now I want to point out a way of life that is even greater.
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
What Does It Mean to Be the Body of Christ?
When preparing a homily on today’s reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, it is tempting to focus on the spiritual gifts due to their popularity in some Christian circles. But if we do, we will be missing an important idea that Paul develops in today’ reading. A summation of this idea can be formed from several key verses in the passage.
A person has only one body, but it has many parts. Christ is like that too. God put the parts in the body as he wanted them. He made a place for each one. God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. If one part of the body suffers, then all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part is honored, then all the other parts share its honor. All of you together are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of that body.
This particular Christian belief is known as the doctrine of the Body of Christ. The local congregation of the faithful is like a human body. It is a single body made up of parts like our bodies. Each member of that congregation is one of its parts. God puts us in a particular congregation as he wants us. God wants us to care for each other exactly like we care for everyone else. We are not to treat anyone better than everyone else, nor are we to treat anyone worse than everyone else. It does not matter if we were not present when the congregation welcomed a new member and made a commitment to nurture them in the Christian faith and life and to include them in the congregation’s care. God expects us to care for them. We cannot avoid them or ignore them because we have taken a dislike to them or caring for others is not one of our strengths.
Christians who were forced to take care of themselves as a child and are very independent may struggle with caring for others. They may not be able to share someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person’s situation. They may not be able to understand the feelings of others nor feel any desire to help them However, they can develop the ability to imagine how someone else feels and become more empathetic.
This concept may be a difficult one to grasp in our culture which emphasizes the individual, independence, and self-sufficiency. We repeatedly hear the message that we are not responsible for others, only for ourselves. Jesus and the apostle, however, take a different view; we are interdependent, that is, we depend on each other. We help each other. We look after each other.
As Paul points to our attention, our lives are intertwined with the lives of the other members of the congregation. What we do to someone else affects the whole body. What happens to one of us affects all of us. When we do something bad or hurtful, the entire congregation suffers the consequences one way or another. We may damage the public image of our congregation. Our congregation may acquire a reputation of being unfriendly and unkind. When we do something kind or good, the entire congregation benefits. Our congregation may receive praise and approval from the community. The members of our congregation feel good about their church and themselves. Our congregation’s public image gets a boost.
Bad blood between two members of a congregation can spread to other members of the congregation and eventually disrupt the life and ministry of a church. Reconciliation between two members can lead to restored friendly relations between other members. We cannot underestimate the impact our words and actions may have upon the rest of the congregation.
We must be careful about becoming out of misplaced sympathy an enabler, someone who allows or makes it possible for another person to behave in a way that damages that person. We may not have all the facts. Things are not always what they seem.
We need to be cautious about becoming involved in a relationship in which we contribute to someone else’s problem because we have a strong emotional need ourselves.
For example, we do not help anxious people to deal with their anxiety by making it possible for them to avoid anxiety-triggering situations. They need to deal with their anxiety in situations that trigger anxiety for them. Helping them to avoid these situations reinforces an existing unhealthy behavior pattern of behavior. It will actually make their anxiety worse.
If they are not facing any risk of physical injury or severe and lasting emotional shock and pain caused by an extremely upsetting experience, they should be encouraged to cope with the anxiety. The anxiety that they are feeling may be disproportionate to the circumstances and unrelated to the facts or events that make the situation the way it is.
Removing the anxiety trigger is not the solution. Working through longstanding and unreasonable feelings of anxiety about a particular feature of themselves or a particular set of circumstances is the solution.
The spiritual health of a local congregation of the faithful is tied to the spiritual health of the individual members of the congregation, just as the physical health of a human body is tied to the physical health of its individual parts. The spiritual health of the individual members of a congregation is tied to their physical, psychological, and emotional health. If we want our congregation to be healthy as possible, we need to be attentive to state of each individual member’s health.
