Tuesday 10 December 2019
Tuesday of the 2nd week of Advent
Vespers (Evening Prayer)
Introduction (without Invitatory)
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, use the version with the Invitatory Psalm instead.
O God, come to our aid.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
________
Hymn
On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Come then and hearken, for he brings
Glad tidings from the King of kings.
Then cleansed be every Christian breast,
And furnished for so great a guest!
Yea, let us each his heart prepare
For Christ to come and enter there.
For thou art our salvation, Lord,
Our refuge and our great reward;
Without thy grace our souls must fade,
And wither like a flower decayed.
Stretch forth thine hand, to heal our sore,
And make us rise to fall no more;
Once more upon thy people shine,
And fill the world with love divine.
All praise, eternal Son, to thee,
Whose Advent sets thy people free,
Whom, with the Father, we adore,
And Holy Ghost, for evermore.
________
Psalm 48 (49)
The uselessness of riches
“The rich man will find it very hard to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 19:23).
You cannot serve both God and wealth.
Héar this, áll you péoples, *
give héed, all who dwéll in the wórld,
mén both lów and hígh, *
rích and póor alíke!
My líps will speak wórds of wísdom. *
My héart is fúll of ínsight.
I will túrn my mínd to a párable, *
with the hárp I will sólve my próblem.
Whý should I féar in evil dáys *
the málice of the fóes who surróund me,
mén who trúst in their wéalth, *
and bóast of the vástness of their ríches?
For nó man can búy his own ránsom, *
or pay a príce to Gód for his lífe.
The ránsom of his sóul is beyónd him. †
He cánnot buy lífe without énd, *
nor avóid cóming to the gráve.
He knows that wíse men and fóols must both pérish *
and léave their wéalth to óthers.
Their gráves are their hómes for éver, †
their dwélling place from áge to áge, *
though their námes spread wíde through the lánd.
In his ríches, mán lacks wísdom; *
hé is like the béasts that are destróyed.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
You cannot serve both God and wealth.
________
Psalm 48 (49)
Build up treasure for yourselves in heaven, says the Lord.
This is the lót of those who trúst in themsélves, *
who have óthers at their béck and cáll.
Like shéep they are dríven to the gráve, †
where déath shall bé their shépherd *
and the júst shall becóme their rúlers.
With the mórning their óutward show vánishes *
and the gráve becómes their hóme.
But Gód will ránsom me from déath *
and táke my sóul to himsélf.
Then do not féar when a mán grows rích, *
when the glóry of his hóuse incréases.
He takes nóthing wíth him when he díes, *
his glóry does not fóllow him belów.
Though he fláttered himsélf while he líved: *
‘Men will práise me for áll my succéss,’
yet he will gó to jóin his fáthers, *
who will néver see the líght any móre.
In his ríches, mán lacks wísdom; *
hé is like the béasts that are destróyed.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Build up treasure for yourselves in heaven, says the Lord.
Psalm-prayer
Make our mouths speak your wisdom, Lord Jesus, and help us to remember that you became man and redeemed us from death that we might merit the beauty of your light.
Or:
You condemned the rich, Lord Jesus, because they have already received their reward, and you proclaimed the poor blessed because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Teach us to seek for imperishable goods and to have confidence in your blood, poured out as the price of our redemption.
________
Canticle
Apocalypse 4,5
The song of the redeemed
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory and honour.
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, *
to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things, *
and by your will they existed and were created.
Worthy are you, O Lord, *
to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slain, †
and by your blood you ransomed men for God *
from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
You have made us a kingdom and priests to our God, *
and we shall reign on earth.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain *
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and might *
and honour and glory and blessing.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory and honour.
________
Short Reading
(1 Corinthians 1:7-9)
We are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed; and he will keep you steady and without blame until the last day, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, because God by calling you has joined you to his Son, Jesus Christ; and God is faithful.
________
Short Responsory
Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
– Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
Let your face smile on us and we shall be safe.
– Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make straight his paths.
My soul glórifies the Lórd, *
my spirit rejóices in Gód, my Sáviour.
He looks on his sérvant in her lówliness; *
henceforth all áges will cáll me bléssed.
The Almíghty works márvels for me. *
Hóly his náme!
His mércy is from age to áge, *
on thóse who féar him.
He púts forth his árm in stréngth *
and scátters the proud-héarted.
He casts the míghty from their thrónes *
and ráises the lówly.
He fills the stárving with good thíngs, *
sends the rích away émpty.
He protects Ísrael, his sérvant, *
remémbering his mércy,
the mercy prómised to our fáthers, *
to Ábraham and his sóns for éver.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make straight his paths.
________
Prayers and intercessions
Let us ask our Father to save us from our sins and send us forward into new life.
– Father, may your Son bring us freedom.
The Baptist preached a change of heart:
free us from self-satisfaction.
– Father, may your Son bring us freedom.
The Pharisees refused the Baptist’s witness to the coming of your Son:
free us from fear of the truth.
– Father, may your Son bring us freedom.
The Baptist was glad to make way for him:
free us from pride.
– Father, may your Son bring us freedom.
The dead longed for life:
free them from death.
– Father, may your Son bring us freedom.
________
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.
________
Lord God,
all the ends of the earth have seen your salvation.
Give us the grace to await with joy
the glorious day of our Saviour’s birth.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
________
The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.