Evening Prayer: Thursday 25 August 2016

August 25, 2016

Ebba of Coldingham, Abbess, 683
Evening Prayer – Week C

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: Search me out, O God, and know my heart;*
try me and know my restless thoughts.

Opening (from Psalm 139.22)

1 You trace my journeys and my resting-places*
and are acquainted with all my ways.
2 Indeed there is not a word on my lips,*
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.
3 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will cover me,*
and the light around me turn to night’,
4 Darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day;*
darkness and light to you are both alike.

Glory to the Father…

or a suitable hymn

Psalm 77
1 I will cry aloud to God;*
I will cry aloud, and he will hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;*
my hands were stretched out by night and did not tire;
I refused to be comforted.
3 I think of God, I am restless,*
I ponder, and my spirit faints.
4 You will not let my eyelids close;*
I am troubled and I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old;*
I remember the years long past;
6 I commune with my heart in the night;*
I ponder and search my mind.
7 Will the Lord cast me off for ever?*
will he no more show his favour?
8 Has his loving-kindness come to an end for ever?*
has his promise failed for evermore?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?*
has he, in his anger, withheld his compassion?
10 And I said, ‘My grief is this:*
the right hand of the Most High has lost its power.’
11 I will remember the works of the Lord,*
and call to mind your wonders of old time.
12 I will meditate on all your acts*
and ponder your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy;*
who is so great a god as our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders*
and have declared your power among the peoples.
15 By your strength you have redeemed your people,*
the children of Jacob and Joseph.
16 The waters saw you, O God;
the waters saw you and trembled;*
the very depths were shaken.
17 The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered;*
your arrows flashed to and fro;
18 The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the world;*
the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was in the sea,
and your paths in the great waters,*
yet your footsteps were not seen.
20 You led your people like a flock*
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

God of saving power, remember us in times of sorrow and despair. Redeem us with your strength and guide us through the wilderness. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion A song of Pilgrimage (from Sirach 51)

1 While I was still young, before I began my travels,*
I sought for wisdom openly in my prayers.
2 I asked for her outside the temple sanctuary,*
and I will seek her to the end.
3 She has been the delight of my heart.*
from first blossom to early fruit.
4 I have kept firmly to the true path;*
I have followed her steps since my youth.
5 I bowed my ear a little and received her;*
I found wisdom and was well instructed.
6 Glory to the One who gives me wisdom!*
I will live according to her way.
7 From the beginning I gained understanding from her;*
therefore I will never be deserted.
8 Because I longed to find her with all my heart,*
I have gained a good possession.
9 As my reward the Lord has given me a tongue*
with which I shall sing his praises.

Glory to the Father…

Antiphon: Search me out, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my restless thoughts.

READING(S)

John 7:14-36

About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. The Jews were astonished at it, saying, ‘How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?’ Then Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.

‘Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?’ The crowd answered, ‘You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?’ Jesus answered them, ‘I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the sabbath? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgement.’

Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.’ Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, ‘You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.’ Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, ‘When the Messiah comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?’

The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him. Jesus then said, ‘I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.’ The Jews said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, “You will search for me and you will not find me” and, “Where I am, you cannot come”?’

Response (Sirach 51.26)

Buy wisdom without money, take her yoke upon you
Buy wisdom without money, take her yoke upon you.
Let your souls receive instruction.
Take her yoke upon you.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Buy wisdom without money, take her yoke upon you.

MAGNIFICAT

Magnificat Antiphon: Show, O Lord, the strength of your arm;* scatter the proud and exalt the lowly.

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: Show, O Lord, the strength of your arm;* scatter the proud and exalt the lowly.

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

Almighty and eternal God, by your generous love you grant to those who pray more than is desired or deserved: pour down your mercy upon us, forgiving what our conscience fears, and granting what we dare not ask; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
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.