Cantica Gaudia

Season of Lent: Wednesday Compline

Confession: Lord, you asked for my hands that you might use them for your purpose. I gave them for a moment then withdrew them, for the work was hard.

You asked for my mouth to speak out against injustice. I gave you a whisper than I might not be accused.

You asked for my eyes to see the pain of poverty. I closed them for I did not want to see.

You asked for my life that you might work through me. I gave a small part that I might not be too involved.

Lord, forgive my calculated efforts to serve you only when it is convenient for me to do so, only in the places where it is safe to do so, and only with those who make it easy to do so.

Father, forgive me, renew me, send me out as a usable instrument, that I might take seriously the meaning of your cross.

Psalm: God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved,
And though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea;
Though its waters rage and foam,
And though the mountains tremble at its tumult.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her;
She shall not be overthrown;
God shall help her at the break of day.
The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken;
God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Come now and look upon the works of the Lord,
What awesome things he has done on earth.
It is God who makes war to cease in all the world;
He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,
And burns the shields with fire.

“Be still then, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations;
I will be exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Reading: This is the voice of the Creator rebuking human nature. It is as if He said: Where are you now after your transgression? For I do not find you there where I know that I created you, nor in the dignity in which I made you in My image and likeness, but I rebuke you as a deserter from blessedness, a fugitive from the true light, hiding yourself in the secret places of your conscience, and I enquire into the cause of your disobedience... For if you had not eaten [the forbidden fruit] perhaps you would not fear the voice of your Creator as He walks within you, nor flee from His face, nor have become aware of the nakedness which you lost when you sinned.

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.

Prayer: O God, my dark, my silence, whose love enfolded me before I breathed alone, whose hands caressed me while I was still unformed, to whom I have been given before my heart remembers, who knew me speechless, whose touch unmakes me, whose stillness finds me for ever unprepared...

Blessing: Let our longing for your kingdom take fire in us and burn away our sins, that we may be a flame of hope and of justice to all peoples.