MORNING PRAYER FOR USE ON SUNDAY – 15 March 2020
The third Sunday in Lent
The Gathering of God’s People 

INTRODUCTION
We have come together
in the name of Christ
to offer our praise and thanksgiving,
to hear and receive God's holy word,
to seek the forgiveness of our sins,
and to pray for the needs of the world,
that by the power of the Holy Spirit
we may give ourselves to the service of God.

O Lord, open our lips,
and our mouth will proclaim your praise.

Let us worship the Lord.
All praise to his name.

Blessed are you, 
God of compassion and mercy,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
In the darkness of our sin,
your light breaks forth like the dawn
and your healing springs up for deliverance.
As we rejoice in the gift of your saving help,
sustain us with your bountiful Spirit
and open our lips to sing your praise.

Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever.

Hymn of Praise: CH 606 “As the deer pants for the water”
As the deer pants for the water
So my soul longs after you
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship you.

You alone are my strength, my shield
To you alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship you.

I want you more than gold or silver,
only you can satisfy.
You alone are the real joy-giver
and the apple of my eye.

You’re my friend and you are my brother,
even though you are a king.
I love you more than any other,
so much more than anything.

Martin Nystrom (b. 1956)
based on Psalm 94
Listen to and sing along with this hymn at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peZudXt9faU

SENTENCES OF SCRIPTURE
Your word is a lantern to my feet
and a light upon our path. 		                cf Psalm 119:105

O Lord, your word is everlasting:
it stands firm for ever in the heavens. 	     		cf Psalm 119: 89

Let us then receive the word of the Lord:
so may the light of your presence shine into our hearts.

Proclaiming and Receiving the Word 

Exodus 17: 1-7
The reading below may be read, or an audio version listened to at:

https://www.biblica.com/bible/niv/exodus/17/

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ 5The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ 
After the reading silence may be kept.

The Psalm: Psalm 95
The Psalm below may be read, or an audio version listened to at:
https://www.biblica.com/bible/niv/psalm/95/

1 O come, let us sing to the Lord; 
   let us heartily rejoice in the rock of our salvation.
2  Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving 
   and be glad in him with psalms.
3  For the Lord is a great God 
   and a great king above all gods.
4  In his hand are the depths of the earth and the heights of the mountains are his also.
5  The sea is his, for he made it, 
   and his hands have moulded the dry land.
6  Come, let us worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7  For he is our God; 
   we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8  O that today you would listen to his voice: 
   ‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, on that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9  ‘When your forebears tested me, and put me to the proof, 
   though they had seen my works.
10  ‘Forty years long I detested that generation and said, 
   “This people are wayward in their hearts; they do not know my ways.”
11  ‘So I swore in my wrath, 
   “They shall not enter into my rest.” ’

The Second Reading: Romans 5: 1-11
The reading below may be read, or an audio version listened to at:

https://www.biblica.com/bible/niv/romans/5/
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
 
After the reading silence may be kept.

Hymn before the Gospel: CH 305 “O breath of life, come sweeping through us” 
O Breath of life, come sweeping through us,
revive thy Church with life and power.
O Breath of life, come ,cleanse, renew us,
and fit thy Church to meet this hour.

O Wind of God, come, bend us, break us,
till humbly we confess our need;
then in thy tenderness re-make us,
revive, restore for this we plead.

O Breath of love, come breathe within us,
renewing thought and will and heart;
come, love of Christ, afresh to win us,
revive thy Church in every part.

Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating
while harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive us, Lord, the world is waiting,
equip your Church to spread the light.

Elizabeth (Betty) A. P. Head (1850-1936)

Listen to and sing along with this hymn at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAjmYffP0us

John 4: 5-42 
The reading below may be read, or an audio version listened to at:

https://www.biblica.com/bible/niv/john/4/
So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. 
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’ 
Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’ 
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking with her?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city and were on their way to him. 
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’ 
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’

After the reading silence may be kept.

COLLECT OF THE WORD
O God, the fountain of life,
to a humanity parched with thirst,
you offer the living water that springs from the Rock,
our Saviour Jesus Christ:
stir up within your people the gift of your Spirit,
that we may proclaim our faith with freshness
and announce with joy the wonder of your love.
we ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

PENITENCE
Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, 
though we have rebelled against him. 				Daniel 9: 9 

God our Father, we come to you in sorrow for our sins.
For turning away from you,
and ignoring your will for our lives;
Father, forgive us:
save us and help us.

For behaving just as we wish,
without thinking of you;
Father, forgive us:
save us and help us.

For failing you by what we do,
and think and say;
Father, forgive us:
save us and help us.

For letting ourselves be drawn away from you
by temptations in the world about us;
Father, forgive us:
save us and help us.

For living as if we were ashamed
to belong to your Son;
Father, forgive us:
save us and help us.

