SEC Daily Prayer

Week B

V. O God, make speed to save us;
R. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.

PSALMODY

Antiphon: Where can I go from your Spirit?*
where can I flee from your presence?

Opening (from Psalm 139)
I will thank you because I am marvellously made;*
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.
My body was not hidden from you,*
while I was being made in secret
and woven in the depths of the earth.
How deep I find your thoughts, O God!*
how great is the sum of them!
If I were to count them, they would be more in number than
the sand;*
to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.
Glory to the Father…

Psalm 106:19-48
Israel made a bull-calf at Horeb*
and worshipped a molten image;
And so they exchanged their Glory*
for the image of an ox that feeds on grass.
They forgot God their saviour,*
who had done great things in Egypt,
Wonderful deeds in the land of Ham,*
and fearful things at the Red Sea.
So he would have destroyed them,
had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach,*
to turn away his wrath from consuming them.
They refused the pleasant land*
and would not believe his promise.
They grumbled in their tents*
and would not listen to the voice of the Lord.
So he lifted his hand against them,*
to overthrow them in the wilderness,
To cast out their seed among the nations,*
and to scatter them throughout the lands.
They joined themselves to Baal-Peor*
and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
They provoked him to anger with their actions,*
and a plague broke out among them.
Then Phinehas stood up and interceded,*
and the plague came to an end.
This was reckoned to him as righteousness*
throughout all generations for ever.
Again they provoked his anger at the waters of Meribah,*
so that he punished Moses because of them;
For they so embittered his spirit*
that he spoke rash words with his lips.
They did not destroy the peoples*
as the Lord had commanded them.
They intermingled with the heathen*
and learned their pagan ways,
So that they worshipped their idols,*
which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons*
and their daughters to evil spirits.
They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,*
which they offered to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was defiled with blood.
Thus they were polluted by their actions*
and went whoring in their evil deeds.
Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against
his people*
and he abhorred his inheritance.
He gave them over to the hand of the heathen,*
and those who hated them ruled over them.
Their enemies oppressed them,*
and they were humbled under their hand.
Many a time did he deliver them,
but they rebelled through their own devices,*
and were brought down in their iniquity.
Nevertheless, he saw their distress,*
when he heard their lamentation.
He remembered his covenant with them*
and relented in accordance with his great mercy.
He caused them to be pitied*
by those who held them captive.
Save us, O Lord our God,
and gather us from among the nations,*
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting and to everlasting;*
and let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
Hallelujah!
Glory to the Father . . .

God our Father, remembering your covenant you graciously pardoned those who rebelled against you. Grant that where sin abounds, grace may abound more, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Conclusion (from 1 Timothy 3)
Great indeed, we confess,*
is the mystery of our religion.
He was manifested in the flesh,*
vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,*
preached among the nations,
Believed on in the world;*
taken up in glory.
Glory to the Father…

Antiphon: Where can I go from your Spirit?*
where can I flee from your presence?

READING

Matthew 20: 1-16
‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

Silence

Response (Psalm 105:5)
V. Call to mind what wonders he has done!
R. Call to mind what wonders he has done!
V. His marvellous acts and the judgements of his mouth.
R. What wonders he has done!
V. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
R. Call to mind what wonders he has done!

MAGNIFICAT

Magnificat Antiphon: Show, O Lord, the strength of your arm;*
scatter the proud and exalt the lowly.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant;*
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
The Almighty has done great things for me*
and holy is his name.
He has mercy on those who fear him*
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm;*
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones*
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,*
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,*
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our forebears,*
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father

Magnificat Antiphon: Show, O Lord, the strength of your arm;*
scatter the proud and exalt the lowly.

PRAYERS

Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.

Collects
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, our Lord and King: grant that the peoples of the earth, now divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his gentle and loving rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Lord God almighty, come and dispel the darkness from our hearts, that in the radiance of your brightness we may know you, the only unfading light, glorious in all eternity. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!

The God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing:
through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.