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Invitation to Worship
The Lamb of God is slain for us:
Come, let us follow him on the Way of the Cross
O Holy One,+ open my lips.
~And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Adonai, liars are plotting against me;
~arise and come to my aid!
Hymn for Holy Week
O Christ who through this holy week Did suffer for us all,
The sick to cure, the lost to seek, To raise up those who fall.
We cannot understand the woe Your love was pleased to bear;
O Lamb of God, we only know That all our hopes are there.
Your feet the path of suffering trod; Your hand the victory won;
How can we thank you, Son of God For all that you have done!
Text: John Mason Neale, alt.; Tune: WALSALL, C.M.
PSALMODY
Antiphon
Now is the judgment of this world;
Now shall the ruler of this world be cast out!
Like the deer that yearns
for running streams,
so my soul is yearning
for you, my God.
My soul is thirsting for God,
the God of my life;
when can I enter and see,
the face of God.
My tears have become my bread,
by night, by day,
as I hear it said all day long:
“Where is your God?”
These things will I remember
as I pour out my soul:
How I would lead the rejoicing crowd
into the house of God,
amid cries of gladness and thanksgiving,
the throng wild with joy.
Why are you cast down my soul,
why groan with- in me?
Hope in God and praise the Holy One:
my savior and my God.
My heart is saddened within me
as I think of you,
from the country of Jordan and Mount Hermon
from the peak of Mizar.
Deep is calling on deep
in the roar of mighty waters;
your torrents and all your waves
have swept over me.
By day Adonai will send
com-passion and loving kindness;
by night I will sing a song of thanks;
praise the God of my life.
I complain to God,
who I thought was my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why am I bent double
under the weight of those who oppress me?”
Their insults pierce me to the heart,
and grind me into the dust;
Day and night they say,
“Where is your God?
Why are you cast down my soul,
why groan with- in me?
Hope in God and praise the Holy One:
my savior and my God.
Now is the judgment of this world;
Now shall the ruler of this world be cast out!
READING Isaiah 42: 1-3
Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
Upon whom I have put my Spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
Until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
Responsory
R. God first loved us, and sent the Son to be the expiation for our sins. *If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. V. We have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. *If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. V. Glory to the Abba and the Word and the Holy Breath of Love.
Canticle of Zachariah
Antiphon
Six days before the Pasch Jesus dined at the home of Lazarus
whom he had raised from the dead. Mary came in and with costly ointment anointed the feet of Jesus and the whole house was filled with fragrance.
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
Six days before the Pasch Jesus dined at the home of Lazarus
whom he had raised from the dead. Mary came in and with costly ointment anointed the feet of Jesus and the whole house was filled with fragrance.
SERVICE OF PRAYER
Litany of Intercession
You accepted the hospitality of Martha and Mary with their brother Lazarus whom you had called out of the tomb; ~enable us to give and receive hospitality during this Holy Week and throughout the Easter season.
Mary anointed your feet with costly perfume, unknowingly preparing you for burial; ~may we be ready to share the best that we have with friends, strangers and all those with whom we celebrate your presence in our lives.
Those who worry excessively about cost, who store up more than they need, are the ones who will always have the poor to worry about; ~free us to share all we have been given so that all will have access to what they need to live.
Those who monitor the lives of others, threatened by your generosity and the lifestyle you were living, plotted to get rid of you and Lazarus; ~strengthen us to follow you on the way of the Cross.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Father…
Closing Prayer
Gracious God of all Compassion, you sent Jesus as an example of unselfish love whose way of life would free us from sin and whose way of dying would destroy the power of death. May our celebration of this Holy Week enable us to enter more deeply into the Mystery of his suffering, death, and burial, so that we may more fully experience the new life and joy of his resurrection, both here on earth and in heaven where you live and love, One God, forever and ever. Amen
Blessing
May the God of Compassion + bless and guide us as we follow Jesus on the way of the cross. ~Amen.
Let us bless the world with peace. ~And give thanks to God.