Compassionate God, from far and near you gather your Church into one. Safeguard the unity of your flock through the teaching of Christ the Shepherd, that all your scattered children may find in him the guidance and nourishment they seek. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen

2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,

    and you have healed me.

3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;

    you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,

    and give thanks to his holy name.

5 For his anger is but for a moment,

    and his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

    but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,

    “I shall never be moved.”

7 By your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong;

   you hid your face; I was dismayed.

                         

Psalm 30 English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)

1 Kings 16:23-34 – Philippians 1:12-30  – Mark 16:1-20

Peter Claver

God of mercy and love, you offer all peoples the dignity of sharing in your life. By the example and prayers of your servant Peter Claver, strengthen us to overcome all racial hatreds and to love each other as brothers and sisters. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

1 Happy are those

    who do not follow the advice of the wicked,

    or take the path that sinners tread,

    or sit in the seat of scoffers;

2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and on his law they meditate day and night.

3 They are like trees planted by streams of water,

   which yield their fruit in its season,

   and their leaves do not wither.

   In all that they do, they prosper.

4 The wicked are not so,

    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked will perish.

                         

Psalm 1 New Revised Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)

1 Kings 13:1-10 – Philippians 1:1-11 – Mark 15:40-47

O God, our teacher and judge, hear our prayer as we gather at the table of your word. Enrich our hearts with the goodness of your wisdom and renew us from within, that all our actions, all our words, may bear the fruit of your transforming grace. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;

    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins,

    and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,

    and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from your presence,

    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

                         

Psalm 51 English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)

1 Kings 11:26-43 – James 4:13-5:6 – Mark 15:22-32

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

1 God has taken his place in the divine council;

    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

2 “How long will you judge unjustly

    and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;

    maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

4 Rescue the weak and the needy;

    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,

    they walk about in darkness;

    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6 I said, “You are gods,

    sons of the Most High, all of you;

7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,

    and fall like any prince.”

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;

    for you shall inherit all the nations!

                         

Psalm 82 English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)

1 Kings 11:1-13 – James 3:13-4:12 – Mark 15:12-21

Albert Schweitzer, Theologian, Physician, and Missionary

Heavenly Father, whose Son Jesus Christ came, not to be served But to serve: Give us the grace to follow in his footsteps, and to show forth your love by loving and serving our neighbors, and coming, as did Albert Schweitzer, to the rescue of those in need; for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

    I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3 Put not your trust in princes,

    in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;

    on that very day his plans perish.

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

    whose hope is in the Lord his God,

6 who made heaven and earth,

    the sea, and all that is in them,

   who keeps faith forever;

7  who executes justice for the oppressed,

    who gives food to the hungry.

                         

Psalm 146 English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)

1 Kings 9:24-10:13 – James 3:1-12 – Mark 15:1-11

God of justice, God of salvation, from every land you call a people to yourself. Yours is the work we do, yours the message we carry. Keep your Church single-minded and faithful to you.

Let failure not discourage us nor success beguile our hearts, as you send us to proclaim the gospel. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

    let me never be put to shame!

2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;

    incline your ear to me, and save me!

3 Be to me a rock of refuge,

    to which I may continually come;

you have given the command to save me,

    for you are my rock and my fortress.

4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,

    from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.

5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,

    my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;

    you are he who took me from my mother's womb.

  My praise is continually of you.

                         

Psalm 71 English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)

1 Kings 8:65-9:9 – James 2:14-26 – Mark 14:66-72

The Martyrs of Papua New Guinea

Almighty God, we remember before you this day the blessed martyrs of New Guinea, who, following the example of their Savior, laid down their lives for their friends; and we pray that we, who honor their memory, may imitate their loyalty and faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

1 I love the LORD, because he has heard

   my voice and my pleas for mercy.

2 Because he inclined his ear to me,

   therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

3 The snares of death encompassed me;
   the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;

   I suffered distress and anguish.

4 Then I called on the name of the LORD:

   "O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!"

5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;

   our God is merciful.

6 The LORD preserves the simple;

   when I was brought low, he saved me.

7 Return, O my soul, to your rest;

   for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

8 For you have delivered my soul from death,

   my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling;

                         

Psalm 116 English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

(click on underlined link to go directly to the reading)

2 Chronicles 6:32-7:7 – James 2:1-13 – Mark 14:53-65