3.2.22 Evening Ash Wednesday Service

so so so so [Music] oh so [Music] trees [Music] this [Music] me [Music] foreign is [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] space [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so um let us pray almighty and everlasting god you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may obtain of you the god of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through jesus christ our lord who lives and reigns with you and the holy spirit one god forever and ever amen a reading from the prophet joel blow the trumpet in zion sound the alarm on my holy mountain let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the lord is coming it is near a day of darkness and bloom a day of clouds and thick darkness like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes their like has never been from of old nor will be again after them in ages to come yet even now says the lord return to me with all your heart with fasting with weeping and with mourning rend your hearts and not your clothing return to the lord your god for he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love and relents from punishing who knows whether he will not turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him a grain offering and a drink offering for the lord your god blow the trumpet in zion sanctify a fast call a solemn assembly gather the people sanctify the congregation assemble the aged gather the children even infants at the breast let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her canopy between the vestibule and the altar let the priests the ministers of the lord weep let them say spare your people o lord and do not make your heritage a mockery a byword among the nations why should it be said among the peoples where is their god the word of the lord the lord is full of compassion and mercy [Music] he will not always [Music] is [Music] according to us [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is my [Music] my a reading from the second letter of saint paul to the corinthians we entreat you on behalf of christ be reconciled to god for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of god as we work together with him we urge you also not to accept the grace of god in vain for he says at an acceptable time i have listened to you and on a day of salvation i have helped you see now is the acceptable time see now is the day of salvation are putting no obstacle in anyone's way so that no fault may be found with our ministry but as servants of god we have commended ourselves in every way through great endurance and afflictions hardships calamities beatings imprisonments riots labors sleepless nights hunger by purity knowledge patience kindness holiness of spirit genuine love truthful speech and the power of god with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left in honor and dishonor an ill repute and good repute we are treated as imposters and yet are true as unknown and yet are well known as dying and see we are alive as punished and yet not killed as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing and yet possessing everything the word of the lord [Music] [Music] uh [Music] um [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Music] please [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] oh [Music] yes [Music] premio jesus said beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them for then you have no reward from your father in heaven so whenever you give alms do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may be praised by others truly i tell you they have received their reward but when you give arms do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your arms may be done in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you and whenever you pray do not be like the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners so that they may be seen by others truly i tell you they have received their reward but whenever you pray go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you and whenever you fast do not look dismal like the hypocrites for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting truly i tell you they have received their reward but when you fast put all on your head and wash your face so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also the gospel of the lord please pray with me create in us clean hearts of god and renew a right spirit within us amen tonight begins our lenten journey where for 40 days we journey with jesus in the wilderness making our way to jerusalem and this season of lent is marked by our call for remembering and repenting throughout this service in our scriptures and in our prayers and in our music we will be reminded that this journey entails self-reflection prayer fasting reading and meditating on god's holy word it's a time for us to be clear-eyed about where we are in the ways in which we have become separated from god and one another it's a time to be honest walter brugerman says that churches should be the most honest place in town not the happiest place in town and i think he must have had lent in mind the scriptures call for us to wake up the prophet joel is a rather noisy alarm call to the israelites and to you and me of the impending gloom and deep darkness but if you look carefully that scripture pivots on one short word yet yet even now return to the lord with all your heart rend your heart and not your garments for the lord is gracious and merciful slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love it tells us much about our humanness and it underscores the character and faithfulness of the god that we seek to follow but make no mistake it's a wake-up call and of course as we look at the landscape of the world around us there's much about which we have to reflect and to repent when it speaks of rending your heart and returning to god with all your heart remember that in ancient times the heart was considered the center of one's intellect and will so when the prophet calls for us to rend our hearts what he's saying is tear them open open up to what god intends for you not just the superficial things like rending your garments no go deep deep down deep to open yourself up to the grace the mercy and the steadfast love of our lord and i know speaking of our hearts torn open so many of us are brokenhearted with the horror that we see unfolding in ukraine the unprovoked assault on a sovereign nation it's impacting so many innocent people and yet if you look you will see signs of hope and faithfulness think of the people in poland and romania in the baltic borders who were pulling together everything they have to welcome the stranger the refugees to be christ to them in their distress and you see signs of resilience and resistance in the ukrainian people essentially saying you can break our buildings you can bomb our buildings but you cannot break our spirit perhaps many of you saw the video clip taken by a washington post reporter of a young boy all alone in a hotel lobby playing the