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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.
THURSDAY EVENING HYMN
Our mother Earth, her mantle green,
lay ripened, seeded and at rest;
she yearned to nurture all to life,
providing nourishment and nest.
So God, unbounded, uncontained,
ordained the oceans teem with life
and bid the skies be filled with flight:
with fish and fowl the world was rife.
These each were blest and both deemed good
God urged them mate and multiply:
thus life would ever be increased
and God in all be glorified.
With song and plumage, soaring flight,
birds blazoned forth God’s gifts so free;
while sea-life, fathomless and feared,
reflected, dark, God’s mystery.
Thus evening came and morning came
the fifth day, filling air and sea.
Life overflowing and outpoured
depends upon diversity! Amen.
Text: Aelred-Seton Shanley; Tune: Plainsong
SERVICE OF THE WORD
PSALMODY
Antiphon
Let praise resound from the birds of the air–
the sea and its creatures roar with joy.
Psalm 103/104 B
The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
and sing your praise among the branches.
You water mountains from the clouds of heaven;
the soil is satisfied by the fruit of your work.
It make grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
wine that gladdens our hearts,
oil to make our faces shine,
and bread to sustain our lives.
The trees of Adonai are well-watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that God planted.
There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the junipers.
The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags provide refuge for the badger.
You made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows the hour of its setting.
You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and rest in their dens.
Then people go out to their work,
to their labor until evening falls.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
And to the BREATH of Love!
As always before,
so now and evermore. Amen
Let praise resound from the birds of the air–
the sea and its creatures roar with joy.
Reading Colossians 1: 21-23
You yourselves were once alienated from God; you nourished hostility because of your evil deeds. But Christ has achieved reconciliation for you in his mortal body through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him, provided that you persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven,
Responsory
R. Be strong and stand firm; *I will bring you to a land where milk and honey flow.
V. I will present you holy and unblemished before the throne of grace; *I will bring you to a land where milk and honey flow. V. Glory to the ONE, to the WORD, and to the Holy BREATH of Life.
Gospel Canticle of Mary
Antiphon
“Master, I want to see.”
Jesus replied, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
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
“Master, I want to see.”
Jesus replied, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
SERVICE OF PRAYER
Litany of Intercession
For all whose lives and livelihoods involve fish and other forms of sea life, especially those striving to preserve endangered species through the development of sustainable fishing practices and to improve and restore oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and ponds,
~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For all whose lives and livelihoods involve poultry and other birds, especially those striving to develop sustainably integrated practices and to improve and restore their natural habitats, ~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For all who are deprived by modern lifestyles and urban jungles from experiencing the incredible beauty, diversity, liveliness and songs of the birds,
~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For the sea creatures and winged birds themselves, whose praise of God sounding for hundreds of millions of years is threatened with extinction by the human destruction of their habitats and the toxins produced by consumerism and greed,
~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Dear Abba …
Closing Prayer & Blessing
God of the Sea and Sky, as we celebrate the fifth day of the week, we praise and thank you for the wonder and beauty of all the creatures that You have made, for each one of them reveals something of Your inexpressible love. Awaken in us a profound sensitivity to Your presence in all of creation and awareness that it is in You that we and all creation live and move and have our being. For your love is the power that has created all things, sustains all things, and invites all things to join you in building the future now and forever. Amen.
May the God of Earth & Sea & Sky + bless us with reverence, wonder and awe . Amen.
Let us bless Adonai! ~And give thanks to God.
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.