All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (August 21, 2022)
PROCLAMATION OF THE LIGHT
One or more candles may be lit. You, O lord, are my hope, my trust from my youth. Upon you I have leaned since my birth. Psalm 71: 5-6
EVENING HYMN
Open this link in a new tab to hear Carl P. Daw Jr.’s evening hymn, “O Light Whose Splendor Thrills and Gladdens.”
O Light whose splendor thrills and gladdens
with radiance brighter than the sun,
pure gleam of God's unending glory,
O Jesus, blest Anointed One;
as twilight hovers near at sunset,
and lamps are lit, and children nod,
in evening hymns we lift our voices
to Father, Spirit, Son: one God.
In all life's brilliant, timeless moments,
let faithful voices sing your praise,
O Son of God, our Life-bestower,
whose glory lightens endless days.
PRAYER OF 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.
HYMN OF THE DAY
Open this link to hear Christopher Idle’s hym, “Glory in the Highest.”
1 Glory in the highest to the God of heaven!
Peace to all your people through the earth be given!
Mighty God and Father, thanks and praise we bring,
singing Hallelujah to our heavenly king;
singing Hallelujah to our heavenly king.
2 Jesus Christ is risen, God the Father's Son!
With the Holy Spirit you are Lord alone!
Lamb once killed for sinners, all our guilt to bear,
singing Hallelujah to our heavenly king.
2 Jesus Christ is risen, God the Father's Son!
With the Holy Spirit you are Lord alone!
Lamb once killed for sinners, all our guilt to bear,
show us now your mercy, now receive our prayer;
show us now your mercy, now receive our prayer.
3 Christ the world's true Saviour, high and holy One,
seated now and reigning from your Father's throne:
Lord and God, we praise you! Highest heaven adores:
show us now your mercy, now receive our prayer.
3 Christ the world's true Saviour, high and holy One,
seated now and reigning from your Father's throne:
Lord and God, we praise you! Highest heaven adores:
in the Father's glory, all the praise be yours;
in the Father's glory, all the praise be yours!
SCRIPTURE
Luke 13:10-17 Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!
But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”
But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”
This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.
Silence
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
In today’s gospel reading, Luke 13:10-17, Jesus responds to the indignation of the synagogue leader by pointing to his attention and the attention of others the hypocrisy of discouraging the people in the crowd from seeking healing on the Sabbath. They pretended to believe something that they did not really believe, or which was the opposite of what they did or said at another time. Their own actions contradicted their words. While the synagogue leader objected to the people in the crowd seeking healing on the Sabbath, he and others like him worked on the Sabbath, watering their livestock.
Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus points to the attention of the Pharisees that, while they are critical of him for showing compassion toward someone and healing them on a Sabbath, they themselves show compassion toward their livestock and will rescue them from a well if they fall into it. He points to the inconsistency between what they say and what they do.
Hypocrisy is far more common human trait than we might like to admit. While we are willing to recognize it in others, we are not willing to recognize it in ourselves. Yet there is a very good chance that we are far more hypocritical than we think that we are. We may say that we have particular beliefs, but we behave in a way that suggests that these beliefs are not sincere, or they are at best aspirations, something that we would like to do but we do not do in practice. We may talk a lot about loving others but when comes to the come to, our actions are not loving at all.
The tendency to judge others by one standard and to judge ourselves by a different and far more lenient standard is a very human one. Psychologists tell us that human beings tend to assume the worst about other people while taking a far kinder view of themselves. We are quick to find fault with others and we are quicker to make excuses for ourselves. We may dwell on what we perceive to be someone else’s flaws while overlooking our own faults, mistakes, and weaknesses.
Psychologists have labeled this tendency as the “negativity bias” or the “negative effect.” It strongly influences how we perceive other people. We are more likely to believe the bad things that we hear about them, whether or not they are true, than we are the good things. Instead of giving them the benefit of the doubt, we choose to believe something bad about someone, rather than something good, when we have the possibility of doing either. We give no consideration to extenuating circumstances. We are also likely to question their motives and to ascribe hidden or ulterior motives to their actions. We may give free reign to our imagination and fabricate in our mind untruths about them, untruths that we share with others. While these untruths may appear plausible, they are inventions of our imagination. We may make too much of minor issues and take action disproproportionate to these issues, causing that person unnecessary and avoidable harm, which may prove difficult to undo.
