Morning Prayer: Thursday 3 September 2020

Thursday 3 September 2020

Gregory the Great, Bishop and Teacher of the Faith, 604
Week B

Week of Proper 22

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: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your dominion endures throughout all ages. (Psalm 145.13)

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 145)

1 I will exalt you, O God my king,*
and bless your name for ever and ever.
2 All your works praise you, O Lord,*
and your faithful servants bless you.
3 They make known the glory of your kingdom*
and speak of your power;
4 that the peoples may know of your power*
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.

Glory to the Father...
or a suitable hymn

Psalm 78.1-17
1 Hear my teaching, O my people;*
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable;*
I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.

3 That which we have heard and known,
and what our forefathers have told us,*
we will not hide from their children.

4 We will recount to generations to come
the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the Lord,*
and the wonderful works he has done.

5 He gave his decrees to Jacob and established a law for Israel,*
which he commanded them to teach their children;

6 That the generations to come might know,
and the children yet unborn;*
that they in their turn might tell it to their children;

7 So that they might put their trust in God,*
and not forget the deeds of God,
but keep his commandments;

8 And not be like their forefathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,*
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9 he people of Ephraim, armed with the bow,*
turned back in the day of battle;

10 They did not keep the covenant of God,*
and refused to walk in his law;

11 They forgot what he had done,*
and the wonders he had shown them.

12 He worked marvels in the sight of their forefathers,*
in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He split open the sea and let them pass through;*
he made the waters stand up like walls.

14 He led them with a cloud by day,*
and all the night through with a glow of fire.

15 He split the hard rocks in the wilderness*
and gave them drink as from the great deep.

16 He brought streams out of the cliff,*
and the waters gushed out like rivers.

17 But they went on sinning against him,*
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

Glory to the Father...

God of pilgrims, strengthen our faith, we pray. Guide us through the uncertainties of our journey, and hold before us the vision of your eternal kingdom, made known to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.



Conclusion

Isaiah 40

1 The Lord is the everlasting God,*
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
2 who does not faint nor grow weary,*
whose understanding is unsearchable,
3 who gives power to the faint,*
increase of strength to those who have no might.
4 Even youth shall faint and be weary;*
the young shall fall exhausted.
5 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;*
they shall mount up with wings like eagles.
6 They shall run and not be weary,*
they shall walk and not faint.

Glory to the Father...

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, Your dominion endures throughout all ages.


READING(S)

Job 16.16-22;17.1,13-16

My face is red with weeping, and deep darkness is on my eyelids, though there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure. "O earth, do not cover my blood; let my outcry find no resting-place. Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven, and he that vouches for me is on high. My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God, as one does for a neighbour. For when a few years have come, I shall go the way from which I shall not return. My spirit is broken, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me. If I look for Sheol as my house, if I spread my couch in darkness, if I say to the Pit, 'You are my father', and to the worm, 'My mother', or 'My sister', where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?"


Acts 13.1-24

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul. While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now listen-the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord. Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem; but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the law and the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it." So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak: "You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. For about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance for about four hundred and fifty years. After that he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. When he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, 'I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.' Of this man"s posterity God has brought to Israel a Saviour, Jesus, as he promised; before his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

Silence

Response Psalm (86.12)

I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart
I will glorify your name for evermore.
With all my heart.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.


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

Almighty and merciful God,
by whose grace alone
your faithful people offer you service and praise:
grant that we may hasten without stumbling
towards the things that you promise;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
ever 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.