Morning Prayer: Saturday 28 March 2015

March 28, 2015

Saturday after Fifth Sunday of Lent
Morning Prayer – The Suffering Christ

O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.
Amen.

PSALMODY

Antiphon: I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart,* and glorify your name for evermore. (Ps. 86.12)

Opening

VENITE

1 O come let us sing out to the Lord,*
let us shout in triumph to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his face with thanksgiving*
and cry out to him joyfully in psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God,*
and a great king above all gods.
4 In his hands are the depths of the earth,*
and the peaks of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his and he made it;*
his hands moulded dry land.
6 Come let us worship and bow down,*
and kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he himself is our God;*
we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8 Today if only you would hear his voice:*
‘Do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness;
9 when your fathers tested me;*
put me to proof though they had seen my works.
10 Of whom I swore in my wrath:*
“They shall not enter my rest.”’

Glory to the Father… (may be said by all)

or (from Psalm 86)

1 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord,*
nor anything like your works.
2 All nations you have made will come and worship you, O Lord,*
and glorify your name.
3 For you are great; you do wondrous things;*
and you alone are God.
4 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;*
knit my heart to you that I may fear your name.

Glory to the Father…

or a suitable hymn

Psalm 119:1-24

Aleph
1 Happy are they whose way is blameless,*
who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Happy are they who observe his decrees*
and seek him with all their hearts!
3 Who never do any wrong,*
but always walk in his ways.
4 You laid down your commandments,*
that we should fully keep them.
5 Oh, that my ways were made so direct*
that I might keep your statutes!
6 Then I should not be put to shame,*
when I regard all your commandments.
7 I will thank you with an unfeigned heart,*
when I have learned your righteous judgements.
8 I will keep your statutes;*
do not utterly forsake me.

Beth
9 How shall a young man cleanse his way?*
By keeping to your words.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;*
let me not stray from your commandments.
11 I treasure your promise in my heart,*
that I may not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;*
instruct me in your statutes.
13 With my lips will I recite*
all the judgements of your mouth.
14 I have taken greater delight in the way of your decrees*
than in all manner of riches.
15 I will meditate on your commandments*
and give attention to your ways.
16 My delight is in your statutes;*
I will not forget your word.

Gimel
17 Deal bountifully with your servant,*
that I may live and keep your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may see*
the wonders of your law.
19 I am a stranger here on earth;*
do not hide your commandments from me.
20 My soul is consumed at all times*
with longing for your judgements.
21 You have rebuked the insolent;*
cursed are they who stray from your commandments!
22 Turn from me shame and rebuke,*
for I have kept your decrees.
23 Even though rulers sit and plot against me,*
I will meditate on your statutes.
24 For your decrees are my delight,*
and they are my counsellors.

Conclusion (from Isaiah 42)

Behold my servant, whom I uphold*
my chosen, in whom
my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him*
he will bring forth justice to the nations:
He will not cry nor lift up his voice*
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break*
a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice*
he will not fail nor be discouraged,
till he has established justice in the earth*
and the coastlands wait for his law.

Glory to the Father…

Antiphon: I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart,* and glorify your name for evermore. (Ps. 86.12)

READING(S)

Jeremiah 31:27-34
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say:

‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Romans 11:25-36
So that you may not claim to be wiser than you are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written,

‘Out of Zion will come the Deliverer;
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.’
‘And this is my covenant with them,
when I take away their sins.’

As regards the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!

‘For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counsellor?’
‘Or who has given a gift to him,
to receive a gift in return?’

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.

Silence

Response (Ps. 119.123)

My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
And for your righteous promise.
For your salvation.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.

BENEDICTUS

Benedictus Antiphon: Destroy this temple* and in three days I will raise it up, says the Lord. (Jn 2.19)

1 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,*
for he has come to his people and set them free.
2 He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,*
born of the house of his servant David.
3 Through his holy prophets he promised of old*
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us.
4 He promised to show mercy to our forebears,*
and to remember his holy covenant.
5 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:*
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
6 free to worship him without fear,*
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
7 You my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High,*
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
8 to give his people knowledge of salvation*
by the forgiveness of all their sins.
9 In the tender compassion of our God*
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
10 to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,*
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father… (may be said by all)

Benedictus Antiphon: Destroy this temple* and in three days I will raise it up, says the Lord. (Jn 2.19)

PRAYERS

Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Do not bring us to to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.

Collect of the Day
Most merciful God, by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ you created humanity anew. May the power of his victorious cross transform those who turn in faith to him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

God most holy, we give you thanks for bringing us out of the shadow of night into the light of morning; and we ask you for the joy of spending this day in your service, so that when evening comes, we may once more give you thanks, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!

The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil;
and bring us to life eternal.
Amen.