Lenten Eucharist with Confirmation will be livestreamed and available online at Holy Trinity’s YouTube site from 10.55am on Sunday at https://www.youtube.com/live/xz5jbDfKyGQ
Prelude:
WELCOME
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
OPENING HYMN (NEH 436)
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
To his feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven.
who like me his praise should sing?
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise the everlasting King!
Praise him for his grace and favour
To our fathers in distress;
Praise him still the same forever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise him! Praise him!
Glorious in his faithfulness.
Father-like he tends and spares us;
Well our feeble frame he knows;
In his hands he gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise him! Praise him!
Widely as his mercy flows.
Angels, help us to adore him;
Ye behold him face to face;
Sun and moon bow down before him,
Dwellers all in time and space.
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise with us the God of grace.
APPROACH TO GOD
Call to remembrance your compassion and mercy, O Lord;
your loving kindness, which you gave us of old.
To you O Lord I lift up my soul;
my God I trust in you; do not let me be confounded.
The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Be strong and do not fear;
for God is our refuge and strength.
INVITATION TO CONFESSION
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ
to save us from our sin, to be our advocate in heaven,
and to bring us to eternal life.
So let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
Silence
Almighty and merciful God,
we have strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
We have followed too much the desires of our own hearts.
We have left undone what we ought to have done;
we have done what we ought not to have done.
We are in need of health and restoration.
But you, O Lord, are merciful to sinners.
Restore us, and grant that we may live in peace and love
to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
KYRIE
THE ABSOLUTION
May God, who is the strength of love,
through the gift of Christ his son,
heal and strengthen us by his spirit,
that, being crucified with Christ in his death,
we may rise with him to new life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
COLLECTS:
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING Romans 5:1-11
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
ends with:
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
GRADUAL HYMN (NEH 360 omit v.4)
1 Firmly I believe and truly
God is Three, and God is One;
And I next acknowledge duly
Manhood taken by the Son.
2 And I trust and hope most fully
In that Manhood crucified;
And each thought and deed unruly
Do to death, as he has died.
3 Simply to his grace and wholly
Light and life and strength belong,
And I love supremely, solely,
Him the holy, him the strong.
5 Adoration ay be given,
With and through the angelic host,
To the God of earth and heaven,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
GOSPEL John 4:5-42
When the Gospel is announced:
Glory to Christ our Saviour.
So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The 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.) Jesus 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.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but 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.’ The 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.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking with her?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city and were on their way to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’
At the end:
Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord.
SERMON
Anthem after Sermon: Ave verum corpus (Mozart)
Ave, verum corpus natum de Maria Virgine, Vere passum immolatum in Cruce pro homine, Cujus latus perforatum unda fluxit sanguine, Esto nobis praegustatum in mortis examine.
Hail, true body born of the Virgin Mary, Who truly suffered, sacrificed on the Cross for man, Whose pierced side overflowed with water and blood, Be for us a foretaste In the test of death.
CONFIRMATION
The Bishop leads the responsory.
Blessed be God,
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whose great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
The Rector presents the candidate.
Right Reverend Father in God,
Our sister Charlotte has come
to make a deeper commitment
to our Lord Jesus Christ
by renewing her baptismal promises and affirming her faith.
The Bishop addresses the Candidate.
Charlotte, is it your wish to be confirmed?
Candidate: It is
The Bishop addresses the congregation
We pray for her and for ourselves.
Eternal God, who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
keep your people, born of water and the Spirit,
faithful to their calling;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
The Bishop addresses the candidate.
Charlotte, as a disciple of the living Lord Jesus,
Do you turn to Christ?
Candidate: I turn to Christ.
Do you repent of your sins?
Candidate: I repent of my sins.
Do you renounce all evil?
Candidate: I renounce evil.
The Bishop addresses the congregation
Do you believe in God the Father?
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
Do you believe in God the Son?
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
The Bishop addresses the candidate
This is the faith of the Church.
Candidate: This is my faith. I believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
Charlotte, as a disciple of Christ will you continue
in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread,
and in the prayers?
Candidate: With the help of God, I will.
Bishop: Will you proclaim the good news by word and deed,
serving Christ in all people?
Candidate: With the help of God, I will.
Bishop: Will you work for justice and peace,
honouring God in all Creation?
Candidate: With the help of God, I will.
The Bishop addresses the whole congregation
This is the calling of the Church.
This is our calling;
to live and work for the kingdom of God.
The Bishop leads us in prayer
God of mercy and love,
new birth by water and the Spirit is your gift,
a gift none can take away;
grant that your servant may grow
into the fullness of the stature of Christ.
Fill her with the joy of your presence.
Increase in her the fruit of your Spirit:
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of love, patience and gentleness,
the spirit of wonder and true holiness.
The Bishop lays hands on the candidate in silence, and then says
Come, Creator Spirit,
rekindle in Charlotte your gifts of grace,
to love and serve as a disciple of Christ.
All Amen.
Renew her life in Christ
and bring to completion
all that your calling has begun.
All Amen.
Anointing the candidate with the Oil of Chrism, the Bishop says
Empower your disciple
to bring life to the world.
All Amen.
After the Bishop has anointed the candidate, he says
Living God, sustain all your people
to be hope and strength to the world;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be honour and glory, now and for ever.
All Amen.
PEACE
Renewed in the Spirit, we meet in Christ’s name.
Let us share his peace.
