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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 Lord!

~Thanks be to God!

 

Stay with us Lord for it is evening,

~And the day is almost over.

 

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: Plainsong}

 

 

 SERVICE OF THE WORD

PSALMODY

 Antiphon

Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,

shout for joy and enjoy the feast.

Psalm 149

Sing a new song to Adonai,

sing praise in the assembly of the faithful!

Let Israel rejoice in her Maker,

let the children of Zion exult in their God.

Let us all praise the Holy Name with dancing

and make music with timbrel and harp.

 

For Adonai takes delight in this people,

And crowns the poor with salvation.

Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,

shout for joy and enjoy the feast.

Let the praise of God be on our lips

and the sword of truth near at hand,

 

to teach God’s justice to the nations

revealing the consequences of their actions;

to break the chains of oppression

and unbind its fetters of iron;

to do God’s will on earth as in heaven,

the joy and honor of all who are faithful.

 

Glory to the ONE through the WORD

In the BREATH of Love!

As always before,

so now and evermore.  Amen

Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,

shout for joy and enjoy the feast.

Reading   I Corinthians 6:6-8

Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough
to be able to settle a case between members of the community?
But rather brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers?

Now indeed then it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?
Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to your own brothers or sisters.
Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God?

 

Responsory

R. The harvest of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience and kindness *Goodness, fidelity, gentleness and self-control.  There is no law for these.  V.  If the Spirit is the source of life, let the Spirit direct our course.  * Goodness, fidelity, gentleness and self-control.  There is no  law for these. V. Glory to the ONE, to the WORD, and to the Holy BREATH of Life.

Gospel Canticle of Mary

Antiphon

A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.
The whole crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.

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

A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.
The whole crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.

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 get 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 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 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!    ~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.