WEEK IX Tuesday

american iris society

SERVICE OF LIGHT

Greeting/Invocation

 We light the Evening Candle and say or sing:

Light and Peace in Jesus Christ our Love!

~Thanks be to God!

 

Stay with us O Christ, for it is evening,

~And the day is almost over.

TUESDAY EVENING HYMN

Life, never bounded or constrained,

tamed chaos, took the flood in hand,

determined these should now recede

and bare what would become the land.

 

And so, this day, their bound’ries set,

God named one “Earth!” the other “Sea!”

And then, beholding both were good,

Love’s eye was drawn to shrub and tree.

 

Life thus addressed our Mother Earth,

and charged her: “Color, bloom and root!

Be lavish in the gifts you bear

of greening forests, plants and fruit!”

 

And so it was and it was good!

Our planet’s splendors stood untrod;

each peak, each valley, plain and pond

poured forth its poetry to God.

 

Thus evening came and morning came

the third day, when our Earth first breathed;

so fragile, faithful, fruitful, free:

by Life sustained, by Love conceived!  Amen.

Text: Aelred-Seton Shanley; Tune: O KINDLY MAKER, L.M. Gethsemani Abbey (1971)

 

SERVICE OF THE WORD

PSALMODY

Antiphon

A beacon in the night for the upright,

this one is generous, merciful and just.

Psalm 111/112

Happy are those who love God

and delight in the whole of Torah!

Their children shall be blest,

strong and upright in the land.

 

The households of the just will flourish

their integrity stands firm forever.

A light shines from them for others

for they are generous, merciful and just.

 

The good lend freely to others

and conduct their affairs with honor.

They never waver from doing what is right

their justice is remembered forever.

 

They do not fear evil news

with strong hearts they trust in God.

Steadfast and without fear

they will watch the wicked crumble.

 

Open-handed they share with the poor;

their integrity stands firm forever.

this strength will bring them honor.

 

But hatred devours the wicked

who grind their teeth and depart;

their hopes all turn to ashes.

 

Glory to the ONE and to the WORD

And to the BREATH of Love!

As always before,

so now and evermore.  Amen

A beacon in the night for the upright,

this one is generous, merciful and just.

  

Reading   1 John 3:1-3

See what love the Abba has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are.  The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Jesus.
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like Jesus,
for we shall see him as he is.  All who have this hope based on him
make themselves pure, as he is pure.

Responsory

R. Whatever you do, in thought, word or deed, *do everything in the name of our Love, Jesus.   V. Give thanks to our dear Abba through him *do everything in the name of our Love, Jesus. V. Glory to the ONE, to the WORD, and to the Holy BREATH of Life.

Gospel Canticle of Mary

Antiphon

Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,

and to God the things that are God’s, Alleluia!

It is customary to make the sign of the cross at the beginning of the Gospel Canticle.

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  WORD

And to the BREATH of Love!

As always before,

so now and evermore.  Amen

Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,

and to God the things that are God’s, Alleluia!

 

SERVICE OF PRAYER

Litany of Intercession

For all who hunger–whose lives are endangered by lack of fresh fruit and vegetables–whose families and livestock are perishing from lack of vegetation,

~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For all forced by poverty to survive on grains and vegetables when they can find them, and for those who freely adopt this simple diet so others may simply live,

~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For all who work closely with soil–who recognize its fragile beauty and strive to restore its natural balance,

~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For those who farm and garden the Earth using sustainable methods that harmonize with the life of entire ecosystems,

~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For those who hoard the produce of the land, who build larger barns and funnel grains and greens that could feed the whole world into the unsustainable production of pork, beef and poultry to satisfy the cravings of the elite,

~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For those who hunger for meaning, cut off from the life-giving and sustaining love of God manifest in the cycle of life in all its paradox and diversity,

~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Prayer of Jesus

Our Father …

Closing Prayer & Blessing

Creator God, we stand in wonder and awe before Mother Earth, whom you invited to join you in the on-going work of Creation; and now each peak, valley, field and pond pours forth its poetry of gratitude and praise.   As we harvest and share the  produce of early June,  give us the wisdom and will to care for and conserve Mother Earth and the many life forms to which she has given birth.   May we join the flowers and trees in reflecting your beauty and join all the saints in singing your praise, for yours is the love, the power and the glory now and forever.  Amen.

 

May the God of all creation +   bless us with a hunger and thirst for justice.   Amen.

 

Let us bless Adonai!    ~And give thanks to God.

Einseideln, bales, front door 008

Those who wish may end evening prayer with the Salve Regina
Marian Antiphon

Mother of Mercy, Our Queen we greet you. Our life, our hope, our happiness we hail you. We call to you as Eve’s own children, and exiles.  To you we lift our hearts in sorrow and fear,  in this valley of tears.  Turn then, our loving Advocate, and look with favor upon us.  And after our life in exile, show us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.  O gracious, O loving, O Virgin benign, our Mother Mary.

 

Pray for us, Holy Mother of God

~ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

 

Let us pray.  Holy, Mighty and Immortal God, through the working of the Holy Spirit, you

prepared the body and soul of the glorious virgin Mother Mary, as a worthy dwelling for your Word; grant that we, who celebrate her memory each evening, may with the help of her prayers, be freed from ever-present evil, and come to share the fulness of life eternal.   Amen.