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 56

⁽¹⁾ Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. ⁽²⁾ My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High. ⁽³⁾ Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. ⁽⁴⁾ In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?

⁽⁵⁾ All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. ⁽⁶⁾ They gather together, They hide, they mark my steps, When they lie in wait for my life. ⁽⁷⁾ Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, O God! ⁽⁸⁾ You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?

⁽⁹⁾ When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. ⁽¹⁰⁾ In God (I will praise His word), In the LORD (I will praise His word), ⁽¹¹⁾ In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? ⁽¹²⁾ Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You,

⁽¹³⁾ For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?

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 57

⁽¹⁾ Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. ⁽²⁾ I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. ⁽³⁾ He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. ⁽⁴⁾ My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men Who are set on fire, Whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword.

⁽⁵⁾ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth. ⁽⁶⁾ They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They have dug a pit before me; Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah ⁽⁷⁾ My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. ⁽⁸⁾ Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn.

⁽⁹⁾ I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. ⁽¹⁰⁾ For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds. ⁽¹¹⁾ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth.

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 58

⁽¹⁾ Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men? ⁽²⁾ No, in heart you work wickedness; You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth. ⁽³⁾ The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. ⁽⁴⁾ Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,

⁽⁵⁾ Which will not heed the voice of charmers, Charming ever so skillfully. ⁽⁶⁾ Break their teeth in their mouth, O God! Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD! ⁽⁷⁾ Let them flow away as waters which run continually; When he bends his bow, Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces. ⁽⁸⁾ Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes, Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

⁽⁹⁾ Before your pots can feel the burning thorns, He shall take them away as with a whirlwind, As in His living and burning wrath. ⁽¹⁰⁾ The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, ⁽¹¹⁾ So that men will say, 'Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth.'

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 41

⁽⁴⁶⁾ Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁽⁴⁷⁾ Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly. ⁽⁴⁸⁾ So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them. ⁽⁴⁹⁾ Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.

⁽⁵⁰⁾ And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. ⁽⁵¹⁾ Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: 'For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house.' ⁽⁵²⁾ And the name of the second he called Ephraim: 'For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.' ⁽⁵³⁾ Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended,

⁽⁵⁴⁾ and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁽⁵⁵⁾ So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, 'Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.' ⁽⁵⁶⁾ The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. ⁽⁵⁷⁾ So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

1 Corinthians Chapter 4

⁽⁸⁾ You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us -- and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! ⁽⁹⁾ For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. ⁽¹⁰⁾ We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! ⁽¹¹⁾ To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.

⁽¹²⁾ And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; ⁽¹³⁾ being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now. ⁽¹⁴⁾ I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. ⁽¹⁵⁾ For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

⁽¹⁶⁾ Therefore I urge you, imitate me. ⁽¹⁷⁾ For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. ⁽¹⁹⁾ But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power.

⁽²⁰⁾ For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Mark Chapter 3

⁽⁷⁾ But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea ⁽⁸⁾ and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. ⁽⁹⁾ So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. ⁽¹⁰⁾ For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.

⁽¹¹⁾ And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, 'You are the Son of God.' ⁽¹²⁾ But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known. ⁽¹³⁾ And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,

⁽¹⁵⁾ and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: ⁽¹⁶⁾ Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; ⁽¹⁷⁾ James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, 'Sons of Thunder'; ⁽¹⁸⁾ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;

⁽¹⁹⁾ and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Song of the Redeemed       Revelation 15:3 to 4  
O ruler of the universe, Lord God,
great deeds are they that you have done,
  surpassing human understanding.
Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth,
 O King of all the ages.

Who can fail to do you homage, Lord,
and sing the praises of your Name?
  for you only are the Holy One.
All nations will draw near
and fall down before you,
  because your just and holy works have been revealed.
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 First Song of Isaiah       Isaiah 12:2 to 6
 
Surely, it is God who saves me;
  I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold
and my sure defense,
  and he will be my Savior.
Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing
  from the springs of salvation.
And on that day you shall say,
  Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;
Make his deeds known among the peoples;
  see that they remember that his Name is exalted.
Sing the praises of the Lord,
for he has done great things,
  and this is known in all the world.
Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy,
  for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.
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: O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; 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