piano as the troops were about to arrive in his city it was a philip glasson walked to school and it was breathtakingly beautiful and haunting and i would say this little boy showed what turns out now to be the world what resilience and resistance look like and of course we have seen how the global community has come together to stand against that aggression there are signs of hope even in the midst of that devastation that breaks our hearts [Music] and when you leave the service this evening you will see illuminated on the front of this cathedral the national colors of ukraine we stand with you too there are so many broken things in our world in this third year the pandemic we are about to hit the unimaginable one million lives lost covet in this country alone and of course the pandemic has laid bare the pandemic of systemic racism social injustice climate crisis there is no lack for things that call us to act to follow our lord in helping to build the beloved community how do we do it well i think jesus helps to point us the way that in this season we have the opportunity to hit the reset button to pray to fast to meditate on god's holy word and to come out at the end of this transformed as followers of christ i don't know about you but sometimes it helps me to have visual images that help me on my journey and so i want to offer two to you this evening the first is one that challenges me in a good way some years ago my husband john and i were on vacation and we visited calmar france we were told it's like a little venice with beautiful little canals and it was all of that and after we'd done our walking tour our guide said we had about one hour of free time and that we could go shopping i'm not a shopper and then almost as an afterthought she said oh and there's a museum that has a famous altarpiece you can imagine where i went and i made a beeline for this unnamed famous altarpiece and i was blown away by what i saw it's the eisenheim altarpiece by matthias grunwalt and my friends are going to bring up an image of it so you can see it as well it's massive about 10 feet by 10 feet and you'll see that it depicts the crucifixion and jesus is clearly in agony on one side of jesus we see mary magdalene mary the mother of jesus and john the beloved disciple on the other side and this is where i get challenged is john the baptist pointing a bony finger at christ written in latin is he must increase and i must decrease christ must increase and i must decrease that's part of what this season is about opening up our hearts fasting making space for more of christ and less of ourselves i also recognize that sometimes on our journey we are so overwhelmed that and broken that we frankly need to be reminded of the christ who came and comforts us in journeys with us even in the midst of our brokenness so the other image that i offer for you this evening is from one of my favorite chapels here at the cathedral the chapel of the good shepherd and the altarpiece depicts jesus cradling a lamb against his chest and up against that heart whose love surpasses all understanding there are those times when we need to be carried and we are reminded that jesus promised to never leave us or forsake us to be with us always to the end of the age so in our journeys we know that no matter what we are never alone christ is with us to show us the way in her book searching for sunday rachel held evans put it this way we could not become like god so god became like us god showed us how to heal instead of kill had a mend instead of destroy had a love instead of hate had to live instead of long for more when we nailed god to a tree god forgave us and when we buried god in the ground god got up that's the power of jesus the christ whom we serve that god loved us enough to take on flesh and dwell among us c.s lewis reminds us that the miracle of the incarnation is not only that christ came lived died and rose among us but that christ continues to come to live to die and arise in our midst we are on a journey it begins tonight and the one who came and got up still lives among us showing us the way i wish you a blessed holy and observant lent and may this transformation come to fruition for you and for me amen thank you please stand as you were able dear people of god the first christians observed with great devotion the days of our lord's passion and resurrection and it became the custom of the church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting this season of lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for holy baptism it was also a time when those who because of notorious sins had been separated from the body of the faithful and were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness and restored to the fellowship of the church thereby the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon an absolution set forth in the gospel of our savior and of the need which all christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith i invite you therefore in the name of the church to the observance of a holy lent by self-examination and repentance by prayer fasting and self-denial and by reading and meditating on god's holy word and to make a right beginning of repentance and as a mark of our mortal nature let us now kneel before the lord our maker and redeemer almighty god you have created us out of the dust of the earth grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence that we may remember that is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life through jesus christ our savior amen return you shall return yes [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] foreign is [Music] r [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] promises [Music] is [Music] you please [Music] much god now [Music] so [Music] lord [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] is [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] god [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] r oh [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] oh [Music] [Music] i is [Music] me [Music] [Music] loves foreign [Music] hey [Music] [Music] please is [Music] foreign [Music] most holy and merciful father we confess to you and to one another into the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth that we have sinned by our own fault in thought word and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone we've not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength we've not loved our neighbors as ourselves we have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven have mercy on us lord we have been deaf to your call to serve as christ served us we have not been true to the mind of christ we have grieved your holy spirit have mercy on us we confess to you lord all of our past and faithfulness the pride hypocrisy and impatience of our lives we confess our self-indulgent appetites and ways and our exploitation of other people we confess to you lord our anger at our own frustration and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves