Daily Readings: December 14, 2024

Saturday after the Second Sunday of Advent

Ember Day

Morning	Evening
Psalm 30 Psalm 32	Psalm 42 Psalm 43
Isa. 8:1-15 2 Thess. 3:6-18 Luke 22:31-38

The Collect of the Day

Second Sunday of Advent

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; 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.

First Sunday of Advent

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Psalms

30

Exaltabo te, DomineBCP p. 621

¹I will exalt you, O Lord, because you have lifted me up *and have not let my enemies triumph over me.

²O Lord my God, I cried out to you, *and you restored me to health.

³You brought me up, O Lord, from the dead; *you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.

⁴Sing to the Lord, you servants of his; *give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.

⁵For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye, *his favor for a lifetime.

⁶Weeping may spend the night, *but joy comes in the morning.

⁷While I felt secure, I said, “I shall never be disturbed. *You, Lord, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains.”

⁸Then you hid your face, *and I was filled with fear.

⁹I cried to you, O Lord; *I pleaded with the Lord, saying,

¹⁰“What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the Pit? *will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?

¹¹Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me; *O Lord, be my helper.”

¹²You have turned my wailing into dancing; *you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.

¹³Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing; *O Lord my God, I will give you thanks for ever.

32

Beati quorumBCP p. 624

¹Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, *and whose sin is put away!

²Happy are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, *and in whose spirit there is no guile!

³While I held my tongue, my bones withered away, *because of my groaning all day long.

⁴For your hand was heavy upon me day and night; *my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer.

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you, *and did not conceal my guilt.

⁶I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” *Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.

⁷Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble; *when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.

⁸You are my hiding-place; you preserve me from trouble; *you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

⁹“I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go; *I will guide you with my eye.

¹⁰Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding; *who must be fitted with bit and bridle, or else they will not stay near you.”

¹¹Great are the tribulations of the wicked; *but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord.

¹²Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord; *shout for joy, all who are true of heart.

Daily Office Readings

¹Then the Lord said to me, Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, “Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz,” ²and have it attested for me by reliable witnesses, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah. ³And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; ⁴for before the child knows how to call “My father” or “My mother,” the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria. ⁵The Lord spoke to me again: ⁶Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and melt in fear before Rezin and the son of Remaliah; ⁷therefore, the Lord is bringing up against it the mighty flood waters of the River, the king of Assyria and all his glory; it will rise above all its channels and overflow all its banks; ⁸it will sweep on into Judah as a flood, and, pouring over, it will reach up to the neck; and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel. ⁹Band together, you peoples, and be dismayed; listen, all you far countries; gird yourselves and be dismayed; gird yourselves and be dismayed! ¹⁰Take counsel together, but it shall be brought to naught; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us. ¹¹For the Lord spoke thus to me while his hand was strong upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹²Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what it fears, or be in dread. ¹³But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴He will become a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against; for both houses of Israel he will become a rock one stumbles over—a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.