As he was hanging on to Peter and John,
all the people ran together to them,
in the Portico called after Solomon –
utterly amazed.

When Peter saw (this)
he responded the people:

‘Fellow Israelites,
who do you marvel at this,
or why do you stare at us
as if by our own power or godliness
we made him walk?

The God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
the god of our fathers
glorified his servant, Jesus,
whom you all handed over,
and you denied
before Pilate,
though he had decided
to release him.

You denied the Holy One and Righteous One
and you asked for a murderer to be given to you.

You killed the ‘leader to life’
whom God raised from the dead people,
of which we are witnesses.

And, on the basis of faith upon his name –
that name has made this man strong
whom you know see and know
– the faith
which comes through him (Jesus)
gave him
perfect health
in front of you all.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

So Peter and John were going up into the Temple courts
at the hour of prayer,
the ninth hour. ¹
And a certain lame man,
– (lame) from his mother’s womb
used to be carried up,
– whom was put there,
every day
by the gate of the Temple,
which is called ‘Beautiful’
to beg alms
from those entering into the Temple courts.
– who seeing Peter and John
about to enter into the Temple courts
began to ask them for alms.

Then Peter looked directly at him
– with John –
and said:
‘Look at us!’
So he looked at them,
expecting to receive something from them.
Then Peter said:
‘Silver and gold?
– I don’t have any.
But what I do have ,
this I give to you.
In the name of Jesus the Nazarene
[get up and] walk!’

And he took hold of him with his right hand
and he raised him up.
And at once
his feet and ankles
were made strong.
And he jumped up
and he stood
and walked
and went with them
into the Temple courts,
walking
and leaping
and praising God.

And all the people saw him
walking
and praising God.

They recognised him
as the one who used to sit
to beg alms
at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple
and they were filled with wonder
and amazement
at what had happened to him.

1. Three O’clock ↩︎

Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.

George Herbert

So they were devoting themselves to the teaching of the apostles
-and to the fellowship
and to the breaking of bread
-and to the prayers.

Fear was coming upon every soul,
both many wonders, and also signs
were done
through the apostles.
And all those who had come to believe
were together
and held everything in common.
And they were selling property and possessions
and distributing them to everyone
as anyone had need.
Every day
they devoted themselves to meeting
in the temple courts
and
breaking bread from house to house
sharing in food
with glad and generous hearts
praising God
and having the good will of the whole people
And the Lord was adding
to those being saved daily
to their group.

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts,
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil,
Eternal Power, be our support,
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance,
Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us;
that with all our heart and mind
and soul and strength we may seek thy face
and be brought by thine infinite mercy
to thy holy presence;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Alcuin (735-804)

Having heard (this),
they were cut to the heart
and they said to Peter and the other apostles:
‘What should we do,
brothers?’

So Peter (said to them):
‘Repent
and be baptised
each of you
in the name of Jesus Christ/Messiah
for the forgiveness of your sins
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is for you all
and your children
and all who are far off,
who call to the Lord, our God .

And with many other words
he was warning and encouraging them saying:
‘Be saved from this crooked generation’
So those who accepted his message
were baptised
and on that day
about three thousand (people) were added.

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

Therefore
being a prophet
and knowing that
by an oath
God had promised him
that a descendent would sit on his throne
seeing (this) in advance he spoke
about the resurrection of Christ,
that he was neither abandoned to Hades
nor did he see his flesh decay
This Jesus God raised,
– we are all witnesses of it.
So exalted to the right hand of God,
having received the promise of the Holy Spirit
from the Father
he has poured out what you see and hear.
For David did not go up into the heavens,
be he himself says:
The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
until I put all enemies under your feet.
So for certain let the house of Israel know that
that God has made him both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom you crucified.

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

For David says about him (Jesus):
I saw before me the Lord always
for he is at my right hand lest I will be shaken.
Therefore my heart was gladdened and my tongue was joyful,
yet my flesh will live in hope
for you will not abandon my soul to Hades
nor will you let your holy one see decay
You have made known to me the paths of life
with your presence, you will fill me with gladness.

Brothers/sisters, it is fitting to speak,
with boldness
to you
about the patriarch David-
that he died and has been buried
and his tomb is with us
until this day.

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

‘Fellows, Israelites,
listen to these words:
-Jesus the Nazarene
–a man marked out by God to you
—through whom God did
—works of power and wonders and signs
—-amongst you
—–as you yourselves know,
-this one
–who by the decided will
–and foreknowledge of God
-was handed over
—and by the hands of lawless people
– (you) having crucified
-you killed,
-whom God raised up
–having freed him from the pains of death
–because it was not possible for him to be grasped by it.

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

Then Peter stood up
with the eleven
and raised his voice
and spoke to them:
‘Fellow Judeans
and all who are settled in Jerusalem,
let this be known to you
and pay attention to my words,
For do not suppose these folk are drunk,
for it is the third hour of the day¹.
But it is what was said
through the prophet Joel:

And in the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh
and your sons will prophesy and your daughters.
and your young men will see visions.
And surely upon my male servants and female servants
in those days
I will pour out my Spirit
and they will prophesy.
and I will give wonders in the sky above,
and signs on the earth below
blood and fire and clouds of smoke
The Sun will be changed to darkness
and the Moon to blood
before the great and and glorious of Day of the Lord comes.
and it will be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord
will be saved.

1. 9.00am ↩︎

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)

Now there were in Jerusalem
Jews dwelling,
devout people,
from all the nations under heaven.
Then when this sound came
the multitude came together
and were confused
because each one heard
them speaking in their own language.

And they were surprised and amazed,
saying :
‘Are not all those who are speaking Galileans?
Then how do we hear each in our own language,
in which we were born?
Parthians and Medes and Elamites
and those who dwell in Mesopotamia
Judea and also Cappadocia,
Pontus and the area of Asia.
Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the area of Libya
near Cyrene
and those who visit from Rome
Jews and proselytes
Cretans and Arabs .

We hear them speaking
in our own tongues
about the mighty deeds of God.
All were surprised and very confused
saying to each other
‘What does this mean?’
and others jeered
and said ‘They are full of cheap/new wine!’

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

And when the day of Pentecost drew near
they were all together in one place.
Suddenly
there was
from heaven
a sound
like the rushing of a strong wind
and it filled the whole house
where they were sitting
and it appeared to them
(dividing as tongues)
like fire
and rested on each one of them
and they all were filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in other languages
as the Spirit gave them
the ability to speak.

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)