Oremus for Friday, December 2, 2022

The Martyrs of El Salvador
The Salvadoran Civil War was a civil war in El Salvador which was fought between the military-led junta government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) (a coalition or “umbrella organization” of left-wing groups) from 15 October 1979 to 16 January 1992. A coup on October 15, 1979, was followed by killings of anti-coup protesters by the government and of anti-disorder protesters by the guerrillas, and is widely seen as the start of civil war. The fully-fledged civil war lasted for more than 12 years and included the deliberate terrorizing and targeting of civilians by US-trained government death squads including prominent clergy from the Catholic Church, the recruitment of child soldiers and other human rights violations, mostly by the military. ³
On Dec. 2, 1980, three nuns (Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, and Dorothy Kazel) and one lay worker (Jean Donovan) were abducted, raped, and murdered upon their return from Comalapa International Airport in El Salvador by members of the U.S. backed National Guard.  President Ronald Reagan’s administration blamed the nuns for their own murder. Foreign-policy advisor Jeane Kirkpatrick told a reporter, “The nuns were not just nuns. The nuns were also political activists” and Secretary of State Alexander Haig said, “perhaps they ran a roadblock.” ¹
On 16 November 1989, Salvadoran Army soldiers (backed by the United States) killed six Jesuits and two others, the Caretaker’s wife and daughter, at their residence on the campus of Central American University (known as UCA El Salvador) in San Salvador, El Salvador. Polaroids of the Jesuits’ bullet-riddled bodies were on display in the hallway outside the Chapel. Roses were planted just outside in the garden where the priests were murdered. The Jesuits were advocates of a negotiated settlement between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), the guerilla organization that had fought the government for a decade. ²
An unknown number of people disappeared while the UN reports that the war killed more than 75,000 people between 1979 and 1992. The war ended with the Chapultepec Peace Accords, but in 2016 the El Salvador Supreme Court ruled that the 1993 amnesty law was unconstitutional and that the El Salvador government could prosecute war criminals.³

Antiphon https://tinyurl.com/3mjx3phc

I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life. John 8

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires, known,
and from whom no secrets are hid:
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Music: https://tinyurl.com/ycn4djk5

O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will declare your praise.
Make haste, O God, to deliver me;
make haste to help me, O Lord.
Glory be 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.
Praise to you, O Christ, Alleluia!

HYMN: James Montgomery
Tune: Crüger https://tinyurl.com/4m8ma62k

1 Hail to the Lord’s Anointed,
great David’s greater Son!
hail, in the time appointed,
his reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
to set the captive free,
to take away transgression,
and rule in equity.

2 He comes with succour speedy
to those who suffer wrong;
to help the poor and needy,
and bid the weak be strong;
to give them songs for sighing,
their darkness turn to light,
whose souls, condemned and dying,
were precious in his sight.

3 He shall come down like showers
upon the fruitful earth,
and love, joy, hope, like flowers,
spring in his path to birth:
before him on the mountains
shall peace, the herald, go;
and righteousness in fountains
from hill to valley flow.

4 Kings shall bow down before him,
and gold and incense bring;
all nations shall adore him,
his praise all people sing:
to him shall prayer unceasing
and daily vows ascend;
his kingdom still increasing,
a kingdom without end.

5 O’er every foe victorious,
he on his throne shall rest;
from age to age more glorious,
all-blessing and all-blest:
the tide of time shall never
his covenant remove;
his name shall stand for ever,
his changeless name of love.

PSALMS

Psalm 12 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/sjldexv)
1  Help me, Lord, for there is not one godly man left *
 for the faithful are minished from among the children of men.
2  They talk of vanity every one with his neighbour *
 they do but flatter with their lips, and dissemble in their double heart.
3  The Lord shall root out all deceitful lips *
 and the tongue that speaketh proud things;
4  Which have said, With our tongue will we prevail *
 we are they that ought to speak, who is lord over us?
5  Now for the comfortless troubles’ sake of the needy *
 and because of the deep sighing of the poor,
6  I will up, saith the Lord *
 and will help every one from him that swelleth against him,
and will set him at rest.
7  The words of the Lord are pure words *
 even as the silver, which from the earth is tried,
and purified seven times in the fire.
8  Thou shalt keep them, O Lord *
 thou shalt preserve him from this generation for ever.
9  The ungodly walk on every side *
 when they are exalted, the children of men are put to rebuke.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.

