Mid-Day Noon Prayer – Great Fifty Days
May 11, 2023

Call to Worship

In the middle of the day we become weary
We come to you, O Lord

We come for rest and refreshment
Come to us, O Lord    

Restore us as we serve you and your people
Be with us, O Lord

Invocation

Dialogue

O God, come to my assistance.

O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Prayer of the Day    
Almighty and ever-living God, you hold together all things in heaven and on earth. In your great mercy receive the prayers of all your children, and give to all the world the Spirit of your truth and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Commemoration    Julian of Norwich, died around 1416

Julian of Norwich was born in 1343 and lived more than 70 years. She was an English mystic and an anchoress, that is, one who lives a life of seclusion in a simple room usually with a church. During her lifetime, England experienced the plague of the Black Death that killed perhaps 50% of the population and also the Peasants' Revolt. At the age of about 30 years, Julian became very seriously ill and believed that she was on her deathbed. She received a series of visions that, upon her recovery, she compiled into a book called "Showings." This was the first book in English written by a woman. These visions declared that love was the meaning of the religious experience that is provided by Christ who is Love all for the purpose of love. 

     A prayer of Julian of Norwich
In you, Father all-mighty, we have our preservation and our bliss.
In you, Christ, we have our restoring and our saving.
You are our mother, brother, and Saviour. In you, our Lord the Holy Spirit, is marvelous and plenteous grace.
You are our clothing; for love you wrap us and embrace us.
You are our maker, our lover, our keeper.
Teach us to believe that by your grace all shall be well, and all shall be well,
and all manner of things shall be well. Amen

Psalm 66

 ¹Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
 ²sing the glory of his name;
 give to him glorious praise.
 ³Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!
 Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.
 ⁴All the earth worships you;
 they sing praises to you,
 sing praises to your name."
Selah
 ⁵Come and see what God has done:
 he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
 ⁶He turned the sea into dry land;
 they passed through the river on foot.
 There we rejoiced in him,
 ⁷who rules by his might forever,
 whose eyes keep watch on the nations —
 let the rebellious not exalt themselves.
Selah
 ⁸Bless our God, O peoples,
 let the sound of his praise be heard,
 ⁹who has kept us among the living,
 and has not let our feet slip.
 ¹⁰For you, O God, have tested us;
 you have tried us as silver is tried.
 ¹¹You brought us into the net;
 you laid burdens on our backs;
 ¹²you let people ride over our heads;
 we went through fire and through water;
 yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.
 ¹³I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
 I will pay you my vows,
 ¹⁴those that my lips uttered
 and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
 ¹⁵I will offer to you burnt offerings of fatlings,
 with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
 I will make an offering of bulls and goats.
Selah
 ¹⁶Come and hear, all you who fear God,
 and I will tell what he has done for me.
 ¹⁷I cried aloud to him,
 and he was extolled with my tongue.
 ¹⁸If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
 the LORD would not have listened.
 ¹⁹But truly God has listened;
 he has given heed to the words of my prayer.
 ²⁰Blessed be God,
 because he has not rejected my prayer
 or removed his steadfast love from me.

Psalm 67

 ¹May God be gracious to us and bless us
 and make his face to shine upon us,
Selah
 ²that your way may be known upon earth,
 your saving power among all nations.
 ³Let the peoples praise you, O God;
 let all the peoples praise you.
 ⁴Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
 for you judge the peoples with equity
 and guide the nations upon earth.
Selah
 ⁵Let the peoples praise you, O God;
 let all the peoples praise you.
 ⁶The earth has yielded its increase;
 God, our God, has blessed us.
 ⁷May God continue to bless us;
 let all the ends of the earth revere him.

Gloria Patri

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be. Amen.

Reading   1 Peter 3:13-22

¹³Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good?
¹⁴But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, ¹⁵but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; ¹⁶yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. ¹⁷For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil.
¹⁸For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, ²⁰who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. ²¹And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you — not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Reflection

Apostles’ Creed

Prayers        

Mighty God of mercy, we give you thanks that at midday you give us a time of rest; may we accept it gratefully and be strengthened by it, to serve you and our neighbor. And we thank you…

   for the sustaining goodness of your creation…
   for the new creation in Christ and all gifts of healing and forgiveness…
   for the gifts of relationship with others…    
   for the communion of faith in your church…

Merciful God of might, renew this weary world, heal the hurts of all your children, and bring about your peace for all in Christ Jesus, the living Lord.  We pray …
    
   for those who govern nations of the world…
   for the people in countries ravaged by strife or warfare…
   for all who work for peace and international harmony…
   for all who strive to save the earth from carelessness and destruction…
   for the church of Jesus Christ in every land…
    
God of heaven and earth, help us to live in this world faithfully guided by your love, which manifests itself in our love toward one another. Prepare us for that great morning when your new world is fully revealed. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer