Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
Psalm 43:3
Officiant Lord,
open our lips.
People 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!
Be joyful in God, all you lands; *
sing the glory of
his Name;
sing the glory of his praise.
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! *
because
of your great strength your enemies cringe before you.
All the earth bows down before you, *
sings to you,
sings out your Name.”
Come now and see the works of God, *
how wonderful he
is in his doing toward all people.
He turned the sea into dry land,
so that they went
through the water on foot, *
and there we rejoiced in him.
In his might he rules for ever;
his eyes keep watch
over the nations; *
let no rebel rise up against him.
Bless our God, you peoples; *
make the voice of his
praise to be heard;
Who holds our souls in life, *
and will not allow our
feet to slip.
For you, O God, have proved us; *
you have tried us
just as silver is tried.
You brought us into the snare; *
you laid heavy
burdens upon our backs.
You let enemies ride over our heads;
we went through
fire and water; *
but you brought us out into a place of
refreshment.
I will enter your house with burnt-offerings
and will
pay you my vows, *
which I promised with my lips
and spoke
with my mouth when I was in trouble.
I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts
with the
smoke of rams; *
I will give you oxen and goats.
Come and listen, all you who fear God, *
and I will
tell you what he has done for me.
I called out to him with my mouth, *
and his praise
was on my tongue.
If I had found evil in my heart, *
the Lord would not
have heard me;
But in truth God has heard me; *
he has attended to
the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, *
nor
withheld his love from me.
May God be merciful to us and bless us, *
show us the
light of his countenance and come to us.
Let your ways be known upon earth, *
your saving
health among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the
peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, *
for you
judge the peoples with equity
and guide all the nations upon
earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the
peoples praise you.
The earth has brought forth her increase; *
may God,
our own God, give us his blessing.
May God give us his blessing, *
and may all the ends
of the earth stand in awe of him.
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.
A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Habakkuk.
The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw. O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous— therefore judgment comes forth perverted.[
Look at the nations, and see! Be astonished! Be astounded! For a work is being done in your days that you would not believe if you were told. For I am rousing the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous nation, who march through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. Dread and fearsome are they; their justice and dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more menacing than wolves at dusk; their horses charge. Their horsemen come from far away; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence, with faces pressing forward; they gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff, and of rulers they make sport. They laugh at every fortress, and heap up earth to take it. Then they sweep by like the wind; they transgress and become guilty; their own might is their god!]
Are you not from of old, O LORD my God, my Holy One? You shall not die. O LORD, you have marked them for judgment; and you, O Rock, have established them for punishment. Your eyes are too pure to behold evil, and you cannot look on wrongdoing; why do you look on the treacherous, and are silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they? You have made people like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler. The enemy brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net, he gathers them in his seine; so he rejoices and exults. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his seine; for by them his portion is lavish, and his food is rich. Is he then to keep on emptying his net, and destroying nations without mercy?
I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; *
he has come
to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior, *
born of
the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he
would save us from our enemies, *
from the hands of all who hate
us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers *
and to
remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, *
to
set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear, *
holy and
righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most
High, *
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation *
by the
forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God *
the dawn from
on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow
of death, *
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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.
A Reading from the Gospel According to Matthew.
“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 practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
You are God: we praise you;
You are the Lord; we
acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships
you.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and
Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God
of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your
glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble
fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs
praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you;
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son,
worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and
guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of
the Father.
When you became man to set us free
you did not shun
the Virgin’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death
and
opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at
God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come and
be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with
your saints
to glory everlasting.
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.
Officiant The
Lord be with you.
People And
also with you.
Officiant Let
us pray.
Our Father, who art in
heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will
be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our
daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive
those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into
temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the
kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
V. Save
your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance;
R. Govern
and uphold them, now and always.
V. Day
by day we bless you;
R. We
praise your name for ever.
V. Lord,
keep us from all sin today;
R. Have
mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
V. Lord,
show us your love and mercy;
R. For
we put our trust in you.
V. In
you, Lord, is our hope;
R. And
we shall never hope in vain.
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
O God, you make us glad with the weekly remembrance of the glorious resurrection of your Son our Lord: Give us this day such blessing through our worship of you, that the week to come may be spent in your favor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
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