Psalm 13 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/qpwp7bw)
1  How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord, for ever *
 how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2  How long shall I seek counsel in my soul,
and be so vexed in my heart *
 how long shall mine enemies triumph over me?
3  Consider, and hear me, O Lord my God *
 lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not in death.
4  Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him *
 for if I be cast down, they that trouble me will rejoice at it.
5  But my trust is in thy mercy *
 and my heart is joyful in thy salvation.
6  I will sing of the Lord, because he hath dealt so lovingly with me *
 yea, I will praise the Name of the Lord most Highest.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.

Psalm 14 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/sgyfvnc)
1  The fool hath said in his heart *
 There is no God.
2  They are corrupt, and become abominable in their doings *
 there is none that doeth good, no not one.
3  The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men *
 to see if there were any that would understand, and seek after God.
4  But they are all gone out of the way,
they are altogether become abominable *
 there is none that doeth good, no not one.
5  Their throat is an open sepulchre,
with their tongues have they deceived *
 the poison of asps is under their lips.
6  Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness *
 their feet are swift to shed blood.
7  Destruction and unhappiness is in their ways,
and the way of peace have they not known *
 there is no fear of God before their eyes.
8  Have they no knowledge, that they are all such workers of mischief *
 eating up my people as it were bread, and call not upon the Lord?
9  There were they brought in great fear, even where no fear was *
 for God is in the generation of the righteous.
10  As for you, ye have made a mock at the counsel of the poor *
 because he putteth his trust in the Lord.
11  Who shall give salvation unto Israel out of Sion?
When the Lord turneth the captivity of his people *
 then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.

Psalm 12 (Plainsong: http://oremus.org/chant/Psalm-12-1.mp3)
1 Help me, LORD, for there is no godly one left; *
the faithful have vanished from among us.
2 Everyone speaks falsely with his neighbor; *
with a smooth tongue they speak from a double heart.
3 Oh, that the LORD would cut off all smooth tongues, *
and close the lips that utter proud boasts!
4 Those who say, “With our tongue will we prevail; *
our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because the needy are oppressed,
and the poor cry out in misery, *
I will rise up,” says the LORD,
“and give them the help they long for.”
6 The words of the LORD are pure words, *
like silver refined from ore
and purified seven times in the fire.
7 O LORD, watch over us *
and save us from this generation for ever.
8 The wicked prowl on every side, *
and that which is worthless is highly prized by everyone.

Psalm 13 (Plainsong: http://oremus.org/chant/Psalm-13.mp3)
1 How long, O LORD?
will you forget me for ever? *
how long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long shall I have perplexity in my mind,
and grief in my heart, day after day? *
how long shall my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look upon me and answer me, O LORD my God; *
give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
4 Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” *
and my foes rejoice that I have fallen.
5 But I put my trust in your mercy; *
my heart is joyful because of your saving help.
6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has dealt with me richly; *
I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High.

Psalm 14 (Plainsong:
http://oremus.org/chant/Psalm-14-version-II-1.mp3)
1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” *
All are corrupt and commit abominable acts;
there is none who does any good.
2 The LORD looks down from heaven upon us all, *
to see if there is any who is wise,
if there is one who seeks after God.
3 Every one has proved faithless;
all alike have turned bad; *
there is none who does good; no, not one.
4 Have they no knowledge, all those evildoers *
who eat up my people like bread
and do not call upon the LORD?
5 See how they tremble with fear, *
because God is in the company of the righteous.
6 Their aim is to confound the plans of the afflicted, *
but the LORD is their refuge.
7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come out of Zion! *
when the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.