we confess to you lord our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts and our dishonesty in daily life and work we confess to you lord our negligence and prayer and worship and our failure to commend the faith that is in us accept our repentance lord for the wrongs we have done for our blindness to human need and suffering and our indifference to injustice and cruelty accept our repentance for all false judgments for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us for our waste and pollution of your creation and our lack of concern for those who come after us restore us good lord and let your anger depart from us accomplish in us the work of your salvation that we may show forth your glory in the world by the cross and passion of your son our lord almighty god the father of our lord jesus christ who desires not the death of sinners but rather that they may turn from their wickedness and live has given power and commandment to his ministers to declare and pronounce to his people being penitent the absolution and remission of their sins he pardons and absolves all those who truly repent and with sincere hearts believe his holy gospel therefore we beseech him to grant us true repentance and his holy spirit that those things may please him which we do on this day and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy through jesus christ our lord amen amen will you please stand the peace of the lord be always with you and also with you peace it's their confession after this please be seated good evening and welcome to washington national cathedral my name is randy hollerith and i'm the dean of the cathedral and it's an honor and a pleasure to have you with us this evening i hope this ash wednesday will be the beginning for you of a holy season and that this lent will be a time of of reflection and awakening and new beginnings and that it will be a great journey for all of us as we make our way towards holy week and easter sunday so thank you for being with us we move now into the holy eucharist into communion and all those who would like to receive communion tonight are welcome at christ's table it doesn't matter your church affiliation or even if you have one if you desire to come and be fed by christ i hope you will we will be offering bread this evening not the chalice and wine as well because of covid but if you we also have gluten-free bread if you need that please do not hesitate to ask if you'd rather not receive communion that's completely all right but i hope you'll come forward when everyone else comes forward and just cross your arms over your chest like that we'll know you'd rather not receive communion and we'll just offer you a prayer and a blessing finally if you were able to support us in the work of this cathedral we would be most grateful as you leave this evening there are two boxes in the rear of the cathedral where you can leave a donation or there's instructions to be able to give online or through text to give and all those who are joining us around the country and around the world at home thank you for being with us and we are so grateful for your support as well walk in love as christ loved us and gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to god uh [Music] me [Music] foreign [Music] true [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] ah [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] [Music] me [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] me [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] foreign is oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] the lord be with you lift up your hearts let us give thanks to the lord our god it is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you father almighty creator of heaven and earth through jesus christ our lord who was tempted in every way as we are yet did not sin by his grace we were able to triumph over every evil and to live no longer for ourselves alone but for him who died for us and rose again therefore we praise you joining our voices with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your name [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] so [Music] holy and gracious father in your infinite love you made us for yourself and when we we'd fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death you and your mercy sent jesus christ your only and eternal son to share our human nature to live and die as one of us to reconcile as to you the god and father of all he stretched out his arms upon the cross and offered himself an obedience to your will a perfect sacrifice for the whole world on the night he was handed over to suffering and death our lord jesus christ took bread and when he'd given thanks to you he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said take eat this is my body which is given for you do this for the remembrance of me after supper he took the cup of wine and when he'd given thanks he gave it to them and said drink this all of you this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins whenever you drink it do this for the remembrance of me therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith christ has died christ is risen christ will come again we celebrate the memorial of our redemption oh father and the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving recalling his death resurrection and ascension we offer you these gifts sanctify them by your holy spirit to be for your people the body and blood of your son the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy sacrament and serve you in unity constancy and peace and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom all this we ask for your son jesus christ by him and with him and in him in the unity of the holy spirit all honor and glory is yours almighty father now and forever amen and now as our savior christ has taught us we are bold to say our father father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name my kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not to temptation but deliver us free evil for thine forever [Music] foreign [Music] now [Music] the gifts of god for the people of god do [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] twists foreign [Music] my [Music] uh [Music] um [Music] [Music] my fault [Music] foreign [Music] um [Music] [Music] praying together almighty god you have given your only son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and an example of godly life give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive these spiritual gifts and daily endeavor to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life through jesus christ our lord amen let us bow before the lord grant most merciful lord to your faithful people pardon and peace that they may be cleansed from all their sins and serve you with a quiet mind through christ our lord amen [Music] so [Music] let us bless the lord you

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Length: 98min 40sec (5920 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 02 2022