We need to keep two things in mind. Because a person is functioning, exhibiting what we consider normal behavior and doing what is expected of them, and is not complaining of any kind of distress, does not mean that they are in tiptop condition health-wise. They may not recognize their physical and behavioral health problems, or they may be hiding them. The environment in which they are function may enable them not to experience any distress.
A second thing to remember is that what clinicians called “presenting problem” or “chief complaint” is the initial symptom that causes an individual member of a congregation to turn to the pastor or some other church leader for help. To the clinician it is the initial piece of information that they will use in an evaluation.
The spiritual health of a local congregation of the faithful is tied to the spiritual health of the individual members of the congregation, just as the physical health of a human body is tied to the physical health of its individual parts. The spiritual health of the individual members of a congregation is tied to their physical, psychological, and emotional health. If we want our congregation to be healthy as possible, we need to be attentive to state of each individual member’s health.
We need to keep two things in mind. Because a person is functioning, exhibiting what we consider normal behavior and doing what is expected of them, and is not complaining of any kind of distress, does not mean that they are in tiptop condition health-wise. They may not recognize their physical and behavioral health problems, or they may be hiding them. The environment in which they are function may enable them not to experience any distress.
A second thing to remember is that what clinicians called “presenting problem” or “chief complaint” is the initial symptom that causes an individual member of a congregation to turn to the pastor or some other church leader for help. To the clinician it is the initial piece of information that they will use in an evaluation.
Pastors and other church leaders should treat the concerns that an individual member of the congregation shares with them in the same way. They may discover on further investigation that the individual in question is accurately reporting a situation, or they are misinterpreting someone else’s word and actions.
Pastors and other church leaders may uncover additional information that sheds a different light on what that individual is defining as the problem.
For example, they may discover that the individual who came to them with the problem is wrongly imagining that someone else is feeling an emotion or desire where in fact they are the one who feels this way.
They also need to be aware of what is known as the negativity bias. This is the tendency to take a negative view of other people, to give more credence to negative information about them than to positive information, to exaggerate in our minds the seriousness of an individual’s negative qualities, and even to add imaginary details to the someone’s account of what happened. We look for the worst in other people, and not the best in them. The negativity bias can prejudice our opinion of someone and our assessment of the situation.
At the same time pastors and other church leaders will want to give someone who comes to them with a problem the benefit of the doubt and not to dismiss their concerns out of hand. It is helpful to keep in mind what Paul wrote the Corinthians about God wanting the different parts of the body to care for each other the same. In practice, pastors and other church leaders will need to do their best to be impartial, judging or considering the matter fairly without letting their own feelings or sympathies to influence them. This may be difficult when one of the parties involved may be a newcomer to the congregation and the other party is longtime member of the congregation whom they have know for a while.
Something to remember is that we may not know someone as well as we may think. What we may know is their persona, or social image, the particular type of character that a person seems to have and that is often different from their real or private character. This does not mean that they are secretly bad people who are deceiving us. Rather they may have personal qualities or character traits that they prefer to keep from the view of others out of the fear that others may reject them. They therefore will project what they consider their most desirable qualities, the qualities which they believe will please other people and which they want most people to notice about them.
In writing the church at Corinth about God wanting the different parts of the body to care for each other, Paul is echoing the new commandment that Jesus gave to the disciples—the commandment to love one another as he loved them. This is evident from the section of Paul’s letter that follows today’s reading. It is the way of life that Paul tells the Corinthians is better than the spiritual gifts. In that section Paul describes the kind of love that Christians should show other people and their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Silence is kept.
SONG OF PRAISE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Chaz Bower’s choral arrangement of “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness, Lord.”
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.
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 lowly throned instead;
the hungry filled with all good things,
the rich sent off unfed.
To Israel, your servant blest,
(To Israel, your servant blest,)
your help is ever sure;
(your help is ever sure;)
the promise to our parents made
(the promise ti our parents made)
their children will secure.
(their children will secure.)