PRAYER

God of justice, in Jesus Christ you championed the weak
and befriended outcasts.
Through the shining light of his goodness
you expose hypocrisy.
Give us courage to follow his example,
that we may be faithful disciples
of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. ^BCW

THE WORD OF GOD

Reading: Isaiah 30:19-26

People in Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. God will certainly be merciful to you. Hearing the sound of your outcry, God will answer you. Though the Lord gives you the bread of distress and the water of oppression, your teacher will no longer hide, but you will see your teacher. If you stray to the right or the left, you will hear a word that comes from behind you: “This is the way; walk in it.” You will defile your silver-plated idols and your gold-covered priestly vest, and you will scatter them like menstrual rags. “Get out,” you will say to them.

God will provide rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food the ground produces will be rich and abundant. On that day, your cattle will graze in large pastures. The oxen and donkeys that are working the ground will eat tasty feed spread for them with shovel and fork.

On every lofty mountain, and on every high hill, streams will run with water on the day of the great massacre, when the towers fall. The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the Lord bandages the people’s brokenness and heals the wounds inflicted by his blows.

HYMN: Mary Louise Bringle © 
Tune: W Żłobie Leży  https://tinyurl.com/2t7p4s94

1 God is calling through the whisper
of the Spirit’s deepest sighs,
through the thrill of sudden beauties
that can catch us by surprise.
Flash of lightning, crash of thunder;
hush of stillness, rush of wonder:
God is calling—can you hear?
God is calling—can you hear?

2 God is calling through the voices
of our neighbors’ urgent prayers,
through their longing for redemption
and for rescue from despair.
Place of hurt or face of needing;
strident cry or silent pleading:
God is calling—can you hear?
God is calling—can you hear?

3 God is calling through the music
of sublime and human arts,
through the hymns of earth and angels,
and the carols of our hearts.
Lift of joy and gift of singing;
days and nights our praises bringing:
God is calling—and we hear!
God is calling—and we hear!

Reading: Jude 1-16

Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James.

To those who are called, loved by God the Father and kept safe by Jesus Christ.

May you have more and more mercy, peace, and love.

Dear friends, I wanted very much to write to you concerning the salvation we share. Instead, I must write to urge you to fight for the faith delivered once and for all to God’s holy people. Godless people have slipped in among you. They turn the grace of our God into unrestrained immorality and deny our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Judgment was passed against them a long time ago.

I want to remind you of something you already know very well. The Lord, who once saved a people out of Egypt, later destroyed those who didn’t maintain their faith. I remind you too of the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but deserted their own home. The Lord has kept them in eternal chains in the underworld until the judgment of the great day. In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and neighboring towns practiced immoral sexual relations and pursued other sexual urges. By undergoing the punishment of eternal fire, they serve as a warning.

Yet, even knowing this, these dreamers in the same way pollute themselves, reject authority, and slander the angels. The archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil about Moses’ body, did not dare charge him with slander. Instead, he said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these people slander whatever they don’t understand. They are destroyed by what they know instinctively, as though they were irrational animals.

They are damned, for they follow in the footsteps of Cain. For profit they give themselves over to Balaam’s error. They are destroyed in the uprising of Korah. These people are like jagged rocks just below the surface of the water waiting to snag you when they join your love feasts. They feast with you without reverence. They care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; fruitless autumn trees, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom the darkness of the underworld is reserved forever.

Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people when he said, “See, the Lord comes with his countless holy ones, to execute judgment on everyone and to convict everyone about every ungodly deed they have committed in their ungodliness as well as all the harsh things that sinful ungodly people have said against him.” These are faultfinding grumblers, living according to their own desires. They speak arrogant words and they show partiality to people when they want a favor in return.

HYMN: John Newton
Tune: St Austin https://tinyurl.com/yc7wtzuh

1 Day of judgment! Day of wonders!
Hark! the trumpet’s awful sound,
louder than a thousand thunders,
shakes the vast creation round.
How the summons
will the sinner’s heart confound!

2 See the Judge, our nature wearing,
clothed in majesty divine;
you who long for his appearing
then shall say, “This God is mine!”
Gracious Savior,
own me in that day as thine.

3 At his call the dead awaken,
rise to life from earth and sea;
all the pow’rs of nature, shaken
by his looks, prepare to flee.
Careless sinner,
what will then become of thee?

4 But to those who have confessed,
loved and served the Lord below,
he will say, “Come near, ye blessed,
see the kingdom I bestow;
you forever
shall my love and glory know.”

Reading: Matthew 22:41-46

Now as the Pharisees were gathering, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” “David’s son,” they replied. He said, “Then how is it that David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, called him Lord when he said, The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right side until I turn your enemies into your footstool’? If David calls him Lord, how can he be David’s son?” Nobody was able to answer him. And from that day forward nobody dared to ask him anything.

CANTICLE Rory Cooney; based on Luke 1:46-55
(Performed by The Gentle Wolves https://tinyurl.com/ybox4ctg)

1. My soul cries out with a joyful shout
that the God of my heart is great,
And my spirit sings of the wondrous things
that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight,
and my weakness you did not spurn,
So from east to west shall my name be blest.
Could the world be about to turn?

2. Though I am small, my God, my all,
you work great things in me,
And your mercy will last from the depths of the past
to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame,
and to those who would for you yearn,
You will show your might, put the strong to flight,
for the world is about to turn.

3. From the halls of power to the fortress tower,
not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears
ev’ry tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more,
for the food they can never earn;
There are tables spread, ev’ry mouth be fed,
for the world is about to turn.

4. Though the nations rage from age to age,
we remember who holds us fast:
God’s mercy must deliver us
from the conqueror’s crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard
is the promise which holds us bound,
‘Til the spear and rod can be crushed by God,
who is turning the world around.

THE PRAYERS ^NPfW

In joyful expectation of his coming we pray to Jesus, saying,
Come, Lord Jesus.

Come to your Church as Lord and Judge. We pray for …
Help us to live in the light of your coming and give us a longing for your kingdom.
Come, Lord Jesus.

Come to your world as King of the nations. We pray for …
Before you rulers will stand in silence.
Come, Lord Jesus.

Come to your people with a message of victory and peace. We pray for …
Give us the victory over death, temptation and evil.
Come, Lord Jesus.

Come to us as Saviour and Comforter. We pray for …
Break into our lives, where we struggle with sickness and distress,
and set us free to serve you for ever.
Come, Lord Jesus.

Come to us from heaven, Lord Jesus,
with power and great glory.
Lift us up to meet you,
with [N and] all your saints and angels,
to live with you for ever.
Come, Lord Jesus.

(Plainsong Mode 2: https://tinyurl.com/yctqq8cf)^DL

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.

Almighty God, you give voice to the poor we try to keep voiceless and give life to those we kill for seeking freedom and hope: Grant that we, inspired by the example of the martyrs of El Salvador, may without fear or favor witness to your Word who abides, your Word who is Life, even Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be praise and glory now and for ever. Amen. ^{HWHM, alt.}

Music: https://tinyurl.com/y9efvwm5
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen. 2 Cor. 13:14

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^BCW Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., 1993.

^PIC Prayers for An Inclusive Church. Steven Shakespeare © 2008 Canterbury Press.

¹ https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/nuns-and-lay-worker-killed-in-el-salvador/

² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_murders_of_Jesuits_in_El_Salvador

³ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvadoran_Civil_War

^NPfW New Patterns for Worship, material from which is included here, is copyright © 2002 The Archbishops’ Council and published by Church House Publishing.

^HWHM Holy Women, Holy Men © 2010 The Church Pension Fund.

The three main scripture readings are © 2011 Common English Bible.

The traditional version of the psalms is from The Book of Common Prayer (1662). The modern version of the psalms is from The Book of Common Prayer (1979) and are sung by Ryland Angel.

Musical links are usually either to artists’ albums posted on Spotify or to recordings made available at smallchurchmusic.com. Audio stripped from YouTube videos is footnoted accordingly above.

Compilation © 2022 Stephen T. Benner. All links worked at the time they were created, but I cannot accept responsibility for their content or any damage resulting from their use. The linked content is under the control of the respective content creators and is subject to change at any time. Any copyright texts included in this compilation are provided for non-commercial purposes related to study or worship. Please contact the respective copyright holders for permission to use the texts in other contexts.