Morning Prayer for Wednesday 7.8.26

Here is a link to our liturgy: Morning Prayer 7.8.26, Priscilla and Aquila, Co-Workers of the Apostle Paul | 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 Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Minnesota. The Daily Office Network is a community of Christians who gather together on a daily basis, Monday through Friday at 7 and 9 Eastern time to pray morning prayer from the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer. We mix in artwork. We have a news story at the beginning, a video at the end. All are welcome here where we do our best to exercise tolerance and decency with one another. Let's settle in and begin morning prayer. Today is Wednesday. It is the 8th of July, 2026. In the life of the church, our saints are Priscilla and Aquila, co-workers of the Apostle Paul. The Daily Office Network is podcasting. We post our this edited service from our 7 a.m. to Apple and Spotify. Those are usually available within about 15 minutes after we're done with this service. Let's begin. All Episcopalians in the Diocese of Venezuela are accounted for and safe, and some of them are helping with recovery efforts. The diocesan center in Caracas, which sustained minor infrastructure damage, reopened as a collection center primarily with supplies for rescue personnel and anyone in need. And Episcopalians have volunteered to drive around the city on motorcycles to distribute some of the supplies. Pray for those in Venezuela. In the photo above, members of the Episcopal Diocese of Venezuela's response team pack emergency supplies for distribution at the diocesan center in Caracas on June the 25th. Send out your light and your truth that they may lead me and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. Addie, would you lead us in the invitatory and the Psalter? Lord, open our lips, and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

SPEAKER_10 2:57

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning and now and will be forever. Amen. Hallelujah. 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 for thanksgiving and raise to the Lord a shout with songs. For you are a great God. You are great above all gods. In 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. In your hands are molded the dry land. Come, let us bow down and bend the knees 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 would hearken to your voice.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Thank you, Eddie. Our psalm appointed for this morning is a portion of Psalm number 119, verses 1 through 24. I'm going to ask Marcia in Barbados and Martha in New York to lead our psalm. Marcia, would you start?

SPEAKER_09 4:37

Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.

SPEAKER_03 4:44

Happy are they who observe your degrees and seek you with all their hearts.

SPEAKER_09 4:52

Who never do any wrong, but always walk in your ways. Oh, that my ways were made so direct that I might keep your statues.

SPEAKER_03 5:14

Then I should not be put to shame when I regard all your commandments.

SPEAKER_09 5:21

I will thank you with an unfringed heart. When I have learned your righteous judgments, I will keep your statues.

SPEAKER_03 5:32

Do not utterly forsake me.

SPEAKER_09 5:36

How long? How shall the young cleanse their way by keeping to your words?

SPEAKER_03 5:45

With my whole heart I seek you. Let me not stray from your commandments.

SPEAKER_09 5:52

I treasure your promise in my heart that I may not sin against you.

SPEAKER_03 6:00

Blessed are you, O Lord. Instruct me in your statues.

SPEAKER_09 6:06

With my lips will I recite all the judgments of your mouth.

SPEAKER_03 6:13

I have taken greater delight in the way of your decrees than in all manner of riches.

SPEAKER_09 6:22

I will meditate on your commandments and give attention to your ways.

SPEAKER_03 6:30

My delight is in your statues. I will not forget your word.

SPEAKER_09 6:36

Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.

SPEAKER_03 6:43

Open my eyes that I may see the oneness of your law.

SPEAKER_09 6:49

I am a stranger here on earth. Do not hide your commandments from me.

SPEAKER_03 6:57

My soul is consumed at all times with longing for your judgments.

SPEAKER_09 7:05

You have rebuked the insolent. Cursed are they who stray from your commandments.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

For I have kept your decrees.

SPEAKER_09 7:19

Even though rulers sit and plot against me, I will meditate on your statues.

SPEAKER_03 7:27

For your decrees are my delight, and they are my counselors.

SPEAKER_09 7:33

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, it's now and will be forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Amen. Thank you, Martha and Marcia. That was a great reading. This is Charles Mosley's depiction from 1747 of Moses speaking to his people at Moab. Look at the top of Moses' head. Our first reading comes from Deuteronomy chapter one, verses one through eighteen. Chad, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_00 8:30

These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan, in the wilderness, on the plain opposite Suf, between Peran and Tophel, and Laban and Hazaroth and Dai Zahab. By the way of Mount Seir, it takes eleven days to reach Kadesh Barnea from Horeb. In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites just as the Lord had commanded him to speak to them. This was after he had defeated King Sahon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who re who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edri. Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law as follows. The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Resume your journey and go into the hill country of the Amorites as well as into the neighboring regions, the Araba, the hill country, the Shephala, the Negeb, and the sea coast, the land of the Canaanites and the Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of that land, I swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them. At that time I said to you, I am unable by myself to bear you. The Lord your God has multiplied you so that today you are as numerous as the stars of heaven. May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times more and bless you, as he has promised you. But how can I bear the heavy burden of your disputes all by myself? Choose for each of your tribes individuals who are wise, discerning, and reputable to be your leaders. And you answered me, The plan you have proposed is a good one. So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and reputable individuals, and installed them as leaders over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officials throughout your tribes. I charged your judges at that time, give the members of your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly between one person and another, whether citizen or resident alien. You must not be partial in judging. Hear out the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. Any case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it. So I charged you at that time with all the things you should do. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Chan. That was a great reading. Our first canticle is a third is the third song of Isaiah. Welcome back, Mother Angel. Would you lead this for us?

