Evening Prayer: Saturday 7 March 2015

March 7, 2015

Saturday after Second Sunday of Lent
Evening Prayer – Returning to God

O God, make speed to save us;
O Lord, make haste to help us.

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: Show me your ways, O Lord,* and teach me your paths. (Ps. 25.3)

Opening (from Psalm 25)

1 You are the God of my salvation;*
in you have I trusted all the day long.
2 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love,*
for they are from everlasting.
3 Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions;*
remember me according to your love.
4 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,*
for my hope has been in you.

Glory to the Father…

or a suitable hymn

Psalm 143
1 Lord, hear my prayer,
and in your faithfulness heed my supplications;*
answer me in your righteousness.
2 Enter not into judgement with your servant,*
for in your sight shall no one living be justified.
3 For my enemy has sought my life;
he has crushed me to the ground;*
he has made me live in dark places like those who are long
dead.
4 My spirit faints within me;*
my heart within me is desolate.
5 I remember the time past;
I muse upon all your deeds;*
I consider the works of your hands.
6 I spread out my hands to you;*
my soul gasps to you like a thirsty land.
7 O Lord, make haste to answer me; my spirit fails me;*
do not hide your face from me
or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
8 Let me hear of your loving-kindness in the morning,
for I put my trust in you;*
show me the road that I must walk,
for I lift up my soul to you.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord,*
for I flee to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do what pleases you, for you are my God;*
let your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
11 Revive me, O Lord, for your name’s sake;*
for your righteousness’ sake, bring me out of trouble.
12 Of your goodness, destroy my enemies
and bring all my foes to naught,*
for truly I am your servant.

Conclusion (from Matthew 5)

1 Blessed are the poor in spirit,*
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
2 Blessed are those who mourn,*
for they shall be comforted.
3 Blessed are the meek,*
for they shall inherit the earth.
4 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,*
for they shall be satisfied.
5 Blessed are the merciful,*
for they shall obtain mercy.
6 Blessed are the pure in heart,*
for they shall see God.
7 Blessed are the peacemakers,*
for they shall be called the children of God.
8 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,*
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Glory to the Father…

Antiphon: Show me your ways, O Lord,
and teach me your paths.

READING(S)

John 7:1-13
After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. So his brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’ (For not even his brothers believed in him.) Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.’ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, ‘Where is he?’ And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, ‘He is a good man’, others were saying, ‘No, he is deceiving the crowd.’ Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.

Response (Ps. 86.15)

You, Lord, are gracious and full of compassion.
You, Lord, are gracious and full of compassion.
Slow to anger, full of kindness and truth.
Full of compassion.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
You, Lord, are gracious and full of compassion.

MAGNIFICAT

Magnificat Antiphon: If you hear his voice,* harden not your hearts (Ps. 95.7)

1 My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,*
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
2 for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant;*
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
3 The Almighty has done great things for me*
and holy is his name.
4 He has mercy on those who fear him*
in every generation.
5 He has shown the strength of his arm;*
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
6 He has cast down the mighty from their thrones*
and has lifted up the lowly.
7 He has filled the hungry with good things,*
and the rich he has sent away empty.
8 He has come to the help of his servant Israel,*
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
9 the promise he made to our forebears,*
to Abraham and his children for ever.

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

Magnificat Antiphon: If you hear his voice,* harden not your hearts (Ps. 95.7)

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

God of patience and humility, in your love you gave your Son to be rejected and raised up on a cross. Gather us under its shadow and open our eyes to its mystery, that we may share even now in the life that is from above; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Lord God almighty, come and dispel the darkness from our hearts, that in the radiance of your brightness we may know you, the only unfading light, glorious in all eternity. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!

The God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing:
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.