Choral Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes, Wednesday 2 March 2022

[Music] [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] my [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit grace mercy and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ be with you brothers and sisters in christ since early days christians have observed with great devotion the time of our lord's passion and resurrection and prepared for this by a season of penitence and fasting by carefully keeping these days christians take to heart the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel and so grow in faith and in devotion to our lord 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 so let us pray for grace to keep lent faithfully almighty and everlasting god you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may receive from you the god of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness 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 forever a reading from the prophecy of 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 gloom 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 the 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 in 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 this is the word of the lord thanks speak to god cheese [Music] r [Music] is [Music] so is [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] see [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] the lord be with you hear the gospel of our lord jesus christ according to john jesus went to the mount of olives early in the morning he came again to the temple all the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them the scribes and the pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and making her stand before all of them they said to him teacher this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery now in the law moses commanded us to stone such women now what do you say they said this to test him so that they might have some charge to bring against him jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground when they kept on questioning him he straightened up and said to them let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her and once again he bent down and wrote on the ground when they heard it they went away one by one beginning with the elders and jesus was left alone and the woman standing before him jesus straightened up and said to her woman where are they has no one condemned you she said no one sir and jesus said neither do i condemn you go your way and from now on do not sin again this is the gospel of the lord in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return turn away from sin and be faithful to christ in a few moments those words will be repeated as we are invited to receive the sign of cross in ash on our foreheads this ancient ceremony which christians have celebrated for at least a thousand years inaugurates the season of lent by taking us to the very heart of our faith both the ash and the words that accompany the sign echo the opening chapters of the book of genesis remember how adam created in the image of god is formed from the dust of the earth but no sooner are he and his partner placed in paradise than they succumb to the temptation of the serpent they disobey god and they eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of life by way of punishment god curses adam and proclaims that the stuff from which he was formed will also be his final destiny you are dust and to dust you shall return thus the ash speaks of the nature of our relationship with god we are his creatures and like adam made in his image we are mortal and through the free will which god has given us have the capacity to sin and in so doing distance ourselves from god disfiguring his divine image in us by receiving the ash upon our foreheads we acknowledge the reality of the human condition but that's not where our story ends nor is it what lent is about and all too often when we think about the many ways in which we fail god and each other we concentrate so much on ourselves on the dust and the ash that we fail to acknowledge the saving encounter between sin and forgiveness which is symbolized by the cross by being imprinted upon our foreheads in the shape of the symbol of our salvation the ash which represents our mortality and our fallenness also proclaims the forgiveness of god in christ for the story of adam is not our story our story may begin in dust and ashes but that's not where it ends for the priest goes on to say turn away from sin and be faithful to christ the punishment of adam is not our punishment for we repent of our sins in the shadow of the cross we do so here today as those who already know the end of the story as those who have already knelt at the foot of the cross and have experienced its grace in our lives we don't confess our sins because we feel guilty or out of fear of divine punishment guilt fear and punishment have no place within the redeeming love of christ in the words of today's collect god hates nothing that he has made and forgives the sins of all those who are penitent this evening's gospel of a woman caught in adultery illustrates the unconditional compassion of christ there is no punishment for the woman who according to the law should be stoned to death the perfect love of the sinless jesus will not condemn her we confess our sins before god because we desire to become what we already are women and men created in his image born again through baptism into a new mode of existence as children of god and brothers and sisters of jesus christ christ who is the second adam god from god not dust from dust so the purpose of lent is not to become as miserable as we can be by giving up our creature comforts as a token of our contrition rather through a combination of prayer fasting penitence arms giving and all the traditional disciplines of lent we seek to be set free to remove from our bodies the shackles of sin which obscure the divine beauty of the one in whose image we are created and to allow the light of his love to shine out more clearly in our lives so on this ash wednesday let us prepare to confess our sins not from fear of punishment but from the desire for divine beauty and as we receive the sign of the cross in ash upon our foreheads let us not be ashamed of our own mortality but rejoice that all of us are created in god's image and redeemed in christ and let us pray for the guidance of the holy spirit that through these forty days of lent the spirit whom we received in baptism that same spirit who led jesus from the jordan to his temptation in the wilderness might lead us in faith and in love towards the outstretched arms of good friday so that when easter comes our faces which today are marked with ashes