Morning Prayer - February 7, 2025

Today's Readings

Psalm 69:1-36

Isaiah 56:1-8

Galatians 5:16-24

Mark 9:2-13

Epiphany
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:6b

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

ⓘ '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.

The Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 69

⁽¹⁾ Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.⁽²⁾ I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, Where the floods overflow me.⁽³⁾ I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for my God.⁽⁴⁾ Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, Being my enemies wrongfully; Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it.

⁽⁵⁾ O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You.⁽⁶⁾ Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.⁽⁷⁾ Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Shame has covered my face.⁽⁸⁾ I have become a stranger to my brothers, And an alien to my mother's children;

⁽⁹⁾ Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.⁽¹⁰⁾ When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, That became my reproach.⁽¹¹⁾ I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them.⁽¹²⁾ Those who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am the song of the drunkards.

⁽¹³⁾ But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.⁽¹⁴⁾ Deliver me out of the mire, And let me not sink; Let me be delivered from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters.⁽¹⁵⁾ Let not the floodwater overflow me, Nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.⁽¹⁶⁾ Hear me, O LORD, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.

⁽¹⁷⁾ And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in trouble; Hear me speedily.⁽¹⁸⁾ Draw near to my soul, and redeem it; Deliver me because of my enemies.⁽¹⁹⁾ You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; My adversaries are all before You.⁽²⁰⁾ Reproach has broken my heart, And I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.

⁽²¹⁾ They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.⁽²²⁾ Let their table become a snare before them, And their well-being a trap.⁽²³⁾ Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; And make their loins shake continually.⁽²⁴⁾ Pour out Your indignation upon them, And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.

⁽²⁵⁾ Let their dwelling place be desolate; Let no one live in their tents.⁽²⁶⁾ For they persecute the ones You have struck, And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.⁽²⁷⁾ Add iniquity to their iniquity, And let them not come into Your righteousness.⁽²⁸⁾ Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, And not be written with the righteous.

⁽²⁹⁾ But I am poor and sorrowful; Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.⁽³⁰⁾ I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.⁽³¹⁾ This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull, Which has horns and hooves.⁽³²⁾ The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.

⁽³³⁾ For the LORD hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners.⁽³⁴⁾ Let heaven and earth praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them.⁽³⁵⁾ For God will save Zion And build the cities of Judah, That they may dwell there and possess it.⁽³⁶⁾ Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it, And those who love His name shall dwell in 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.

Isaiah Chapter 56

⁽¹⁾ Thus says the LORD: 'Keep justice, and do righteousness, For My salvation is about to come, And My righteousness to be revealed.⁽²⁾ Blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who lays hold on it; Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil.'⁽³⁾ Do not let the son of the foreigner Who has joined himself to the LORD Speak, saying, 'The LORD has utterly separated me from His people'; Nor let the eunuch say, 'Here I am, a dry tree.'⁽⁴⁾ For thus says the LORD: 'To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant,

⁽⁵⁾ Even to them I will give in My house And within My walls a place and a name Better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name That shall not be cut off.⁽⁶⁾ Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants -- Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant --⁽⁷⁾ Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.'⁽⁸⁾ The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, 'Yet I will gather to him Others besides those who are gathered to him.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Galatians Chapter 5

⁽¹⁶⁾ I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.⁽¹⁷⁾ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.⁽¹⁸⁾ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.⁽¹⁹⁾ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,

⁽²⁰⁾ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,⁽²¹⁾ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.⁽²²⁾ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,⁽²³⁾ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

⁽²⁴⁾ And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Mark Chapter 9

⁽²⁾ Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.⁽³⁾ His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.⁽⁴⁾ And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.⁽⁵⁾ Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, 'Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah' --

⁽⁶⁾ because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.⁽⁷⁾ And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!'⁽⁸⁾ Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.⁽⁹⁾ Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

⁽¹⁰⁾ So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.⁽¹¹⁾ And they asked Him, saying, 'Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?'⁽¹²⁾ Then He answered and told them, 'Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?⁽¹³⁾ But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.'

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: Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 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