Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth

Canticle 19 The Song of the Redeemed 
Revelation 15:3-4
Magna et mirabilia

O ruler of the universe, Lord God,
great deeds are they that you have done, *
surpassing human understanding.
Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth, *

O King of all the ages
Who can fail to do you homage, Lord
and sing the praises of your Name
for you only are the Holy One.

All nations will draw near and fall down before you
because your just and holy works have been revealed.

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.

Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth

Canticle 19 The Song of the Redeemed 
Revelation 15:3-4
Magna et mirabilia

O ruler of the universe, Lord God,
great deeds are they that you have done, *
surpassing human understanding.
Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth, *

O King of all the ages
Who can fail to do you homage, Lord
and sing the praises of your Name
for you only are the Holy One.

All nations will draw near and fall down before you
because your just and holy works have been revealed.

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.

Glorify the Lord

Canticle 12 A Song of Creation

Song of the Three Young Men, 35-65 
Benedicite, omnia opera Domini

Invocation

Glorify the Lord, all you works of the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

I The Cosmic Order

Glorify the Lord, you angels and all powers of the Lord, *
O heavens and all waters above the heavens.

Sun and moon and stars of the sky, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, every shower of rain and fall of dew, *
all winds and fire and heat.

Winter and Summer, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O chill and cold, *
drops of dew and flakes of snow.

Frost and cold, ice and sleet, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O nights and days, *
O shining light and enfolding dark.

Storm clouds and thunderbolts, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

II The Earth and its Creatures

Let the earth glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O mountains and hills,
and all that grows upon the earth, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O springs of water, seas, and streams, *
O whales and all that move in the waters.

All birds of the air, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O beasts of the wild, *
and all you flocks and herds.

O men and women everywhere, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

III The People of God

Let the people of God glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O priests and servants of the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O spirits and souls of the righteous, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

You that are holy and humble of heart, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Doxology

Let us glorify the Lord: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Sing to the Lord

A prayer for this Lenten morning, "sing to the Lord," "shout for Joy," "raise a loud shout," and "kneel before the Lord our Maker"!!

Venite

Psalm 95:1-7

Come let us sing to the Lord;*
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving*
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God,*
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth,*
and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,*
and his hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee,*
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.*
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

Morning has broken

Morning has broken like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken like the first bird

Praise for the singing

Praise for the morning

Praise for them springing fresh from the world

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven

Like the first dewfall on the first grass

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden

Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Shine on us

The following hymn was listed as the hymn for the morning on the "Daily Office" site online at missionst.clare.org, and I thought it worthy of a re-post.  Especially helpful for me today is the stanza:

What this day will bring to pass,
gladness or sorrow we cannot guess.
You, who give the light divine,
shine on us, Christ Jesus, shine. 

I pray that we all have a rich and blessed day, whatever may come our way.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Every morning we will raise
to our God our songs of praise.
Every morning we will raise
to our God our songs of praise. 

With God's kind protection blessed,
sweet and deep has been our rest.
In the morning we will pray
God's protection for this day. 

What this day will bring to pass,
gladness or sorrow we cannot guess.
You, who give the light divine,
shine on us, Christ Jesus, shine. 

Then, when comes the dark of night,
all with in us still shall be bright;
you will bring your peace and love,
radient gifts sent down from above. 

Music: John B. Dykes, (19thC)
Words: William H. Furness (19thC) adapted
Sequence: Cathouse Pandemonium, Ltd.

God animates our lives

The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.

Habakkuk 2:20

Lord, open our lips.

And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.  

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.Alleluia. The earth is the Lord's for he made it: Come let us adore him. Alleluia.

In the morning prayer service this morning, I noted the transition between "let all earth keep silence before him," and "Lord, open our lips."  I don't know what your household is like in the morning, but here, the "whole earth is not keeping silence before him," unless I drag my backside out of bed at 5 am before the kids and spouse awake.  Here, we are involved in the holy (and sometimes unholy) chaos of washing, dressing, feeding, packing up lunches, (maybe a bit of cleaning), and then out the door.

I've been feeling a pull towards silence, but it can be hard to find it amidst the crazy swirl of this life.  However, when I can take a moment (as I did a few minutes ago) to read Morning Prayer, and have a few minutes of reflection with Bach's Cello Suites on in the background, I can tap into the great river of the Holy Spirit that is around us always.

I think the transition from the opening sentence from Habakkuk, and the Invitatory "Lord Open Our Lips" is quite good.  The reality is that what happens between these two is the confession, where we turn our hearts to ponder the things that we have done and the things which we have not done which we are not so happy about, and are things that take us away from the awareness of God in our lives.  Sin is a heavy topic, and theologians can write tomes about it, but we all know that we are not so happy about some of our actions, words, and even thoughts.  Luckily, we have the opportunity to praise God and then to offer our confession, and then to ask that the "Lord open our lips"...out of silence we care called into speaking, out of sleep, we are called into action, and it is helpful to remember that God animates us and all that we do.

Peace and Blessings on this Monday,

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

From morning prayer: Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands

Jublilate

Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands;
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with a song.

Know this: The Lord himself is God;
he himself has made us, and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and call upon his Name.

