Lord God, as evening draws near, draw me to yourself in prayer. Draw me to you as earth, for I am its child, the world in microcosm. In my sincerity see its goodness, in my dishonesty see its sin. Make what is in my heart a prayer.
First Psalm:
Unless you build the house, in vain do we labor.
Unless you guard the city, in vain do we keep vigil.
In vain is our earlier rising, our going later to rest.
You give to your beloved while they sleep.
All fruit is a gif t from you.
Psalm Prayer: Lord, the world’s selfreliance, its blind ness to you, is my selfabsorption, my greedy ambition, my lack of time for you. I am forever too preoccupied to pray, too lacking in faith to trust in you. Help me to know that unless you build the building, all effort is vain.
Second Psalm:
I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child at its mother’s breast.
Like a weaned child, still and at peace even so is my soul within me.
My soul is longing for your peace near to you my God.
Psalm Prayer: Lord, my restlessness, my compulsion, my need to find things to still my many longings, is the earth’s disquiet. I bring you this unfreedom, Lord. Let us come to peace at your breast. Give us simple rest, quieted souls. Accept our tiredness and dissipation with sympathy for we are at the mercy of the fires within us. Let your spirit pray through our restlessness.
Third Psalm:
Praise the Lord all you nations
Glorify him all you peoples Strong is his love for us
His fidelity endures forever.
Psalm Prayer: Lord; open our eyes to divinity, to acknowledge you as God. Let us see in your greatness that which lies beyond our own limit and self-preoccupation. Let the glory of the heavens dwarf the worries of this earth. Give us, your children, delight.
Reading:
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and tell her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid.
– Isaiah 40:1-2
Responsory:
Through Christ the new power of the resurrection has come into our world.
Canticle of Mary:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
He looks with favor on the lowly
He exalts the poor and brings down the rich
He loves the humble and scatters the proud
His promise can be trusted.
Intercessions:
For the poor, for those who bore the heat of this day, the oppressed, the depressed, the hungry, the lonely, the sick and the dying
- Renew us through the power of your resurrection.
For the leaders in society and in the church that they may be guided by the common interest and not by selfinterest
- Renew us through the power of your resurrection.
For a community that is polarized. Lead us towards a wider understanding, forgiveness and community
- Renew us through the power of your resurrection.
For the loved ones, for those who rely on us for prayer and support and for those upon whom we rely
- Renew us through the power of your resurrection.
The Lord’s Prayer . . .