Daily Readings: March 4, 2023

Saturday after the First Sunday in Lent

Ember Day

Morning	Evening
Psalm 55	Psalm 138 Psalm 139:1-17(18-23)
Deut. 11:18-28 Heb. 5:1-10 John 4:1-26

The Collect of the Day

First Sunday in Lent

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

15. For the Ministry (Ember Days)

I. For those to be ordained

Almighty God, the giver of all good gifts, in your divine providence you have appointed various orders in your Church: Give your grace, we humbly pray, to all who are [now] called to any office and ministry for your people; and so fill them with the truth of your doctrine and clothe them with holiness of life, that they may faithfully serve before you, to the glory of your great Name and for the benefit of your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

15. For the Ministry (Ember Days)

II. For the choice of fit persons for the ministry

O God, you led your holy apostles to ordain ministers in every place: Grant that your Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may choose suitable persons for the ministry of Word and Sacrament, and may uphold them in their work for the extension of your kingdom; through him who is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

15. For the Ministry (Ember Days)

III. For all Christians in their vocation

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Ash Wednesday

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalms

55

Exaudi, DeusBCP p. 660

¹Hear my prayer, O God; *do not hide yourself from my petition.

²Listen to me and answer me; *I have no peace, because of my cares.

³I am shaken by the noise of the enemy *and by the pressure of the wicked;

⁴For they have cast an evil spell upon me *and are set against me in fury.

⁵My heart quakes within me, *and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

⁶Fear and trembling have come over me, *and horror overwhelms me.

⁷And I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! *I would fly away and be at rest.

⁸I would flee to a far-off place *and make my lodging in the wilderness.

⁹I would hasten to escape *from the stormy wind and tempest.”

¹⁰Swallow them up, O Lord; confound their speech; *for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹¹Day and night the watchmen make their rounds upon her walls, *but trouble and misery are in the midst of her.

¹² There is corruption at her heart; *her streets are never free of oppression and deceit.

¹³For had it been an adversary who taunted me, then I could have borne it; *or had it been an enemy who vaunted himself against me, then I could have hidden from him.

¹⁴But it was you, a man after my own heart, *my companion, my own familiar friend.

¹⁵We took sweet counsel together, *and walked with the throng in the house of God.

¹⁶Let death come upon them suddenly; let them go down alive to the grave; *for wickedness is in their dwellings, in their very midst.

¹⁷But I will call upon God, *and the Lord will deliver me.

¹⁸In the evening, in the morning, and at noonday, I will complain and lament, *and he will hear my voice.

¹⁹He will bring me safely back from the battle waged against me; *for there are many who fight me.

²⁰God, who is enthroned of old, will hear me and bring them down; *they never change; they do not fear God.

²¹My companion stretched forth his hand against his comrade; *he has broken his covenant.

²²His speech is softer than butter, *but war is in his heart.

²³His words are smoother than oil, *but they are drawn swords.

²⁴Cast your burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain you; *he will never let the righteous stumble.

²⁵For you will bring the bloodthirsty and deceitful *down to the pit of destruction, O God.

²⁶They shall not live out half their days, *but I will put my trust in you.

Daily Office Readings

¹Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” ²—although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized— ³he left Judea and started back to Galilee. ⁴But he had to go through Samaria. ⁵So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. ⁷A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) ⁹The 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.) ¹⁰Jesus 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.” ¹¹The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹²Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” ¹³Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but 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.” ¹⁵The 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.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” ¹⁷The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” ¹⁹The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” ²¹Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” ²⁶Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”