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SERVICE OF LIGHT
Greeting/Invocation
We light the EASTER CANDLE and say or sing:
Christ our Light!
~Thanks be to God!
Christ is risen, alleluia!
~He is risen indeed, alleluia!
HYMN FOR AN EASTER EVENING
Daylight fades in days when deathless Light has robbed earth’s night of fear:
On the edge of all our twilights Easter’s angel shall appear;
When hearts broken by believing Count their faith and hope as dead,
Christ will greet them in each other And in breaking of the bread.
Wondrous myst’ry of love’s giving! Our forgiving Abba’s Son,
Crushed in sorrow, raised to glory Death had conquered; life has won!
Once in silence he submitted, Now earth sings to him, our Light!
Fear will ever flee defeated When love makes our hearts so bright.
O Love Jesus, risen Savior, Hear our joyful hymn of praise;
grant a season of salvation, Peace, and joy these Easter days.
To your Abba and your Spirit Equal praises ever be;
Born again, we sing your goodness, Now and through eternity.
Text: Based in Luke 24:28-35 by Peter Scagnelli (c) 1973, alt. ; Tune: DOMHNACH TRIONOIDE, 87.87.D
SERVICE OF THE WORD
Evening Psalmody
Antiphon
God has called us out of darkness
into such wonderful light: Alleluia!
Psalm 104/105: 1-15, 39-43
Give thanks to Love, acclaim the Name
tell all that Adonai has done.
Make music and sing among the peoples
God’s mighty deeds and wonders!
Revel in the holy Name!
Delight in seeking Adonai.
Look always for God’s strength and power,
the presence of Love in our world.
Recount the signs and wonders
the judgments and just decrees.
For God remembers the covenant,
the promise for a thousand generations,
the agreement made with Abraham and Sarah
and the oath sworn to Isaac and Rebekkah.
Confirmed with Jacob as a law
for Israel as a covenant forever:
“I give you a land to care for,
Canaan will be your inheritance.
They were only a few in number,
a handful of nomads in the land,
wandering from country to country,
from one realm and nation to another.
Love tolerated no oppression,
admonished kings and rulers on their account:
“Do not touch those I have anointed;
do no harm to any of my prophets.”
God spread a cloud to shield them by day
and led them by a pillar of fire by night.
Israel prayed so God sent quail,
and fed them with bread from heaven,
opened a rock to give them water,
streams gushed forth in the desert.
For God remembered the holy word,
the oath sworn to our mothers and fathers,
So God brought out our people with joy;
the chosen ones with shouts of rejoicing.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
And to the BREATH of Love!
As always before,
so now and evermore.
God has called us out of darkness
into such wonderful light: Alleluia!
READING I Peter 2:9-10
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,
in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of the one who has called you out of darkness into such marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have been flooded with loving kindness.
Responsory
R. I believe that my Redeemer lives and that on the last day I shall rise from the earth, *and in my flesh I shall see God, my Savior; alleluia, alleluia! V. It will not be some other being, but I myself who see him. My own eyes will look upon him. *and in my flesh I will see God, my Savior; alleluia, alleluia! V. Glory to the Abba and the Word and the Holy Breath of Love.
Gospel Canticle
Antiphon
Any who eat my flesh and drink my blood
have eternal life, and I shall raise them up on the last day. alleluia, alleluia!
Canticle of Mary
My heart + is radiant with the Lord,
My whole being delights in God my Savior.
All people now will call me blessed
For God has loved this humble handmaid.
The Almighty has shown me great favor
Holy is the NAME,
Whose mercy embraces the faithful,
From one generation to the next.
The mighty arm of God,
Scatters the proud in their own conceit,
Pulls tyrants from their thrones
While lifting up the lowly:
Fills the famished with bounty,
And reveals the emptiness of riches.
Rescues lowly Israel,
Sharing such loving kindness,
As promised to our ancestors
To Abraham and Sarah, and their descendants forever.
Glory to the One and to the Word
And to the Breath of Love
As always before
So now and evermore. Amen
Any who eat my flesh and drink my blood
have eternal life, and I shall raise them up on the last day. alleluia, alleluia!
SERVICE OF PRAYER
Litany of Intercession
O Risen Christ, you are the living bread that came down from heaven,
~free us to share all that you give us to sustain and nourish life.
O Risen Christ, you gave your flesh and blood for the life of the world;
~free us to use our hearts, minds and bodies to give ourselves for the life of the world.
O Risen Christ, you revealed yourself as the Way and Truth of eternal Life , ~free us to embrace your way of life which means loving, forgiving, valuing, including and serving others.
O Risen Christ, you sent Philip to be a spiritual companion for the Ethiopian eunuch and to welcome him into the community of your disciples; ~ free us to walk with and welcome those whom society, culture and religion exclude or oppress for being different in any way.
O Risen Christ, the Universe celebrates the glory and beauty of your resurrection with every sunrise, the sprouting of every seed, and the birth of every new life; ~free us to live mindfully in harmony with Mother Earth and all of Earthkind.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Father…
Closing Prayer
We bless and thank you, O Gracious God, for all that you have done in raising Jesus from the dead. You have conquered the power of death and opened to us the way to the freedom, flourishing and fullness of life which your love offers to us and all of your creation. May the Risen Christ open our eyes and breathe into our hearts that we may recognize him in the wounds of the world, know him in the breaking and sharing of bread, and follow him in his risen life now and forever. Amen
Blessing
May the God of Life who brought Jesus through death to resurrection+ bless us with Peace and Joy, Alleluia! ~Amen, Alleluia!
Let us bless Adonai, Alleluia, Alleluia! ~Thanks be to God, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Those who wish may end evening prayer with the Marian Antiphon for the Easter Season.
O Queen of Heaven, be joyful, alleluia!
For He whom you have humbly borne for us, alleluia!
Has arisen, as he promised, alleluia!
Offer now our prayer to God, alleluia!
Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, Alleluia!
For our Love is truly risen, Alleluia!
Let us pray.
Holy, Immortal and Mighty God, you have brought joy to the world by raising Jesus from the dead. By the prayers of Mary his Mother, and of all the myrrh-bearing women,
raise us up with Jesus and bring us to the fullness of life. We ask this through the same Jesus Christ, our Risen Love. Amen.