For the Lord is good;
his mercy is everlasting;
and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

Who is your stronghold? - Psalm 46

While praying the Daily Office this morning, Psalm 46 came up as the reading for this day of Epiphany. If ever there were words that we need to hear in anxious times, it would be Psalm 46, which begins: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." And, of course, we all are in "trouble" and "fear" at times in our life. Things in our life do cause the "earth to be moved" and trusted mountains "topple into the depths of the sea." Whether it is our present uneasiness with the current economic crisis, or our confusion and sadness about ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the seemingly intractable conflict between Hamas and Israel, events seem beyond our control, and peace and security seem so far away. Where is our stronghold? Where do we go for strength? Psalm 46 makes the striking and audacious claim that we are to turn to the Lord, quite an amazing claim in the somewhat relativistic and atheistic (or at least agnostic) and secular age!

"The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our stronghold." This assertion is repeated three times in this psalm, are we ready to turn to prayer, are we willing to "turn aside" as Moses did when he passed the Burning Bush? Are we willing to recognize the great gift that God has given us, the gift of God's presence, the gift of God among us - Emanuel?

We move to the end of the Christmas Season, and into Ephiphany, but the miracle and the wondrous gift of the Incarnation is with us still, and abides with us always. God is our stronghold, and is a very present help in trouble! God has been through this with us, and we will get through it as well (whatever "it" may be).

God is our stronghold!

May we have the curiosity and courage to "turn aside" and see this very present help in trouble!

~ The Rev. Peter M. Carey


Psalm 46 Deus noster refugium

1	God is our refuge and strength, * a very present help in trouble.
2	Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, * and though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea;
3	Though its waters rage and foam, * and though the mountains tremble at its tumult.
4	The LORD of hosts is with us; * the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
5	There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, * the holy habitation of the Most High.
6	God is in the midst of her; she shall not be overthrown; * God shall help her at the break of day.
7	The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken; * God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.
8	The LORD of hosts is with us; * the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
9	Come now and look upon the works of the LORD, * what awesome things he has done on earth.
10	It is he who makes war to cease in all the world; * he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire.
11	"Be still, then, and know that I am God; * I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth."
12	The LORD of hosts is with us; * the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Psalm 66 & 67, from today's Morning Prayer

Psalm 66 Jubilate Deo

1	Be joyful in God, all you lands; * sing the glory of his Name; sing the glory of his praise.
2	Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! * because of your great strength your enemies cringe before you.
3	All the earth bows down before you, * sings to you, sings out your Name."
4	Come now and see the works of God, * how wonderful he is in his doing toward all people.
5	He turned the sea into dry land, so that they went through the water on foot, * and there we rejoiced in him.
6	In his might he rules for ever; his eyes keep watch over the nations; * let no rebel rise up against him.
7	Bless our God, you peoples; * make the voice of his praise to be heard;
8	Who holds our souls in life, * and will not allow our feet to slip.
9	For you, O God, have proved us; * you have tried us just as silver is tried.
10	You brought us into the snare; * you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
11	You let enemies ride over our heads; we went through fire and water; * but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.
12	I will enter your house with burnt-offerings and will pay you my vows, * which I promised with my lips and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.
13	I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts with the smoke of rams; * I will give you oxen and goats.
14	Come and listen, all you who fear God, * and I will tell you what he has done for me.
15	I called out to him with my mouth, * and his praise was on my tongue.
16	If I had found evil in my heart, * the Lord would not have heard me;
17	But in truth God has heard me; * he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
18	Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, * nor withheld his love from me. Psalm 67 Deus misereatur 1 May God be merciful to us and bless us, * show us the light of his countenance and come to us. 2 Let your ways be known upon earth, * your saving health among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; * let all the peoples praise you. 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, * for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the nations upon earth. 5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; * let all the peoples praise you. 6 The earth has brought forth her increase; * may God, our own God, give us his blessing. 7 May God give us his blessing, * and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him.

Scripture from today's Morning Prayer - Matthew 10:16-20

Matthew 10:16-20

I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Pray without ceasing...or Preach without ceasing

We have probably heard that Paul asked believers in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to "pray without ceasing." Setting one's heart and mind on God in all things and in all moments is the call of Christians. I have long wondered how this lofty goal can be reached, though the practicing of prayer daily has had a deep effect upon me, especially as I prepared to go to seminary, during seminary, and since ordination to the transitional diaconate.

Once I began working as a school chaplain, I find myself struggling to stick with my previous practice of reading the Daily Office each day. Finding time for individual time with God has, perhaps ironically, been somewhat difficult in the busy days of ministry.

By contrast, I find myself on a cycle of preaching very often. I have several chapels to lead each week (5+), and this week, I am preaching at 4 different services. Twice to the upper school, once to the middle, and once to the lower school. I find myself exegeting, praying with the scriptures, and trying to find something to say that is new nearly each day. I'm a bit exhausted by it, but also somewhat invigorated. I am looking at preaching tomorrow on a bit of the Sunday lectionary from last week (Luke 15:1-10), while also reflecting on Matthew for the Feast day for St. Matthew on Friday. I'm not sure that Paul had in mind that we would preach without ceasing, but that is what it feels like right now ... !

A Song of Creation

Some walks in Vermont gave me these wonderful views and a reminder of the wonders of God's Creation,

"Oh ye works of the Lord, praise him and exalt him forever."

A Song of Creation Benedicite, omnia opera Domini
Song of the Three Young Men

I
Invocation
O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; *
praise him and magnify him for ever.
O ye angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; *
praise him and magnify him for ever.

II The Cosmic Order
O ye heavens, bless ye the Lord; *
O ye waters that be above the firmament, bless ye the Lord;
O all ye powers of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; *
praise him and magnify him for ever.

O ye sun and moon, bless ye the Lord; *
O ye stars of heaven, bless ye the Lord;
O ye showers and dew, bless ye the Lord; *
praise him and magnify him for ever.

(from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979)