Week One
Friday Morning

Greeting and Doxology

PSALM 51
Creator God, reshape my heart. A changed heart you welcome.

Have mercy, tender God,
forget that I defied you.
Wash away my sin,
cleanse me from my guilt.

I know my evil well,
it stares me in the face,
evil done to you alone
before your very eyes.

How right your condemnation!
Your verdict clearly just.
You see me for what I am,
a sinner before my birth.

You love those centered in truth;
teach me your hidden wisdom.
Wash me with fresh water,
was me bright as snow.

Fill me with happy songs,
let the bones you bruised now dance.
Shut your eyes to my sin,
make my guilt disappear.

Creator, reshape my heart,
God, steady my spirit.
Do not cast me aside
stripped of your holy spirit.

Save me, bring back my joy,
support me, strengthen my will.
Then I will teach your way
and sinners will turn to you.

Help me, stop my tears,
and I will sing your goodness.
Lord, give me words
and I will shout your praise.

When I offer a holocaust,
the gift does not please you.
So I offer my shattered spirit;
a changed heart you welcome.
In your love make Zion lovely,
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then sacrifice will please you,
young bulls upon your altar.

READING
Ephesians 4:29-32
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
Let no breach of charity ever occur among us. Let the sun never go down on our anger.

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
who shepherds the people and sets them free.

God raises from David’s house
a child with power to save.
Through the holy prophets
God promised in ages past
to save us from enemy hands,
from the grip of all who hate us.

The Lord favored our ancestors
recalling the sacred covenant,
the pledge to our ancestor Abraham,
to free us from our enemies,
so we might worship without fear
and be holy and just all our days.

And you child, will be called
Prophet of the Most High,
for you will come to prepare
a pathway for the Lord
by teaching the people salvation
through forgiveness of their sin.

Out of God’s deepest mercy
a dawn will come from on high,
light for those shadowed by death,
a guide for our feet on the way to peace.

INTERCESSIONS
As a new day begins we ask you, God, that we may be responsive in faith to your mercy. We commit ourselves to follow Christ in compassion for suffering people, and we pray:
~ God send your mercy.

For persons who are poor, whose basic needs go unfulfilled, we pray:

For those who are suffering from addiction to drugs, alcohol, or possessions, we pray:

For those who are suffering from incurable or terminal diseases, we pray:

For those who are homeless and who yearn for permanent shelter, we pray:

For those who are lonely, who pass their days longing for companionship, we pray:

For those who are estranged from family or community, we pray:
THE LORD’S PRAYER

PRAYER
God of compassion, look with tenderness upon our frailty. We love you but fail to live fully the demands of that love. Help us to begin again when we have grown weary of doing good. Bind up our broken spirits, and make us whole through the love of Jesus Christ. Amen.

BLESSING
May God’s blessing be upon us. Amen
May God’s light lead us in the way of Righteousness. Amen.
May our lives be patterned on Christ Jesus. Amen.