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 Augustine of Hippo
Great are you, Lord,
and greatly to be praised;
great is your power,
and of your wisdom there is no end.
We, being a part of your creation,
desire to praise you.
We, who bear about with us our mortality,
the witness of our sin,
the witness that you resist the proud,
yet we, part of your creation,
desire to praise you.
You move us to delight in praising you,
for you have formed us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.
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 Augustine of Hippo
Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord, and spare your servant from the power of the enemy. I contend not in judgment with you, who are the truth; I fear to deceive myself, lest my iniquity lie to itself. Therefore I contend not in judgment with you; for if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall abide it? Amen.
We hear God’s teaching for our lives in THE READING OF THE LAW in Colossians 3:12–17
Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if anyone has a complaint against anyone else; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
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 45:7–16 · Eructavit cor meum
7Your throne, O God, endures for ever and ever, *
a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom; *
you love righteousness and hate iniquity.
8Therefore God, your God, has anointed you *
with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
9All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia, *
and the music of strings from ivory palaces makes you glad.
10Kings’ daughters stand among the ladies of the court; *
on your right hand is the queen, *
adorned with the gold of Ophir.
11“Hear, O daughter; consider and listen closely; *
forget your people and your father’s house.
12The king will have pleasure in your beauty; *
he is your master; therefore do him honor.
13The people of Tyre are here with a gift; *
the rich among the people seek your favor.”
14All glorious is the princess as she enters; *
her gown is cloth-of-gold.
15In embroidered apparel she is brought to the king; *
after her the bridesmaids follow in procession.
16With joy and gladness they are brought, *
and enter into the palace of the king.
We pray a PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION in the words of Augustine
Lord, let your Scriptures be my chaste delight. Let me neither be deceived in them, nor deceive out of them. Lord, hear and have mercy, O Lord my God, light of the blind and strength of the weak, light also of those who see and strength of the strong; listen to my soul and hear it crying out of the depths.
Amen.
We hear God speaking to us in THE READING for the dayHosea 2:14–23
Thursday, 13 August 2026 · Ordinary Time
14“Therefore behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15I will give her vineyards from there,
and the valley of Achor for a door of hope;
and she will respond there
as in the days of her youth,
and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
16It will be in that day,” says the LORD,
“that you will call me ‘my husband,’
and no longer call me ‘my master.’
17For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth,
and they will no longer be mentioned by name.
18In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field,
and with the birds of the sky,
and with the creeping things of the ground.
I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land,
and will make them lie down safely.
19I will betroth you to me forever.
Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.
20I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness;
and you shall know the LORD.
21It will happen in that day, that I will respond,” says the LORD.
“I will respond to the heavens,
and they will respond to the earth;
22and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil;
and they will respond to Jezreel.
23I will sow her to me in the earth;
and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;
and I will tell those who were not my people, ‘You are my people;’
and they will say, ‘You are My God!’ ”
World English Bible. Or read it at Bible Gateway in the NRSV: Hosea 2:14–23 · the short form, Hosea 2:19–20.
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 Saint Patrick
I bind myself today:
To the power of God to guide me.
To the might of God to uphold me.
To the wisdom of God to teach me.
The eye of God to watch over me.
The ear of God to hear me.
The word of God to speak to me.
The way of God to lie before me.
The host of God to defend me.
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.