Year C
Proper 21
Sunday 26 September 2010
Eucharistic Preface
Let us lift up our hearts.
........We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
........It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you alone are the blessed immortal sovereign
who dwells in unapproachable light.
In the shadow of your wing,
you created the earth and gave life to all things.
Through Moses and the prophets you called us
to take hold of the life that really is life.
When our own harmful desires plunged us into destruction,
and we gazed across a great chasm
hungering for even the crumbs that fell from your table,
you sealed a promise that our homelands
would once again feed and clothe us.
You sent your child, Jesus Christ.
to show us your power to save.
After testifying to the truth before Pontius Pilate,
he was killed, but you raised him from the dead,
and now he seats us at your banquet table,
and richly provides us with everything for fullness of life.
Therefore with .....
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Short Preface
(for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)
We thank you that when we were gazing across a great chasm
hungering for even the crumbs that fell from your table,
you sent your son, Jesus Christ, to seat us at your banquet table
and richly provide us with everything for our enjoyment.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
General Prayer of Thanksgiving
(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)
We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you alone are the blessed immortal sovereign
who dwells in unapproachable light.
In the shadow of your wing,
you created the earth and gave life to all things.
Through Moses and the prophets you called us
to take hold of the life that really is life.
When our own harmful desires plunged us into destruction,
and we gazed across a great chasm
hungering for even the crumbs that fell from your table,
you sealed a promise that our homelands
would once again feed and clothe us.
You sent your child, Jesus Christ.
to show us your power to save.
After testifying to the truth before Pontius Pilate,
he was killed, but you raised him from the dead,
and now he seats us at your banquet table,
and richly provides us with everything for fullness of life.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Declaration of Grace / Absolution
Hear the words of Christ who is merciful:
“I deliver all who cling to me,
answer those who call me,
stand with those in trouble.
These I rescue and honour and show my power to save.”
Sisters and Brothers,
........your sins are forgiven;
................be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Commission & Benediction
Go now and take hold of the life that really is life.
Shun the eagerness for money
but be rich in good works.
Pursue righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
And may God be your refuge and fortress;
May Christ Jesus free you from all that ensnares you;
And may the Holy Spirit provide you with everything
........for godliness and contentment.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
........In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Paraphrases of the Scripture Lections
for Proper 21 - Year C - Sunday 26 September 2010
Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary.
Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts (CCT)
P. O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.
* Jeremiah 32: 1-3a, 6-15
........I, Jeremiah received a message from the LORD.
At the time, the Babylonian army was laying siege to Jerusalem. They
were under the command of Nebuchadrezzar, who had been king of Babylon
for eighteen years. I was locked up in the guardhouse of the Jerusalem
palace on the orders of Zedekiah, who had been king of Judah for ten
years. The message from the LORD said:
“Jeremiah! Your cousin, Hanamel, son of Shallum, is on his way to see you. He will ask you to buy his ancestral property at Anathoth because he can no longer afford to keep it. As his nearest relative, you have the right to buy it in order to keep it in the family.”........Just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to visit me in the guardhouse and said to me, “I want to sell you my ancestral property at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The only way it can stay in our family is for you to exercise your right to buy it for yourself.”
This is an order from the LORD who rules over everything, the God of Israel: Take these property documents, both the official signed copy and its duplicate, and store them in a sealed time capsule so that they will last for a long time. Because the LORD who rules over everything, the God of Israel, is making this promise: “Although you are being overrun by invading armies, the time will come when you will once again own houses, farms and vineyards in this land.”
God alone deserves all praise!........Pass on some advice from me to those who are wealthy in the here and now. Tell them not to go getting full of themselves, or to fall for the idea that their money guarantees their quality of life — it could all be worthless tomorrow. Tell them, instead, to stake their future on God, for everything we need to enjoy a truly rich life is given to us by God. Teach them that if they really want to set themselves up for the future, they should invest heavily in doing good for others and build up a portfolio based on blue-chip sharing and generosity. That is the only way to achieve the goal of gaining shares in the life that is really worth living.
........God alone rules over all!
God far outranks every monarch and lord;
........every chief, commander, and regime!
God alone lives beyond the reach of death,
........hidden from every human eye
................by blazing light that holds us at bay!
To God, honour and glory!
........To God, power over all, forever!
................And so say all of us!
There was a rich man who was always dressed to the nines in the most expensive fashions and who enjoyed chef-prepared, gourmet delicacies for breakfast, lunch and tea. In the street outside his security gates, lived a desperately poor man named Lazarus. He was malnourished and living rough, and his skin was scabby and infected. All he ever ate was the scraps thrown out in the rich man’s garbage. Often he was too weak even to stop the dogs from licking his sores.
........One day this poor man died and was carried away by the angels and seated alongside Abraham at the best table. The rich man also died and was given a rich man’s burial. However, in the land of the dead he found himself suffering horribly. He looked up, and far in the distance he could see Abraham with Lazarus seated alongside him. In desperation he called out, “Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to bring me even a drop of water to cool my tongue. I am in agony here in these flames.”
........But Abraham said, “Son, remember how life was a bed of roses for you, but Lazarus always copped the worst that life can dish up. Well here the tables have been turned. Besides, there is nothing we can do anyway. Can’t you see how we are cut off from you by this massive chasm. No one can get across from here to you, and you can’t get across from there to us.”
........The rich man said, “In that case, Father, please send him to my family home to warn my five brothers so that they won’t go down the same track as me and end up here in this nightmare too.”
........Abraham replied, “They have heard the teachings of Moses and the prophets. That should be all the warning they need.”
........He replied, “It hasn’t sunk in though, Father Abraham; but if someone was to come back from the dead to warn them, then they’d turn their lives around for sure.”
........But Abraham said to him, “If they won’t take any notice of Moses and the prophets, then even someone rising from the dead wouldn’t be enough to get through to them.”