Wednesday 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 78.17-39
17 But they went on sinning against him,*
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
18 They tested God in their hearts,*
demanding food for their craving.
19 They railed against God and said,*
‘Can God set a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he struck the rock, the waters gushed out, and the
gullies overflowed;*
but is he able to give bread
or to provide meat for his people?’
21 When the Lord heard this, he was full of wrath;*
a fire was kindled against Jacob,
and his anger mounted against Israel;
22 For they had no faith in God,*
nor did they put their trust in his saving power.
23 So he commanded the clouds above*
and opened the doors of heaven.
24 He rained down manna upon them to eat*
and gave them grain from heaven.
25 So mortals ate the bread of angels;*
he provided for them food enough.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens*
and led out the south wind by his might.
27 He rained down flesh upon them like dust*
and wingèd birds like the sand of the sea.
28 He let it fall in the midst of their camp*
and round about their dwellings.
29 So they ate and were well filled,*
for he gave them what they craved.
30 But they did not stop their craving,*
though the food was still in their mouths.
31 So God’s anger mounted against them;*
he slew their strongest men
and laid low the youth of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they went on sinning*
and had no faith in his wonderful works.
33 So he brought their days to an end like a breath*
and their years in sudden terror.
34 Whenever he slew them, they would seek him,*
and repent, and diligently search for God.
35 They would remember that God was their rock,*
and the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouths*
and lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him,*
and they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 But he was so merciful that he forgave their sins
and did not destroy them;*
many times he held back his anger
and did not permit his wrath to be roused.
39 For he remembered that they were but flesh,*
a breath that goes forth and does not return.
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 5:1-18
After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralysed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.’ But he answered them, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Take up your mat and walk.” ’ They asked him, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Take it up and walk”?’ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.’ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is still working, and I also am working.’ For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.
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.