might shine with the beauty of easter glory for in christ this is the destiny of all god's people so let us now call to mind our sin and the infinite mercy of god god the father god from all evil and mischief from pride vanity and hypocrisy from envy hatred and malice and from all evil intent from sloth worldliness and love of money from hardness of heart and contempt for your word and your laws from sins of body and mind from the deceits of the world the flesh and the devil from famine and disaster from violence murder and dying unprepared in all times of sorrow in all times of joy in the hour of death and at the day of judgment by the mystery of your holy incarnation by your birth childhood and obedience by your baptism fasting and temptation by your ministry in word and work by your mighty acts of power and by your preaching of the kingdom by your glorious ascension and by your sending of the holy spirit give us true repentance forgive us our sins of negligence and ignorance and our deliberate sins and grant us the grace of your holy spirit to amend our lives according to your holy word holy god holy and strong holy and immortal have mercy upon us in silence let us call to mind our sins almighty god our heavenly father we have sinned against you and against our neighbor in thought and word and deed through negligence through weakness through our own deliberate fault we are truly sorry and repent of all our sins for the sake of your son jesus christ who died for us forgive us all that is past and grant that we may serve you in newness of life to the glory of your armor dear friends in christ i invite you to receive these ashes as a sign of the spirit of penitence with which we shall keep this season of lent god our father you create us from the dust of the earth bless these ashes and grant that they may be for us a sign of our penitence and a symbol of our mortality for it is by your grace alone that we receive eternal life in jesus christ our savior so um foreign [Music] is foreign [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] uh oh oh [Music] [Music] r [Music] [Music] [Music] so hey [Music] [Music] [Music] hey [Music] r [Music] is [Music] [Music] so [Music] is [Music] yes [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] boys [Music] us [Music] i [Music] is [Music] r is oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh hey [Music] oh my gosh [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] let us pray god our father the strength of all who put their trust in you mercifully accept our prayers and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you grant us the help of your grace that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed through jesus christ our lord since we are justified by faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ who has given us access to his grace the peace of the lord be always with you [Music] is [Music] is [Music] foreign [Applause] ah [Music] foreign [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] let us pray merciful father turn us from sin to faithfulness and from disobedience to love and prepare us to celebrate the death and resurrection of christ our savior who is alive and reigns now and forever [Music] heart [Music] let us give thanks to the lord our gods [Music] it is indeed right and good to give your thanks and praise almighty god and everlasting father through jesus christ your son for in these forty days you lead us into the desert of repentance not through a pilgrimage of prayer and discipline we may grow in grace and learn to be your people once again through fasting prayer and acts of service you bring us back to your generous heart through study of your holy word you open our eyes to your presence in the world and free our hands to welcome others into the radiant splendor of your love as we prepare to celebrate the easter feast with joyful hearts and minds we bless you for your mercy and join with saints and angels forever praising you and singing [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] so [Music] so [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] we praise and bless you loving father through jesus christ our lord and as we obey his commands send your holy spirit the broken bread and wine outpoured may be for us the body and blood of your dear son on the night before he died he had supper with his friends and taking bread he praised you he broke the bread gave it to them and said take eat this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me when supper was ended he took the cup of wine again he praised you 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 do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me so father we remember all that jesus did in him we plead with confidence his sacrifice made once for all upon the cross bringing before you the bread of life and cup of salvation we proclaim his death and resurrection until he comes in glory jesus christ is lord lord by your cross and resurrection you have set us free you are the savior of the world lord of all life help us to work together for that day when your kingdom comes and justice and mercy will be seen in all the earth look with favor on your people gather us in your loving arms and bring us with blessed mary john the baptist and all the saints to feast at your table in heaven through christ and with christ and in christ in the unity of the holy spirit all honor and glory be yours [Music] forever [Music] let us pray for the coming of the kingdom as jesus taught us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory ever and ever amen we break this bread to share in the body of christ though we are many we are one body because we all share in one bread behold the lamb of god behold him who takes away the sin of the world blessed are those who are called to his supper lord i am not worthy to receive you but only say the word and i shall be healed oh [Music] [Music] so [Music] ah [Music] oh [Music] oh yes [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] please [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] with love and in thanksgiving let us pray almighty god you have given your only son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive these his inestimable gifts and also daily endeavor to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life through jesus christ our lord the lord be with you christ give you grace to grow in holiness to deny yourselves take up your cross and follow him and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit rest upon you and remain with you always go in peace to love and serve the lord you you

Channel: MertonCollegeChoir

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Length: 66min 0sec (3960 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 02 2022