Thursday –
Year 2 Advent 2
Morning Prayer
Watch
, for you know not when the master of the house
will come, in the
evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or
in the morning; lest
he come suddenly and find you asleep.
Mark
13:35, 36
Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the
beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
Come let us sing
to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come
before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to
him with psalms.
For the Lord is a
great God, *
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are
the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his
also.
The sea is his,
for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us bow
down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our
God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his
hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!
Glory
be to the Father and to the Son,
And to the Holy Spirit.
As it
was in the beginning, is now,
And
will be forever. Amen.
37
Part I
1 Do not fret yourself because of evildoers;
*
do not be jealous of those who do wrong.
2 For they shall
soon wither like the grass, *
and like the green grass fade
away.
3 Put your trust in the Lord and do good; *
dwell in
the land and feed on its riches.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
*
and he shall give you your heart's desire.
5 Commit your
way to the Lord and put your trust in him, *
and he will bring it
to pass.
6 He will make your righteousness as clear as the
light *
and your just dealing as the noonday.
7 Be still
before the Lord *
and wait patiently for him.
8 Do not fret
yourself over the one who prospers, *
the one who succeeds in evil
schemes.
9 Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; *
do not
fret yourself; it leads only to evil.
10 For evildoers shall
be cut off, *
but those who wait upon the Lord shall possess the
land.
11 In a little while the wicked shall be no more; *
you
shall search out their place, but they will not be there.
12
But the lowly shall possess the land; *
they will delight in
abundance of peace.
13 The wicked plot against the righteous
*
and gnash at them with their teeth.
14 The Lord laughs at
the wicked, *
because he sees that their day will come.
15
The wicked draw their sword and bend their bow
to strike down the
poor and needy, *
to slaughter those who are upright in their
ways.
16 Their sword shall go through their own heart, *
and
their bow shall be broken.
17 The little that the righteous
has *
is better than great riches of the wicked.
18 For the
power of the wicked shall be broken, *
but the Lord upholds the
righteous.
Glory to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as
it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
I saw the Lord
standing beside*
the altar, and he said:
Strike the capitals until the thresholds
shake,
and shatter them on the heads of all the
people;*
and
those who are left I will kill with the sword;
not
one of them shall flee away,
not one of them
shall escape.
Though they dig into Sheol,
from there
shall my hand take them;
though they climb up to
heaven,
from there I will bring them down.
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
from
there I will search out and take them;
and though they hide from
my sight at the bottom of the sea,
there I
will command the sea-serpent, and it shall bite them.
And
though they go into captivity in front of their enemies,
there
I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
and I will fix
my eyes on them
for harm and not for good.
The Lord, God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and
it melts,
and all who live in it mourn,
and
all of it rises like the Nile,
and sinks again,
like the Nile of Egypt;
who builds his upper chambers in the
heavens,
and founds his vault upon
the earth;
who calls for the waters of the sea,
and
pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
the Lord is
his name.
Are you not like the Ethiopians*
to me,
O people of Israel? says the
Lord.
Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt,
and
the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?
The eyes
of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and
I will destroy it from the face of the earth
—except
that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,
says the Lord.
For lo, I will command,
and shake the
house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a
sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the ground.
All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who
say, ‘Evil shall not overtake or meet us.’
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
I will sing to
the Lord, for he is lofty and uplifted; *
the horse and its rider
has he hurled into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my refuge;
*
the Lord has become my Savior.
This is my God and I will
praise him, *
the God of my people and I will exalt him.
The
Lord is a mighty warrior; *
Yahweh is his Name.
The chariots of
Pharaoh and his army has he hurled into the sea; *
the finest of
those who bear armor have been
drowned in the Red Sea.
The
fathomless deep has overwhelmed them; *
they sank into the depths
like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in might;
*
your right hand, O Lord, has overthrown the enemy.
Who can be
compared with you, O Lord, among the gods? *
who is like you,
glorious in holiness,
awesome in renown, and worker of
wonders?
You stretched forth your right hand; *
the earth
swallowed them up.
With your constant love you led the people you
redeemed; *
with your might you brought them in safety to
your
holy dwelling.
You will bring them in and plant them *
on the
mount of your possession,
The resting-place you have made for
yourself, O Lord, *
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hand has
established.
The Lord shall reign *
for ever and for
ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Reading
‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them.* Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell* as yourselves.
‘Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.” You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, “Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.” How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.
‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,* so that the outside also may become clean.
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks
be to God.
Canticle 19
O ruler of the universe, Lord God,
great deeds
are they that you have done, *
surpassing
human understanding.
Your ways are ways of righteousness and
truth, *
O King of all the ages.
Who can fail to do you homage, Lord,
and sing the
praises of your Name? *
for you only are the
Holy One.
All nations will draw near and fall down before you, *
because your just and holy works have been
revealed.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in
Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the
power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was
buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose
again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right
hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the
dead.
I believe in the
Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of
saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the
body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
The
Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Our Father in
heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will
be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our
daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin
against us.
Save us from the
time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
Show us your mercy, O Lord;
And grant us your salvation.
Clothe your ministers with righteousness;
Let your people sing with joy.
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
For only in you can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under your care;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Let your way be known upon earth;
Your saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.
Collect of the Day: Second Sunday of Advent
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A Collect for the Renewal of Life
O God, the King eternal, who divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For Mission
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
General Thanksgiving
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.
2 Corinthians 13:14