Cantica Gaudia

Season of Easter: Sunday Evening Prayer

Opening:  For God is breath, and the breath of the wind is shared by all: nothing shuts it in, nothing holds it prisoner.

Canticle: Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed,
Therefore let us keep the feast
Not with the old leaven, the leaven of corruption and wickedness,
But with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Christ being raised from the dead will never die again,
Death no longer has dominion over him.
The death he died, he died to sin once for all,
But the life he lives, he lives to God.
So you must also consider yourselves dead to sin
And alive to God in Jesus Christ.
Christ has been raised from the dead,
The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For as by a man came death,
By a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die,
So also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Psalm: Every moment I bless you
Your praise is always in my mouth
My soul boasts of you
The humble hear it and rejoice

Join me – let’s enlarge God
Let’s shout and dance the nameless together
I looked for you and you found me
Delivered me from all that I feared

All who search for you are radiant
Their faces never eclipsed in shame
This poor man cried out and you heard him
Delivered him from his distress

Your angel makes camp
Near those who are brushed by awe
Who taste and see your goodness –
Happy are they who trust you

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

Reading: Truth never frightens.  I remember once walking out in the winter to greet my father as he returned from work.  He was a little late that night, and I waited by a street corner near our house.

The cold can enliven thanks, my wool coat became a sacred robe, how happy I felt to be alive.  I waited in a world of magic, smells of good food, the street lamps, the smoke coming from chimneys, the candles burning in the windows, the snow.

Angels feasted, as I did, on existence, and God kept saying, “Have more of what I made.”

I saw him coming.  We ran into each other’s arms, and he lifted me as he so often had – twirled me through the air, his hands beneath my arms.

That is what the Truth does: lifts and lets us fly.

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: We praise you and we bless you, our risen Lord Jesus, King of glory,
for you promised that the same power that was at work when you were raised from the dead
would also be alive in us. Show your power to those who are powerless; reveal your love to those who feel unlovely and through your Spirit enable all your people to be witnesses of your amazing grace. To you, Lord Jesus, daily renewing your people and your creation,
be honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Collect: Eternal God, who led your ancient people into freedom by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night: Grant that we who walk in the light of your presence may rejoice in the liberty of the children of God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Going Forth: With grateful hearts full of peace, let us praise the Lord. Alleluia!