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Invitation to Worship
Come back to Adonai with all your heart; leave the past in ashes.
Turn to Adonai with prayer and fasting; for God is kind and merciful.
We make the Sign of the Cross over our lips as we begin.
O Holy ONE + open my lips,
~And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
My sacrifice is a contrite spirit,
~ A humbled, contrite heart, you will not reject.
FRIDAY MORNING LENTEN HYMN
All may sing or alternate the verses of any Morning Hymn for Lent.
O Sun of Justice, fill our hearts, where selfishness has brought decay;
Dispel the darkness of our minds as now the night gives place to day.
Make this a fitting time for us, A time to turn ourselves to you;
O hear our prayer, most patient One, Compassion in our hearts renew.
As spring awakes the frozen Earth, So Easter blooms from Lent’s restraints.
Rejoice! for Christ will conquer death and share his life to make us saints.
O ever-loving Trinity We long to see that day of days
When all creation, born again, Will sing with us her Easter praise. Amen.
Text: Iam Christe, Sol Iustitiae Tune: ERHALT” UNS HERR L.M.
PSALMODY
Antiphon
The sacrifice you accept O God is a humble spirit.
Psalm 50/51
Have mercy on me, O God, in your loving kindness;
in your compassion blot out my offenses.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. (Antiphon)
I know full well my misdeeds,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, against you have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight. (Antiphon)
Yet you look for truth in my in most being,
and teach me wisdom in my heart.
Purify me that I may be clean,
wash me, make me brighter than snow. (Antiphon)
Create in me a pure heart O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your holy Spirit from me. (Antiphon)
Deliver me from death, O God my Savior,
and my tongue may sing of your justice.
O Love, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim your praise. (Antiphon)
You have no delight in sacrifices;
burnt offerings from me would not please you.
The sacrifice you accept is a humble spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not reject. (Antiphon)
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
and to the BREATH of Love;
as it was in the beginning, is now
and will be forever. Amen (Antiphon)
Setting: Jan Michael Joncas, Praise God In Song (GIA, 1979).
READING Isaiah 58: 1-5
Thus says ADONAI ELOHIM: Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways, Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God; They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God. “Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to ADONAI?.
Silent Prayer
Responsory
R. Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker; * those who are kind to the needy honor God. V. God has chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the reign of heaven. *those who are kind to the needy honor God. V. Glory to the Abba and the Word, and the Breath of Love.
Canticle of Zachary– Luke 1:68-79
Antiphon
Why should they mourn when the bridegroom is with them?
But when he is taken away, then they will fast and lament.
Blessed + be Adonai, the God of Israel,
Who visits this people to set us free
Raising for us a sign of salvation
In the house and family of David.
God promised throughout past ages
In words of holy prophets
To save us from our enemies,
And from the control of our oppressors.
Adonai favored our ancestors
And remembered the sacred covenant.
The pledge to Abraham and Sarah
Is now renewed for us;
That freed from the grip of our foes
We might worship without fear
And be both just and holy
For the rest of our days.
And you, child, called “prophet of the Most High,”
Will go ahead to prepare the way,
By teaching this people of salvation
Through forgiveness of their sins.
For the loving compassion of the Holy One
As the Rising Sun will shine upon us
To illumine the darkness and dispel death’s shadow
To Guide our feet on the way of peace.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
and to the BREATH of Love!
As always before,
so now and evermore. Amen.
Why should they mourn when the bridegroom is with them?
But when he is taken away, then they will fast and lament.
Intercessory Prayer
The fast that you desire, Adonai, is the breaking the chains of evil and untying the bonds of injustice; ~Help us to fast by loving our sisters and brothers.
The fast that you desire, Adonai, is freeing the oppressed and welcoming the poor into our homes; ~Help us to fast by loving our sisters and brothers.
The fast that you desire, Adonai, is clothing the persons we find naked and not despising our neighbors; ~Help us to fast by loving our sisters and brothers.
The fast that you desire, Adonai, is sharing food with the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, and welcoming immigrants and strangers; ~Help us to fast by loving our sisters and brothers.
The fast that you desire, Adonai, is caring for those who are sick or injured and visiting those who are in prison; ~Help us to fast by loving our sisters and brothers.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
~ And fill us with your Holy Spirit.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Father …
Closing Prayer & Blessing
Holy One and God of endless Compassion, you are the praise of all your saints and the joy of all creation. You call us in this holy season to return to you with all our hearts and to be moved with compassion towards all who suffer. May our Lenten prayers and practices and our whole lives help to build your reign on Earth as it is in heaven where you live and love One God for ever and ever. Amen.
May the God of Life & Liberty who calls us to break every yoke of suffering and oppression + help us to accomplish this in prayer, fasting and works of kindness and love;
~Amen.
Let us bless the world with peace.
~And give thanks to God.