Morning Prayer: Thursday 11 May 2017

May 11, 2017

Thursday after Fourth Sunday of Easter
Morning Prayer – New Life: The Lord

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: Christ has been raised from the dead:* the first fruits of those who sleep. (1 Cor 15-20)

Opening – Easter Anthems

1 Christ our passover has been sacrificed for us;*
so let us celebrate the feast.
2 Not with the old leaven of corruption and wickedness,*
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
3 Christ once raised from the dead dies no more;*
death has no more dominion over him.
4 In dying, he died to sin once for all;*
in living, he lives to God.
5 See yourselves therefore as dead to sin,*
and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
6 Christ has been raised from the dead,*
the first fruits of those who sleep.
7 For as by man came death,*
by man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
8 For as in Adam all die,*
even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Glory to the Father…

or a suitable hymn

Psalm 92

1 It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord,*
and to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2 To tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning*
and of your faithfulness in the night season;
3 On the psaltery, and on the lyre,*
and to the melody of the harp.
4 For you have made me glad by your acts, O Lord;*
and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
5 Lord, how great are your works!*
your thoughts are very deep.
6 The dullard does not know, nor does the fool understand,*
that though the wicked grow like weeds,
and all the workers of iniquity flourish,
7 They flourish only to be destroyed for ever;*
but you, O Lord, are exalted for evermore.
8 For lo, your enemies, O Lord,
lo, your enemies shall perish,*
and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
9 But my horn you have exalted like the horns of wild bulls;*
I am anointed with fresh oil.
10 My eyes also gloat over my enemies,*
and my ears rejoice to hear the doom of the wicked who
rise up against me.
11 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,*
and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
12 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord*
shall flourish in the courts of our God;
13 They shall still bear fruit in old age;*
they shall be green and succulent;
14 That they may show how upright the Lord is,*
my rock, in whom there is no fault.

Conclusion (from Wisdom 10)

1 Wisdom freed a holy people and a blameless race,*
from a nation of oppressors.
2 She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord,*
and withstood fearsome rulers with wonders and signs.
3 To the saints she gave the reward of their labours,*
and led them by a marvellous road.
4 She was their shelter by day,*
and a blaze of stars by night.
5 She brought them across the Red Sea;*
she led them through mighty waters.
6 She swallowed their enemies in the waves,*
and spat them out from the depths of the sea.
7 Then, Lord, the righteous sang the glories of your name,*
and praised together your protecting hand.
8 For wisdom opened the mouths of the silent.*
and gave speech to the tongues of her children.

Glory to the Father…

Antiphon: Christ has been raised from the dead:* the first fruits of those who sleep. (1 Cor 15-20)

READING(S)

Wisdom of Solomon 5:9-23
‘All those things have vanished like a shadow,
and like a rumour that passes by;
like a ship that sails through the billowy water,
and when it has passed no trace can be found,
no track of its keel in the waves;
or as, when a bird flies through the air,
no evidence of its passage is found;
the light air, lashed by the beat of its pinions
and pierced by the force of its rushing flight,
is traversed by the movement of its wings,
and afterwards no sign of its coming is found there;
or as, when an arrow is shot at a target,
the air, thus divided, comes together at once,
so that no one knows its pathway.
So we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be,
and we had no sign of virtue to show,
but were consumed in our wickedness.’
Because the hope of the ungodly is like thistledown carried by the wind,
and like a light frost driven away by a storm;
it is dispersed like smoke before the wind,
and it passes like the remembrance of a guest who stays but a day.
But the righteous live for ever,
and their reward is with the Lord;
the Most High takes care of them.
Therefore they will receive a glorious crown
and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord,
because with his right hand he will cover them,
and with his arm he will shield them.
The Lord will take his zeal as his whole armour,
and will arm all creation to repel his enemies;
he will put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and wear impartial justice as a helmet;
he will take holiness as an invincible shield,
and sharpen stern wrath for a sword,
and creation will join with him to fight against his frenzied foes.
Shafts of lightning will fly with true aim,
and will leap from the clouds to the target, as from a well-drawn bow,
and hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult;
the water of the sea will rage against them,
and rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them;
a mighty wind will rise against them,
and like a tempest it will winnow them away.
Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth,
and evildoing will overturn the thrones of rulers.

Colossians 2:8-23
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’? All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.

Silence

Response (Ps. 96.4)

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, alleluia, alleluia.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, alleluia, alleluia.
He is more to be feared than all gods.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, alleluia, alleluia.

BENEDICTUS

Benedictus Antiphon: I am the resurrection* and the life, says the Lord; alleluia!

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)

Benedictus Antiphon: I am the resurrection* and the life, says the Lord; alleluia!

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
O God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make us perfect in every good work to do your will, and work in us that which is well-pleasing in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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.