As well as being prone to hypocrisy, we are also prone to self-righteousness. When we are self-righteous, we think that we are always right. We are unwilling to change our opinion about somebody or something. We may judge a person or situation wrongly, but we refuse to admit that we are mistaken in our judgment. We may not be willing as Jesus taught his disciples to hold up a mirror to ourselves before we draw to the attention of someone else what we perceive to be a flaw in that person.
Jesus was able to see into the hearts of other people. He was able to discern what they were thinking and what they were feeling. He also able to recognize and understand their motives. While we can look for clues to what someone else may be thinking or feeling or what may be motivating them, we do not have Jesus’ abilities. We can make educated guesses, but they will be opinions of a person that we have formed without full knowledge of them. We may be correct in our judgment, and we may not.
We may not be aware of how our own feelings are affecting our judgment. We also may not be aware of our own motivations. If someone disagrees with our interpretation of a situation and we have an investment in that interpretation, we may experience frustration and anger toward that person and we may respond by becoming more insistent on the rightness of how we interpret the situation. We may close our minds to any information that does not fit with our interpretation of the situation, or we may try to make it fit with how we interpret the situation. We may not recognize what we are doing, but it may be quite clear to them and to others.
We may try to veil or hide our anger. Anger, however, has a way of manifesting itself in our attitude, our words, our body language, and our actions. We may not recognize that we are angry but other people do. Anger can prevent us from thinking straight. It can keep us from being fair and just in our treatment of others, and it can cause us to take actions that we may later regret. We may damage a relationship or destroy a reputation. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, we sin when we let anger control us. If we hang on to our anger, we become vulnerable to the negative influences in our lives.
One of the reasons that we may be resisting changing how we interpret the situation is that we would have to come to terms with some disagreeable facts about ourselves or others. This accounts for at least in part the hostility of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law to Jesus. He did not agree with their way of interpreting the Law and the Prophets. He told them that they were wrong, and his rejection of their interpretation rankled them.
We may see in the other person qualities that we do not like. These qualities may form a part of their character. They may also be our own qualities that we are unconsciously projecting on to them, qualities that we do not like about ourselves and which we are attributing to them. Our reaction to these qualities may be influenced by our past experiences with people who had the same qualities. We may have internalized these qualities, absorbed them so that they became a part of our own character.
Jesus not only drew to the attention of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law that they were wrong in their interpretation of the Law and the Prophets, but they were lacking in two important qualities—compassion and mercy. They showed little feeling of sympathy for the suffering or misfortune of others and little desire to help them. They also showed little kindness and forgiveness toward others. Compassion and mercy were an essential part of God’s own character, but these qualities were conspicuously absent from theirs. The Old Testament prophets had reiterated God’s instructions to the people of Israel to show compassion and mercy to others, yet the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law did not heed these instructions. They thought of themselves as righteous because they adhered to their own tradition but their tradition in a number of instances nullified God’s Word. They treated it as if it did not apply to them.
Regrettably we do the same thing. Jesus taught his disciples to love one another as he loved them. Jesus’ love for them was a self-sacrificing love. Our love for each other, for our brothers and sisters in Christ, is expected to be the same kind of love, one which causes us to give up something that we want or need so that others can have what they want or need.
The point that we miss is that it is a mutually self-sacrificing love. It means that all parties must give up something, not just one party. Loving one another applies to all followers of Jesus.
One follower of Jesus cannot expect kindness from a fellow Jesus follower and not show kindness to that Jesus follower in return. It is a two-way street. They cannot expect forgiveness from a fellow Jesus follower and not show forgiveness in return.
