Next (Jesus) said:
A certain man had two sons.

His younger son to the father,
‘Father, give to me
a share of the estate, that falls to me.’
So he divided between them his livelihood.

And after not many days
having gathered everything together,
the younger son left for a distant country
and there he squandered his estate
living recklessly.
When he had spent everything he had,
a severe famine came upon that country,
and he began to be in need.
So he went and hired himself to a citizen of that country,
and he sent him to his fields to tend pigs.
And he longed to be filled with the carob pods,
which the pigs were eating
and no-one gave him anything.

Coming to himself, he said:
‘How many workers of my father
have enough bread
but I am famished
about to perish (be lost)?
I will get up and go to my father, and I will say:
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you
I am no longer worthy to be called your son,
Make me as one of your workers. “‘

And getting up he went to his father

Yet while he was long way off
his father saw him
and had pity on him,
running he fell on his neck
and he kissed him.

The son said to him:
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you
No longer am I worthy to be called your son…’

But the father said to his slaves:
‘Quickly bring the best robe and put it on him,
and put a ring on his hand
and sandals on his feet .

And bring the fattened calf,
kill it and
let us eat and celebrate
because this son of mine
was dead and has come back to life,
was lost and is found’
and they began to celebrate.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

22Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; 4 he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. 5 They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.

7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’ 9 They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for it?’ 10 ‘Listen,’ he said to them, ‘when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters 11 and say to the owner of the house, “The teacher asks you, ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’” 12 He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.’ 13 So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

14 When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ 17 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ 19 Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ 20 And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 21 But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. 22 For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!’ 23 Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this.

Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.

St Columba

And all these things
are from God
who reconciled us
to himself
through Christ
and has given to us
the ministry of reconciliation,
since
God was in Christ
reconciling the world to himself,
not reckoning to them their trespasses,
and placed
upon us the message of reconciliation.
So we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ,
as (if) God was appealing through us.
We appeal to you on behalf of Christ
be reconciled to God.
He made the one
who did not know sin
on behalf of us
sin,
so that we would become
the righteousness of God
in him.

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

For the love of Christ controls us,
having concluded this:
that one died for all,
therefore all have died.
And he died for all,
so that ones who live
no longer live for themselves
but for the one
who died for them
and was raised.

So then from now
we do not think of anyone
according to the flesh.
Even if we have known according to the flesh, Christ
yet we no longer know him (that way).
So then if someone (is) in Christ
– new creation.
The old things have gone away,
behold the new things have come

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

There were some present at that time who told him
about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mixed
with their sacrifices.

And he answered them:
‘Do you think that these Galileans
were worse sinners than all Galileans,
because they suffered?’

No! I tell you, that unless you repent
you will perish, as well.’

or
those eighteen
upon whom fell the tower in Siloam
and they died –

do you think that they were more guilty
than all the others living in Jerusalem?

No! I tell you, unless you repent
you all will perish, as well.

Then he told them this parable,

‘A certain man had a fig tree

planted in his vineyard.
And he came to look for fruit on it,
and found nothing.
He said to the vineyard worker
‘Look, for three years,
I have come looking for fruit
on this fig tree
and found nothing.
Do chop it down,
Why should it deplete the soil?’

But he answered:

‘Lord, leave it for this year too,
until I dig around it and put manure (on it).
And if it bears fruit in the coming year (-well and good)
but if not, you chop it down.’

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

For I do not want you to live in ignorance,
brothers/ sisters:
all our ancestors
were under the cloud
and all went through the sea,
and all were baptized into Moses
in the cloud and in the sea.
and all ate the same spiritual food
and all drank the same spiritual drink.
For they were drinking the spiritual following rock,
and the rock was Christ.

Nevertheless, with the majority of them
God was not pleased
for their bodies were scattered in the desert.
Now these things occurred as a pattern of us,
so that we are not people who desire evil things
as they desired evil things.

And do not become idol worshippers
as some of them
as it is written:
‘the people sat down to eat and drink
and they stood to party.’

