First Sunday of Lent. irst Sunday of Lent. Opening Hymn: Let Evening Fall from the CD As Morning Breaks and Evening Sets #13

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1 Opening Hymn: Let Evening Fall from the CD As Morning Breaks and Evening Sets #13 Let evening fall gently around us. Christ s love surrounds us, warmth through the night. Love laid before us, hopes and dreams too. Prayer now upholds us closer to you. Let evening fall gently within us, Now sacred silence brings us to you. Put to rest chaos, crying and pain, Gently sustain us, speaking our name. Let evening fall gently upon us. Sunlight has faded, day s work is done. Now you protect us, held in your sight In holy darkness till morning s light. Ant. 1 This is the time of fulfillment, the kingdom of God is at hand. Psalm 20* May God answer in time of trouble! May the name of our god protect you. Send your help, O God, from your sanctuary, And give your support from Zion. May you remember all our offerings and receive our sacrifice with favor. May you give us our heart s desire And fulfill every one of our plans. - 1

2 May we sing out our joy at your victory And rejoice in your name, O God. May you grant all our prayers. Now I know that you, O God, Will give victory to your anointed; You will reply from your holy heaven With the help of your hand. Some trust in chariots or horses, But we trust in your holy name. They will collapse and fall, But we shall rise and stand firm. Give victory to your Anointed, Give answer on the day we call. Glory to you, Source of all Being Ant. 2 Repent and believe in the gospel. Psalm 21: 2-8, 14* O God, your strength gives joy to your people; How your saving help makes them glad! You have granted them the desire of their hearts; you have not refused the prayer of their lips. You came to meet them with goodly blessings, You have set blessings on their heads. They asked you for life and this you have given, Length of days forever and ever. 2

3 Your saving help has given them glory. Splendor you bestow upon them. You grant your blessings to them forever. You gladden them with the joy of your presence. They put their trust in you; Through your steadfast love, they shall stand firm. O God, we exult in your strength; We shall sing and praise your goodness. Glory to you, Source of all Being READING In today s Gospel Jesus calls us to repent and believe in the good news. Repentance is more profound than being sorry for having done something wrong or hurting someone. Repentance is not simply putting bandages on the wounds we have caused. In true repentance we try to move behind all our sins to the sinful condition itself. We are not concerned so much with healing the various wounds we have acquired or inflicted. Rather we want to move to the heart of the matter; we want to discover our integrated self as it was and still is in the mind of God. (from Breaking Open The Word of God- Edited by Karen Hinman Powell and Joseph P. Sinwell, p. 42.) Optional: After reading the above, a 2 nd reader could read the following selection from The Humility of God by Ilia Delio, pp As Zachary Hayes writes: Sin is not a mere infringement of a law extrinsic to our nature. It is a failure to realize the potentiality of our nature itself. It is the resistance to expansion through union with others. Similarly, what if we consider Christ not as a Savior from sin 3

4 but as the one who heals us and makes us whole by an outpouring of God s love and mercy, the One who calls us to universal community? That is, what if we really believed that from all eternity Christ was destined to come as the perfect lover of God and we were destined to be co-lovers in Christ. As Bonaventure indicates, Christ completes the order of creation but we complete the work of Christ. The world is made by God but brought to fullness of relationship with God by us humans because of our perfect fit to the Word of God. RESPONSORY I will sing your praise, O God, every day of my life. I will From sunrise to sunset, - every day Glory to you, Source of all Being, Eternal Word and Holy spirit. - I will CANTICLE OF MARY From the same CD as above. Lori True Magnificat, magnificat anima mea dominum. I sing with all my heart, my spirit leaps for joy. Who am I that you should honor me? By your saving grace, all will call me blest, And proclaim the greatness of your name! How great your gifts to us, how wonderful your works, With your pow r you strengthen all the weak. Your mercy will endure; steadfast is your love, All the faithful follow and believe. You scatter all the proud, the rich you send away. 4

5 All the mighty vanish in your sight. You fill each hungry heart, raising up the least. You are hope to all who are in need. You rescue all the poor, your servant Israel. You preserve the promise long foretold. You keep your saving word; faithful is your name. Every generation sings your praise! INTERCESSIONS Spontaneous Prayers and Petitions PRAYER O God, source of our light, you are ever with us to reveal the way of truth and justice. Help us to be open that we may call forth in ourselves and in one another your ways of wisdom and truth. We ask this through the Holy Spirit of Wisdom living in you through all eternity. Amen. * Taken from People s Companion to the Breviary 5