Sing glory to the Holy One,
(Sing glory to the Holy One,)
give honor to the Word,
(give honor to the Word,)
and praise the Pow’r of the Most High,
(and praise the Pow’r of the Most High,)
one God, by all adored,
(one God by all adored,)
on God, by all adored.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
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, by grace alone you call us and accept us in your service. Strengthen us by your Spirit, and make us worthy of your call; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
RESPONSE:
Open this link in a new tab to hear John L. Bell's "Love One Another"
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Those who show love are the children of God,
Father and mother is God to each of them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
God showed his love in the face of the Son;
Christ lives in us so that we might live in him.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love has no place for the menace of fear;
Fear is abandoned where perfect love is found.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love has its purpose in God's holy will;
We learn to love from the one who loved us first.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
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.
BLESSING
May the One who began a good work in us
bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ
and may the blessing of God Almighty, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be with us
and remain with us always. Amen.
They also need to be aware of what is known as the negativity bias. This is the tendency to take a negative view of other people, to give more credence to negative information about them than to positive information, to exaggerate in our minds the seriousness of an individual’s negative qualities, and even to add imaginary details to the someone’s account of what happened. We look for the worst in other people, and not the best in them. The negativity bias can prejudice our opinion of someone and our assessment of the situation.
At the same time pastors and other church leaders will want to give someone who comes to them with a problem the benefit of the doubt and not to dismiss their concerns out of hand. It is helpful to keep in mind what Paul wrote the Corinthians about God wanting the different parts of the body to care for each other the same. In practice, pastors and other church leaders will need to do their best to be impartial, judging or considering the matter fairly without letting their own feelings or sympathies to influence them. This may be difficult when one of the parties involved may be a newcomer to the congregation and the other party is longtime member of the congregation whom they have know for a while.
Something to remember is that we may not know someone as well as we may think. What we may know is their persona, or social image, the particular type of character that a person seems to have and that is often different from their real or private character. This does not mean that they are secretly bad people who are deceiving us. Rather they may have personal qualities or character traits that they prefer to keep from the view of others out of the fear that others may reject them. They therefore will project what they consider their most desirable qualities, the qualities which they believe will please other people and which they want most people to notice about them.
In writing the church at Corinth about God wanting the different parts of the body to care for each other, Paul is echoing the new commandment that Jesus gave to the disciples—the commandment to love one another as he loved them. This is evident from the section of Paul’s letter that follows today’s reading. It is the way of life that Paul tells the Corinthians is better than the spiritual gifts. In that section Paul describes the kind of love that Christians should show other people and their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Silence is kept.
SONG OF PRAISE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Chaz Bower’s choral arrangement of “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness, Lord.”
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.
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 lowly throned instead;
the hungry filled with all good things,
the rich sent off unfed.
To Israel, your servant blest,
(To Israel, your servant blest,)
your help is ever sure;
(your help is ever sure;)
the promise to our parents made
(the promise ti our parents made)
their children will secure.
(their children will secure.)
Sing glory to the Holy One,
(Sing glory to the Holy One,)
give honor to the Word,
(give honor to the Word,)
and praise the Pow’r of the Most High,
(and praise the Pow’r of the Most High,)
one God, by all adored,
(one God by all adored,)
on God, by all adored.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
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, by grace alone you call us and accept us in your service. Strengthen us by your Spirit, and make us worthy of your call; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
RESPONSE:
Open this link in a new tab to hear John L. Bell's "Love One Another"
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Those who show love are the children of God,
Father and mother is God to each of them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
God showed his love in the face of the Son;
Christ lives in us so that we might live in him.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love has no place for the menace of fear;
Fear is abandoned where perfect love is found.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love has its purpose in God's holy will;
We learn to love from the one who loved us first.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
Love one another for love is of God,
Those who live in love,
Live in God and God lives in them.
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.
BLESSING
May the One who began a good work in us
bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ
and may the blessing of God Almighty, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be with us
and remain with us always. Amen.
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