The Second Sunday in
Lent.
Psalm 130
De profundis
OUT of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord : Lord, hear my voice.
2. O let thine ears
consider well : the voice of my complaint.
3. If thou,
Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss : O Lord, who may abide it?
4. For there
is mercy with thee : therefore shalt thou be feared.
5. I look for
the Lord; my soul doth wait for him : in his word is my trust.
6. My soul
fleeth unto the Lord : before the morning watch, I say, before the morning
watch.
7. O Israel,
trust in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy : and with him is plenteous
redemption.
8. And he
shall redeem Israel : from all his sins.
The Collect.
ALMIGHTY God, who seest that
we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; Keep us both outwardly in our
bodies and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities
which may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts which may assault and
hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
{The
Collect from the First Day of Lent is to be read every day in Lent after the
Collect appointed for the Day.}
Old Testament
Reading: 1 Kings 8.37-43
Psalter:
Psalm 6, 38 | 119.33-72
Epistle
Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4.1-8
Gospel
Reading: St. Matthew 15.21-28
Toon: “If there is one time in the Church Year when we ought to feel
the need to exercise faith and to pray fervently in faith -- as the Gospel illustrates
- it is Lent. If there is one period of the Church Year when we should hear
clearly the word of the Epistle - God's will is your sanctification - it is
also Lent.
The usual tendency in our prayers is to ask God to help us, to aid us,
to assist us and to strengthen us. All well and good, but sometimes hidden in
such verbal requests is the general idea that we can do so much for ourselves
and we only need God to come along and give us the extra push, to top up our
strength. But in this prayer we begin by recognizing as we meditate
before almighty God our Father, who is the Omnipotent One,
that in fact we need more than a push and a topping up: we need his help,
power, grace and strength completely and wholly. For we have no power of
ourselves to help ourselves in the real battles of life against adversaries
much stronger than we are.
Therefore, from the position of total dependency upon God's gracious
power we ask the Father in the name of his well beloved Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ, that in body and soul we may be daily preserved and protected from all
forms of evil and sin. We cannot predict as each day begins what bad things can
and will happen to our body, from accident, disease, carelessness, or the evil
will of others. Further, and significantly, we cannot predict what can and will
happen to our soul - our mind, emotions and will - as it is open to testing and
temptation. Evil thoughts, desires and imaginations can be generated within our
souls by all kinds of stimuli, by the world and the devil.
This prayer of wholehearted submission to the Almighty Father is
entirely suitable for LENT as we engage in self-examination, fast inwardly and
outwardly in union with our blessed Lord (who himself fasted forty days and
forty nights) and look forward to the Victory of Christ at Easter over the
world, the flesh and the devil in which, by union with him, we share. In fact,
like the Canaanite woman in the Gospel we need to be so intent of being united
to Jesus that he can say to us what he said to her: "O woman, great is thy
faith!"” (http://www.pbs.org.uk/the-bcp/second-sunday-in-lent).
From the Eastern Orthodox tradition a prayer for the Lenten season:
“O Lord and Master of my life,
take from me
the spirit of sloth, despair,
lust of power, and idle talk.
But give rather the spirit of
chastity, humility, patience, and
love to Thy servant.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to
see
my own transgressions,
and not to judge my brother,
for blessed art Thou, unto ages
of ages. Amen”
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