Wednesday after Pentecost 21
Evening Prayer – Week B
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: Where can I go from your Spirit?* where can I flee from your presence? (Psalm 139.6)
Opening (from Psalm 139)
1 I will thank you because I am marvellously made;*
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.
2 My body was not hidden from you,*
while I was being made in secret
and woven in the depths of the earth.
3 How deep I find your thoughts, O God!*
how great is the sum of them!
4 If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand;* to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.
Glory to the Father…
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 56
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
for my enemies are hounding me;*
all day long they assault and oppress me.
2 They hound me all the day long;*
truly there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
3 Whenever I am afraid,*
I will put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust and will not be afraid,*
for what can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they damage my cause;*
their only thought is to do me evil.
6 They band together; they lie in wait;*
they spy upon my footsteps;
because they seek my life.
7 Shall they escape despite their wickedness?*
O God, in your anger, cast down the peoples.
8 You have noted my lamentation;
put my tears into your bottle;*
are they not recorded in your book?
9 Whenever I call upon you, my enemies will be put to flight;*
this I know, for God is on my side.
10 In God the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust and will not be afraid,*
for what can mortals do to me?
11 I am bound by the vow I made to you, O God;*
I will present to you thank-offerings;
12 For you have rescued my soul from death and my feet
from stumbling,*
that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
Conclusion (from 1 Timothy 3)
1 Great indeed, we confess,*
is the mystery of our religion.
2 He was manifested in the flesh,*
vindicated in the Spirit,
3 Seen by angels,*
preached among the nations,
4 Believed on in the world;*
taken up in glory.
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: Where can I go from your Spirit?
where can I flee from your presence?
READING(S)
Matthew 12:1-14
At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.’ He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’
He left that place and entered their synagogue; a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?’ so that they might accuse him. He said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.’ Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
Response (Ps. 105.5)
Call to mind what wonders he has done!
Call to mind what wonders he has done!
His marvellous acts and the judgements of his mouth.
What wonders he has done!
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Call to mind what wonders he has done!
MAGNIFICAT
Magnificat Antiphon: God looks with favour* on his lowly servant.
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: God looks with favour* on his lowly servant.
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 everliving God, increase in us your gift of faith, that forsaking what lies behind and reaching out to what is before, we may run the way of your commandments and win the crown of everlasting joy; 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.