The principle of positive reciprocity is an important one in Jesus’ teaching. Loving one another entails giving each other help and advantages. As disciples of Jesus, we are expected to behave toward each other in the same positive way. We are expected to live according to the same truths and principles, those which Jesus taught and exemplified. When we experience a misunderstanding, we are expected to follow the path of reconciliation and come to some mutually acceptable resolution of that misunderstanding, one which involves give and take on the part of all who are involved.
Key to the reconciliation process is open, honest, face-to-face communication. Communicating through an intermediary can lead to further misunderstanding. The parties concerned hear the intermediary’s explanation or opinion of what the other parties felt and thought. They do not hear what the other parties actually said that they thought or felt. They are denied an opportunity to ask questions for clarification and there is far less likelihood of closure for all parties involved.
The presence of a mediator, someone who as experience in helping people resolve conflicts, is desirable. A mediator can set some ground rules for the conversations between the parties concerned. Each party should take responsibility for their feelings, use “I” statements, and not blame the other parties for how they feel. Each party should be given ample opportunity to share their concerns without interruption. The other parties should make an effort to listen to what they are saying and to try to understand from where they are coming. Each party should also be given an opportunity to ask questions for clarification later in the session. The aim of the reconciliation process is to resolve any misunderstandings and to reach a mutually acceptable agreement on how all the parties should relate to each other in the future. Jesus’ teaching and example should be considered in reaching this agreement. The reconciliation process may take several sessions.
It is a good idea for the parties concerned to periodically meet to review how things are going between them and to negotiate any changes to their agreement.
The ultimate aim of the reconciliation process is to heal the rift between the parties and restore amicable relations between them. They may not become best friends. However, they will be on speaking terms with each other, and they treat each other as a disciple of Jesus is expected to treat a fellow disciple. They will be able to do the good things that God planned for them to do together.
Human beings are not perfect. We all are fallible. We are likely to make mistakes. We all have failings. When we become followers of Jesus that does not change overnight. We do not become instantly perfect. We do not become incapable of making blunders or mistakes. Our flaws, shortcomings, and weaknesses do not disappear. While nothing is impossible for God and he could transform our character in a blink of an eye, such a transformation is not the experience of most Jesus followers.
God does not leave us to struggle on in our own strength, trying to become more like our Lord. God’s sanctifying and perfecting grace, the power of his Holy Spirit, works in our lives, gradually transforming us. To benefit from God’s grace, our hearts and minds must be open to his grace. We must respond to the nudging of the Holy Spirit, and we must employ the means of grace. As we cooperate with God’s grace in our lives, God will impart to us a deep love of him as our God and Father and instill in us those vital qualities of character which we need to think and behave like a true disciple of Jesus and to bear much fruit to his glory.
The community of Jesus followers of which we are a part is one of those means of grace. So are its individual members. As Paul drew the attention of the church at Corinth, one member of that community cannot say to another, “I do not need you,” any more than one organ of a human body can say to another organ, “I don’t need you.”
in the Father's glory, all the praise be yours!
SCRIPTURE
Luke 13:10-17 Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!
But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”
But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”
This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.
Silence
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
The Challenges of Discipleship
In today’s gospel reading, Luke 13:10-17, Jesus responds to the indignation of the synagogue leader by pointing to his attention and the attention of others the hypocrisy of discouraging the people in the crowd from seeking healing on the Sabbath. They pretended to believe something that they did not really believe, or which was the opposite of what they did or said at another time. Their own actions contradicted their words. While the synagogue leader objected to the people in the crowd seeking healing on the Sabbath, he and others like him worked on the Sabbath, watering their livestock.
Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus points to the attention of the Pharisees that, while they are critical of him for showing compassion toward someone and healing them on a Sabbath, they themselves show compassion toward their livestock and will rescue them from a well if they fall into it. He points to the inconsistency between what they say and what they do.
Hypocrisy is far more common human trait than we might like to admit. While we are willing to recognize it in others, we are not willing to recognize it in ourselves. Yet there is a very good chance that we are far more hypocritical than we think that we are. We may say that we have particular beliefs, but we behave in a way that suggests that these beliefs are not sincere, or they are at best aspirations, something that we would like to do but we do not do in practice. We may talk a lot about loving others but when comes to the come to, our actions are not loving at all.
