Morning Prayer for Friday 7.24.26

Here is a link to our liturgy: Morning Prayer 7.24.26, Thomas a’ Kempis, Priest and Mystic, 1471 | Daily Office Network

Transcript

SPEAKER_10 0:04

Good morning and welcome to morning prayer on the Daily Office Network. I'm Tony Vitale. I'm a lay minister and a virger at Trinity Episcopal Church in Cranford in the Diocese of New Jersey. We are a community of Christians of several different faith traditions with several different countries who come together to pray morning prayer on a daily basis. We use the 1979 Episcopal Church Book of Common Prayer. We highlight a news story. We mix an artwork. All are welcome here where we do our best to exercise tolerance and decency with one another. Now settle in and let's begin. Morning prayer. It is Friday, July 24th, 2026, our saint of the day, Thomas Arkampus, priest and mystic, who died in 1471. If you'd like to find our podcast, you can go to Apple or Spotify and type in Daily Office Network. On that day, Joshua made them a yours of a wood and drawers of water for the congregation for the altar of the Lord to continue to this day.

SPEAKER_11 1:30

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm also on moot.

SPEAKER_10 1:33

Ah, well, you know, I I just asked in in the uh sidebar here if there's any canters. And so uh we're this is the musical part of morning prayer. And if anyone else would like to be a canter today, please note it in the in the uh chat box. In our picture today, that is Joshua Maria Garcia. He first downloaded uh TikTok as a joke, but what started as casual posts became genuine reflections on their faith journey. Then Garcia said, I kind of lived out my spiritual crisis on the internet. They weren't the only one. Over time, they encountered more people online who sought belonging and theological meaning in faith lives, like Garcia's, which are complicated. Garcia's TikTok now has over 25,000 followers. They are an Episcopal seminarian at the School of Theology at the University of the South in Solani, Tennessee, and is among a growing number of creators, ranging from clergy to lay people to monastics who make religious content accessible online. The exciting videos are being made, and Garcia said they're collaborative. Sometimes they make videos with other Episcopalians, interact with commenters, and even get into arguments about matters of faith. Oh, it doesn't sound like any of us. The photo credit is their own.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

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. 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 pastor and the sheep of your hand. Oh that today we would hearken to your voice.

SPEAKER_10 5:02

Thank you, Raddy. Our psalms today are forty and fifty-four, and I'm moving things around a little bit today. Paul in Delaware and Carol Silver, would you please share the psalm today? Starting with Paul.

SPEAKER_07 5:23

I waited patiently upon the Lord. You stooped to me and heard my cry.

SPEAKER_06 5:31

You lifted me out of the desperate pit, out of the mire and clay. You set my feet upon a high cliff and made my feeting sure footing sure.

SPEAKER_07 5:45

You put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and stand in awe, and put their trust in the Lord.

SPEAKER_06 5:57

Happy are they who trust in the Lord. They do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.

SPEAKER_07 6:05

Great things are they that you have done, O Lord my God. How great your wonders and your plans for us. There is none who can be compared with you.

SPEAKER_06 6:18

Oh that I could make them known and tell them, but they are more than I can count.

SPEAKER_07 6:25

In sacrifice and offering you have not required. And so I said, Behold, whoops. Excuse me, in sacrifice and offering you take no pleasure. You have given me ears to hear you.

SPEAKER_06 6:43

Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. And so I said, Behold, I come.

SPEAKER_07 6:51

In the role of the book it is written concerning me. I love to do your will, O my God. Your law is deep in my heart.

SPEAKER_06 7:02

I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation. Behold, I did not restrain my lips, and that, O Lord, you know.

SPEAKER_07 7:12

Your righteousness have I not hidden in my heart. I have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance. I have not concealed your love and faithfulness from the great congregation.

SPEAKER_06 7:27

You are the Lord, do not withhold your compassion from me. Let your love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.

SPEAKER_07 7:38

For innumerable troubles have crowded upon me, my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more in number than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.

SPEAKER_06 7:54

Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me.

SPEAKER_07 8:00

Let them be ashamed and altogether dismayed who seek who seek after my life to destroy it. Let them draw back and be disgraced, who take pleasure in my misfortune.

SPEAKER_06 8:15

Let those who say aha and gloat over me be confounded because they are ashamed.

