Lent is ending and we begin the great Paschal Triduum, one prayer over three days. May we immerse ourselves in the richness of these days, so, as Pope Francis says, that we, as baptized Christians, may be renewed in “the meaning of their new condition." “In Baptism, “ he said, “we are raised with Jesus and we die to the things and logic of this world.”
MORNING PRAYER FOR HOLY THURSDAY
God, come to my assistance. – Lord, make haste to help me. 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.
SONG:As Morning Breaks, Michael Joncas As morning breaks I look to you; I look to you, O Lord, to be my strength this day, as morning breaks, as morning breaks.
PSALMODY Psalm 95 Antiphon:Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; cry out to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with a song of praise, joyfully sing out our psalms. For the LORD is the great God, the great king over all gods, Whose hand holds the depths of the earth; who owns the tops of the mountains. The sea and dry land belong to God, who made them, formed them by hand.
Enter, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. For he is our God, we are the people he shepherds, the sheep in his hands.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice: Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the desert. There your ancestors tested me; they tried me though they had seen my works. Forty years I loathed that generation; I said: “This people’s heart goes astray; they do not know my ways.” Therefore I swore in my anger: “They shall never enter my rest.”
Antiphon: Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; cry out to the rock of our salvation.
SCRIPTURE Isaiah 12: 1-6 On that day, you will say: I give you thanks, O LORD; though you have been angry with me, your anger has abated, and you have consoled me. God indeed is my salvation; I am confident and unafraid. For the LORD is my strength and my might, and he has been my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the fountains of salvation, And you will say on that day: give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name; Among the nations make known his deeds, proclaim how exalted is his name. Sing praise to the LORD for he has done glorious things; let this be known throughout all the earth. Shout with exultation, City of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel!
SILENT REFLECTION
INTERCESSIONS
For God’s holy people, called to a deep and lasting covenant with God.
For peace for nations and peoples torn by conflict.
For perseverance for all people who are oppressed.
For the Lord’s abundant blessing upon all who work to find resolution to the pandemic.
For a greater openness to the transforming power of God’s love.
For everlasting joy and peace for all those who have died.
CANTICLE of ZECHARIAH Luke 1:68 – 79 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty savior, born of the house of his servant David. Through his holy prophets he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high 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.
LORD’S PRAYER Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
CONCLUDING PRAYER God of infinite compassion, to love you is to be made holy; fill our hearts with your love. By the death of your Son you have given us hope, born of faith; by his rising again fulfill this hope in the perfect love of heaven, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
BLESSING May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. In the name of the Father, + and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.