We begin tonight with the Slindon Alleluia!
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
You have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Open our hearts, O Lord, to accept the words of your son.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
‘I am the light of the world’, says the Lord,
Anyone who follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Jesus said, ‘Love one another as I have loved you’.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
The two antiphons & their psalms will be spoken:
All: Mary Magdalen came with the other Mary to
see the tomb where the Lord had been laid, alleluia!
Side 1: God’s revelation to the anointed one: “Sit
at my side, till I put injustice beneath your
feet.” God will send from Zion your sceptre
of power: rule in the midst of your foes.
Side 2: Your people will give themselves freely on
the day you lead your host upon the holy
mountains. From the womb of the morning
your youth will come like dew.
Side 1: God has sworn an oath that will not be
changed. “You are a priest for ever, after
the order of Melchizedek’’. The anointed
standing at your right hand will shatter
rulers on the day of wrath.
Side 2: Drinking from your streams by the
wayside shall the chosen one be refreshed.
All: Glory be to the father & to the son, & to the
Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now
& ever shall be, world without end, amen.
All Mary Magdalen came with the other Mary to
see the tomb where the Lord had been laid, alleluia!
Pause.
All: Come and see where the Lord was laid, alleluia!
Side 1: When Israel went forth into Egypt, Jacob’s
heirs from an alien people,
Side 2: Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel,
the dominion of the Most High.
All: Come and see where the Lord was laid, alleluia!
Side 1: The sea looked and fled, Jordan turned back on its course.
Side 2: The mountains skipped like rams; the hills
like yearling lambs.
All: Come and see where the Lord was laid, alleluia!
Side 1: What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O
Jordan, that you turn back?
Side 2: Mountains, that you skip like rams, hills,
like yearling lambs?
All: Come and see where the Lord was laid, alleluia!
Side 1: Tremble, O earth, at the presence of God,
at the presence of the God of your ancestors.
Side 2 : Who turns the rock into a pool, the flint
into a spring of water.
All: Come and see where the Lord was laid, alleluia!
All: Glory be to the father & to the son, & to
the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,
is now & ever shall be, world without end, amen.
All: Come and see where the Lord was laid, alleluia!
Canticle spoken by a single voice.
All: Jesus said, “Go, and tell the others that
they are to leave for Galilee; they will see me there”, alleluia!
Reader: Salvation, glory, and power belong to you, your
judgements are honest and true. All of us, your
servants, sing praise to you, we worship you
reverently, both great and small. You, our
almighty God, are Creator of heaven and earth.
Let us rejoice and exult, and give you glory.
The wedding feast of the Lamb has begun, and
the bride has made herself ready.
All: Glory be to the father & to the son, and to
the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is
now & ever shall be, world without end, amen.
All: Jesus said, “Go, and tell the others that
they are to leave for Galilee; they will
see me there,” alleluia!
Reading: Henri Nouwen.
The Easter season is a time of hope. There still is fear, there still is a painful awareness of sinfulness, but there also is light breaking through. Something new is happening, something that goes beyond the changing moods of our life. We can be joyful or sad, optimistic or pessimistic, tranquil or angry, but the solid stream of God’s presence moves deeper than the small waves of our minds & hearts. Easter brings the awareness that God is present even when God’s presence is not directly noticed. Easter brings the good news that, although things seem to get worse in our world, the Evil One has already been overcome. Easter allows us to affirm that although God can seem distant – even very distant – & although we remain preoccupied with many little things, our God walks with us on the road & keeps explaining the Scriptures to us. Thus there are many rays of hope casting their light on our way through life.
We pause for personal reflection before listening to the acclamation, ‘This is the Day!’ Eternal Light 29.
Magnificat & antiphon as indicated.
All: On the evening of that Sunday, when the
disciples were gathered behind locked doors,
Jesus came and stood among them. He said
to them, “Peace be with you, alleluia!”
Side 1: My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices
in God my Saviour; he looks on his servant in
her lowliness: henceforth all ages will call me blessed.
Side 2: The almighty works marvels for me: holy
his name, his mercy is from age to age
on those who fear him.
Side 1: He puts forth his arm in strength, &
scatters the proud-hearted. He casts the
mighty from their thrones, & raises the lowly.
Side 2: He fills the starving with good things
sends the rich away empty. He protects
Israel, his servant, remembering his
mercy- the mercy promised to our
fathers, to Abraham & his sons for ever.
All: Glory be to the Father & to the Son, & to the
Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now
& ever shall be, world without end, amen.
All: On the evening of that Sunday, when the
disciples were gathered behind locked doors,
Jesus came and stood among them. He said
to them, “Peace be with you, alleluia!”
Intercessions:
Reader: Risen Christ, as you stay with us this
Eastertide, open our eyes wider to see, with
more insight, the needs in your world ……..
pause …..
All: That we may see.
Reader: Open our ears that we may hear, more acutely,
the cries of the poor, the suffering, the
marginalised……..pause …..
All: That we may hear.
Reader: Give us the courage to move from seeing &
hearing into doing …….. pause …..
All: That we may act.
Reader: With our greater awareness, lead us to pray
for all in need of prayer …….. pause …..
All: That we may pray.
Reader: We pray for those who have died to-day, those
who will die tonight and those whose
anniversary of death is tomorrow including
…………
We say the Our Father & then say the Easter prayer together.
On this day, Lord God, you opened for us the way to eternal life through your only Son’s victory over death. Grant that as we celebrate the feast of his resurrection, we may be renewed by your Holy Spirit and rise again in the light of life. We make our prayer through our Lord, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Let us go knowing ourselves to be the loved children of God. Let us live in love with one another that the world may believe the Christ has risen. May Almighty God bless us – the Father Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
We will listen to the Easter Dismissal & then an Easter Organ Voluntary, ‘Jesus Christ is Risen Today’!
(Eternal Light. Tr 32 & 33).
Go in the peace of Christ, alleluia, alleluia!
Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia!