Morning Prayer: Thursday 2 April 2020

Thursday 2 April 2020

Thursday after Passion Sunday
The Suffering Christ

Week 5 of Lent

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 thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and glorify your name for evermore. (Psalm 86.12)

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)


Glory to the Father
or a suitable Hymn
(Or from 86)

1 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord,*
nor anything like your works.
2 All nations you have made will come and worship you, O Lord,*
and glorify your name.
3 For you are great; you do wondrous things;*
and you alone are God.
4 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;*
knit my heart to you that I may fear your name.

Glory to the Father...
or a suitable hymn

Psalm 80
1 Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock;*
shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim.

2 In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,*
stir up your strength and come to help us.

3 Restore us, O God of hosts;*
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

4 O Lord God of hosts,*
how long will you be angered
despite the prayers of your people?

5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;*
you have given them bowls of tears to drink.

6 You have made us the derision of our neighbours,*
and our enemies laugh us to scorn.

7 Restore us, O God of hosts;*
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt;*
you cast out the nations and planted it.

9 You prepared the ground for it;*
it took root and filled the land.

10 The mountains were covered by its shadow*
and the towering cedar trees by its boughs.

11 You stretched out its tendrils to the Sea*
and its branches to the River.

12 Why have you broken down its wall,*
so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes?

13 The wild boar of the forest has ravaged it,*
and the beasts of the field have grazed upon it.

14 Turn now, O God of hosts, look down from heaven;
behold and tend this vine;*
preserve what your right hand has planted.

15 They burn it with fire like rubbish;*
at the rebuke of your countenance let them perish.

16 Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand,*
the son of man you have made so strong for yourself.

17 And so will we never turn away from you;*
give us life, that we may call upon your name.

18 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;*
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

Glory to the Father...

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ, our good shepherd; you have led us to the kingdom of your Father’s love. Forgive our careless indifference to your loving care for all your creatures, and remake us in the likeness of your new and risen life. We ask this in your name.
81

1 Sing with joy to God our strength*
and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.

2 Raise a song and sound the timbrel,*
the merry harp, and the lyre.

3 Blow the ram’s-horn at the new moon,*
and at the full moon, the day of our feast.

4 For this is a statute for Israel,*
a law of the God of Jacob.

5 He laid it as a solemn charge upon Joseph,*
when he came out of the land of Egypt.

6 I heard an unfamiliar voice saying,*
“I eased his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were set free from bearing the load.”

7 You called on me in trouble, and I saved you;*
I answered you from the secret place of thunder
and tested you at the waters of Meribah.

8 Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you:*
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

9 There shall be no strange god among you;*
you shall not worship a foreign god.

10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said,*
“Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”

11 And yet my people did not hear my voice,*
and Israel would not obey me.

12 So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts,*
to follow their own devices.

13 Oh, that my people would listen to me!*
that Israel would walk in my ways!

14 I should soon subdue their enemies*
and turn my hand against their foes.

15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,*
and their punishment would last for ever.

16 But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat*
and satisfy him with honey from the rock.


Father, forgive our foolish ways, and feed us always with that living bread which is given for the life of the world, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Conclusion

Lamentations 3

Remember my affliction and bitterness*
the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually thinks of it*
and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind*
and therefore I have hope –
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases*
his mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning*
great is his faithfulness.
‘The Lord is my portion.’ says my soul:*
‘therefore I will hope in him.’

Glory to the Father...

I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and glorify your name for evermore.

READING(S)

Exodus 7.24-8.19

And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river. Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The river shall swarm with frogs; they shall come up into your palace, into your bedchamber and your bed, and into the houses of your officials and of your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your officials.' " And the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.' " So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same by their secret arts, and brought frogs up on the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, "Pray to the Lord to take away the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord." Moses said to Pharaoh, "Kindly tell me when I am to pray for you and for your officials and for your people, that the frogs may be removed from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile." And he said, "Tomorrow." Moses said, "As you say! So that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God, the frogs shall leave you and your houses and your officials and your people; they shall be left only in the Nile." Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs that he had brought upon Pharaoh. And the Lord did as Moses requested: the frogs died in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.' " And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and gnats came on humans and animals alike; all the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt. The magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, but they could not. There were gnats on both humans and animals. And the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God!" But Pharaoh"s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

2 Corinthians 3.7-18

Now if the ministry of death, chiselled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses" face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory! Indeed, what once had glory has lost its glory because of the greater glory; for if what was set aside came through glory, much more has the permanent come in glory! Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

Silence

Response Psalm (119.123)

My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
And for your righteous promise.
For your salvation.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.

BENEDICTUS

Benedictus antiphon:

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:

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 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

Merciful God,
look upon your family as we travel to the foot of the cross:
and, by your great goodness, guide us in body;
that, by your protection,
we may also be preserved in heart and mind;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
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.