THE HANDMAID OF GOD
Father in heaven, Your Son Jesus Christ showed his love for you by serving his brothers and sisters in need. I now ask you to give me your help I serve you and your people Open my mouth to praise you in word and song. Open my ears to hear your word. Open my hand to do your work well. Take from me all evil and distracting thoughts.
Help me to know what I should do and do it well. Help me to serve reverently at your Holy Altar and give you praise and glory now and for ever. Amen
Your House and your sovereignty will
always stand secure before me
always stand secure before me
Once David had settled into
his house and the Lord had given him rest from all the enemies surrounding him,
the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘Look, I am living in a house of cedar
while the ark of God dwells in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go and do all
that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.’
‘Go and tell my servant David,
“Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? I took
you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people
Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your
enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest
on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel; I will plant them there
and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed again; nor shall the
wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days when I appointed
judges over my people Israel; I will give them rest from all their enemies. The
Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House. And when your days
are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I will preserve the
offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty secure. I will be a
father to him and he a son to me; if he does evil, I will punish him with the
rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives. Your House and your
sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established
for ever.”’
I will sing for ever of
your love, O Lord
The mystery is revealed that was kept secret for
endless ages
Glory to him who is able to give you the strength to
live according to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ,
the revelation of a mystery kept secret for endless ages, but now so clear that
it must be broadcast to pagans everywhere to bring them to the obedience of
faith. This is only what scripture has predicted, and it is all part of the way
the eternal God wants things to be. He alone is wisdom; give glory therefore to
him through Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen.
'I am the handmaid of the
Lord'
The angel Gabriel was sent by
God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named
Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and
said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was
deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could
mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s
favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him
Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God
will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of
Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how
can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’
the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its
shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this
too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and
she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is
impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you
have said be done to me.’ And the
angel left her.
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