Morning Prayer for Wednesday 3.11.26

Today is an ordinary Wednesday in the third week in lent. Here is a link to our printed liturgy: Morning Prayer 3.11.26, Ordinary Wednesday in Lent 3 | Daily Office Network 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:02

Good morning and welcome. I'm Father Tom Royd, the vicar of the Daily Office Network. The Daily Office Network is a community of Christians who gather together on a daily basis to pray morning prayer. We use the 1979 Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer as our guide. We mix an artwork, news story. We have a video at the end. We come from several different faith traditions in several different countries, and we do our best to exercise tolerance and decency with one another here. Now let's settle in and begin morning prayer. Today is the 11th of March, 2026. In the life of the church, it is an ordinary Wednesday in Lent 3. If you're looking for our podcast, search Daily Office Network on Apple or Spotify. Let's begin. And the brothers told Jacob, Joseph is still alive. He's even ruler over all the land of Egypt. A picture of some bombed-out buildings in the background and two people walking in front of them. As the conflict with Iran continues, Anglican and Episcopal leaders communion-wide, including the Most Reverend Sean Rowe, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, and Archbishop Hossam Naum, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and primate of the Anglican province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, have released statements calling for prayers in response to the United States and Israel launching a series of joint attacks on Iran, which led to the death of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khomeini. Suddenly, our people from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf find themselves once again huddled in shelters, fearing for their lives as the shadow of a total regional war looms over us, Nahum said in a February 28th letter. I call upon the global church to join us in urgent, unceasing prayer. We employ God to protect the innocents, the mothers, the children, and the elderly who are caught in the crossfire of Operation Epic Fury and the subsequent crushing responses. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I'll lead us in the confession of sin. I'll ask Mother Angel to pronounce absolution, and then Addy to lead us in the invitatory in this altar. First the confession of sin. Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your name. Amen. Mother Angel, are you with us? I'll pronounce absolution, then I'll ask Addie to lead us in the invitatory in this Psalter. Almighty God, have mercy on you, forgive you all of your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. Lord, open our lips, and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

SPEAKER_09 4:01

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen. Come, let us sing to the Lord, let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before God's presence with thanksgiving and raise to the Lord a shout with songs. For you are a great God. You are great above all gods. And your hands are the caverns of the earth, and the heights of the hills are yours also. The sea is yours, for you made it, and your hands have molded the dry land. Come, let us bow down and bend the knee and kneel before the Lord our Maker. For you are our God, and we are the people of your pastor and the sheep of your hand. Oh, that today we'll hearken to your voice.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

Thank you, Addie. Our psalm appointed for this morning is a portion of Psalm number 119, verses 97 through 120. I'm going to ask Martha to start our psalm, and Jill, if you would join in, and the two of you would trade back and forth with the verses.

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Oh how I love your Lord. All the day long it is in my mind.

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It is always with me.

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I have more understanding than all my teachers, for my degrees are my study.

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I am wiser than the elders because I observe your commandments. I do not shrink from your judgments because you yourself have taught me. Through your commandments I gain understanding. Therefore I hate every lying way.

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Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path.

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I have sworn and am determined to keep your righteous judgments. Accept, O Lord, the willing tribute of my lips and teach me your judgments.

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Yet I do not forget your law.

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The wicked have set a trap for me, but I have not strayed from your commandments.

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Your decrees are my inheritance forever. Truly they are the joy of my heart.

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I have applied my heart to fulfill your statutes forever and to the end.

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I hate those who have a divided heart, but your law do I love.

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You are my refuge and shield. My hope is in your word.

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Away from me, you wicked. I will keep the commandments of my God.

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Sustain me according to your promise that I may live. And let me not be disappointed in my hope.

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Hold me up, and I shall be safe. And my delight shall be ever in your statues.

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You spurn all who stray from your statues. Their deceitfulness is in vain.

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In your sight all the wicked of the eye are patrols. Therefore I love your decrees. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 9:12

Amen. Thank you, Jill and Martha. Joseph is recognized by his brothers. Painting from 1863. Chad, would you lead this?

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When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house that Joseph's brothers had come, Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, do this, load your animals and go back to the land of Canaan. Take your father and your households and come to me, so that I may give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you may enjoy the fat of the land. You are further charged to say, Do this, take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. Give no thought to your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours. The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons according to the instruction of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey. To each one of them he gave a set of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of garments. To his father he sent the following ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. Then he sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving he said to them, Do not quarrel along the way. So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, and they told him, Joseph is still alive. He is even ruler over all the land of Egypt. He was stunned. He could not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Israel said, Enough, my son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Chad. Our first canticle is a song of penitence, Mother Angel.

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You made the heavens and the earth with all everstone. All things quake with fear at your presence. They tremble because of your power. But your merciful promise is beyond imagination. It surpasses all that our minds can fathom. Oh Lord, you are full of compassion, long suffering and abounding in mercy. You hold back your hand. You do not punish as we deserve. In your great goodness, Lord, you have promised forgiveness to sinners that they may repent of their sin and be saved. And now, O Lord, I bend the knee of my heart and make my appeal sure of your gracious goodness. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I know my wickedness only too well. Therefore I make this prayer to you. Forgive me, Lord, forgive me. Do not let me perish in my sin, nor condemn me to the depths of the earth. For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent, and in me you will show forth your goodness. Unworthy as I am, you will save me in accordance with your great mercy, and I will praise you without ceasing all the days of my life. For all the powers of heaven sing your praises, and yours is the glory to ages of ages. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 14:34

This is food offered to a Hindu deity. The ancient Hebrews offered animal sacrifices, which is the backdrop for Paul's saying he would avoid eating such meat. Our reading is from First Corinthians chapter eight, verses one through thirteen. Paul, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_05 15:02

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols, we know that all of us possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge, but anyone who loves God is known by him. Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that no idol in the world really exists, and that there is no God but one. Indeed, even though there may be so called gods in heaven or on earth, as in fact there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge, since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled. Food will not bring us close to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you you possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol. Might they not seek their conscience is weak? Be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols. So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_03 17:37

Thank you, Paul. Our second canticle is Song of Zechariah. Mother Angel, would you lead this as well?

