Leader: For the blessings that today has held:
All: We thank you, God.
Leader: For each person we have been in contact with today:
All: We ask your blessing on them.
Leader: For opportunities missed, for negative thoughts, for harmful words:
All: We ask forgiveness as we pray in the name of the Father & of
the Son & of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Please join in the hymn:
This is my will, my one command, that love should dwell among you all.
This is my will that you should love as I have shown that I love you.
No greater love that you can have than that you die to save your friends.
You are my friends if you obey all I command that you should do.
I call you now no longer slaves; no slave knows all his master does.
I call you friends for all I hear my father say, you hear from me.
You chose not me, but I chose you, that you should go & bear much fruit.
I called you out that you & me should bear much fruit that will abide.
All that you ask my father dear for my name’s sake you shall receive.
This is my will, my one command, that love should dwell in each, in all.
Please say psalm 135 with different readers taking sections as indicated.
All: Give thanks to the Lord, for his great love is without end.
All: We give you thanks, O God, for your goodness, for your mercies
endure for ever. By solemn promise you are bound to us, source of grace for ever & ever.
Reader 1: You are the God beyond gods, a mystery too profound for
our thoughts. In the shadows of the light we discern you, we
are struck by your dazzling darkness.
Reader 2: You reveal the marvels of the universe to those who listen &
patiently look – from atoms & genes hidden from our eyes to
the shafts of light from long dead stars.
Reader 1: For the beauty of forms ever-changing, for the slow turning of
the sun & the seasons, for the miracle of the newly born child,
for the rising of our daily bread.
All: At the turning points of our lives you are with us, through times of
bewildering change. At the crossing of the boundaries of the
known by strangers & dreams you encourage us.
Reader 2: You rescue us from strangers & exile, you are with us on our
desert journey, you give us a place you can cherish, where
the vulnerable find their protection.
All: You have given us our parts in the story, from our ancestors
whose names are forgotten to our descendants whose names are
not known, to each a new name in your presence.
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: Give thanks to the Lord, for his great love is without end.
Please sing the canticle & its antiphon as indicated.
Cantors: God chose us in his Son
And made us his adopted children.
Side 1: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
With every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
Side 2: He chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
That we should be holy and blameless before him.
Side 1: He destined us in love to be his children through Jesus Christ, According to the purpose of his will,
Side 2: To the praise of his glorious grace
Which he freely bestows on us in the beloved.
Side 1: In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
According to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us.
Side 2: He has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will,
According to his purpose which he set forth in Christ.
Side 1: His purpose he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time,
To unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on 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: 1 Thess 3 12&13
May the Lord make your love for one another & for all people grow more & more & become as great as our love for you. In this way he will strengthen you, & you will be perfect & holy in the presence of our God & father when our Lord Jesus comes with all who belong to him.
After a few moments of silent reflection, we are invited to respond aloud to the reading – maybe with an insight, or just the repetition of a single word or phrase that is important for you, maybe relating the text or part of it to something that has happened during the day or recently.
Please stand to sing the Magnificat – from side to side
Cantors: Let my soul proclaim your greatness for ever,
O my God.
Side 1: My soul glorifies the Lord,
My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
Side 2: He looks on his servant, in her lowliness.
Henceforth all ages will call me blessed.
Side 1: The almighty works marvels for me:
Holy his name!
Side 2: His mercy is from age to age,
On those who fear him.
Side 1: He puts forth his arm in strength
And scatters the proud-hearted.
Side 2: He casts the mighty from their thrones,
And raises the lowly.
Side 1: He fills the starving with good things,
Sends the rich away empty.
Side 2: He protects Israel, his servant,
Remembering his mercy,
Side 1: The mercy promised to our fathers,
To Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants for ever.
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: Let my soul proclaim your greatness for ever,
O my God.
Intercessions:
Reader: Lord, wherever the human spirit is ground down by oppression &
wherever our silence allows injustice to flourish, we ask
forgiveness & commend those who suffer to your compassion:
…… silence …….. with humble hearts we sing,
All: (sung) Kyrie, kyrie, eleison.
Reader: Lord of all, wherever families are struggling to stay together
& wherever on-going arguments keep people apart, bring a
spirit of forgiveness to their hearts: …… silence …….. with
humble hearts we sing,
All: (sung) Kyrie, kyrie, eleison.
Reader: Lord of us all, wherever bodies, minds or spirits are wracked
with pain, we ask for your healing & a sense of your presence:
…… silence …….. with humble hearts we sing,
All: (sung) Kyrie, kyrie, eleison.
Reader: Lord of all, wherever the dying are anxious & afraid, we ask for
your peace & love: …… silence …….. with humble hearts we sing,
All: (sung) Kyrie, kyrie, eleison.
Reader: We pray for people who have died today, for those who will die
tonight, and for those whose anniversaries of death occur
tomorrow, remembering especially:
Pause for people to add silently or aloud any further intentions.
Leader begins the Our Father.
Leader: Stay with us, Lord Jesus, as evening falls: be our companion on the way. In your mercy enliven our hearts & raise our hopes, so that in union with our sisters & brothers, we may recognize you in the scriptures & in the breaking of the bread. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
Leader: Bless us this night with your forgiveness. Bless us with peace, &
all our dear ones, wherever they are, & may we be blessed by
the Father Son and Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.