And do not let us be sexually immoral
as some of them were immoral and fell,
in one day 23,000.

And do not let us continue to put Christ to the test
as some of them tested (him)
and were destroyed by the snakes

And do not grumble
as some of them grumbled
and were killed by the Destroyer.

These things happened to them as warnings
and were written for our instruction
on whom the ends of the ages has come
so that the one who thinks they stand
let them see that they do not fall.

A temptation (trial) has not seized you
except a (typically) human one,
Moreover faithful is God-
who will not let you be tested
beyond what you are able (to bear)
but will make
with the temptation
an escape route also:
your ability to bear it.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

Hey, anyone who’s thirsty, come for water.
Whoever has no silver, come, buy and eat.
Come, buy without silver,
wine and milk without cost.
Why weigh out silver for what isn’t bread,
and your labour for what isn’t filling?
Listen hard to me and eat what’s good;
you can delight your appetite with rich food.

Bend your ear, come to me;
listen, so you may come to life.
I will solemnize for you a permanent pact,
the trustworthy commitments to David.
Here, I made him a witness for peoples,
a leader and commander for peoples.
Here, you’ll call a nation that you don’t acknowledge,
and a nation that doesn’t acknowledge you will run to you,
For the sake of Yahweh your God,
and for Israel’s sacred one, because he’s glorifying you.

Enquire of Yahweh while he is letting himself be found,
call him while he’s near.
The faithless person must abandon his way,
the person who brings trouble [must abandon] his intentions.
He must turn back to Yahweh so he may have compassion on him,
to our God because he does much pardoning.

Because my intentions are not your intentions,
your ways are not my ways (Yahweh’s declaration).
Because the heavens are higher than the earth;
so are my ways higher than your ways,
my intentions than your intentions.

The Bible for Everyone

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)

In that hour some of the Pharisees
came to him and said to (Jesus):
‘Leave and go from here,
because Herod wants to kill you.’

And he said to them:
‘Go and say to that fox –
“Look, I am casting out demons
and performing healings
today and the next day
and on the third day I will be finished.”

‘Nevertheless it is necessary for me to go
today, the next day and on the third (day)
because it is not possible for a prophet to be killed
outside Jerusalem.

‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem
who kills the prophets
and stones those sent to her,
how often I have wanted to gather together your children
just as hen (gathers) her brood
under her wings
yet you have not wanted (that).

‘Look, your house is deserted to you.
I say to you all:
you will not see me until you say:
“Blessed (is) is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”‘

Eternal God and Father,
you create us by your power,
and redeem us by your love,
guide and strengthen us by your Spirit,
that we may give ourselves in love and service
to one another and to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

Become (with others) my imitators, brothers/ sisters
and pay attention to those who walk
as you have an example in us.

For many walk –
those who I have warned you about,
and now I warn (you), even weeping,
– who are enemies of the cross of Christ,
whose end is destruction,
whose god is the gut
and (their) glory is in their shame,
they think fixedly about earthly things.

For our citizenship is in the heavens,
from which indeed we also eagerly-await as Saviour
the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will change the body of our lowliness
into the likeness of the body of his glory
in keeping with the working of his power
and he will subject all things to himself.

So then, my beloved and longed for brothers /sisters
my joy and crown,
stand like this, in the Lord,
beloved.

O Lord, in whom is our hope,
remove far from us, we pray thee,
empty hopes and presumptuous confidence.
Make our hearts so right with thy most holy and loving heart,
that hoping in thee we may do good;
until that day when faith and hope
shall be abolished by sight and possession,
and love shall be all in all.

Christina Rossetti (1830-94)

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other, but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years, but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Keep us, O Lord, while we tarry on this earth,
in a serious seeking after thee,
and in an affectionate walking with thee,
every day of our lives;
that when thou comest,
we may be found not hiding our talent,
nor yet asleep with our lamp unfurnished,
but waiting and longing for our Lord,
our glorious King, for ever and ever.

Richard Baxter (1615-1691)