SPEAKER_06 11:43

Oh, really shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you. For behold, darkness covers the land, deep gloom enshrouds the peoples. But over you the Lord will rise, and his glory will appear upon you. Nations will stream to your night, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Your gates will always be open. By day or night, they will never be shut. They will call you the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Violence will no more be heard in your land. Ruin or destruction within your borders. You will call your walls salvation and all your portals praise. The sun will no more be your light by day. By night you will not leave the brightness of the law. The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 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 13:23

Thank you, Mother Hunchell. I've missed that. Kiry Elasion. Lord have mercy. Our second reading comes from Roman chap Romans chapter nine verses one through eighteen. Paul in Delaware, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_04 13:48

I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from them according to the flesh comes the Messiah, who is overall God blessed forever. Amen. It is not as though the word of God had failed, for not all Israelites truly belong to Israel, and not all of Abraham's children are his true descendants. But it's through Isaac that descendants should be named or you. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants. For this is what the promise said about this time I will return and Sarah shall have a son. Nor is that all. Something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac, even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose of election might continue not by works, but by his call, she was told The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written. I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses. The word of the word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Paul. That was a great reason and great reading. Our second canticle is the song of Zechariah, Mother Angel.

SPEAKER_06 16:57

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, you promised a bond, to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us, to show mercy to our foreigners, 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 unhigh 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_01 18:32

Thank you, Mother Angel. Tombs in the Kidron Valley. Deacon Elizabeth, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_07 19:07

Sure. Jesus said, What you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. What you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you build the tombs of the prophets and decree the graves of the righteous, and you say, if we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. Thus, you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then the measure of your ancestors, you snakes, you broad of vipers. How can you escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore, I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you'll flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Parokia, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often have I desired to gather your children together as Anne gathers abroad under her wings? And you are not willing. See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Deacon. And now the Apostles' Creed. Jill in Milwaukee, would you lead us in the creed this morning?

SPEAKER_05 21:37

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.

SPEAKER_01 22:22

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

SPEAKER_11 22:37

The Lord be with you.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

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.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

Show us your mercy, O Lord.

SPEAKER_11 23:12

And grant us your salvation.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

Cloth your ministers with righteousness.

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Let your people sing with joy.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

Give us peace, O Lord, in all the world.

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For only in you can we live in safety.

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Lord, keep our nations under your care.

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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're saving health among all nations.

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Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten.

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Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

Create in us clean hearts, O God.

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And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Thank you, John. Saint Paul with Priscilla. I believe that's Aquila in the back, but it's hard to tell. Saint Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila in Corinth, they were tent makers, like he was. And Paul mentions them six times in his epistles. Some scholars theorize that Priscilla may have been a presbyter, and others say that she may be the anonymous author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Priscilla and Aquila are saints of the day. And now four prayers. The collect of the day for Priscilla and Aquila, co-workers of the Apostle Paul, a collect on racism and injustice, a collect for grace, and a collect for joy in God's creation. Patricia, would you lead us in these four prayers?

SPEAKER_08 25:00

God of grace and might, we praise you for your servants Aquila and Priscilla, to whom you gave gifts to make the good news known. Raise up, we pray, in every country, heralds and evangelists of your kingdom, so that the world may know them, the immeasurable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Oh 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 uplives the humanity and dignity of every person. Open our ears to listen and learn from the experiences of people of color. Open our minds to speak up and about injustices. Join us with others to work for racial equity and inclusion for all people. 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_01 26:25

Amen. And our photograph for joy in God's creation. This is the cross river falls, where the cross river is about to meet the uh meet Lake Superior. I took this picture about 10 days ago as we were on our way up to Thunder Bay, Canada. Thought it was just absolutely beautiful. Go ahead, Patricia, when you're ready.

SPEAKER_08 26:50

Oh Heavenly Father, you have filled the 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 all through whom all things were made, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Amen. Thank you, Patricia. And now our Wednesday morning prayer list, we pray for healing of body, mind, and soul. We start out on Wednesday praying for all the essential workers in our world, without whose presence, without whose toil and sacrifice, many things would not get accomplished. We're also continuing to pray for our founding vicar, Josh Thomas, who's in a skilled nursing facility after suffering a stroke more than two years ago now. Josh is pending surgery for a rather large kidney stone. Pray for Josh. Pray for healing for Deacon Leilani and her many health challenges. She undergoes dialysis once or twice a week. She's currently at the property that they own in Hawaii. I see her updates from her Lanai. Prayers for Beth and Jim. Jim is slowly losing his eyesight. He gave up his right to drive about a year or so ago, and Beth does all the driving and is the caregiver. Addie, who read first at the top, and her husband Anthony were praying for their continued health and well-being. Stephen, Paul, Danielle, Peter, Jerry G, Robbie, Zachary, they all have cancer. Terry was recently diagnosed with throat cancer. Pray for all of those who have cancer, such a horrible disease. Don and Cheryl Lee have been diagnosed with dementia. Patricia, who just read for us, is in an assisted living facility in a wheelchair. Pray for her continued strength and for her wellness. Andrea, we were praying for her healing when she was in rehab, and now she's in hospice in comfort care. Actually, she's in hospice, anticipating the end of her life. Pray for Andrea. On Wednesday, we also pray for the caregivers. We mentioned Jan, Marianne, Cheryl, Beth, Judith, Tina, Morgan, Pam, and Mark. I'm sure there are many more, and you probably are a caregiver for someone too in some way. We'll continue with the prayer for the mission of the church. And I'm going to ask, Tony, would you lead us in the prayer for the mission of the church? And then I'll bless the Lord and bless us.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified. Receive our supplications and the 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 his Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 30:10

Let us bless the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 30:12

Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_01 30:16

Now go in safety, for you cannot go where God is not. 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.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

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 inside of you, the Jesus that you carry in your heart. Share that Jesus to the world. Show that Jesus to the world. And you need to see that Jesus right now. Hope to see you back with us live again tomorrow.