Cantica Gaudia

Season of Epiphany: Friday Noonday Prayer

Opening: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal: have mercy on us.  (repeat three times)

Psalm: When therefore I was embittered
And envy goaded my heart
Stupid was I and ignorant
No better than a beast in your sight.
Yet I am always with you:
For you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel
And afterwards will receive me with glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And having you, I desire nothing else upon earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my possession forever.
Those who go far from you, Lord, shall perish,
And all who are faithless you will destroy.
But for me it is good to draw near to God:
I have made you, Lord God, my refuge,
And I will speak of all you have done.

Reading: Every child has known God,
Not the God of names,
Not the God of don’ts,
Not the God who ever does anything weird,
But the God who only knows four words
And keeps repeating them, saying:
“Come dance with Me.”
Come dance.

The Lord’s Prayer: Seed and source,
Far in the distance and in our souls,
You are holy and make us whole.
May we perceive your divine will
That loved us into being
Help us to join your creative force
And let it prosper here.
Give us what we need to survive,
And release us from our transgressions
As we release others from theirs.
Keep us away from paths of destruction
And from those who would ruin what you have made,
For you are the matrix of life, love and wisdom,
Now and forever.  Amen.

Prayers:  Allow more and more thoughts of your thinking to come into our hearts, day by day,
Till there shall be at last an open road between you and us, and your angels may go up and down amongst us, so that we may be in your heaven, even while we are upon your earth.  Amen.

Going forth:  Through our lives and our prayers, may God’s kingdom come.  Amen.