Morning Prayer: Friday 3 October 2014

October 3, 2014

Friday after Pentecost 16

O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

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: I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;* I will praise my God while I have my being. (Ps. 104.34)

Opening

VENITE

1 O come let us sing out to the Lord,*
let us shout in triumph to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his face with thanksgiving*
and cry out to him joyfully in psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God,*
and a great king above all gods.
4 In his hands are the depths of the earth,*
and the peaks of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his and he made it;*
his hands moulded dry land.
6 Come let us worship and bow down,*
and kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he himself is our God;*
we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8 Today if only you would hear his voice:*
‘Do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness;
9 when your fathers tested me;*
put me to proof though they had seen my works.
10 Of whom I swore in my wrath:*
“They shall not enter my rest.”’

Glory to the Father… (may be said by all)
or (from Psalm 104)

1 You spread out the heavens like a curtain;*
you lay the beams of your chambers in the waters above;
2 You make the clouds your chariot;*
you ride on the wings of the wind;
3 You make the winds your messengers*
and flames of fire your servants.
4 You have set the earth upon its foundations,*
so that it never shall move at any time.

Glory to the Father…

or a suitable hymn

Psalm 97

1 The Lord is king;
let the earth rejoice;*
let the multitude of the isles be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him,*
righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.
3 A fire goes before him*
and burns up his enemies on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world;*
the earth sees it and is afraid.
5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord,*
at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,*
and all the peoples see his glory.
7 Confounded be all who worship carved images
and delight in false gods!*
Bow down before him, all you gods.
8 Zion hears and is glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice,*
because of your judgements, O Lord.
9 For you are the Lord, most high over all the earth;*
you are exalted far above all gods.
10 The Lord loves those who hate evil;*
he preserves the lives of his saints
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light has sprung up for the righteous,*
and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous,*
and give thanks to his holy name.

Almighty God, your whole creation declares your glory. May we perceive you in all your works and live in the light of your righteousness, through him who is the light of the world, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Conclusion (from Isaiah 45)

1 Thus says the Lord who created the heavens,*
who formed the earth and made it;
2 who did not create it a chaos,*
but formed it to be inhabited –
3 Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;*
for I am God: there is no other.
4 From my mouth has gone forth in righteousness*
a word that shall not return:
5 “To me every knee shall bow,*
every tongue shall swear”.’
6 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel*
shall triumph and glory.

Glory to the Father…

Antiphon: I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will praise my God while I have my being.

READING(S)

Hosea 10:1-15

Israel is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased
the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
he improved his pillars.
Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
The LORD will break down their altars,
and destroy their pillars.

For now they will say:
‘We have no king,
for we do not fear the LORD,
and a king—what could he do for us?’
They utter mere words;
with empty oaths they make covenants;
so litigation springs up like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of the field.
The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
for the calf of Beth-aven.
Its people shall mourn for it,
and its idolatrous priests shall wail over it,
over its glory that has departed from it.
The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
as tribute to the great king.
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.

Samaria’s king shall perish
like a splinter on the face of the waters.
The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars.
They shall say to the mountains, Cover us,
and to the hills, Fall on us.

Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah?
I will come against the wayward people to punish them;
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are punished for their double iniquity.

Ephraim was a trained heifer
that loved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck;
but I will make Ephraim break the ground;
Judah must plough;
Jacob must harrow for himself.
Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground;
for it is time to seek the LORD,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

You have ploughed wickedness,
you have reaped injustice,
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your power
and in the multitude of your warriors,
therefore the tumult of war shall rise against your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle
when mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.

Acts 21:37 – 22:16

Just as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, ‘May I say something to you?’ The tribune replied, ‘Do you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?’ Paul replied, ‘I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city; I beg you, let me speak to the people.’ When he had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people for silence; and when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:
‘Brothers and fathers, listen to the defence that I now make before you.’
When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then he said:
‘I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.
‘While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” I answered, “Who are you, Lord?” Then he said to me, “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.” Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. I asked, “What am I to do, Lord?” The Lord said to me, “Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told everything that has been assigned to you to do.” Since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, those who were with me took my hand and led me to Damascus.
‘A certain Ananias, who was a devout man according to the law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there, came to me; and standing beside me, he said, “Brother Saul, regain your sight!” In that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. Then he said, “The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear his own voice; for you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.”

Silence

Response (Ps 92.4)

In all you have done, O Lord, you have made me glad.
In all you have done, O Lord, you have made me glad.
I will sing for joy because of the works of your hands.
You have made me glad.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
In all you have done, O Lord, you have made me glad.

 

BENEDICTUS

Benedictus Antiphon: In tender compassion,* God’s dawn has broken upon us.

1 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,*
for he has come to his people and set them free.
2 He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,*
born of the house of his servant David.
3 Through his holy prophets he promised of old*
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us.
4 He promised to show mercy to our forebears,*
and to remember his holy covenant.
5 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:*
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
6 free to worship him without fear,*
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
7 You my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High,*
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
8 to give his people knowledge of salvation*
by the forgiveness of all their sins.
9 In the tender compassion of our God*
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
10 to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,*
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

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

Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered by your Holy Spirit into one, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

(A suitable hymn)

God most holy, we give you thanks for bringing us out of the shadow of night into the light of morning; and we ask you for the joy of spending this day in your service, so that when evening comes, we may once more give you thanks, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Amen.

Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!

The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil;
and bring us to life eternal.
Amen.