All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (July 17, 2022)
PROCLAMATION OF THE LIGHT
One or more candles may be lit.
In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:16
EVENING HYMN
Open this link in a new tab to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of the Phos hilaron, “O Gracious Light.”
O gracious Light, pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing thy praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Thou art worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
thou art worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.
PRAYER OF 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!
Your word brings on the dusk of evening,
your wisdom creates both night and day.
You determine the cycles of time,
arrange the succession of seasons,
and establish the stars in their heavenly courses.
Lord of the starry hosts is your name.
Living and eternal God, rule over us always.
Blessed be the Lord, whose word makes evening fall.
Amen.
HYMN OF THE DAY
Open this link in a new tab to hear Robert Walmsley’s “Com Let Us Sing of a Wonderful Love.”
1 Come let us sing of a wonderful love,
tender and true;
out of the heart of the Father above,
streaming to me and to you:
wonderful love
dwells in the heart of the Father above.
2 Jesus, the Saviour, this gospel to tell,
joyfully came;
came with the helpless and hopeless to dwell,
sharing their sorrow and shame;
seeking the lost,
saving, redeeming at measureless cost.
3 Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet;
why do they roam?
Love only waits to forgive and forget;
home! weary wanderer, home!
Wonderful love
dwells in the heart of the Father above.
4 Come to my heart, O thou wonderful love,
come and abide,
lifting my life till it rises above
envy and falsehood and pride:
seeking to be
lowly and humble, a learner of thee.
SCRIPTURE
Luke 10:38-42 Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Silence
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
Today’s gospel reading, Luke 10:38-42, does not offer a very flattering picture of Martha. She is preoccupied with preparing a meal for Jesus and his companions whom she has welcomed into her home. Jesus chides her when she asks Jesus to tell her sister Mary to help with the preparations. Mary has been listening to Jesus teach. Jesus tells Martha that Mary is doing the one thing that is important: she is listening to him teach.
As a result of what Jesus says to Martha, we are apt to compare Martha negatively to her sister Mary. I have heard sermons that encourage the congregation to be more like Mary.
These sermons, however, I believe do Martha a disservice. In today’s gospel reading it is Martha who welcomes Jesus and the disciples into her home.
In his gospel John paints a much different picture of Martha. In John’s Gospel Martha is the first person to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. She is depicted as a woman of strong faith who spoke her mind. She believed Jesus when he said that he would raise her brother Lazarus from the dead.
From John’s Gospel we learn that Jesus had a circle of disciples in Jerusalem and Martha, Mary and Lazarus in the village of Bethany were part of that circles of disciples. Today’s gospel reading may be describing an episode early in their relationship with Jesus. Like all devote Jews Jesus regularly went to Jerusalem for the religious festivals, having done so since childhood, and he would have come to know people living in Jerusalem and its vicinity.
For this reason, we should not be too quick to form an opinion of Martha. For similar reasons we should not be quick to form an opinion of our fellow Christians, especially those who are members or attendees of our church.
We are prone to focus our attention on other people’s negative qualities, something Jesus recognized in his teaching, while overlooking their positive ones. There is what psychologists call the negativity effect or bias, which is a tendency to look for the worst in other people and to expect the worst from them. We are more willing to believe bad things about them than we are to believe good things. We may exaggerate in our own minds the negative qualities that they have. We may imagine that they have negative qualities which they do not have.
Jesus commended Mary for listening to his teaching, for discovering the only one thing that he said was worth being concerned about. Among the things that he taught was taking a more positive view of other people, not forming an opinion of them too quickly, to be lenient in our judgment of them and not to be too strict. He also taught his disciples to first deal with their own personal failings which might be quite serious before offering to help some else deal with their failings, which might not be as serious as ours or even serious at all. This requires being aware of how the negativity effect or bias can influence us and not letting it influence our opinions of others.
While we do well to emulate Mary and to listen to Jesus’ teaching, we also do well to emulate Martha’s strong faith. She saw Jesus for whom he was—the Messiah—and she acted on her faith. She would witness her brother Lazarus raised from the dead. We need to only to listen to Jesus’ teaching but to act on it, to live what he taught in our own lives, to be his true disciples.
Silence is kept.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Open this link to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of our Lord’s Summary of the Law, “Jesus Creed.”
Jesus said
The first commandment is this:
Hear O Israel
The Lord our God is the only Lord.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
Amen.
SONG OF PRAISE
Open this link in a new tab to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of the Magnificat, “Song of Mary.”
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
During the silence that follows each bidding, the congregation may pray aloud or silently for each concern or need
To our Father in heaven
let us make our requests with thanksgiving,
through our only mediator,
Jesus Christ the Son.
I ask your prayers for peace in the life of the world ...
Pray for God's peace.
Silence
I ask your prayers for all who suffer injury, sickness and loss ...
Pray for all who are afflicted.
In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:16
EVENING HYMN
Open this link in a new tab to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of the Phos hilaron, “O Gracious Light.”
O gracious Light, pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing thy praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Thou art worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
thou art worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.
PRAYER OF 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!
Your word brings on the dusk of evening,
your wisdom creates both night and day.
You determine the cycles of time,
arrange the succession of seasons,
and establish the stars in their heavenly courses.
Lord of the starry hosts is your name.
Living and eternal God, rule over us always.
Blessed be the Lord, whose word makes evening fall.
Amen.
