Readings and Prayers for the Second Sunday before Lent

Opening Rite 

If you’re at home you might wish to light a candle, make sure you are sitting comfortably and take a few deep breaths to still yourself. 

We gather in praise of the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

The Lord be with you and also with you

The Collect for Purity

Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.  

Prayers of Penitence

Let us confess our greed and repent of the ways in which we have damaged God’s good creation:

We confess to you our lack of care for the world you have given us. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.

We confess to you our selfishness in not sharing the earth’s bounty fairly. Christ have mercy. Christ have mercy.

We confess to you our failure to protect the environment. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy

The president declares God’s forgiveness.

May the Father of all mercies cleanse you from your sins, and restore you in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Collect

You might like to keep a few moments of silence

Almighty God, you have created the heavens and the earth and made us in your own image: teach us to discern your hand in all your works and your likeness in all your children; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit reigns supreme over all things, now and for ever. Amen

Genesis 2:4b-9,15-end

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.  In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’  Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,  ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.’  Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

Revelation 4

After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like jasper and cornelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.  Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing, ‘Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty,    who was and is and is to come.’  And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.’

The Gospel according to Luke                                             chapter 8:22-25

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A gale swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?’

This is the Gospel of the Lord   Praise to you O Christ

Reflection on Genesis 2:4b-9,15-end 

The creation story of Genesis 2 is more homely than the stately Genesis 1.  This is a God who is intimate with his creation, fashioning the man from the dust, like a clay figure, then breathing life into him (v. 7). Human beings are seen as essentially related to the earth (there is a Hebrew word-play between adam, human, and adamah, ground) but also to God. We see the beginnings of human wonderment at the earth's beauty, as well as our dependence on it (vv. 8, 9).  The two named trees point to the symbolic nature of the garden. It is the place of God-given life: human beings have free access to the 'tree of life' as long as they remain in a trusting, obedient relationship to God (see v. 16, but then 3.24). It is also the place where they must choose whether they will remain in that relationship (v. 17).  The account of God's creation of the animals, and of the woman as the only suitable 'helper' for the man (a strong word often used of God himself) (vv. 18-25) is full of tenderness. It expresses 'the way things are' rather than giving detailed prescriptions about 'the way things should be'. Human beings have a role in ordering the creation, expressed in the naming of the animals (vv. 19, 20), but it is in the intimacy of marriage that they express the wonderful unity-in-difference that comes at the climax of God's creation (vv. 21-25).

Prayers

Spend a few moments praying for the people you know and love, for the world, for peace and for the relief of refugees everywhere. 

On the Second Sunday before Lent

Almighty God, give us reverence for all creation and respect for every person, that we may mirror your likeness in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen  

Praying for the Earth                                                                 Wind energy

The Holy Spirit, like the wind, sweeps over the face of the earth, giving life to the world. We pray for those who seek to harness the power of the wind, and for those concerned about the siting of wind turbines. Grant wisdom and integrity to the people responsible for forming opinions and making decisions. Amen

From the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer for the Church

Porvoo Communion: Diocese of Peterborough and Diocese of Meath and Kildare (Ireland)

Anglican Communion: Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil Primate: The Most Reverend Marinez Rosa Dos Santos Bassotto

Bedlington Deanery: Benefice of Seghill Priest in Charge: David Atkinson Reader Emeritus: Christine Bryars

From our Parish Prayer Cycle this week

Pray for all who give and all receiving medical care in the Freeman Hospital, Northern Cancer Care Centre and the Disability Centres

For the sick and those being cared for in hospital or at home      

For those in residential care    

For those whose year’s minds are this week 

Veronica Joan Peakholme, Evelyn Whinham, Ernest Scott, Jim Hall, Helen Linsley, Doris Hunter Smith, Tom Webster, William Gordon, James Holmes, Minnie Dixon, Bill Tighe

You might like to end your prayers with The 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.  For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, or ever and ever. Amen.

The Conclusion

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

Let us bless the Lord!  Thanks be to God!