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 72

⁽¹⁾ Give the king Your judgments, O God, And Your righteousness to the king's Son. ⁽²⁾ He will judge Your people with righteousness, And Your poor with justice. ⁽³⁾ The mountains will bring peace to the people, And the little hills, by righteousness. ⁽⁴⁾ He will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, And will break in pieces the oppressor.

⁽⁵⁾ They shall fear You As long as the sun and moon endure, Throughout all generations. ⁽⁶⁾ He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, Like showers that water the earth. ⁽⁷⁾ In His days the righteous shall flourish, And abundance of peace, Until the moon is no more. ⁽⁸⁾ He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.

⁽⁹⁾ Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, And His enemies will lick the dust. ⁽¹⁰⁾ The kings of Tarshish and of the isles Will bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba Will offer gifts. ⁽¹¹⁾ Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him. ⁽¹²⁾ For He will deliver the needy when he cries, The poor also, and him who has no helper.

⁽¹³⁾ He will spare the poor and needy, And will save the souls of the needy. ⁽¹⁴⁾ He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; And precious shall be their blood in His sight. ⁽¹⁵⁾ And He shall live; And the gold of Sheba will be given to Him; Prayer also will be made for Him continually, And daily He shall be praised. ⁽¹⁶⁾ There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, On the top of the mountains; Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

⁽¹⁷⁾ His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in Him; All nations shall call Him blessed. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things! ⁽¹⁹⁾ And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. ⁽²⁰⁾ The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

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

⁽¹⁸⁾ Then Joseph said to them the third day, 'Do this and live, for I fear God: ⁽¹⁹⁾ If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. ⁽²⁰⁾ And bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.' And they did so. ⁽²¹⁾ Then they said to one another, 'We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.'

⁽²²⁾ And Reuben answered them, saying, 'Did I not speak to you, saying, 'Do not sin against the boy'; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.' ⁽²³⁾ But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. ⁽²⁴⁾ And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. ⁽²⁵⁾ Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man's money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them.

⁽²⁶⁾ So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. ⁽²⁷⁾ But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack. ⁽²⁸⁾ So he said to his brothers, 'My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!' Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, 'What is this that God has done to us?'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

1 Corinthians Chapter 5

⁽⁹⁾ I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. ⁽¹¹⁾ But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner -- not even to eat with such a person. ⁽¹²⁾ For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

⁽¹³⁾ But those who are outside God judges. Therefore 'put away from yourselves the evil person.' ⁽¹⁾ Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? ⁽²⁾ Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? ⁽³⁾ Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? ⁽⁴⁾ If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?

⁽⁵⁾ I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? ⁽⁶⁾ But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! ⁽⁷⁾ Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? ⁽⁸⁾ No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Mark Chapter 4

⁽¹⁾ And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. ⁽²⁾ Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: ⁽³⁾ Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁽⁴⁾ And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.

⁽⁵⁾ Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. ⁽⁶⁾ But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. ⁽⁷⁾ And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. ⁽⁸⁾ But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.'

⁽⁹⁾ And He said to them, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear!' ⁽¹⁰⁾ But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. ⁽¹¹⁾ And He said to them, 'To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, ⁽¹²⁾ so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.' '

⁽¹³⁾ And He said to them, 'Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ⁽¹⁴⁾ The sower sows the word. ⁽¹⁵⁾ And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. ⁽¹⁶⁾ These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

⁽¹⁷⁾ and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, ⁽¹⁹⁾ and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ⁽²⁰⁾ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.


Glory to God        
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.

Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.

Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.

For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.


A Song of Penitence Prayer of Manasseh 1 to 2, 4, 6 to 7, 11 to 15
O Lord and Ruler of the hosts of heaven,
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and of all their righteous offspring:
You made the heavens and the earth,
with all their vast array.
All things quake with fear at your presence;
they tremble because of your power.
But your merciful promise is beyond all measure;
it surpasses all that our minds can fathom.
O Lord, you are full of compassion,
long-suffering, and abounding in mercy.
You hold back your hand;
you do not punish as we deserve.
In your great goodness, Lord,
you have promised forgiveness to sinners,
that they may repent of their sin and be saved.
And now, O Lord, I bend the knee of my heart,
and make my appeal, sure of your gracious goodness.
I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned,
and I know my wickedness only too well.
Therefore I make this prayer to you:
Forgive me, Lord, forgive me.
Do not let me perish in my sin,
nor condemn me to the depths of the earth.
For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent,
and in me you will show forth your goodness.
Unworthy as I am, you will save me,
in accordance with your great mercy,
and I will praise you without ceasing all the days of my life.
For all the powers of heaven sing your praises,
and yours is the glory to ages of ages. 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: Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. 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

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20,21