3.2.22 National Cathedral Morning Prayer

[Music] [Music] good morning my friends i'm dana corcello the vicar of the cathedral and so happy to be with you this wednesday ash wednesday i'd like to begin with our service of ash wednesday out of the prayer book blessed be god father son and holy spirit and blessed be god's kingdom now and forever amen let us pray almighty and everlasting god you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who were 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 the gospel appointed for ash wednesday is from the sixth chapter of matthew jesus said beware 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 alms do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your alms 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 also 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 oil 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 and then finally do not store up for yourself 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 that is from the gospel of matthew and before i continue what i'd like to do with you this morning one i hope that all of you will be able to worship in person at your own local parishes to receive the imposition of ashes or your own congregations in some way i think it is really important to actually receive the imposition of ashes but if not and you cannot go for health reasons or your traveling or some other of course reason which we all understand i would ask that you find a prayer book and you can also find the book of common prayer online it's bcponline.org so what i'd like to do now and i think this is also really important and this is what i'd like to share with you this morning as part of my homily in the prayer book on page 447 447 is the reconciliation of a penitent or as we call it in well that's what we call it but it's always known as confession and there's a saying in the episcopal church that goes all may some should none must all may some should none must take or receive confession or end absolution if you're having a bad day and if you're feeling guilty or you've done something awful you know it's awful i've i find it helpful to open the prayer book to the reconciliation and just read these words and so i would like to read these to you and encourage you that you make a lenten confession that you make an appointment with your priest or your pastor and make a lenten confession it is the best way to remove the cobwebs from your soul and to get out that rust that's been building up in the last year and just to really have a fresh start so i'd like to read it to you it begins the penitent begins bless me for i have sinned and then the priest says the lord be in your heart and upon your lips that you may truly and humbly confess your sins in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen and then the penitent reads the following paragraph i confess to almighty god to his church and to you that i have sinned by my own fault and thought word and deed and things done and things left undone especially and there's a long line for you to fill in whatever sin whatever thoughts whatever you need to get off your chest whatever you need to confess and then it continues for these and all other sins which i cannot now remember i'm truly sorry i pray god to have mercy on me i firmly intend amendment of life and i humbly beg forgiveness of god and his church and ask you for counsel direction and absolution and then during this part of the confession the priest and the penitent has a conversation if it's appropriate and i've been ordained for over 20 years and i've had some really incredible and i might say shocking conversations but it's usually how we are loved and how we are so worthy of forgiveness and often how the penitent just saying the words whether it's about a gambling addiction or mistreating you know a colleague or just having negative thoughts carrying such heavy burdens of resentment around just to get it out they feel so much better and i know i will certainly have my linton confession so just i want to leave you with this rather than giving up something for lent which we all you know all may some should none must but let's just try to have a reorientation of the way we think just i'm going to think differently i'm not going to be so negative i want to be more open i want to give things a chance i want to be more forgiving it's like doing a little mind shift i think that would be very beneficial certainly for me so then the priest offers this absolution our lord jesus christ who has left power to his church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him of his great mercy forgive you all your offenses and by his authority committed to me i absolve you from all your sins in the name of the father son and holy spirit amen and then my favorite sentence in the entire prayer book is this the priest says the lord has put away all your sins think about that the lord has put away all your sins oh my gosh you just want to lay down on the floor and give thanks and the lord has put away all your sins just just think how liberating how liberating that is and then the penitent responds thanks be to god so which actually a very simple little service but it is so powerful it is so powerful now my friends i want to go back to the ash wednesday service in the prayer book because the litany of penitence is truly one of the most beautiful litanies ever written and i want to read some of these there are a lot here i'm going to begin on page 268. so this is part of the litany we confess to you lord all of our past and faithfulness the pride hypocrisy and impatience of our lives and then we respond we confess to you lord the impatience of our lives our self and indulgent appetites and ways and our exploitation of other people we confess to you lord our anger and 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 we confess to you o lord 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 lord for all false judgments for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us accept our repentance lord for our waste and pollution of your creation and our lack of concern for those who come after us accept our repentance lord restore us good lord and let our anger depart from us favorably hear us for your mercy is great accomplish in us the works of your salvation that we may show forth your glory in the world everything you need my friends to have a beautiful a beautiful i want to say fulfilling maybe is not the word but yes fulfilling but everything you need to get your life back on track everything you need to remove all of that that separates you from god which is what sin is everything you need to restore relationships everything you need to um as i said earlier making those cobwebs out of your heart mind and soul our prayer book is so poetic and so beautiful and it's all right there and you can find it online so for those of you who can't worship in person today i want to read this to you and then we'll end almighty god you've created us out of dust of the earth grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life through jesus christ our lord amen and then the priest takes his or her thumb and says remember that you were dust and to dust you shall return remember that you were dust and to dust you shall return you can do that to yourself if you can't go to church today go out in your garden go out on your front porch wherever it is and say to yourself remember that you were dust and to dust you shall return and i can assure you that god will hear your prayers and your laments so let me finish now with this prayer for lent god of compassion through our son jesus christ you have reconciled your people to yourself as we follow his example of prayer and fasting may we obey you with willing hearts and serve one another in holy love through jesus christ our lord amen so go in peace and may you be healed and please remember that the lord will put away all your sins [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Washington National Cathedral

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Length: 15min 43sec (943 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 02 2022