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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.
TUESDAY EVENING HYMN
O Kindly Maker of the land,
Creating good in all you plan;
Behold the sterile sea gave birth
At your command to fertile Earth.
For what was low You brought on high
Your arm drove back the sea with might;
Then out of Earth began to raise
All growing things their silent praise.
Each verdant bough, each fruit and seed
Bespeaks itself a Godly deed.
Let not our eyes and soul be blind
Here speaks a secret love divine.
We are the branches, Christ the vine,
Whom God, our Abba, tends with care.
May God not find our actions bare,
But in Christ’s glory make us share.
O Loving Abba, hear our cry,
Through Jesus Christ, your Word most high,
Whom in the Spirit we adore,
Who reigns with you forevermore. Amen.
Text: Telluris alme Conditor (7/8 century) Tune: O KINDLY MAKER, L.M. Gethsemani Abbey (1971)
SERVICE OF THE WORD
PSALMODY
Antiphon
How difficult it is for those who are rich
to enter the Reign of God.
Psalm 48/49
Hear this, all you peoples,
give heed, all who dwell in the world,
whether you are elite or humble
rich and poor alike!
I have wisdom you need to hear.
I see to the heart of things.
I tune my ears to the truth
and now share my insight with the harp.
Why should I be afraid in bad times
when enemies surround me with malice,
disdainful in their power
arrogant in their wealth?
For none of us can save ourselves,
cannot set things right with God;
the price for salvation is too high,
well beyond anyone’s means.
There is no escaping death,
no way to avoid the grave.
Look, even the wisest die.
Fools and idiots likewise perish,
and others claim their wealth.
The grave is their ultimate home,
where they truly settle for good,
even if they are remembered
and their land still bears their name.
No matter how great or how wealthy,
there are few with wisdom who see:
all of us die like beasts.
Here is the fate of those
concerned only for the themselves:
Like sheep they are driven to Sheol,
where death shall be their shepherd;
the morning will see they have vanished
and Earth consumes what remains.
But I know that God will rescue me,
save me from the grip of death.
Do not worry about wealth,
when someone else becomes rich.
You cannot take it to your grave
and your prestige means nothing in death.
Regardless of your wealth and reputation,
even when others say:
“My, how well you have done,”
the rich will join their dead ancestors
who will never see the light again.
No matter how great or how wealthy,
there are few with wisdom who see:
all of us die like beasts.
Glory to the One and to the Word
and to the Breath of Love;
As always before,
so now and evermore. Amen.
How difficult it is for those who are rich
to enter the Reign of God.
Reading ROMANS 3: 21-26
[T]he righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed, through the forbearance of God – to prove God’s righteousness in the present time, that God might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
Responsory
R. You were once far but have been brought near through the blood of Christ. * For he is himself our peace, and has made the two of us one. V. He came and proclaimed the Gospel: Peace to you who were far, peace to those who were near * For he is himself our peace, and has made the two of us one. V. Glory to the ONE, to the WORD, and to the Holy BREATH of Life.
Gospel Canticle of Mary
Antiphon
The harvest is rich, the laborers are few.
Freely you received and so freely you should give, 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
The harvest is rich, the laborers are few.
Freely you received and so freely you should give, 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 whose poverty force 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–farmers, scientists, and gardeners–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 permaculture and other 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 Dear Abba …
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 celebrate the appearance of dry land and the birth of plants and vegetation on this third day of the week, give us the wisdom and will to care for and conserve the 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! ~Thanks be 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.