May the God of love
bring us back to himself,
forgive us our sins,
and assure us of his eternal love
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
The Response to God’s Word

THE APOSTLES CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
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,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and 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 PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
With confidence and trust let us pray to the Father. 
For the one holy catholic and apostolic Church ... 
let us pray to the Father. 
	Lord of compassion, 
	in your mercy hear us. 

For the mission of the Church, 
that in faithful witness it may preach the gospel 
to the ends of the earth, 
let us pray to the Father. 
	Lord of compassion, 
	in your mercy hear us.
 
For those preparing for baptism and confirmation... 
and for their teachers and sponsors, 
let us pray to the Father. 
	Lord of compassion, 
	in your mercy hear us. 

For peace in the world …
that a spirit of respect and reconciliation
may grow among nations and peoples,
let us pray to the Father.
	Lord of compassion, 
	in your mercy hear us. 

For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer …
for refugees, prisoners, and all in danger;
that they may be relieved and protected,
let us pray to the Father.
	Lord of compassion, 
	in your mercy hear us. 

For those whom we have injured or offended,
let us pray to the Father.
	Lord of compassion, 
	in your mercy hear us. 

For grace to amend our lives
and to further the reign of God,
let us pray to the Father.
	Lord of compassion, 
	in your mercy hear us. 

In communion with all those
who have walked in the way of holiness …
let us pray to the Father.
	Lord of compassion, 
	in your mercy hear us. 

God our Father,
in your love and goodness
you have taught us to come close to you in penitence
with prayer, fasting and generosity; 
accept our Lenten discipline, 
and when we fall by our weakness,
raise us up by your unfailing mercy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

THE COLLECT OF THE DAY
Merciful Lord, 
Grant your people grace to withstand the temptations 
of the world, the flesh and the devil 
and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE COLLECT OF THE SEASON OF LENT
Merciful Lord, 
Grant your people grace to withstand the temptations 
of the world, the flesh and the devil 
and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Almighty and everlasting God, 
you hate nothing that you have made 
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: 
Create and make in us new and contrite hearts 
that we, worthily lamenting our sins 
and acknowledging our wretchedness, 
may receive from you, the God of all mercy, 
perfect remission and forgiveness; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

ARCHBISHOP’S PRAYER IN THE TIME OF THE CORONAVIRUS
Almighty and All-loving God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
we pray to you through Christ the Healer
for those who suffer from the Coronavirus Covid-19
in Ireland and across the world.
We pray for all who reach out to those who mourn the loss
of each and every person who has dies as a result of contracting the disease.
Give wisdom to policymakers,
skill to researchers,
comfort to everyone in distress
and a sense of calm to us all in these days of uncertainty and distress.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord
who showed compassion to the outcast,
acceptance to the rejected
and love to those to whom no love is shown. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Gathering our prayers and praises into one, we pray:
Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name, 
your kingdom come, 
your will be done, 
on earth as in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread. 
Forgive us our sins 
as we forgive those who sin against us. 
Lead us not into temptation 
but deliver us from evil. 
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours 
now and for ever. Amen. 

Closing Hymn: CH 611 “Christ be beside me”
Christ be beside me,
Christ be before me,
Christ be behind me,
King of my heart.
Christ be within me,
Christ be below me,
Christ be above me,
never to part.

Christ on my right hand,
Christ on my left hand,
Christ all around me,
shield in the strife.
Christ in my sleeping,
Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising, 
light of my life.

Christ be in all hearts,
thinking about me,
Christ be on all tongues
telling of me.
Christ be the vision
in eyes that see me
in ears that hear me,
Christ ever be.
James Quinn (1919-2010)
adapted from The Breastplate of St Patrick

Listen to and sing along with this hymn at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CJv4p5CuKc

Going out as God’s People

A THANKSGIVING
Let us give thanks to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
For the love of our Father,
the maker of all, the giver of all good things,
	let us bless the Lord.
	Thanks be to God.

For Jesus Christ our Saviour,
who lived and worked among us,
	let us bless the Lord.
	Thanks be to God.

For his suffering and death on the cross
and his resurrection to new life,
	let us bless the Lord.
	Thanks be to God.

For his rule over all things
and his presence in the world,
	let us bless the Lord.
	Thanks be to God.

For the Holy Spirit, the giver of life,
who teaches us and guides us,
	let us bless the Lord.
	Thanks be to God.

For the grace of the Spirit in the work of the Church
and the life of the world,
	let us bless the Lord.
	Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us say together:
Be with us Lord,
as we go out into the world.
May the lips that have sung your praise
always speak the truth;
may the ears which have heard your Word
listen only to what is good
and may our lives as well as our worship
be always pleasing in your sight,
for the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

BLESSING
The almighty and merciful Lord,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
bless us and keep us. Amen.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.