From “Common Prayer: A Liturgy For Ordinary Radicals” (August 8th, p. 392-393)  

O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you

as the day rises to meet the sun.  

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.  

Come, let us sing to the Lord: let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.  

Help us to watch and pray, Jesus: prepare our hearts to wonder.  

 

Psalm 40:1-6

I waited patiently upon the Lord: he stooped to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay: he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God: many shall see, and stand in awe, and put their trust in the Lord.

Happy are they who trust in the Lord! They do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.

Great things are they that you have done, O Lord, my God! How great your wonders and your plans for us! There is none who can be compared with you.

Oh, that I could make them known and tell them! But they are more than I can count.  

 

Help us to watch and pray, Jesus: prepare our hearts to wonder.  

 

1 Samuel 15:24-35                 Matthew 26:36-46  

 

Help us to watch and pray, Jesus: prepare our hearts to wonder.  

 

These are the words of thirteenth-centure poet and mystic Hadewijch of Antwerp:

The madness of love

is a blessed fate;

and if we understood this

we would seek no other:

it brings into unity

what was divided,

and this is the truth:

bitterness it makes sweet,

it makes the stranger a neighbour,

and what was lowly it raises on high.  

 

Prayers for Others  

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, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.  

Lord, train us to hear your voice. When it is time to grieve, help us to grieve. When it is time to rejoice, help us to rejoice. When we grow weary, be the strength in our weakness. And may your most beautiful and perfect will, not ours, be done. Amen.  

 

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,

wherever he may send you.

May he guide you through the wilderness,

protect you through the storm.

May he bring you home rejoicing,

at the wonders he has shown you.

May he bring you home rejoicing,

once again into our doors. Amen