Morning Prayer for Wednesday 5.20.26

Morning Prayer 5.20.26, Alcuin of York, Deacon, 804 | Daily Office Network

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Good morning and welcome. I'm Father Tom Royd, 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 at 7 and 9 a.m. Eastern time. We come from several different faith traditions in several different countries. We utilize the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer as our guide. We mix in artwork. We have a news story. There's a video at the end. All are welcome here where we do our best to exercise tolerance and decency. Now let's settle in and begin morning prayer. Today is the 20th of May 2026. In the life of the church, our saint is Alson of York, a deacon who died in the year 804. The Daily Office Network is podcasting. You can find us on Apple or Spotify by searching the keywords Daily Office Network. We also have links that you can click on. It will take you right to our podcasts. Let's begin. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. The Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico signaled in a legal filing it intends to fight the Trump administration's fast-moving attempts to seize its land through eminent domain to extend the southern border wall. The land targeted by the federal government is at the base of Mount Cristo Rey, a mountain and pilgrimage site topped by a 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Jesus that dates back to 1940. The diocese said that the border wall would obstruct pilgrimage routes. The erection of a border wall, though through or along this holy site, could irreparably damage its religious and cultural sanctity, obstruct pilgrimage routes, and transfer sacred space into a symbol of division. The Diocese of Las Cruces said, according to legal documents, in the photo, according to legal documents, in the photo above, workers have cut a gash through the southern slope of Mount Cristo Rey, which straddles the border between Sunland Park, New Mexico and Cunidad, Juarez, Mexico, to build a new section of border wall. Most of Mount Cristo Rey is owned by the Diocese of Las Cruces and is a popular pilgrimage and recreational site for the locals. The fight continues. If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. Everything old has passed away. See? Everything has become new. Addie, would you lead us in the invitatory and the Psalter?

SPEAKER_03 3:12

Lord, open our lips.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Christ shall pass over. Has been sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us give the peace. But with the old level, you are of sincerity and truth. Hallelujah. Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. God no longer has dominion over him. The death that he died to sin once for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God. So also consider yourself God to sin. And a lie to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Hallelujah. Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruit of those who have fallen asleep. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Hallelujah.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

Thank you, Maddie. Our psalms appointed for today are number 101 and a portion of number 109. And I can only see five or six of us in the room. I think there's five of us in the room. Robert, would you take the first verse and I'll take the second, and you and I can trade back and forth.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

I will sing of mercy and justice to you, O Lord, will I sing praises?

SPEAKER_02 5:30

I will strive to follow a blameless course. Oh, when will we come when will you come to me? I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I hope I hate the doers of evil deeds. They shall not remain with me.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

A crooked heart shall be far from me. I will not know evil.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy. Those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, and only those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, that I may root out all evil doers from the city of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise, for the root for the mouth of the wicked, the mouth of deceitful is opened against me.

SPEAKER_02 6:45

They speak to me with a lying tongue, they encompass me with hateful words and fight against me without a cause.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Despite my love they accuse me, but as for me, I pray for them.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

They repay evil for good and hatred for my love.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

But you, O Lord my God, O deal with me according to your name. For your tender mercy's sake, deliver me.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens. I am shaken off like a locust.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.

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I have become a reproach to them. They see me and shake their heads.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Help me, O Lord my God, save me for your mercy's sake.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Let them know that this is your hand, that you, O Lord, have done it.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

They may curse, but you will bless. Let those who rise up against me be put to shame, and your servant will rejoice.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Let my accusers be gathered be clothed with disgrace and wrap themselves in their shame like a cloak.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

I will give great thanks to you, O Lord, with my mouth. In the midst of the multitude will I praise you.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

Because you stand at the right hand of the needy to save their life from those who would condemn them.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

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_01 8:33

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Thank you, Robert. I also may have a clue as to our internet issues. I'm getting a couple of texts from other people who can't get into the service. Jill is only a few miles to the east of me. Well, a few miles, a few hundred miles to the east of me, so that may be the problem as well. Perhaps the branch of the Lord is a cherry tree in bloom. Our lesson is from Isaiah chapter four, verses two through six. Chad, do you want to le read this?

SPEAKER_00 9:13

On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of survivors of Israel. Whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy. Everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, once the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its place of assembly a cloud by day and a smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory there will be a canopy. It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat, and a refuge from a shelter from the storm and rain. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

Thank you, Chad. Our first canticle is a song of Ezekiel, and I haven't done this for a while. I will take you from among all nations and gather you from all lands to bring you home. I will sprinkle clean water upon you and purify you from false gods and uncleanness. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit put within you. I will take the stone heart from your chest and give you a heart of flesh. I will help you walk in my laws and cherish my commandments and do them. You shall be my people, and I will be your God.

SPEAKER_04 11:57

There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it is said When He ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive. He gave gifts to his people. When it said he ascended, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended for above all heavens, so that he might fill all things. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the body joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body, body's growth in building itself up in love. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Paul. Our second canticle is a song of the Spirit, and I'm just going to read this one. Behold, I am coming soon, says the Lord, and bringing my reward with me to give to everyone according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who do God's commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and enter the city through the gates. I, Jesus, have sent my angels to you with this testimony for all the churches. I am the root of the offspring of David, I am the bright morning star. Come, say the Spirit and the Bride. Come, let each hearer reply. Come forward, you who are thirsty, let those who take the water of life as a gift. A painting that we have used multiple times. This is by James J. Tussaud. And this one is from 1896 of swine being driven into the sea. This painting goes beyond illustration to the theological insight. The swine destroying themselves are the big dramatic of moment here, but Christ is in the healing touch. Our reading is from Matthew chapter 8, verses 28 through 34. Robert, would you lead this for us?

