Second Sunday after Epiphany, EP I

winter sunset

Service of Light

Greeting/Invocation
 We light the Evening Candle and say or sing:

Light and Peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!

~Thanks be to God!

 

Stay with us Lord for it is evening,

~And the day is almost over.

 

Hymn for Saturday Evening

O fire that fuels the stars and suns,

rekindled in our evening flame:

your blinding radiance yet is dimmed

before the One from whom you came.

 

When out of darkness first you dawned,

you ushered in God’s gifts untold:

on this the eighth, unequaled day,

you blazed where Life lay dead and cold.

 

For Christ, our light, unquenchable,

death sought to master and defy,

yet from a darkened, empty tomb

Life gave definitive reply.

 

The universe will not be shamed,

delighting God in endless ways,

for neither human sin nor pride

can silence its unceasing praise. Amen

Text: Aelred-Seton Shanley

 

 

 SERVICE OF THE WORD

Evening Psalm

Antiphon/Refrain

My prayers come before you like incense,

the raising of my hands like the ev’ning offering.

Psalm 140/141

I call for your help, O Adonai, Listen to me when I call to you.

God, I cry to you, so listen to my prayer, I am invoking you.

 

Keep me from evil, watch over me.  Set a guard at the door of my lips.

Love, I turn to you, so listen to me now, I am invoking you.

 

Defend me, my Love, I take refuge in you.  Guard me from those who do evil.

My Joy, I trust in you, so listen to my heart, I am invoking you.

Setting: Tobias Colgan, OSB, adpt.

 

Reading           Hebrews 4: 9b-12

There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from work as God rested from work.  Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

 Responsory

R. I shall see your face, O Lord, and be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory.    V. Today I am deeply hurt but tomorrow I shall be freed from my bonds. *and be filled when I awake, with the sight of your glory.

Gospel Antiphon

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.  Alleluia!

Canticle from Philippians 2: 6-11 

Refrain:  Lord Jesus

Though he was in the form of God

Jesus did not  snatch at equality with God. Lord Jesus

 

He emptied himself,

taking the form of  a servant,

being born in the likeness of men.  Lord Jesus

 

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself,

and became obedient unto death,

even death on a cross. Lord Jesus

 

Therefore God has highly exalted him

and bestowed on him

the name that is above every name.  Lord Jesus

 

That at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth.  Lord Jesus

 

And every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.  Alleluia!

 

 Service of Prayer

Litany of Intercession

For the Unity of the Christian Churches and the common good of all Earthkind,

Love, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For the people of this and every other nation, that all be guided in the ways of justice and peace, Love, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For the health and well-being of all creation, and the wisdom and will to conserve it, Love in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For all those who have asked for our prayers and those for whom we have promised to pray, Love in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For all who are suffering in mind, body or spirit, and for those who care for them,

Love in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For those who have died, and for those who grieve their passing, Love, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

Prayer of Jesus

Using a translation prepared by the Nez Percé Tribe, we pray as Jesus taught his disciples

O Great Spirit, You are our Shepherd Chief in the most high place.

Your home is everywhere, even beyond the stars and moon.

Whatever You want to be done, let it be done everywhere.

Give us Your gift of bread day by day.

Forgive us our wrongs as we forgive those who wrong us.

Take us away from wrong doings. Free us from evil.

For everything belongs to You.  Let Your power and glory shine forever.  Amen.

 

 

Closing Prayer & Blessing

Risen Christ, by virtue of your passing over from death to life,

pour your Holy Spirit into our hearts.  Fill us with awe and reverence for you and love  and compassion for our neighbor, for yours is the power and the glory, now and forever. ~Amen.

May the Great Spirit + bless us and all of creation.  ~Amen 

 

Let us bless the world with peace.    ~And give thanks to God.

 

Those who wish may end evening prayer with the Marian Antiphon for this season.
Marian Antiphon

Loving Mother of our Savior, holding open heaven’s only hope, Star for steerage in this vastness, rise to help us, save the sinking.  Nature’s greatest  Wonder: you have borne your own true Maker, giving human life to him. Virgin ever, before and after, that Good News from Gabriel, Word of Life for living, tell it now: mercy to all people!

 

The angel of the Lord brought the message to Mary. ~ And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

 

Let us pray.  Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, your Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may, by his Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of his Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.  Amen.