Morning Prayer for Monday 3.16.26

Morning Prayer for the Fourth Monday in Lent. Here is a link to our liturgy: Morning Prayer 3.16.26, Monday in the Fourth Week in Lent | Daily Office Network

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Good morning and welcome. I'm Father Tom Roy, the vicar of the Daily Office Network. I'm an ordained priest in the Diocese of Minnesota. The Daily Office Network is a community of Christians who gather together on a daily basis to pray morning prayer Monday through Friday. We use the 1979 Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer as our guide. We mix an artwork and a news story. All are welcome here, where we do our best to exercise tolerance and decency with one another. Now let's settle in and begin morning prayer. Today is the 16th of March 2026. It's Monday in the fourth week in Lent. We are podcasting. You can search us on Apple or Spotify by Daily Office Network. Let's begin. All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Keynote speakers at the Episcopal Parish Network Conference on March the 4th emphasize the importance of the Episcopal Church's faith-based witness in the public sphere. The church, they said, has both the privilege and the responsibility to counter movements toward Christian nationalism, a political ideology that distorts Christian beliefs, and to oppose the Trump administration's attacks on American democratic norms. What the country needs more right now is your teaching. Jonathan Roush told the hundreds of conference attendees gathered for his March 4th keynote conversation with Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe. Rousch is a Brookings Institute fellow and writer for The Atlantic who recently published the book Cross Purposes, Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy. In the photo above, presiding Bishop Sean Rowe on the left and author John Rousch on the right. There's also a story link if you go like to go and read the story. 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 Addie to lead us in the invitatory and the Psalter. 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.

SPEAKER_11 3:17

Almighty God, have mercy on you. Forgive you all 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. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Lord, open our lips, and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

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 psalms. For you are a great God. You are great above all gods. In your hand 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 pasture and the sheep of your hand. Oh, that today we would hearken to your voice.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Thank you, Eddie. Our psalm this morning is a portion of Psalm number one, of Psalm number 89, verses 1 through 18. And I'm going to ask Martha and Jill to lead our psalm. Martha, would you start?

SPEAKER_03 5:12

Your love, O Lord, will ever forever will I sing. From age to age, my mouth will compl proclaim your faithfulness.

SPEAKER_12 5:25

For I am persuaded that your love is established forever. You have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens. I will establish your line forever and preserve your throne for all generations.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

The heavens bear witness to your oneness, O Lord, and to your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.

SPEAKER_12 6:02

For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the gods?

SPEAKER_03 6:11

There is much to be feared in the council of the Holy Ones. Great and terrible to all to circle around.

SPEAKER_12 6:22

Who is like you, Lord God of hosts? Almighty Lord, your faithfulness is all around you.

SPEAKER_03 6:33

You rule the raging of the sea and still the searching of his waves.

SPEAKER_12 6:39

You have crushed Rahab of the deep with a deadly wound. You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

You lay the foundations of the world and all that is in it.

SPEAKER_12 7:00

You have made the north and the south. Tabor and Herman rejoice in your name.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

You have a mighty arm. Strong is your hand, and high is your right hand.

SPEAKER_12 7:17

Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne. Love and truth go before your face.

SPEAKER_03 7:51

And by your favor our might is exalted.

SPEAKER_12 7:55

Truly, the Lord is our ruler. The Holy One of Israel is our sovereign.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

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. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Thank you, Jill and Martha. It was a great reading. Jacob's dying oration to his sons. The artist of this is unidentified. Our reading is from Genesis chapter 49, verses 1 through 28. Chad, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Then Jacob called his sons and said, Gather around that I may tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel, your father. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the firstfruits of my vigor, excelling in rank and excelling in power. Unstable as water you shall no longer excel, because you went up onto your father's bed, then you defiled it. You went up onto my couch. Simeon and Levi are brothers. Weapons of violence are their swords. May I never come into their council. May I not be joined to their company, for in their anger they killed men, and at their whim they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath for it is cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. Judah, your brothers shall praise you, your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies, your father's son shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, you have grown up. He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion, like a lioness. Who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and the obedience of the people is his, binding his foal to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he washes his garment in wine, and his robe in the blood of grapes, his eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. Zebulun shall settle at the shore of the sea, he shall have a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon. Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between the sheepfolds. He saw that a resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, so he bowed his shoulder to the burden and became a slave at forced labor. Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a snake by the roadside, a viper along the path that bites the horse's heels, so that the rider falls backward. I wait for your salvation, O Lord. God shall be raided by raider, Gad shall be raided by raiders, but he shall raid at their heels. Asher's foot shall be rich, but he shall provide royal delicacies. Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears lovely fawns. Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring, his branches run over the wall, the archers fiercely attacked him, they shot at him and pressed him hard, yet his bow remained taut, and his arms were made agile, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob, by the name of the shepherd, the rock of Israel, by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb, the blessings of your father and sh are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains, the boun the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, on the brow of him who sets apart, who was set apart from his brothers. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey, and at the evening dividing the spoil. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, blessing each one of them with a suitable blessing. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Chad. Our first canticle is the first song of Isaiah. Mother Angel, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_05 13:20

Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things. Surely it is God who saves me. I will trust in him and not be afraid, for the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, and he will be my Savior. Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing from the springs of salvation, and on that day you shall say, Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name. Make his deeds known among the peoples. See that they remember that his name is exalted. Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things, and this is known in all the world. Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, for the great one in the midst of you is the holy one of Israel. 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. Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Thank you, Mother Angel. This Paul wrote is the Christian dietary law. Our reading is from First Corinthians chapter ten verses fourteen to chapter eleven verse one. Paul, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_08 15:39

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake to the one bread. Consider the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake at the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, for the earth and its fullness are the Lord's. If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience, I mean the other's conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved. Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Paul. Our next canticle is Song of the Redeemed. Mother Angel, would you lead this one as well?

SPEAKER_05 19:06

All nations will draw near and fall down before you because your just and holy works have been revealed. O ruler of the universe, Lord God, great deeds are there that you have done, surpassing human understanding. Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth, O King of all the ages. Who can fail to do you homage, Lord, and sing the praises of your name? For you only are the Holy One. All nations will draw near and fall down before you because your just and holy works have been revealed. 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. All nations will draw near and fall down before you because your just and holy works have been revealed.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Thank you, Mother and Joe. This is by Peter Lastman from 1615, Christ and the Women of Cayman of Canaan. The woman of Canaan. It's in Rembrandt's House Museum. Our reading is from Mark chapter 7, verses 24 through 37. Deacon Elizabeth, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_09 21:07

Sure. From there, Jesus set out and went away to the region of time. He entered the house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice. But a woman, whose little daughter, had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, Let the children be fed fast, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs. But she answered him, Sir, even the dogs under the table. If the children scramps, then he said to her, For seeing that you may go. The demon has left your daughter. So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impaired man in his speech, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears in his path and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he said and said to him, A father, that is, be opened. And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one, but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Deacon. And now the apostle's creed. Michael Brown, would you lead us in the creed?

SPEAKER_06 23:36

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. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Amen. Thank you, Michael. 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?

SPEAKER_10 24:39

The Lord be with you.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

And also with you.

SPEAKER_10 24:43

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.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.

SPEAKER_10 25:16

Govern and uphold them now and always.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

Day by day we bless you.

SPEAKER_10 25:21

We praise your name forever.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Lord, keep us from all sin today.

SPEAKER_10 25:27

Have mercy on us, Lord. Have mercy.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

Lord, show us your love and mercy.

SPEAKER_10 25:33

Oh, we put our trust in you.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

In you, Lord, is our hope.

SPEAKER_10 25:38

And we shall never hope in vain.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Thank you, John. Church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Lisbon, Portugal. And believe that when we were there, we were in this church. Although I did not take this picture. Now three prayers. The colic of the day for the fourth week of Lent, a colic for the renewal of life, and the Anglican Rosary Prayer. Deacon Diana, would you lead us in these three prayers?

SPEAKER_04 26:17

Oh Lord our God, in your holy sacraments, you have given us a foretaste of the good things of your kingdom. Direct us, we pray, in the way that leads to eternal life, that we may come to appear before you in the place of life, in that place of life where you dwell forever with your saints, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. O God, the King Eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning. Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace, that having done your will with cheerfulness during the day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Dear Lord Jesus, help me do the things I should to be to others kind and good, and in all I do or say, grow more loving every day. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

Amen. 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 27:45

Ever living God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ, inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

Let us bless the Lord.

SPEAKER_07 28:07

Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

Glory to God, whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God for generation to generation in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. And the blessing of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be with you now and remain with you always. Amen.

SPEAKER_10 28:27

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 28:30

And that is morning prayer on this Monday. Thank you for coming to pray today. Wherever you go, take that love of Jesus that lives inside of you. Share that Jesus with the world. Show that Jesus to the world. Hope to see you back with us tomorrow.