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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 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
Let the Earth and all she bears rejoice;
All the trees of the woods and orchards clap their hands!
Psalm 97/98
Sing a new song to Adonai,
the God of wonderful deeds;
whose right hand and holy arm
have brought salvation.
God has made the victory known
and has revealed justice to the nations,
Remembering both truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of Earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to Adonai, O Earth,
ring out your joy!
Sing praise to God with the harp,
with strings and the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim our Sovereign God!
Let the sea and its creatures roar,
the land and all its bears rejoice.
Let the rivers clap their hands
and the hills ring out their joy
at the presence of Adonai, who comes,
who comes to rule the Earth.
God will rule the world with justice
and govern the peoples with fairness.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
And to the BREATH of Love;
as always before,
so now and evermore. Amen.
Let the Earth and all she bears rejoice;
All the trees of the woods and orchards clap their hands!
Reading Colossians 3:15-17
Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Abba through him.
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
There is no one who has left all things
for my sake and for the Gospel
who will not receive a hundredfold and life everlasting.
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
There is no one who has left all things
for my sake and for the Gospel
who will not receive a hundredfold and life everlasting.
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 whose poverty forces them to survive on grains and vegetables when they can find them, and for those who willingly 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 earliest produce of this spring season, 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 trees in clapping our hands and join all your 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.
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.