Cantica Gaudia

Ordinary Time, Early Summer: Thursday Evening Prayer

Opening: None us lives or dies for ourselves alone. Living or dying, we belong to the Lord.

Canticle: Listen to me, my faithful children,
And blossom like a rose growing by a stream of water.
Send out fragrance like incense
And sing a hymn of praise;
Bless our God for all creation.
Ascribe majesty to the Most High;
Give thanks with praise,
With harps, and with songs on your lips.
All God’s works are good,
And whatever God commands will be done.

Psalm: Bless us, Lord, with your peace;
Make your light shine within us,
So that your presence may be known
And your love appear to all people.
Let all earth’s nations honor you
And all people shout out your praise”
Christian, Muslim, and Jew,
Idol-worshiper, agnostic,
Buddhist, Taoist, scientist,
All people together.
Let wisdom speak in their hearts
And justice light up their eyes.
Let all of them feel your presence
And sing out in the fullness of joy.

Glory to God who made us, who bears our pain, and who loves us
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever.  Amen.

Reading: All that matters is to be at one with the living God
To be a creature in the house of the God of Life.

Like a cat asleep on a chair
At peace, in peace
And at one with the master of the house, with the mistress,
At home, at home in the house of the living,
Sleeping on the hearth, and yawning before the fire.

Sleeping on the hearth of the living world
Yawning at home before the fire of life
Feeling the presence of the living God
Like a great reassurance
A deep calm in the heart
A presence
As of the master sitting at the board
In his own and greater being,
In the house of life.

The Lord’s Prayer: 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.
For thine is the kingdom,
And the power and the glory,
For ever and ever.  Amen.

Prayer: Leave me alone with God
As much as may be.
As the tide draws the waters
Close in upon the shore,
Make me an island, set apart,
Alone with you, God,
Holy to you.

Then with the turning of the tide,
Prepare me to carry your presence
To the busy world beyond,
The world that rushes in on me,
Till the waters come again
And fold me back to you.  Amen.

Collect: Eternal God, grant to us this day and every day such readiness and delight in following Christ that whether our lives are short or long we shall have lived abundantly. Amen.

Going Forth: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore. Amen.