Morning Prayer - May 22, 2026

Today's Readings

Psalm 102:1-28

Jeremiah 31:27-34

Ephesians 5:1-20

Matthew 9:9-17

Easter
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

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

From Easter to Pentecost, Christ the Passover can be used in place of the Venite or Jubilate.

Christ the Passover 1 Corinthians 5:7 to 8; Romans 6:9 to 11; 1 Corinthians 15:20 to 22
Alleluia.
Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us;
therefore let us keep the feast,
Not with old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Alleluia.

Christ being raised from the dead will never die again;
death no longer has dominion over him.
The death that he died, he died to sin, once for all;
but the life he lives, he lives to God.
So also consider yourselves dead to sin,
and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia.

the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since by a man came death,
by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die,
so in Christ shall all be made alive. Alleluia.

Venite

ⓘ 'Venite' is Latin for 'O Come,' the opening word of Psalm 95: Venite exultemus Domino ('O Come, let us sing to the LORD').

Psalm 95:1 to 7
Come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving
   and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth,
   and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
   and his hands have molded the dry land.

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee,
   and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
    Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

The Antiphon:

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

Thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57

The Lessons

Psalm 102

⁽¹⁾ Hear my prayer, O LORD, And let my cry come to You.⁽²⁾ Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily.⁽³⁾ For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned like a hearth.⁽⁴⁾ My heart is stricken and withered like grass, So that I forget to eat my bread.

⁽⁵⁾ Because of the sound of my groaning My bones cling to my skin.⁽⁶⁾ I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.⁽⁷⁾ I lie awake, And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.⁽⁸⁾ My enemies reproach me all day long, Those who deride me swear an oath against me.

⁽⁹⁾ For I have eaten ashes like bread, And mingled my drink with weeping,⁽¹⁰⁾ Because of Your indignation and Your wrath; For You have lifted me up and cast me away.⁽¹¹⁾ My days are like a shadow that lengthens, And I wither away like grass.⁽¹²⁾ But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.

⁽¹³⁾ You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come.⁽¹⁴⁾ For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, And show favor to her dust.⁽¹⁵⁾ So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, And all the kings of the earth Your glory.⁽¹⁶⁾ For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory.

⁽¹⁷⁾ He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, And shall not despise their prayer.⁽¹⁸⁾ This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.⁽¹⁹⁾ For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; From heaven the LORD viewed the earth,⁽²⁰⁾ To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To release those appointed to death,

⁽²¹⁾ To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, And His praise in Jerusalem,⁽²²⁾ When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.⁽²³⁾ He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.⁽²⁴⁾ I said, 'O my God, Do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations.

⁽²⁵⁾ Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.⁽²⁶⁾ They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed.⁽²⁷⁾ But You are the same, And Your years will have no end.⁽²⁸⁾ The children of Your servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before You.'

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.

Jeremiah Chapter 31

⁽²⁷⁾ Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.⁽²⁸⁾ And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.⁽²⁹⁾ In those days they shall say no more: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge.'⁽³⁰⁾ But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

⁽³¹⁾ Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah --⁽³²⁾ not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.⁽³³⁾ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.⁽³⁴⁾ No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Ephesians Chapter 5

⁽¹⁾ Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.⁽²⁾ And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.⁽³⁾ But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;⁽⁴⁾ neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

⁽⁵⁾ For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.⁽⁶⁾ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.⁽⁷⁾ Therefore do not be partakers with them.⁽⁸⁾ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

⁽⁹⁾ (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),⁽¹⁰⁾ finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.⁽¹¹⁾ And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.⁽¹²⁾ For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.

⁽¹³⁾ But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.⁽¹⁴⁾ Therefore He says: 'Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.'⁽¹⁵⁾ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,⁽¹⁶⁾ redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.⁽¹⁸⁾ And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,⁽¹⁹⁾ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,⁽²⁰⁾ giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Matthew Chapter 9

⁽⁹⁾ As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.' So he arose and followed Him.⁽¹⁰⁾ Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.⁽¹¹⁾ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, 'Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?'⁽¹²⁾ When Jesus heard that, He said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

⁽¹³⁾ But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.'⁽¹⁴⁾ Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, 'Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?'⁽¹⁵⁾ And Jesus said to them, 'Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.⁽¹⁶⁾ No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Second Song of Isaiah Isaiah 55:6 to 11

Seek the Lord while he wills to be found;
call upon him when he draws near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the evil ones their thoughts;
And let them turn to the Lord, and he will have compassion,
and to our God, for he will richly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as rain and snow fall from the heavens
and return not again, but water the earth,
Bringing forth life and giving growth,
seed for sowing and bread for eating,
So is my word that goes forth from my mouth;
it will not return to me empty;
But it will accomplish that which I have purposed,
and prosper in that for which I sent it.
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

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

Suffrages

ⓘ A simple prayer to God for help, mercy, or intercession, rooted in the Latin word for support.

Show us your mercy, O Lord;
And grant us your salvation.
Clothe your ministers with righteousness;
Let your people sing with joy.
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
For only in you can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under your care;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Let your way be known upon earth;
Your saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us by your Holy Spirit.

Seasonal Collect: Seventh Sunday of Easter: The Sunday after Ascension Day
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others.

Closing Prayers

Thanksgiving
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory, and, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

Conclude with the following
Let Us Bless the Lord, Thanks be to God

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Romans 15:13