Morning Prayer - Jan 17

Antony of Egypt, Hermit, Abbot, 356
Charles Gore, Bishop and Founder of the Community of the Resurrection, 1932

Psalm 67
God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, That your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

O let the nations rejoice and be glad, for you will judge the peoples righteously and govern the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Then shall the earth bring forth her increase, and God, our own God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Psalm 72
Give the king your judgements, O God, and your righteousness to the son of a king. Then shall he judge your people righteously and your poor with justice.

May the mountains bring forth peace, and the little hills righteousness for the people.

May he defend the poor among the people, deliver the children of the needy and crush the oppressor. May he live as long as the sun and moon endure, from one generation to another.

May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, like the showers that water the earth. In his time shall righteousness flourish, and abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.

May his dominion extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.

May his foes kneel before him and his enemies lick the dust.

The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute;
the kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring gifts.
All kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall do him service.
For he shall deliver the poor that cry out, the needy and those who have no helper.
He shall have pity on the weak and poor; he shall preserve the lives of the needy.
He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, and dear shall their blood be in his sight.

Long may he live; unto him may be given gold from Sheba; may prayer be made for him continually and may they bless him all the day long. May there be abundance of grain on the earth, standing thick upon the hilltops; may its fruit flourish like Lebanon and its grain grow like the grass of the field.

May his name remain for ever and be established as long as the sun endures; may all nations be blest in him and call him blessed.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wonderful things.
And blessed be his glorious name for ever. May all the earth be filled with his glory.
Amen. Amen.

Genesis 4.1-16, 25-26
Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ‘I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.’ Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.’

Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out to the field.’ And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ And the Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.’ Cain said to the Lord, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.’ And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, for she said, ‘God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him.’ To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the Lord.

Matthew 22.15-33
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

The same day some Sadducees came to him, saying there is no resurrection; and they asked him a question, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses said, “If a man dies childless, his brother shall marry the widow, and raise up children for his brother.” Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married, and died childless, leaving the widow to his brother. The second did the same, so also the third, down to the seventh. Last of all, the woman herself died. In the resurrection, then, whose wife of the seven will she be? For all of them had married her.’

Jesus answered them, ‘You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? He is God not of the dead, but of the living.’ And when the crowd heard it, they were astounded at his teaching.

The Collect
Most gracious God,
who called your servant Antony to sell all that he had and to serve you in the solitude of the desert:
by his example may we learn to deny ourselves and to love you before all things;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Daily Office - Jan 17

Antony of Egypt, Hermit, Abbot, 356
Charles Gore, Bishop, Founder of the Community of the Resurrection, 1932

Psalm 21
The king shall rejoice in your strength, O Lord;
how greatly shall he rejoice in your salvation!
You have given him his heart’s desire
and have not denied the request of his lips.
For you come to meet him with blessings of goodness
and set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
He asked of you life and you gave it him,
length of days, for ever and ever.
His honour is great because of your salvation;
glory and majesty have you laid upon him.
You have granted him everlasting felicity
and will make him glad with joy in your presence.
For the king puts his trust in the Lord;
because of the loving-kindness of the Most High,
he shall not be overthrown.
Your hand shall mark down all your enemies;
your right hand will find out those who hate you.
You will make them like a fiery oven
in the time of your wrath;
the Lord will swallow them up in his anger
and the fire will consume them.
Their fruit you will root out of the land
and their seed from among its inhabitants.
Because they intend evil against you
and devise wicked schemes
which they cannot perform,
You will put them to flight
when you aim your bow at their faces.
Be exalted, O Lord, in your own might;
we will make music and sing of your power.

Psalm 24
The earth is the Lord’s and all that fills it,
the compass of the world and all who dwell therein.
For he has founded it upon the seas
and set it firm upon the rivers of the deep.
‘Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, or who can rise up in his holy place?’
‘Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who have not lifted up their soul to an idol,
nor sworn an oath to a lie;  ‘They shall receive a blessing from the Lord, a just reward from the God of their salvation.’
Such is the company of those who seek him, of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.

Lift up your heads, O gates;
be lifted up, you everlasting doors;
and the King of glory shall come in.

‘Who is the King of glory?’
‘The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord who is mighty in battle.’

Lift up your heads, O gates;
be lifted up, you everlasting doors;
and the King of glory shall come in.

‘Who is this King of glory?’
‘The Lord of hosts,   he is the King of glory.’

Amos 4
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on Mount Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
   who say to their husbands, ‘Bring something to drink!’
The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:
   The time is surely coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
   even the last of you with fish-hooks.
Through breaches in the wall you shall leave,
   each one straight ahead;
   and you shall be flung out into Harmon,

says the Lord.
Come to Bethel—and transgress;
   to Gilgal—and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
   your tithes every three days;
bring a thank-offering of leavened bread,
   and proclaim freewill-offerings, publish them;
   for so you love to do, O people of Israel!
says the Lord God.

I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and lack of bread in all your places,
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.

And I also withheld the rain from you
   when there were still three months to the harvest;
I would send rain on one city,
   and send no rain on another city;
one field would be rained upon,
   and the field on which it did not rain withered;
so two or three towns wandered to one town
   to drink water, and were not satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.

I struck you with blight and mildew;
   I laid waste your gardens and your vineyards;
   the locust devoured your fig trees and your olive trees;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.

I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt;
   I killed your young men with the sword;
I carried away your horses;
   and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.

I overthrew some of you,
   as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
   and you were like a brand snatched from the fire;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.

Therefore, thus I will do to you, O Israel;
   because I will do this to you,
   prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

For lo, the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind,
   reveals his thoughts to mortals,
makes the morning darkness,
   and treads on the heights of the earth -
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

1 Corinthians 3
And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul’, and another, ‘I belong to Apollos’, are you not merely human?

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labour of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written,

‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’,

and again,

‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,  that they are futile.’

So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

The Collect
Most gracious God,
who called your servant Antony to sell all that he had
and to serve you in the solitude of the desert:
by his example may we learn to deny ourselves
and to love you before all things;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.