OFFERTORY HYMN (NEH 137)
Come down, O Love divine,
Seek thou this soul of mine,
And visit it with thine own ardour glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
Within my heart appear,
And kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.
O let it freely burn,
Till earthly passions turn
To dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
And let thy glorious light
Shine ever on my sight,
And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
Let holy charity
Mine outward vesture be,
And lowliness become mine inner clothing;
True lowliness of heart,
Which takes the humbler part,
And o'er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.
And so the yearning strong,
With which the soul will long,
Shall far outpass the power of human telling;
For none can guess its grace,
Till it become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.
PRAYERS OF OFFERING
Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies,
it remains alone.
But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Almighty God, as these gifts of bread and wine
were once scattered over the hills as wheat and grape,
but gathered together became one mass,
so let your people, scattered and divided by sin,
be one in your eternal Kingdom.
Blessed be God for ever.
THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Worship and praise belong to you,
maker of light and darkness.
Your wisdom draws beauty from chaos,
brings a harvest out of sorrow
and leads the exiles home.
In Christ your Son enemies are reconciled,
debts forgiven
and strangers made welcome.
Your Spirit frees us
to live as sons and daughters
in our Father's house.
We who by Christ's power follow the way of the Cross,
sharing the joy of his obedience,
now offer you our praise,
with angels and archangels
and the whole company of heaven
singing the hymn of your unending glory:
SANTCUS
Glory and thanksgiving be to you, most loving Father,
for Christ in whom the world is reconciled.
Lifted on the Cross,
his suffering and forgiveness
spanned the gulf our sins had made.
Through that dark struggle
death was swallowed up in victory,
that life and light might reign.
Before he was given up to suffering and death,
recalling the night of Israel's release,
the night in which the sons of Egypt died,
your Chosen One, himself the First-Born,
freely offered his life.
At supper with his disciples he took bread
and offered you thanks.
He broke the bread, and gave it to them, saying:
“Take, eat. This is my Body: it is broken for you.”
After supper, he took the cup, he offered you thanks,
and gave it to them saying:
“Drink this, all of you.
This is my Blood of the new covenant;
it is poured out for you, and for all,
that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
We now obey your Son's command.
We recall his blessed passion and death,
his glorious resurrection and ascension;
and we look for the coming of his Kingdom.
Made one with him, we offer you these gifts
and with them ourselves,
a single, holy, living sacrifice.
Hear us, most merciful Father,
and send your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon this bread and this wine,
that, overshadowed by your Spirit’s life-giving power,
they may be the Body and Blood of your Son,
and we may be kindled with the fire of your love
and renewed for the service of your Kingdom.
Help us, who are baptised into the
fellowship of Christ's Body
to live and work to your praise and glory;
may we grow together in unity and love
until at last, in your new creation,
we enter into our heritage
in the company of the Virgin Mary,
the apostles, and prophets,
and of all our brothers and sisters
living and departed.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
with whom, and in whom,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all honour and glory be to you,
Lord of all ages,
world without end. Amen.
THE FRACTION
The living bread is broken for the life of the world.
Lord, unite us in this sign.
As our Saviour Christ has commanded and taught us,
we are bold to say;
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
Thy kingdom come; thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory
For ever and ever. Amen.
AGNUS DEI
INVITATION
We do not presume to come to this your holy table merciful God,
because we are strong, but because we are weak.
Nor because we are good, but because we need mercy and help.
We come because we love you and seek to love you more.
We come because you love us, and Christ gave himself for us.
Holy things for holy people. Broken bread for broken people. Amen.
Communion Hymn: NEH 307
Hid in thine earthly home,
Lo, round thy lowly shrine,
With suppliant hearts we come;
Jesu, to thee our voice we raise
In songs of love and heartfelt praise:
Sweet Sacrament divine.
Sweet Sacrament of peace,
Dear home for every heart,
Where restless yearnings cease
And sorrows all depart;
There in thine ear all trustfully
We tell our tale of misery:
Sweet Sacrament of peace.
Sweet Sacrament of rest,
Ark from the ocean's roar,
Within thy shelter blest
Soon may we reach the shore;
Save us, for still the tempest raves,
Save, lest we sink beneath the waves:
Sweet Sacrament of rest.
Sweet Sacrament divine,
Earth's light and jubilee,
In thy far depths doth shine
Thy Godhead's majesty;
Sweet light, so shine on us, we pray
That earthly joys may fade away:
Sweet Sacrament divine.
THANKSGIVING AND SENDING OUT
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious.
And his mercy endures for ever.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER
Almighty God, by the cross and passion of your Son, Jesus Christ,
you saved and redeemed your people.
May we, who have shared this day in holy things,
find within ourselves the grace
to take up our cross and follow him.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
BLESSING: From Ash Wednesday
Now may Christ give us grace to grow in holiness,
deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him;
and the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with you, and those for whom you pray,
now and Always. Amen.
BLESSING: During Passiontide
Now may Christ Crucified draw you to Himself,
that you may find in him a sure ground for faith,
a firm support for hope,
and the assurance of sins forgiven;
and the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be with you and remain with you always. Amen.
DISMISSAL
Let us go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.
In the Name of Christ. Amen.
FINAL HYMN (NEH 376)
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
'Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast:'
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad;
I found in him a resting place,
And he has made me glad.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
'Behold, I freely give
The living water, thirsty one;
Stoop down, and drink, and live:
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in him.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
'I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright:'
I looked to Jesus, and I found
In him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk
Till travelling days are done.
ORGAN VOLUNTARY