A ministry and community of prayer of The Episcopal Diocese of Vermont A few notes about today’s service. Please leave your microphone on mute during the responsory portions of the service. You are welcome to unmute yourself when you are invited to offer your prayers, then remember to mute it again when you have completed your prayer. We will always read the Gospel appointed for the day so that we can read and meditate on Jesus' words and teaching. MORNING PRAYER March 13, 2021 Saturday, the Third Week of Lent James Theodore Holly, Bishop of Haiti, and of the Dominican Republic, 1911 Opening Sentence The Officiant says the following Jesus said: “If any of you would come after me, deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34 Invitatory and Psalter Officiant O God, open our lips. People And our mouth shall proclaim your praise. Officiant Hear our voice, O God, according to your faithful love, People according to your judgement give us life. All Praise to the holy and undivided Trinity, one God: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Officiant Our God is full of compassion and mercy: People O come, let us worship. Said in unison Venite Psalm 95:1-7 Come, let us sing to the Holy One; * let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before God’s presence with thanksgiving, * and raise a loud shout with psalms. For you, O God, are a great God; * you are great above all gods. In your hand are the caverns of the earth, * and the heights of the hills are yours also. The sea is yours, for you made it, * and your hands have molded the dry land. Come, let us bow down and bend the knee, * and kneel before God, our Maker, For you are our God, and we are the people of your pasture and the sheep of your hand. * Oh, that today we would hearken to your voice! Officiant Our God is full of compassion and mercy: People O come, let us worship. Psalms Appointed read in unison Psalms 87 and 90 Psalm 87 Fundamenta ejus 1 On the holy mountain stands the city God has founded; * God loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 2 Glorious things are spoken of you, * O city of our God. 3 I count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me; * behold Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia: in Zion were they born. 4 Of Zion it shall be said, “Everyone was born there, * and the Most High God shall sustain it.” 5 God will record in the roll of the peoples, * “These also were born there.” 6 The singers and the dancers will say, * “All my fresh springs are in you.” Psalm 90 Domine, refugium 1 O God, you have been our refuge * from one generation to another. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and the earth were born, * from age to age you are God. 3 You turn us back to the dust and say, * “Go back, O child of earth.” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past * and like a watch in the night. 5 You sweep us away like a dream; * we fade away suddenly like the grass. 6 In the morning it is green and flourishes; * in the evening it is dried up and withered. 7 For we consume away in your displeasure; * we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation. 8 Our iniquities you have set before you * and our secret sins in the light of your countenance. 9 When you are angry, all our days are gone; * we bring our years to an end like a sigh. 10 The span of our life is seventy years, perhaps in strength even eighty; * yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow, for they pass away quickly and we are gone. 11 Who regards the power of your wrath; * who rightly fears your indignation? 12 So teach us to number our days * that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. 13 Return, O God; how long will you tarry? * Be gracious to your servants. 14 Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; * so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life. 15 Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us * and the years in which we suffered adversity. 16 Show your servants your works * and your splendor to their children. 17 May the graciousness of our God be upon us; * prosper the work of our hands; prosper our handiwork. Praise to the holy and undivided Trinity, one God: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The Lessons First Reading Reader A reading from Jeremiah 13:1-11 Thus said the Lord to me, ‘Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth, and put it on your loins, but do not dip it in water.’ So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins. And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, say- ing, ‘Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.’ So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates as the Lord commanded me. And after many days the Lord said to me, ‘Go now to the Eu- phrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.’ Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. But now the loincloth was ruined; it was good for nothing. Then the word of the Lord came to me: Thus says the Lord: Just so I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusa- lem. This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stub- bornly follow their own will and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. For as the loincloth clings to one’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the Lord, in order that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory. But they would not listen. Here ends the reading. read in unison A Canticle for Morning Prayer in Lent Refrain: If we confess our sins, God is just and may be trusted to forgive our sins * and cleanse us from every kind of wrong. Zion says, God has forsaken me; * my God has forgotten me. Can a woman forget the infant at her breast, * or a loving mother the child of her womb? Even these forget, yet I will not forget you; * your walls are always before my eyes; I have engraved them on the palms of my hands. Those who are to rebuild you make better speed than those who pulled you down, * while those who laid you waste depart. Refrain: If we confess our sins, God is just and may be trusted to forgive our sins * and cleanse us from every kind of wrong. The Gospel Reader: A reading from the Gospel of John 8:47-59 Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.’ The Jews answered him, ‘Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?’ Jesus answered, ‘I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.’ The Jews said to him, ‘Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.” Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify my- self, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, “He is our God”, though you do not know him. But I know him; if I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ Then the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.’ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. Here ends the reading. A moment of silence is observed so that we may reflect on the teachings and ministry of Jesus. The Apostle’s 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 power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.