Morning Prayer

Lent
Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil. Joel 2:13

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

Venite
The Antiphon:

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

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 71

⁽¹⁾ In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame. ⁽²⁾ Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; Incline Your ear to me, and save me. ⁽³⁾ Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. ⁽⁴⁾ Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

⁽⁵⁾ For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth. ⁽⁶⁾ By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of You. ⁽⁷⁾ I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge. ⁽⁸⁾ Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day.

⁽⁹⁾ Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails. ⁽¹⁰⁾ For my enemies speak against me; And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, ⁽¹¹⁾ Saying, 'God has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.' ⁽¹²⁾ O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!

⁽¹³⁾ Let them be confounded and consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt. ⁽¹⁴⁾ But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more. ⁽¹⁵⁾ My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits. ⁽¹⁶⁾ I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

⁽¹⁷⁾ O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come. ⁽¹⁹⁾ Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You? ⁽²⁰⁾ You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

⁽²¹⁾ You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side. ⁽²²⁾ Also with the lute I will praise you -- And Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. ⁽²³⁾ My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, And my soul, which You have redeemed. ⁽²⁴⁾ My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; For they are confounded, For they are brought to shame Who seek my hurt.

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.

Genesis Chapter 42

⁽²⁹⁾ Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying: ⁽³⁰⁾ The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. ⁽³¹⁾ But we said to him, 'We are honest men; we are not spies. ⁽³²⁾ We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.'

⁽³³⁾ Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, 'By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone. ⁽³⁴⁾ And bring your youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.' ' ⁽³⁵⁾ Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man's bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. ⁽³⁶⁾ And Jacob their father said to them, 'You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.'

⁽³⁷⁾ Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, 'Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.' ⁽³⁸⁾ But he said, 'My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

1 Corinthians Chapter 6

⁽¹²⁾ All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. ⁽¹³⁾ Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ⁽¹⁴⁾ And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. ⁽¹⁵⁾ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!

⁽¹⁶⁾ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For 'the two,' He says, 'shall become one flesh.' ⁽¹⁷⁾ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. ⁽¹⁹⁾ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

⁽²⁰⁾ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Mark Chapter 4

⁽²¹⁾ Also He said to them, 'Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? ⁽²²⁾ For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. ⁽²³⁾ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.' ⁽²⁴⁾ Then He said to them, 'Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.

⁽²⁵⁾ For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.' ⁽²⁶⁾ And He said, 'The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, ⁽²⁷⁾ and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. ⁽²⁸⁾ For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.

⁽²⁹⁾ But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.' ⁽³⁰⁾ Then He said, 'To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? ⁽³¹⁾ It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; ⁽³²⁾ but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.'

⁽³³⁾ And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. ⁽³⁴⁾ But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.


The Song of Moses    Exodus 15:1 to 6, 11 to 13, 17 to 18

I will sing to the Lord, for he is lofty and uplifted;
the horse and its rider has he hurled into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my refuge;
the Lord has become my Savior.
This is my God and I will praise him,
the God of my people and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a mighty warrior;
Yahweh is his Name.
The chariots of Pharoah and his army has he hurled into the sea;
the finest of those who bear armor have been drowned in the Red Sea.
The fathomless deep has overwhelmed them;
they sank into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in might;
your right hand, O Lord, has overthrown the enemy.
Who can be compared with you, O Lord, among the gods?
who is like you, glorious in holiness,
awesome in renown, and worker of wonders?
You stretched forth your right hand;
the earth swallowed them up.
With your constant love you led the people you redeemed;
with your might you brought them in safety to
your holy dwelling.
You will bring them in and plant them
on the mount of your possession,
The resting-place you have made for yourself, O Lord,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hand has established.
The Lord shall reign forever and forever.
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.


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:  Second Sunday in Lent
O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; 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