The tendency to judge others by one standard and to judge ourselves by a different and far more lenient standard is a very human one. Psychologists tell us that human beings tend to assume the worst about other people while taking a far kinder view of themselves. We are quick to find fault with others and we are quicker to make excuses for ourselves. We may dwell on what we perceive to be someone else’s flaws while overlooking our own faults, mistakes, and weaknesses.
Psychologists have labeled this tendency as the “negativity bias” or the “negative effect.” It strongly influences how we perceive other people. We are more likely to believe the bad things that we hear about them, whether or not they are true, than we are the good things. Instead of giving them the benefit of the doubt, we choose to believe something bad about someone, rather than something good, when we have the possibility of doing either. We give no consideration to extenuating circumstances. We are also likely to question their motives and to ascribe hidden or ulterior motives to their actions. We may give free reign to our imagination and fabricate in our mind untruths about them, untruths that we share with others. While these untruths may appear plausible, they are inventions of our imagination. We may make too much of minor issues and take action disproproportionate to these issues, causing that person unnecessary and avoidable harm, which may prove difficult to undo.
As well as being prone to hypocrisy, we are also prone to self-righteousness. When we are self-righteous, we think that we are always right. We are unwilling to change our opinion about somebody or something. We may judge a person or situation wrongly, but we refuse to admit that we are mistaken in our judgment. We may not be willing as Jesus taught his disciples to hold up a mirror to ourselves before we draw to the attention of someone else what we perceive to be a flaw in that person.
Jesus was able to see into the hearts of other people. He was able to discern what they were thinking and what they were feeling. He also able to recognize and understand their motives. While we can look for clues to what someone else may be thinking or feeling or what may be motivating them, we do not have Jesus’ abilities. We can make educated guesses, but they will be opinions of a person that we have formed without full knowledge of them. We may be correct in our judgment, and we may not.
We may not be aware of how our own feelings are affecting our judgment. We also may not be aware of our own motivations. If someone disagrees with our interpretation of a situation and we have an investment in that interpretation, we may experience frustration and anger toward that person and we may respond by becoming more insistent on the rightness of how we interpret the situation. We may close our minds to any information that does not fit with our interpretation of the situation, or we may try to make it fit with how we interpret the situation. We may not recognize what we are doing, but it may be quite clear to them and to others.
We may try to veil or hide our anger. Anger, however, has a way of manifesting itself in our attitude, our words, our body language, and our actions. We may not recognize that we are angry but other people do. Anger can prevent us from thinking straight. It can keep us from being fair and just in our treatment of others, and it can cause us to take actions that we may later regret. We may damage a relationship or destroy a reputation. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, we sin when we let anger control us. If we hang on to our anger, we become vulnerable to the negative influences in our lives.
One of the reasons that we may be resisting changing how we interpret the situation is that we would have to come to terms with some disagreeable facts about ourselves or others. This accounts for at least in part the hostility of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law to Jesus. He did not agree with their way of interpreting the Law and the Prophets. He told them that they were wrong, and his rejection of their interpretation rankled them.
We may see in the other person qualities that we do not like. These qualities may form a part of their character. They may also be our own qualities that we are unconsciously projecting on to them, qualities that we do not like about ourselves and which we are attributing to them. Our reaction to these qualities may be influenced by our past experiences with people who had the same qualities. We may have internalized these qualities, absorbed them so that they became a part of our own character.
Jesus not only drew to the attention of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law that they were wrong in their interpretation of the Law and the Prophets, but they were lacking in two important qualities—compassion and mercy. They showed little feeling of sympathy for the suffering or misfortune of others and little desire to help them. They also showed little kindness and forgiveness toward others. Compassion and mercy were an essential part of God’s own character, but these qualities were conspicuously absent from theirs. The Old Testament prophets had reiterated God’s instructions to the people of Israel to show compassion and mercy to others, yet the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law did not heed these instructions. They thought of themselves as righteous because they adhered to their own tradition but their tradition in a number of instances nullified God’s Word. They treated it as if it did not apply to them.