SPEAKER_07 8:23

Let all who seek you rejoice in you and be glad. Let those who love your salvation continually say, Great is the Lord.

SPEAKER_06 8:34

Though I am poor and afflicted, the Lord will have regard for me.

SPEAKER_07 8:39

You are my helper and my deliverer. Do not tarry, O my God.

SPEAKER_06 8:47

Save me, O God, by your name. In your might, defend my cause.

SPEAKER_07 8:54

Hear my prayer, O God, give ear to the words of my mouth.

SPEAKER_06 8:59

For the arrogant have risen up against me, and the ruthless have sought my life. Those who have no regard for God.

SPEAKER_07 9:11

Behold, God is my helper. It is the Lord who sustains my life.

SPEAKER_06 9:18

Render evil to those who spy on me, and your faithfulness destroy them.

SPEAKER_07 9:24

I will offer you a free will sacrifice, and praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.

SPEAKER_06 9:32

For you have rescued me from every trouble, and my eye has seen the ruin of my foes.

SPEAKER_07 9:41

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_10 9:55

Thank you very much. Our picture today, the painter is Joseph Henri Vienne. He lived from 1716 to 1809, a French painter. He was the last to hold the title of Premier Pintre du Roi, pardon my French, from 1789 to 1791. It was abolished by the French Revolution, and his career was pretty much abolished. But he came back and started painting again at 80 years old and won the uh particular prize. In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte made him a senator. That is our painter, Joseph Marie at the end. And our first canticle, well, first lesson, I'm sorry, is from Joshua. Chat, please.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Joshua summoned them and said to them, Why did you deceive us, saying, We are very far from you, while in fact you are living among us? Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall always be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. They answered Joshua, Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you. So we were in great fear of our lives because of you and did this thing. And now we are in your hand, do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us. This is what he did for them. He saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. But on that day Joshua made them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, and to continue to this day in the place that he should choose. When King Adonized of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and how utterly he had destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, he became greatly frightened, because Gibeon was a large city, like the like one of the royal cities, and was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. So King Adonai Zedek of Jerusalem sent a message to King Hoham of Hebron, to King Pyram of Jemuth, to King Joffiah of Lachish, and to King Debir of Eglon, saying, Come up and help me, and let us attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the Israelites. Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jermuth, the King of Lachish, and the King of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and camped against Gibeon and made war against it. And the Gibeonites sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, Do not abandon your servants. Come to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who live in the hill country are gathered against us. So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the fighting force with him, all the mighty warriors. And the Lord said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have handed them over to you, not one of them shall stand before you. So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal, and the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who inflicted a great slaughter on them at Gibeon, chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makeda. And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the slope of Beth Horon, the Lord threw down huge stones from heaven on them as far as Azaka, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword. On the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord and said inside of Israel, Sun stand still at Gibeon, and moon in the valley of Ahija of Igelon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? The sun stopped at midheaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There had been no day like it before or since when the Lord heeded a human voice, for the Lord fought for Israel. Then Joshua returned and all Israel with him to camp at Gilgal. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_10 14:41

Thanks be to God. Our first canticle is from the prophet Isaiah, and Father Michael is obviously in a musical mood today.

SPEAKER_11 14:51

Seek the Lord while he wills to be found. Call upon him when he draws near. Let the wicked forsake their ways, and the evil ones their thoughts, and let them turn to the Lord, and he will have compassion, and to our God, for he will richly pardon, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways, says the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts, for as rain and snow fall from the heavens, and return not again but water the earth, bringing forth life and giving growth, seed for sowing and bread for eating. So is my word that goes forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish that which I have purposed and prosper in that for which I sent it. 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_10 16:12

Thank you. The map shows the ancient city of Illyricum, later known as Dalmatia, northwest of Macedonia on the Adriatic Sea. Our second reading from the letter of Paul to the church in Rome. Doug, good morning.

SPEAKER_09 16:36

I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. Nevertheless, on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then I have reason to boast of my work for God, for I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Elycrium I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else's foundations, but as it is written, those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand. That is the reason that I have so often been hindered from coming to you, but now with no further place for me in these regions, I desire as I have for many years to come to you when I go to Spain, for I do hope to see you in my journey and to be sent on by you once I have enjoyed your company for a little while. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Thank you very much, Doug.

SPEAKER_10 18:26

Father Michael, revelation, please.

