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St. Paul’s the Prospector Episcopal Church

Bringing Christ to the Comstock since 1861

Day of Pentecost

Whitsunday

Sunday, May 31, 2020

Year A

Opening Sentence for Pentecost 

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.  Acts 1:8

The Invitatory

O Lord, open our lips; *

And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

O God, make speed to save us; *

O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; *

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Praise the Lord. *

The Lord’s Name be praised.

Alleluia. The Spirit of the Lord renews the face of the earth: *

 O come, let us adore him. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Psalm 95:1-7 with Gloria Patri

O come, let us sing unto the Lord; Let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.  For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the hills are his also.  The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

O come, let us worship and bow down, and kneel before the Lord, our Maker. For he is the Lord our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, now and forever.  Amen.

Psalm 104:25-35,37

25 O Lord, how manifold are your works! *
       in wisdom you have made them all;
      the earth is full of your creatures.
26 Yonder is the great and wide sea
  with its living things too many to number, *
       creatures both small and great.
27 There move the ships,
  and there is that Leviathan, *
       which you have made for the sport of it.
28 All of them look to you *
to give them their food in due season.
29 You give it to them; they gather it; *
you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.
30 You hide your face, and they are terrified; *
       you take away their breath,
and they die and return to their dust.
31 You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; *
       and so you renew the face of the earth.
32 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; *
may the Lord rejoice in all his works.
33 He looks at the earth and it trembles; *
he touches the mountains and they smoke.
34 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; *
       I will praise my God while I have my being.
35 May these words of mine please him; *
       I will rejoice in the Lord.
37 Bless the Lord, O my soul. *
Hallelujah!

The Lessons and Canticles

A Reading from Acts 2:1-21 

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
  and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
  and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
  in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
    and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
  and signs on the earth below,
    blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
  and the moon to blood,
    before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

Benedicite, omnia opera Domini   A Song of Creation   

Glorify the Lord, all you works of the Lord, * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord, * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

I The Cosmic Order

Glorify the Lord, you angels and all powers of the Lord, * O heavens and all waters above the heavens.

Sun and moon and stars of the sky, glorify the Lord, * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, every shower of rain and fall of dew, * all winds and fire and heat,

Winter and summer, glorify the Lord, * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O chill and cold, * drops of dew and flakes of snow.

Frost and cold, ice and sleet, glorify the Lord, * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O nights and days, * O shining light and enfolding dark.

Storm clouds and thunderbolts, glorify the Lord, * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

II The Earth and its Creatures

Let the earth glorify the Lord, *praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O mountains and hills, and all that grows upon the earth, *

praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O springs of water, seas, and streams, * O whales and all that move in the waters. 

All birds of the air, glorify the Lord, *praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O beasts of the wild, * and all you flocks and herds.

O men and women everywhere, glorify the Lord, * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

III The People of God

Let the people of God glorify the Lord, * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O priests and servants of the Lord, * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O spirits and souls of the righteous, * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

You that are holy and humble of heart, glorify the Lord, * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Doxology

Let us glorify the Lord: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; * praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord, * praise him and highly exalt him forever.

A Reading from  1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 

3No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

The Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

Benedictus   The Song 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.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

A Reading from John 20:19-23 

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

The Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

Homily

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Prayer

The Lord be with you.

And also with you

Let us pray.

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, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

O Lord, show us your mercy; And grant us your salvation.

Create in us clean hearts, O God; And take not your Holy Spirit from us.

The Collect of the Day 

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Collect for Peace

O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom stands our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

A Collect for Grace 

O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you that have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us in the same with your mighty power, and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any danger; but that all our doings, being ordered by your governance, may be righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them. Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age of come life everlasting. Amen.

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.