SPEAKER_04 17:46

Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel. You have come to your people and set them free. You have raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of your servant David. Through your holy prophets of old, you prophets you promised of old to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us, to show mercy to our forebears, and to remember your holy covenant. This was the oath you swore to our father Abraham, to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship you without fear, holy and righteous before you all the days of our life. And your child shall be called the prophet of the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to prepare the way, to give God's people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 19:26

Thank you, Mother Angel. Painting of the beheading of John the Baptist from eighteen sixty-nine. Deacon Diana, would you leave this one?

SPEAKER_00 19:57

They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured. And cured them. King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some were saying, John the baptizer has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him. But others said, It is Elijah, and others said, It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old. And when Herod heard of it, he said, John, whom I beheaded, has been raised. For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers, and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter, Herodias, came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it. And he solemnly swore to her, Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom. She went out and said to her mother, What should I ask for? She replied, The head of John the Baptizer. Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter. The king was deeply grieved, yet, out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with other with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought him his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_03 22:26

Thanks be to God. Thank you, deacon. And now the Apostle's Creed. Carol, would you lead us in the Apostles' Creed?

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I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again, he ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 23:39

Amen. Thank you, Carol. And now the prayers begin with our Lord's Prayer. John R., would you lead us in the Lord's Prayer and then we'll read the suffrages?

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The Lord be with you.

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And also with you.

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Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours. Now and forever. Amen.

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Show us your mercy, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Clothe your ministers with righteousness.

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Let your people sing with joy.

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Give peace, O Lord, in all the world.

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For only in you can we live in safety. Lord, keep our nations under your care and guide us in the way of justice and truth.

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Let your way be known upon earth.

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You are saving health among all nations.

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Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten. Create in us clean hearts, O God.

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And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

Thank you, John. Sanctuary of Christ Church Cathedral in Sindai, Japan. Now four prayers. The collect of the day for Wednesday of the third week in Lent, a collect on racism and injustice, a collect for grace, and a collect for joy in God's creation. Deacon Elizabeth, would you lead these?

SPEAKER_08 25:49

Sure. Give ear to our prayers, O Lord, and direct the way of your servants in safety under your protection. That amid all the changes of our earthly pilgrimage, we may be guided by your mighty aid through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Help us to see the new with new eyes the injustices within church and society. Call us to have a loving heart that respects and uplifts the humanity and dignity of every person. Open our ears to listen and learn from the experiences of people whose skin is different from ours. Open our mouths to speak up about injustices. Join us with others to work for racial equity and inclusion for all people. Amen. Lord God Almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day. Preserve us with your mighty power that we may not fall into sin nor be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 27:46

Go ahead, Deacon.

SPEAKER_08 27:51

Oh Heavenly Father, you fill this world with beauty. Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works, that rejoicing in your whole creation we may learn to serve you with gladness for the sake of him through whom all things were made. Your son Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 28:14

Amen. One more look back at that deer. And now our Wednesday morning prayer lists for healing of body, mind, and soul. We pray for the essential workers in our world. We're also continuing to pray for Josh Thomas, our founding vicar in a skilled nursing facility after a stroke. Pray for healing for Deacon Leilani and her health challenges. Tracy Kay is awaiting a transplant. Andrea has a brain tumor and she's in physical and occupational therapy. Pray for her healing. Prayers for Jim and Beth. Jim is losing his eyesight. Pray for Addy and her husband Anthony. Pray for their continued health. Stefan, Paul, Alexis, Peter, Jerry G, Robbie, Zachary. They all have cancer. Danielle also has cancer. Pray for all who have cancer. Pray for Don and Cheryl Lee. They both have dementia. Pray for Patricia's continued strength and wellness. And pray for all of those in hospice or in comfort care, anticipating and preparing for the end of their life. On Wednesday, we also pray for the caregivers. We mentioned Jan, Marianne, Cheryl, Beth, Judith, Tenna, Morgan, Pam, and Mark. We'll continue with the prayer for the mission of the church. I'm going to ask Patricia to lead us in the prayer for the mission of the church, and then I'll bless the Lord and bless us.

SPEAKER_07 30:21

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified. Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before you for all members of your holy church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 30:47

Let us bless the Lord.

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Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_03 30:51

Now go in safety, for you cannot go where God is not, and go in love, for love alone endures, and go in peace, for that is God's gift to those whose hearts and minds are in His Son Jesus. And may the blessing of the God of Abraham and Sarah, and of Jesus Christ, born of our sister Mary, and of the Holy Spirit who broods over the world as a mother over her children be upon you now and remain with you always. Amen.

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Amen.

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That is morning prayer on this Wednesday. Thank you for coming to pray today. Wherever you go, take that love of Jesus that lives inside of you, that Jesus that is in your heart. Share that Jesus with the world. Show that Jesus to the world. Any need Jesus right now. Hope to see you back with us tomorrow, safe and sound.