Regrettably we do the same thing. Jesus taught his disciples to love one another as he loved them. Jesus’ love for them was a self-sacrificing love. Our love for each other, for our brothers and sisters in Christ, is expected to be the same kind of love, one which causes us to give up something that we want or need so that others can have what they want or need.
The point that we miss is that it is a mutually self-sacrificing love. It means that all parties must give up something, not just one party. Loving one another applies to all followers of Jesus.
One follower of Jesus cannot expect kindness from a fellow Jesus follower and not show kindness to that Jesus follower in return. It is a two-way street. They cannot expect forgiveness from a fellow Jesus follower and not show forgiveness in return.
The principle of positive reciprocity is an important one in Jesus’ teaching. Loving one another entails giving each other help and advantages. As disciples of Jesus, we are expected to behave toward each other in the same positive way. We are expected to live according to the same truths and principles, those which Jesus taught and exemplified. When we experience a misunderstanding, we are expected to follow the path of reconciliation and come to some mutually acceptable resolution of that misunderstanding, one which involves give and take on the part of all who are involved.
Key to the reconciliation process is open, honest, face-to-face communication. Communicating through an intermediary can lead to further misunderstanding. The parties concerned hear the intermediary’s explanation or opinion of what the other parties felt and thought. They do not hear what the other parties actually said that they thought or felt. They are denied an opportunity to ask questions for clarification and there is far less likelihood of closure for all parties involved.
The presence of a mediator, someone who as experience in helping people resolve conflicts, is desirable. A mediator can set some ground rules for the conversations between the parties concerned. Each party should take responsibility for their feelings, use “I” statements, and not blame the other parties for how they feel. Each party should be given ample opportunity to share their concerns without interruption. The other parties should make an effort to listen to what they are saying and to try to understand from where they are coming. Each party should also be given an opportunity to ask questions for clarification later in the session. The aim of the reconciliation process is to resolve any misunderstandings and to reach a mutually acceptable agreement on how all the parties should relate to each other in the future. Jesus’ teaching and example should be considered in reaching this agreement. The reconciliation process may take several sessions.
It is a good idea for the parties concerned to periodically meet to review how things are going between them and to negotiate any changes to their agreement.
The ultimate aim of the reconciliation process is to heal the rift between the parties and restore amicable relations between them. They may not become best friends. However, they will be on speaking terms with each other, and they treat each other as a disciple of Jesus is expected to treat a fellow disciple. They will be able to do the good things that God planned for them to do together.
Human beings are not perfect. We all are fallible. We are likely to make mistakes. We all have failings. When we become followers of Jesus that does not change overnight. We do not become instantly perfect. We do not become incapable of making blunders or mistakes. Our flaws, shortcomings, and weaknesses do not disappear. While nothing is impossible for God and he could transform our character in a blink of an eye, such a transformation is not the experience of most Jesus followers.
God does not leave us to struggle on in our own strength, trying to become more like our Lord. God’s sanctifying and perfecting grace, the power of his Holy Spirit, works in our lives, gradually transforming us. To benefit from God’s grace, our hearts and minds must be open to his grace. We must respond to the nudging of the Holy Spirit, and we must employ the means of grace. As we cooperate with God’s grace in our lives, God will impart to us a deep love of him as our God and Father and instill in us those vital qualities of character which we need to think and behave like a true disciple of Jesus and to bear much fruit to his glory.
The community of Jesus followers of which we are a part is one of those means of grace. So are its individual members. As Paul drew the attention of the church at Corinth, one member of that community cannot say to another, “I do not need you,” any more than one organ of a human body can say to another organ, “I don’t need you.”
God puts us in a particular community of Jesus followers where he wants us. We are not only united to each other by one faith, one baptism, and one Lord, we are also united to each other by one Spirit. The same Holy Spirit indwells all who believe in Jesus.
Since we are imperfect human beings, we may experience some difficulties in relating to each other for various reasons but Jesus in his teaching makes it very clear that we should work through these difficulties. We cannot throw up our hands and refuse to have anything to do with whoever we are experiencing difficulties. We are denying them their role as an instrument of God’s grace to us and refusing to assume our role as an instrument of God’s grace to them.
Most misunderstandings between Jesus followers who are members of the same community of his followers can be rectified if there is a full and frank discussion of the misunderstandings between the parties concerned. Avoiding such a discussion will make matters worse.
Most misunderstandings between Jesus followers who are members of the same community of his followers can be rectified if there is a full and frank discussion of the misunderstandings between the parties concerned. Avoiding such a discussion will make matters worse.
Jesus himself recognized that the best way to solve relationship difficulties was to engage in such discussion even when this might be awkward and make one or more of the parties uncomfortable. He instructed his disciples to drop whatever they were doing, including fulfilling their religious obligations, and seek to make peace with someone who had something against them. Failing to do so could have negative consequences for a disciple.
Loving one another requires understanding one another and our own selves. The more we understand one another and ourselves, the better we will be able treat each other in the ways that Jesus would have us treat each other.
Loving one another requires understanding one another and our own selves. The more we understand one another and ourselves, the better we will be able treat each other in the ways that Jesus would have us treat each other.
We cannot gain a better understanding of one another and ourselves by not talking to each other. It may be awkward and uncomfortable at first, but we will gradually feel less embarrassed or nervous and more at ease if we take the time to get to know each other. In the process we will grow as disciples of Jesus. I am pretty confident that God will enable us to do that.
Silence
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Let us affirm our faith in the words of the Apostles Creed.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
SONG OF PRAISE
Open this link to hear John Michael Talbot’s adaptation of the Magnificat, “Holy Is His Name.”
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
and my spirit exalts in God my Savior.
For he has looked with mercy on my lowliness,
and my name will be forever exalted.
For the mighty God has done great things for me,
and his mercy will reach from age to age.
And holy, holy, holy is his name.
He has mercy in ev’ry generation.
He has revealed his power and his glory.
He has cast down the mighty in their arrogance,
and has lifted up the meek and the lowly.
He has come to help his servant Israel;
he remembers his promise to our fathers.
And holy, holy, holy is his name.
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
O God, the Judge of all,
through the saving blood of your Son
you have brought us to the heavenly Jerusalem
and given us a kingdom that cannot be shaken:
fill us with reverence and awe in your presence,
that in thanksgiving we and all your Church
may offer you acceptable worship;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives to intercede for us, now and for ever. Amen.
RESPONSE
Open this link in a new tab to hear the “Kyrie” from Healey Willan’s Missa De Sancta Maria Magdalen.
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Christ have mercy
Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
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.
Silence
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Let us affirm our faith in the words of the Apostles Creed.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
SONG OF PRAISE
Open this link to hear John Michael Talbot’s adaptation of the Magnificat, “Holy Is His Name.”
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
and my spirit exalts in God my Savior.
For he has looked with mercy on my lowliness,
and my name will be forever exalted.
For the mighty God has done great things for me,
and his mercy will reach from age to age.
And holy, holy, holy is his name.
He has mercy in ev’ry generation.
He has revealed his power and his glory.
He has cast down the mighty in their arrogance,
and has lifted up the meek and the lowly.
He has come to help his servant Israel;
he remembers his promise to our fathers.
And holy, holy, holy is his name.
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
O God, the Judge of all,
through the saving blood of your Son
you have brought us to the heavenly Jerusalem
and given us a kingdom that cannot be shaken:
fill us with reverence and awe in your presence,
that in thanksgiving we and all your Church
may offer you acceptable worship;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives to intercede for us, now and for ever. Amen.
RESPONSE
Open this link in a new tab to hear the “Kyrie” from Healey Willan’s Missa De Sancta Maria Magdalen.
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Christ have mercy
Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
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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