Evening Prayer

Ordinary Time
The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. John 4:23

Confession of Sin
Most merciful God,
I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen

The Invitatory and Psalter

Lord, open our lips. 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 forever. Amen   Alleluia

Venite
The Antiphon:

ⓘ   A short, reflective sentence recited alongside a psalm to deepen our understanding of the readings.

The mercy of the Lord is everlasting: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 66

⁽¹⁾ Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! ⁽²⁾ Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious. ⁽³⁾ Say to God, 'How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. ⁽⁴⁾ All the earth shall worship You And sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name.' Selah

⁽⁵⁾ Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men. ⁽⁶⁾ He turned the sea into dry land; They went through the river on foot. There we will rejoice in Him. ⁽⁷⁾ He rules by His power forever; His eyes observe the nations; Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah ⁽⁸⁾ Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard,

⁽⁹⁾ Who keeps our soul among the living, And does not allow our feet to be moved. ⁽¹⁰⁾ For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. ⁽¹¹⁾ You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. ⁽¹²⁾ You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.

⁽¹³⁾ I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows, ⁽¹⁴⁾ Which my lips have uttered And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble. ⁽¹⁵⁾ I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals, With the sweet aroma of rams; I will offer bulls with goats. Selah ⁽¹⁶⁾ Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul.

⁽¹⁷⁾ I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. ⁽¹⁸⁾ If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. ⁽¹⁹⁾ But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. ⁽²⁰⁾ Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Psalm 67

⁽¹⁾ God be merciful to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us. Selah ⁽²⁾ That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. ⁽³⁾ Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. ⁽⁴⁾ Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, And govern the nations on earth. Selah

⁽⁵⁾ Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. ⁽⁶⁾ Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. ⁽⁷⁾ God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear 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 forever. Amen.

1 Maccabees Chapter 2

⁽³⁰⁾ At that time also many of the Israelites who were seeking to be right with God through obedience to the Law went out to live in the wilderness, taking their children, their wives, and their livestock with them, because of the terrible oppression they were suffering. ⁽³¹⁾ The report soon reached the king's officials and the soldiers in the fort at Jerusalem that some men who had defied the king's command had gone into hiding in the wilderness. ⁽³²⁾ A large force of soldiers pursued them, caught up with them, set up camp opposite them, and prepared to attack them on the Sabbath. ⁽³³⁾ There is still time,' they shouted out to the Jews. 'Come out and obey the king's command, and we will spare your lives.'

⁽³⁴⁾ We will not come out,' they answered. 'We will not obey the king's command, and we will not profane the Sabbath.' ⁽³⁵⁾ The soldiers attacked them immediately, ⁽³⁶⁾ but the Jews did nothing to resist; they did not even throw stones or block the entrances to the caves where they were hiding. ⁽³⁷⁾ They said, 'We will all die with a clear conscience. Let heaven and earth bear witness that you are slaughtering us unjustly.'

⁽³⁸⁾ So the enemy attacked them on the Sabbath and killed the men, their wives, their children, and their livestock. A thousand people died. ⁽³⁹⁾ When Mattathias and his friends heard the news about this, they were greatly saddened ⁽⁴⁰⁾ and said to one another, 'If all of us do as these other Jews have done and refuse to fight the Gentiles to defend our lives and our religion, we will soon be wiped off the face of the earth.' ⁽⁴¹⁾ On that day they decided that if anyone attacked them on the Sabbath, they would defend themselves, so that they would not all die as other Jews had died in the caves.

⁽⁴²⁾ Then Mattathias and his friends were joined by a group of devout and patriotic Jews, the strongest and bravest men in Israel, who had all volunteered to defend the Law. ⁽⁴³⁾ In addition, everyone who was fleeing from the persecution joined them and strengthened their forces. ⁽⁴⁹⁾ When the time came for Mattathias to die, he said to his sons, 'These are times of violence and distress. Arrogant people are in control and have made us an object of ridicule. ⁽⁵⁰⁾ But you, my sons, must be devoted to the Law and ready to die to defend God's covenant with our ancestors.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Acts Chapter 28

⁽¹⁴⁾ where we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome. ⁽¹⁵⁾ And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. ⁽¹⁶⁾ Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him. ⁽¹⁷⁾ And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: 'Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,

⁽¹⁸⁾ who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death. ⁽¹⁹⁾ But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation. ⁽²⁰⁾ For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.' ⁽²¹⁾ Then they said to him, 'We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you.

⁽²²⁾ But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.' ⁽²³⁾ So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Luke Chapter 16

⁽¹⁾ He also said to His disciples: 'There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. ⁽²⁾ So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' ⁽³⁾ Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. ⁽⁴⁾ I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.'

⁽⁵⁾ So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' ⁽⁶⁾ And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' ⁽⁷⁾ Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' ⁽⁸⁾ So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.

⁽⁹⁾ And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. ⁽¹⁰⁾ He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. ⁽¹¹⁾ Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? ⁽¹²⁾ And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?

⁽¹³⁾ No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.


The Song of Zechariah Luke 1: 68 to 79
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 forever. Amen.

You are 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.


The Apostles' Creed
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 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.

The Prayers

The Lord's Prayer   Traditional
Suffrages A

Seasonal Collect:  Proper 28 The Sunday closest to November 16
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, forever and ever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: 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.

A Prayer for Mission: Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others. When you lack the words


Closing Prayers   Thanksgiving

Conclude with the following
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