Skip to the service
Community Universalist Church

Daily Office

Morning · Monday, 2 February 2026 · Ordinary Time

We hear God's CALL TO WORSHIP in Revelation 19:6–7

I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns! Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give the glory to him.”

We listen in silence for God's still small voice, CENTERING ourselves, becoming aware of God's presence within us and around us

We respond to God with ADORATION using the words of the Song of Creation (Benedicite, omnia opera Domini)

Glorify the Lord, all you works of the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, you angels and all powers of the Lord,
    O heavens and all waters above the heavens.
Sun and moon and stars of the sky, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, every shower of rain and fall of dew,
    all winds and fire and heat.
Winter and summer, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O chill and cold,
    drops of dew and flakes of snow.
Frost and cold, ice and sleet, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O nights and days,
    O shining light and enfolding dark.
Storm clouds and thunderbolts, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Let the earth glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O mountains and hills,
and all that grows upon the earth,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O springs of water, seas, and streams,
    O whales and all that move in the waters.
All birds of the air, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O beasts of the wild,
    and all you flocks and herds.
O men and women everywhere, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Let the people of God glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O priests and servants of the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O spirits and souls of the righteous,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
You that are holy and humble of heart, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

We hear God’s CALL TO REPENTANCE in 1 John 4:7-8, 20-21

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God. The person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.

If someone says ‘I love God,’ and yet hates others, they are a liar. For the person who does not love their brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. Indeed, we have this command from Christ: Those who love God must also love each other.

We respond with CONFESSION using the words of George Matheson

As long as I am apart from you I am self-satisfied, because I have no standard by which to measure my low stature. But when I come near to you, then for the first time I see myself. In your light I behold my darkness. In your majesty I behold my meanness. In your purity I behold my corruption. In your wealth I behold my poverty of spirit.

Amen.

We hear God’s teaching for our lives in THE READING OF THE LAW in Zechariah 7:9-10

The Lord of hosts says:

Execute true judgments. Show kindness and mercy to each other. Do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the resident foreigner or the poor. Let none of you devise evil against another in your hearts.

We PRAISE God in the INVITATORY PSALM, the VenitePsalm 95:1-7 · Venite, exultemus

1O come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.

2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, *
and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.

3For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.

4In his hand are all the corners of the earth, *
and the strength of the hills is his also.

5The sea is his, and he made it; *
and his hands prepared the dry land.

6O come, let us worship and bow down, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

7For he is the Lord our God, *
and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Gloria Patri

Glory be to the Father
    and to the Son
    and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
    is now and ever shall be,
    world without end.
Amen.

We PRAISE God in THE PSALM OF THE DAYPsalm 103:1–8 · Benedic, anima mea

1Bless the Lord, O my soul, *
and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.

2Bless the Lord, O my soul, *
and forget not all his benefits.

3He forgives all your sins *
and heals all your infirmities;

4He redeems your life from the grave *
and crowns you with mercy and loving-kindness;

5He satisfies you with good things, *
and your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.

6The Lord executes righteousness *
and judgment for all who are oppressed.

7He made his ways known to Moses *
and his works to the children of Israel.

8The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, *
slow to anger and of great kindness.

We pray a PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION in the words of Origen of Alexandria

We call upon God through Jesus Christ, that he who is the truth of God would shed light into our hearts and scatter the darkness of error; and we offer as our prayer the words of the prophet: "Destroy error by your truth." Amen.

We hear God speaking to us in THE READING for the dayGenesis 45:1–15

Monday, 2 February 2026 · Ordinary Time

1Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he called out, “Cause everyone to go out from me!” No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Does my father still live?”

His brothers couldn’t answer him; for they were terrified at his presence. 4Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.”

They came near. He said, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be no ploughing and no harvest. 7God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. 8So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says, “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t wait. 10You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11There I will provide for you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have.” ’ 12Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here.” 14He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 15He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.

World English Bible. Or read it at Bible Gateway in the NRSV: Genesis 45:1–15 · the short form, Genesis 45:1–5.

We REFLECT in silence

We greet the day with THE SONG OF ZECHARIAH, the Benedictus Luke 1:68-79

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
    he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
    born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies,
    from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
    and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham,
    to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear,
    holy and righteous in his sight
    all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
    by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
    the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
    and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

We pray the LORD'S PRAYER as Jesus taught his disciples, in those words which are most meaningful to us

Our [ Father / Mother / Creator ] in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our [ trespasses / sins ]
as we forgive those who [ trespass / sin ] against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

We pray a PRAYER OF INTERCESSION in the words of the Book of Common Prayer

Almighty God, the fountain of wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask, and our ignorance in asking; we ask you to have compassion upon our weaknesses; and those things, which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask, grant to give us for the worthiness of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We silently pray PERSONAL PRAYER

Followed by

Amen

We pray a PRAYER FOR UNITY OF ALL PEOPLE

God, you have made of one blood all nations of the earth, and your will is that all your children should be gathered into one family of love: break down, we pray you, the walls that divide us; deliver us from hardness of heart and from contempt for those who differ from us; and hasten the time when all shall dwell together in that peace which passes understanding, knowing you as Father and one another as brothers and sisters; through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but all are one. Amen.

We pray a PRAYER OF GENERAL THANKSGIVING in the words of Hubert Louis Simpson

We thank you for the good things of this life: for food and clothing and shelter; for work to do and zest in the doing of it. We thank you for the perpetual touch of the divine in life, for the image of yourself in the human soul; for the vigor of youth, the wisdom of age, and for all the lessons of experience; the steps by which we climb to higher things; for the courage of the brave, the indignation of the righteous, the kindness of the thoughtful, and all that makes us human and keeps us Godlike.

Amen.

A concluding BENEDICTION or blessing Numbers 6:24-26

The Lord bless us and keep us;
the Lord make his face to shine upon us,
and be gracious to us;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon us,
and give us peace.

Amen.