Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence
Leader: As we come nearer to the memorial of the death of
Jesus, your son, welcome us into your story. Let us
know the power of your grace; let us know our place in
your story; help us to know more fully the truth of the gospel.
All: Tonight give us courage to find healing; to smell the warmth of the candle,
your light among us & know that we are yours.
Please join in with or listen to ‘Unless a grain a wheat’.
Refrain: Unless a grain of wheat shall fall upon the ground & die
It remains but a single grain with no life.
Please sing the antiphon & psalm as indicated.
Cantors: The Lord cares for the weak
And oppressed.
Side 1: In the Lord I take shelter. How can you say to me
‘Bird, fly back to your mountain!
Side 2: See how the wicked are bending their bows and
fitting their arrows to the string,
Ready to shoot the upright from the shadows.
Side 1: When foundations fall to ruin,
What can the virtuous do?’
Side 2: God is in the holy temple
God whose throne is in heaven,
Side 1: Whose eyes look down on the world,
Whose searching gaze scans all.
Side 2: God tests the just and the wicked;
God hates the lover of violence,
Side 1: Sending fire and brimstone on the wicked.
A scorching wind is their lot.
Side 2: God is just and loves justice,
The upright shall see God’s face.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son,
And to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World without end, amen.
All: The Lord cares for the weak
And oppressed.
Please say the canticle & its antiphon as indicated.
All: God chose us in his Son and made us his adopted children.
Cantors: Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord, Jesus
Christ, the one who blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly regions in Christ, just as he
chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
for us to be holy & unblemished before him in love.
All: The one who pre-destined us for adoption as
children through Jesus Christ to him, according to
the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the
glory of his grace with which he graced us in the beloved.
Cantors: The one in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions,
according to the wealth of his grace which overflowed to us in all wisdom and understanding.
All: The one who revealed to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he proposed in him,
for the plan for the fullness of times, recapitulating everything in Christ, the things in the heaven and the things on the earth.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy
Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall
be, world without end, amen.
All: God chose us in his Son and made us his adopted children.
Reading (John 8.) followed by a pause for silent reflection.
Then everyone went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early the next morning he went back to the Temple. All the people gathered around him, and he sat down and began to teach them. The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught committing adultery, and they made her stand before them all. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. In our Law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now, what do you say?” They said this to trap Jesus, so that they could accuse him. But he bent over and wrote on the ground with his finger. As they stood there asking him questions, he straightened up and said to them, “Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her.” Then he bent over again and wrote on the ground. When they heard this, they all left, one by one, the older ones first. Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing there. He straightened up and said to her, “Where are they? Is there no one left to condemn you?” “No one, sir,” she answered. “Well, then,” Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go, but do not sin again.”
Please sing the Magnificat.
Cantors: I bear witness to myself, says the Lord;
And the Father who sent me, bears witness to me.
Side 1: My being proclaims your greatness,
And my spirit finds joy in you, God my Saviour;
Side 2: For you have looked upon me, your servant, in my lowliness:
All ages to come shall call me blessed.
Side 1: God, you who are mighty, have done great things for me:
Holy is your name.
Side 2: Your mercy is from age to age
Towards those who fear you.
Side 1: You have shown might with your arm,
And confused the proud in their inmost thoughts.
Side 2: You have deposed the mighty from their thrones,
And raised the lowly to high places.
Side 1: The hungry you have given every good thing,
While the rich you have sent away empty.
Side 2: You have upheld Israel, your servant,
Ever mindful of your mercy-
Side 1: Even as you promised our ancestors,
Promised Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants for ever.
All: Give praise to the Father Almighty,
To his Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
To the Spirit who dwells in our hearts,
Both now and for ever, Amen.
All: I bear witness to myself, says the Lord;
And the Father who sent me, bears witness to me.
Intercessions:
Reader: As they face this evening, God, find those who are lost,
separated from those they love, crossing unknown
borders, without a country or a home, not knowing where to turn:
All: Find them, God, who always seeks for the lost, &
cover them safely as a hen covers her chicks.
Reader: As they face this evening, God, stand among the ones in
refugee camps around the world, in hunger & despair, in
crowds & in emptiness, in the wet & the thirstiness:
All: Be their hope & their strength in the crying out for
justice & open the ears of the world to hear their cries.
Reader: As they face this evening, O God, may those who live
amongst us, uprooted from their homelands, find a new
home where their history is respected, their gifts &
graces celebrated, & their fear depart from them.
All: May we be their home, may we be the ones who open
our hearts in welcome.
Reader: As we face this evening, O God, may we hear your song of
encouragement, may we see your bright pictures of a new
world where people need not flee from wars & oppression,
where no one lacks a country or a home, & where we are
all part of your new creation.
All: For we long to be your people, in spirit & in truth.
Reader: We pray for people who have died today and for those
who will die tonight. We also remember in prayer those
whose anniversaries occur tomorrow, remembering especially:
Pause for people to add silently or aloud any further intentions.
Leader begins the Our Father.
Leader: Lord God, your abundant grace has enriched us with every blessing. Transform us into newness of life, help us to build your kingdom & prepare us for its fullness. We make our prayer through Christ our lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Leader: The love of the faithful creator, & the peace of the
wounded healer.
All: Be ours.
Leader: The joy of the challenging spirit, & the hope of the
three in one.
All: Be ours.
Leader: Surround & encourage each one of us with your
blessings this night & forever.
All: Amen.