Wednesday after Pentecost 2
Evening Prayer: OTHER TIMES – 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. (Ps. 139.22)
Opening (from Psalm 139)
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 73
1 Truly, God is good to Israel,*
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had nearly slipped;*
I had almost tripped and fallen;
3 Because I envied the proud*
and saw the prosperity of the wicked:
4 For they suffer no pain,*
and their bodies are sleek and sound;
5 In the misfortunes of others they have no share;*
they are not afflicted as others are;
6 Therefore they wear their pride like a necklace*
and wrap their violence about them like a cloak.
7 Their iniquity comes from gross minds,*
and their hearts overflow with wicked thoughts.
8 They scoff and speak maliciously;*
out of their haughtiness they plan oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,*
and their evil speech runs through the world.
10 And so the people turn to them*
and find in them no fault.
11 They say, ‘How should God know?*
is there knowledge in the Most High?’
12 So then, these are the wicked;*
always at ease, they increase their wealth.
13 In vain have I kept my heart clean,*
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 I have been afflicted all day long,*
and punished every morning.
15 Had I gone on speaking this way,*
I should have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 When I tried to understand these things,*
it was too hard for me;
17 Until I entered the sanctuary of God*
and discerned the end of the wicked.
18 Surely, you set them in slippery places;*
you cast them down in ruin.
19 Oh, how suddenly do they come to destruction,*
come to an end, and perish from terror!
20 Like a dream when one awakens, O Lord,*
when you arise you will make their image vanish.
21 When my mind became embittered,*
I was sorely wounded in my heart.
22 I was stupid and had no understanding;*
I was like a brute beast in your presence.
23 Yet I am always with you;*
you hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me by your counsel,*
and afterwards receive me with glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?*
and having you I desire nothing upon earth.
26 Though my flesh and my heart should waste away,*
God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
27 Truly, those who forsake you will perish;*
you destroy all who are unfaithful.
28 But it is good for me to be near God;*
I have made the Lord God my refuge.
29 I will speak of all your works*
in the gates of the city of Zion.
Most High, you know our faithlessness, and our blindness to the rewards of goodness. Guide us with your counsel and be the strength of our hearts, that we may not fall but rejoice in the life of your eternal city; through Jesus Christ our Mediator.
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)
Matthew 20:1-16
‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’
Silence
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 Antiphons: 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)
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 (may be omitted when the Eucharist follows)
O God our defender, storms rage about us and cause us to be afraid. Rescue your people from despair, deliver your sons and daughters from fear, and preserve us all from unbelief; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
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.