HYMN OF THE DAY
Open this link in a new tab to hear Robert Walmsley’s “Com Let Us Sing of a Wonderful Love.”
1 Come let us sing of a wonderful love,
tender and true;
out of the heart of the Father above,
streaming to me and to you:
wonderful love
dwells in the heart of the Father above.
2 Jesus, the Saviour, this gospel to tell,
joyfully came;
came with the helpless and hopeless to dwell,
sharing their sorrow and shame;
seeking the lost,
saving, redeeming at measureless cost.
3 Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet;
why do they roam?
Love only waits to forgive and forget;
home! weary wanderer, home!
Wonderful love
dwells in the heart of the Father above.
4 Come to my heart, O thou wonderful love,
come and abide,
lifting my life till it rises above
envy and falsehood and pride:
seeking to be
lowly and humble, a learner of thee.
SCRIPTURE
Luke 10:38-42 Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Silence
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
Be Like Mary. Be Like Martha Too.
Today’s gospel reading, Luke 10:38-42, does not offer a very flattering picture of Martha. She is preoccupied with preparing a meal for Jesus and his companions whom she has welcomed into her home. Jesus chides her when she asks Jesus to tell her sister Mary to help with the preparations. Mary has been listening to Jesus teach. Jesus tells Martha that Mary is doing the one thing that is important: she is listening to him teach.
As a result of what Jesus says to Martha, we are apt to compare Martha negatively to her sister Mary. I have heard sermons that encourage the congregation to be more like Mary.
These sermons, however, I believe do Martha a disservice. In today’s gospel reading it is Martha who welcomes Jesus and the disciples into her home.
In his gospel John paints a much different picture of Martha. In John’s Gospel Martha is the first person to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. She is depicted as a woman of strong faith who spoke her mind. She believed Jesus when he said that he would raise her brother Lazarus from the dead.
From John’s Gospel we learn that Jesus had a circle of disciples in Jerusalem and Martha, Mary and Lazarus in the village of Bethany were part of that circles of disciples. Today’s gospel reading may be describing an episode early in their relationship with Jesus. Like all devote Jews Jesus regularly went to Jerusalem for the religious festivals, having done so since childhood, and he would have come to know people living in Jerusalem and its vicinity.
For this reason, we should not be too quick to form an opinion of Martha. For similar reasons we should not be quick to form an opinion of our fellow Christians, especially those who are members or attendees of our church.
We are prone to focus our attention on other people’s negative qualities, something Jesus recognized in his teaching, while overlooking their positive ones. There is what psychologists call the negativity effect or bias, which is a tendency to look for the worst in other people and to expect the worst from them. We are more willing to believe bad things about them than we are to believe good things. We may exaggerate in our own minds the negative qualities that they have. We may imagine that they have negative qualities which they do not have.
Jesus commended Mary for listening to his teaching, for discovering the only one thing that he said was worth being concerned about. Among the things that he taught was taking a more positive view of other people, not forming an opinion of them too quickly, to be lenient in our judgment of them and not to be too strict. He also taught his disciples to first deal with their own personal failings which might be quite serious before offering to help some else deal with their failings, which might not be as serious as ours or even serious at all. This requires being aware of how the negativity effect or bias can influence us and not letting it influence our opinions of others.
While we do well to emulate Mary and to listen to Jesus’ teaching, we also do well to emulate Martha’s strong faith. She saw Jesus for whom he was—the Messiah—and she acted on her faith. She would witness her brother Lazarus raised from the dead. We need to only to listen to Jesus’ teaching but to act on it, to live what he taught in our own lives, to be his true disciples.
Silence is kept.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Open this link to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of our Lord’s Summary of the Law, “Jesus Creed.”
Jesus said
The first commandment is this:
Hear O Israel
The Lord our God is the only Lord.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
Amen.
SONG OF PRAISE
Open this link in a new tab to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of the Magnificat, “Song of Mary.”
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
During the silence that follows each bidding, the congregation may pray aloud or silently for each concern or need
To our Father in heaven
let us make our requests with thanksgiving,
through our only mediator,
Jesus Christ the Son.
I ask your prayers for peace in the life of the world ...
Pray for God's peace.
Silence
I ask your prayers for all who suffer injury, sickness and loss ...
Pray for all who are afflicted.
Silence
I ask your prayers for all who wield authority and influence ...
Pray for all who exercise power.
Silence
I ask your prayers for all whom we have wronged ...
Pray for all who hate us.
Silence
I ask your prayers for our bishop(s) ...
and for all whom Christ has appointed to his service ...
Pray for God's people.
Silence
I ask your prayers for ...
During the silence members of the congregation may ask the prayers of the congregation for specific concerns and needs
Silence
Give thanks to God for all
in whom Christ has been honoured,
(especially ... )
Silence
O God, whose will it is
that all should find salvation
and come to know the truth:
receive the prayers and petitions
which we offer in faith and love;
through him who gave proof of your purpose,
and who sacrificed himself
to win freedom for all humankind,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Collect
God of all delight,
grant us that joy
which none can take from us,
of having a work to do,
a life to live;
that joy in believing
which will carry us through.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Amen.
RESPONSE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Liturgical Folk’s setting of the Trisagion, "Holy God."
Holy God
holy and mighty
holy immortal one
have mercy
mercy
mercy upon us
Repeat 5 more times.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
As our Saviour taught his disciples,
we pray:
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
The blessing of God,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
remain with us always. Amen.
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