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Ash Wednesday |
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Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou
hast made and dost forgive the sins of all those who are
penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that
we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen. |
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Lesson |
Joel 2:1-2,12-17
Blow the trumpet
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the
inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, it is
near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like
blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people;
their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them through
the years of all generations. "Yet even now," says the LORD, "return to me
with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend
your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD, your God, for he is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and
repents of evil. Who knows whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a
blessing behind him, a cereal offering and a drink offering for the LORD,
your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly;
gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather
the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and
the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests,
the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, "Spare thy people, O LORD, and make
not thy heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say
among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"
or
Isaiah 58:1-12
False and True Worship
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my
people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek
me daily, and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did
righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me
righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. 'Why have we fasted,
and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no
knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own
pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and
to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not
make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day
for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to
spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day
acceptable to the LORD? "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the
bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go
free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the
hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked,
to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your
light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your
rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry,
and he will say, Here I am. "If you take away from the midst of you the
yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour
yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then
shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And
the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good
things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And your ancient ruins shall
be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you
shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell
in. |
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Epistle |
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
The Ministry of Reconciliation
So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We
beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made
him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we entreat you not to
accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, "At the acceptable time I have
listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation." Behold, now is the
acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in
any one's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as
servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance,
in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults,
labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the
Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the
weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and
dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and
yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live;
as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as
poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing
everything. |
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Gospel |
Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
Concerning Alms Giving
"Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for
then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. "Thus, when
you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say
to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let
your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be
in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Concerning Prayer
"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to
stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be
seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when
you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is
in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Concerning Fasting
"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they
disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to
you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head
and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your
Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Concerning Treasures
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves
do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart
be also. |
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