Cantica Gaudia

Season of Lent: Sunday Noonday Prayer

Opening:  I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."

Psalm: You are my shepherd, I am content
You lead me to rest in the sweet grasses
To lie down by the quiet waters
And I am refreshed

You lead me down the right path
The path that unwinds in the pattern of your name

And even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will not fear
For you are with me
Comforting me with your rod and your staff
Showing me each step

You prepare a table for me
In the midst of my adversity
And moisten my head with oil

Surely my cup is overflowing
And goodness and kindness will follow me
All the days of my life
And in the long days beyond
I will always live within your house

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: Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to recieve a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air. 

The Lord’s Prayer: Holy One,
We honor your name.
Let the world know your justice
Here as everywhere.
Give us the food we need
For both the body and the soul.
Forgive us the wrongs we do
As we forgive the wrongs of others.
Keep us safe from the evil
At large or of our own making.
We trust you for you made us and
We are yours, now and always.  Amen.

Prayer:  Eternal God, the light of the minds who know you, the joy of the hearts that love you, the strength of the wills that serve you: grant us so to know you that we may truly love you, so to love you that we may freely serve you, to the glory of your holy Name. Amen.

Blessing: We go in peace to love and serve the Lord.