Evening Prayer Monday, 16 November 2020
Be open to the night…
Pray with open hand,
not with clenched fist…
Shapes loom out of the darkness,
uncertain and unclear:
but the hooded stranger on horseback
emerging from the mist need not be
assumed to be the bearer of ill…
The night is large and full of wonders…
Lord Dunsany
Good evening and welcome to Evening Prayer
The Lord almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.
Amen.
Our help is in the name of the Lord
who made heaven and earth
That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us
to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise
now and for ever.
Amen.
Presence
“I stand at the door and knock,” says the Lord.
What a wonderful privilege
that the Lord of all creation desires to come to me.
I welcome His presence.
Freedom
There are very few people
who realise what God would make of them
if they abandoned themselves into his hands,
and let themselves be formed by his grace. (Saint Ignatius)
I ask for the grace to trust myself totally to God’s love.
Consciousness
When I return to my everyday tasks,
remind me, Lord,
that you are always there beside me.
I need never despair.
THE WORD OF GOD
Luke 18:35-43
As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man
was sitting by the roadside begging.
When he heard a crowd going by,
he asked what was happening. They told him,
“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” Then he shouted,
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet;
but he shouted even more loudly,
“Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him;
and when he came near, he asked him,
“What do you want me to do for you?” He said,
“Lord, let me see again.” Jesus said to him,
“Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.”
Immediately he regained his sight and followed him,
glorifying God; and all the people,
when they saw it, praised God.
WORDS OF WISDOM
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest of shrubs and becomes a tree,
so that the birds of the air can come and shelter in its branches.
Matthew 13:31–32
The Reign of God is Jesus’ message, but he never describes it literally. He walks around it and keeps giving different images of the Real. For example, the mustard seed is very small and insignificant, and the kingdom is “like” that. Pliny the Elder, a contemporary of Jesus, wrote an encyclopedic book called Natural History, in which he describes all the plants that were known in the Mediterranean world. He says two main things about the mustard plant: it’s medicinal, and it’s a weed that cannot be stopped:
Mustard . . . with its pungent taste and fiery effect is extremely beneficial for the health. It grows entirely wild, though it is improved by being transplanted: but on the other hand when it has once been sown it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it, as the seed when it falls germinates at once.
The two images on which Jesus is building in this parable of the mustard seed are a therapeutic image of life and healing, and a fast-growing weed. What a strange thing for Jesus to say: “I’m planting a weed in the world!” Jesus’ teachings of nonviolence and simplicity are planted and they’re going to flourish, even wildly so. The old world is over.
The virtue for living in the in-between times Jesus calls “faith.” He is talking about the grace and the freedom to live God’s dream for the world now—while not rejecting the world as it is. That’s a mighty tension that is not easily resolved.
There are always two worlds. The world as it is usually operates on power, ego, and success. The world as it could be operates out of love. One is founded on dominative power, and the other is a continual call to right relationship and reciprocal power. The secret of this Kingdom life is discovering how we can live in both worlds simultaneously.
Fr Richard Rohr
https://cac.org/the-kingdom-is-like-a-mustard-seed-2020-11-16/
Copyright © 2018 by CAC. Used by permission of CAC. All rights reserved worldwide.
PRAYERS AND INTERCESSIONS
We pray for the world…
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
We pray for the universal church of Christ…
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
We pray for one another and all those known to us…
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
As our Saviour taught us, so we 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.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
Silence….
Visit this place, O Lord, we pray,
and drive far from it the snares of the enemy;
may your holy angels dwell with us and guard us in peace,
and may your blessing be always upon us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
See that you are at peace among yourselves, my children,
and love one another.
Follow the example of the wise and good
and God will comfort you and help you,
both in this world
and in the world which is to come.
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
THE BLESSINGS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9EM6XNgyds
Revd. Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga
