Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton was born in France in 1915. His early life was unset-tled and it was not until he was at Columbia University in New York that he began to explore Christian faith and the religious life. He was baptised in 1938 and entered the Trappist order at Gethsemani, Kentucky, in 1941. The publication of his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, in 1948 brought him recognition as an outstanding spiritual figure of the twentieth century. Many other books on spirituality and issues of social justice followed until his death by accidental electrocution while in Bangkok on 10 December 1968. FATS
Antiphon https://tinyurl.com/2p892t8n
Your merciful love, O God,
we have received in the midst of your temple.
Your praise, O God, like your name,
reaches the ends of the earth;
your right hand is filled with saving justice. Psalm 48
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: Clara H Scott
Tune: https://tinyurl.com/27s4wa3d
1 Open my eyes that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!
2 Open my ears that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear,
and while the wave notes fall on my ear,
ev’rything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me,
Spirit divine!
3 Open my mouth and let me bear
gladly the warm truth ev’rywhere.
Open my heart and let me prepare
love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my mouth, illumine me,
Spirit divine!
PSALMS
PRAYER
God our helper, hear our prayer
and uphold your church in times of testing.
Deliver us from evil,
so that from the rising of the sun to its setting
we may offer you our sacrifice of praise;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. BCW
THE WORD OF GOD
Reading: 1 Samuel 2:1-8
Then Hannah prayed:
My heart rejoices in the Lord.
My strength rises up in the Lord!
My mouth mocks my enemies
because I rejoice in your deliverance.
No one is holy like the Lord—
no, no one except you!
There is no rock like our God!
Don’t go on and on, talking so proudly,
spouting arrogance from your mouth,
because the Lord is the God who knows,
and he weighs every act.
The bows of mighty warriors are shattered,
but those who were stumbling now dress themselves in power!
Those who were filled full now sell themselves for bread,
but the ones who were starving are now fat from food!
The woman who was barren has birthed seven children,
but the mother with many sons has lost them all!
The Lord!
He brings death, gives life,
takes down to the grave, and raises up!
The Lord!
He makes poor, gives wealth,
brings low, but also lifts up high!
God raises the poor from the dust,
lifts up the needy from the garbage pile.
God sits them with officials,
gives them the seat of honor!
The pillars of the earth belong to the Lord;
he set the world on top of them!
HYMN: Miriam Therese Winter ©
Tune: Morning Song https://tinyurl.com/3jem9cap
1 My soul gives glory to my God;
my heart pours out its praise.
God lifted up my lowliness
in many marvelous ways.
2 My God has done great things for me:
yes, holy is God’s name.
All people will declare me blessed,
and blessings they shall claim.
3 From age to age to all who fear,
such mercy love imparts,
dispensing justice far and near,
dismissing selfish hearts.
4 Love casts the mighty from their thrones,
promotes the insecure,
leaves hungry spirits satisfied;
the rich seem suddenly poor.
5 Praise God, whose loving covenant
supports those in distress,
remembering past promises
with present faithfulness.
Reading: Revelation 3:1-6
“Write this to the angel of the church in Sardis: These are the words of the one who holds God’s seven spirits and the seven stars: I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, and you are in fact dead. Wake up and strengthen whatever you have left, teetering on the brink of death, for I’ve found that your works are far from complete in the eyes of my God. So remember what you received and heard. Hold on to it and change your hearts and lives. If you don’t wake up, I will come like a thief, and you won’t know what time I will come upon you. But you do have a few people in Sardis who haven’t stained their clothing. They will walk with me clothed in white because they are worthy. Those who emerge victorious will wear white clothing like this. I won’t scratch out their names from the scroll of life, but will declare their names in the presence of my Father and his angels. If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
HYMN: Johann Roh; trans. Catherine Winkworth
Tune: Gottes Sohn ist kommen https://tinyurl.com/yr792jfm
1 Once he came in blessing
all our sins redressing,
came in likeness lowly,
Son of God most holy;
bore the cross to save us,
hope and freedom gave us.
2 Still he comes within us,
still his voice would win us
from the sins that hurt us;
would to truth convert us
from our foolish error
ere he comes in terror.
3 Thus if we have known him,
not ashamed to own him,
nor have spurned him coldly,
but will trust him boldly,
he will then receive us,
heal us, and forgive us.
4 Those who then are loyal
find a welcome royal.
Come then, O Lord Jesus,
from our sins release us;
let us here confess you
till in heav’n we bless you.
Reading: Matthew 24:26-31
Jesus continued, “So if they say to you, ‘Look, he’s in the desert,’ don’t go out. And if they say, ‘Look, he’s in the rooms deep inside the house,’ don’t believe it. Just as the lightning flashes from the east to the west, so it will be with the coming of the Human One. The vultures gather wherever there’s a dead body.
“Now immediately after the suffering of that time the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken. Then the sign of the Human One will appear in the sky. At that time all the tribes of the earth will be full of sadness, and they will see the Human One coming in the heavenly clouds with power and great splendor. He will send his angels with the sound of a great trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from the four corners of the earth, from one end of the sky to the other.””
CANTICLE Philippians 2:6-11
(Chant by John Michael Talbot: https://tinyurl.com/y8ljx8y7)
Though he was in the form of God,
Jesus did not deem equality with God
something to be grasped at.
Rather, he emptied himself
and took the form of a slave,
being born in the likeness of men.
He was known to be of human estate
and it was thus that he humbled himself,
obediently accepting even death,
death on a cross!
Because of this,
God highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
above every other name,
So that at Jesus’ name
every knee must bend
in the heavens, on the earth,
and under the earth,
and every tongue proclaim
to the glory of God the Father:
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
THE PRAYERS CGP
We are an anxious people, a waiting people, God.
We long for a new and powerful encounter with you.
We wait in bondage through no fault of our own,
entangled by distant forces of evil,
by anger and greed we did not create;
saddened by the waste and foolishness of our time.
We come to drink of your power, to be set free!
And we wait in bondage because of our own sin.
Lead us beyond advertisements
which entice us to have much,
that we might be open to receive much:
to have time for personal relationships,
to give thanks for creation,
to allow your coming into our lives anew.
And so we wait and wait,
remembering your promise, O Promise-Fulfilling God.
And we rejoice that you are more faithful than are we:
that you tug us again into hoping,
and nudge us into life in your Spirit.
We wait, then, as generations have waited,
for the Christ who came among us, is among us,
and will come among us. Amen.
(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.
Blessed are you, God, in Thomas,
who learned in silence to hear you
and feel your thirst for justice;
give us encouragement by his example
to be still that we may know you
and empowered to serve you. Amen. FATS
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.
DL © Daniel Lawson; used with permission.
FATS For All the Saints, © The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, 2014
CGP Celebrating God’s Presence, United Church of Canada
The three main scripture readings are © 2011 Common English Bible.
The traditional language psalms are from The Book of Common Prayer (1662). The modern language version of Psalms 54 is from the The Book of Common Prayer (1979) and is sung by Ryland Angel. Psalm 53 is a contemporary version by Jason Silver. Psalm 55 is from the Grail Psalter and is from the Manual Hopper YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMQKvgC9Wjw
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.
Oremus 