SPEAKER_11 18:30

Splendor and honor and kingly power are yours by right, O Lord our God, for you created everything that is, and by your will they were created and have their being. And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain, for with your blood you have redeemed for God, from every family, language, people, and nation, a kingdom of priests who serve our God. And so to him who sits upon the throne, and to Christ the Lamb, be worship and praise, dominion and splendor forever and forevermore.

SPEAKER_10 19:15

Thank you very much. Our painting illustrating the gospel today, Remembrance 16 to 29, Judas returning the thirty pieces of silver. Deacon Diana, would you lead the gospel, please?

SPEAKER_01 19:32

When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. But they said, What is that to us? See to it yourself. Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priest, taking the pieces of silver, said, It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money. After conferring together, they use them to buy the potter's field as a place to bury foreigners. For this reason, that field has been called the field of blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah. And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, on whom some of the people of Israel had set a price, and they gave them for the potter's seal, as the Lord commanded me. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_10 21:01

Thanks be to God. Martha, could you lead us in the apostles' creed, please?

SPEAKER_05 21:11

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 on a punch pallet, 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. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. The communion of sins, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

SPEAKER_10 22:13

Thank you very much, Martha. Jacqueline, would you join me with the prayers and suffrages, please?

SPEAKER_02 22:23

And also with you. 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 path and the glory are yours now and forever.

SPEAKER_10 23:02

Amen help us, O God, our Saviour.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

Deliver us and forgive us our sins.

SPEAKER_10 23:11

Look upon your congregation.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Give to your people the blessing of peace.

SPEAKER_10 23:19

Declare your glory among the nations.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

And your wonders among all peoples.

SPEAKER_10 23:26

Do not let the oppressed be shamed and turned away.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Never forget the lives of your poor.

SPEAKER_10 23:34

Continue your loving kindness to those who know you.

SPEAKER_02 23:38

And your favor to those who are true of heart.

SPEAKER_10 23:43

Satisfy us by your loving kindness in the morning.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

So shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

SPEAKER_10 23:54

Thank you, Carolyn. Our painting is titled Thomas Arkampus on Mount Agnes. It is from the 17th century at the Statelik Museum in Zorla in the Netherlands. It's a portion of a large painting. Kempis's book title, The Imitation of a Christ, suggests something very simple, yet very hard. Act like Christ as much as possible, the way a child imitates its parents. Now the sections include helpful counsels of the spiritual life, directives for the interior life, an interior consolation, and on the blessed sacrament. And pardon me for editorializing, but if you told me those were the chapter titles, it wouldn't be a book that I would go chasing after. But it is one of the great works of theology, isn't it? Thomas Akempus, priest and mystic, who died in 1471. Robert, would you lead us in the collects?

SPEAKER_04 24:59

Holy Father, you have nourished and strengthened your church by the writings of your servant Thomas Kempus. Grant that we may learn from him to know what is necessary to be known, to love what is to be loved, and to praise what highly pleases you, and always seek to know and follow your will through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Almighty God, whose most dear son went not up to joy before he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified. Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. O God, you have made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus Christ your Son. Look with compassion upon the whole human family. Take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts, break down the walls that separate us, unite us in bonds of love, and work through our struggle to in confusion to accomplish your purpose on earth, that your good true, that in your good time all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SPEAKER_10 26:46

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far off and those who are near. Grant the people everywhere may seek after you and find you, bring the nations into your fold, pour out your spirit upon all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Father Michael, could you handle the blessing, please?

SPEAKER_11 27:21

Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God. That a God who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of God's glory with rejoicing. To the only God, our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority. So Jesus Christ, our Savior before all time and now and forever. Now may Almighty God, to whose glory we celebrate this feast of blessed Thomas Accompass, bless us richly from his heavenly throne, and the deep wisdom of God's incarnate word fill our minds and hearts with truth. And the Holy Spirit inspire us to hunger and thirst for the true knowledge of God. The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit be upon you and remain with you forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_10 28:12

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Boy. So again, of a certain age. I was in prep school. I remember seeing that because I remember the Paul Simon introduction. Boy, doesn't he look young in that. Edwin Hawkins singers bringing us to Friday. Thank you again for all of you who've been so supportive to me and to Chad and Father Michael all week long. Thank you. That concludes morning prayer for Friday morning, July the 24th, 2026. Thank you again. Father Michael, may press stop.