SPEAKER_01 15:44

When Jesus came to the other side, to the country of the Gadnarines, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. The demons begged him, If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine. And he said to them, Go. So they came out and entered the swine, and suddenly the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. The swine herds ran off, and going into town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs. Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 16:49

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Robert. And now the apostles' creed, 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. And now the prayers begin with our Lord's Prayer. Paul, 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.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

And also with you.

SPEAKER_04 17:56

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. Show us your mercy, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Clothe your ministers with righteousness.

SPEAKER_04 18:38

Let your people sing with joy.

SPEAKER_02 18:41

Give peace, O Lord in all the world, for only in you can we live in safety.

SPEAKER_04 18:48

Lord, keep our nations under your care, and guide us in the way of justice and truth. Let your way be known upon earth, your saving health among all nations. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor be taken away. Create in us clean hearts, O God, and sustain us with your Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_02 19:13

Thank you, Paul. This is a icon of our saint of the day, Alson. We remember Alson because he kept learning alive after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Emperor Charlemagne appointed Alson a Yorkshire monk and a nobleman's son to revive education among the Franks, a man of vast learning and charm and integrity. Alson effectively preserved the classical heritage of Western civilization. Under him the liturgy was reformed. Roman missals were edited and adapted, and many prayers we still use today were preserved, including the collect for purity. The artist on this is unknown. And now one second here, one, two, three. Now four prayers. Paul, would you take the first two? And Addie, would you take the last two?

SPEAKER_04 20:22

Almighty God, who raised up your servant Elson as a beacon of learning, shine in our hearts, we pray, that we may also show forth your praise in our own generation. For you have called us out of darkness and into your marvelous light. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. O God, call us into a deeper relationship to be your church for the sake of the world. Help us to see 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.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

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_02 22:09

And our photograph for joy in God's creation was uh sent in by Father Michael. Um, this is a Mother's Day photo as he titled it Sunset View Creamery in Catherine, New York. And that's a mama cow. And if you look real close, almost looks like it's buried in the hay there. That's a baby cow. Go ahead, Addie.

SPEAKER_03 22:33

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

SPEAKER_02 23:03

Amen. Thank you, Eddie. And now our Wednesday morning prayer list for healing of body, mind, and soul. We start out by praying for the essential workers in our world without whose sacrifice, without whose toil, many things would not get accomplished. We're grateful for their presence. We're grateful for all they do. We're praying for our founding vicar, Josh Thomas, in a skilled nursing facility after a stroke. Pray for healing for Deacon Leilani and her health challenges. I've actually changed one of these. Pray for Laura. Laura is a friend of Jill, and Laura has undergone multiple surgeries. She's back in the hospital. She had just had a surgery, and now there's another one before she will be released. She's having a problem with a leg. Pray for Laura. Pray for Tracy Kay awaiting a transplant. Andrea has a brain tumor and is in physical and occupational therapy. Pray for Andrea's healing. Prayers for Jim and Beth. Jim has been losing his eyesight for some time. He gave up his driver's license about a year ago, and now Beth is doing all the driving because he just can't see. Pray for Addy, who just read for us, and her husband Anthony. Pray for their continued health and well-being. Stephen, Paul, Danielle, Peter, Jerry G, Robbie, and Zachary all have cancer. Pray for all of those who have cancer, such a horrible, horrible disease. I just got an update on Danielle yesterday. Her mom and her sister have gone back out to be with her. Her cancer had started in her breast and metastasized to her shoulder, her spine, her back. And it just does not, it's stage four and it does not sound good, but she is undergoing chemo and radiation both in hopes of prolonging or saving her life. Don and Cheryl both have dementia. Pray for those with dementia or Alzheimer's and memory issues. Patricia is in a con is in an assisted living facility. She's also in a wheelchair. She rarely misses. Pray for Patricia's strength and wellness. Pray for all those who are in hospice or comfort care. We also on Wednesday pray for the caregivers. We name just a few. There are many. Jan, Marianne, Cheryl, Beth, Judith, Tenna, Morgan, Pam, and Mark. We'll continue with the prayer for the mission of the church. And I'm going to ask Paul to lead this, and then I'll bless the Lord and bless us.

SPEAKER_04 25:54

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_02 26:20

Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, Alleluia.

SPEAKER_04 26:24

Thanks be to God. Alleluia.

SPEAKER_02 26:28

Life is short, and we don't have much time to gladden the hearts of those that make this journey with us. So be swift to love and make haste to be kind. And may the blessing of the God of Abraham and Sarah, and of Jesus Christ, born of our sister Mary, and the Holy Spirit who broods over the world as a mother over her children be upon you now and remain with you always. Amen. And that is morning prayer on this Wednesday. Thank you for coming to pray today. Wherever you go, take that love of Jesus that lives in you. It lives inside of your heart. Share that Jesus with the world. Show that Jesus to the world. That choir just did. Hope to see you back with us again tomorrow.