[In a darkened space, light one or several candles, with due caution, enough to illumine a cross or icon of choice]

Call to Worship

We gather in the dimness of evening
to be with the God who brightens
the shadows of our lives.

We gather in the quiet of this place,
to be with Jesus, knowing that nothing
past, present, or future separates us.

We gather to be marked as disciples,
to be fed for the journey through Lent,
to be sealed by the Spirit as God’s own. 

Confession

 

Opening Prayer

You wait on this evening,
Patient God, for us to come back:
to stop going away from you
   on our self-focused travels;
to set aside our empty fears;
to cease shaping you in our image,
   so we can discover you closer
   than we ever dare imagined.

You wait for us this night,

Companion of our hearts,
for us to follow once more:
leaving the shuttered corners
   of our lives;
refusing to go from one failed
   promise to another;
coming out of the panic rooms
   we have built in our souls,
so you can take us by the hand
to lead us to resurrection life.
 
You wait in scattered ashes of our lives,
Spirit of silence, for us to find you:
in the broken bread
   which strengthens us to serve;
in the cup of grace
   which fills our emptiness;
in our sisters and brothers
   who are willing to hold us up
   when we falter,
so you can embrace us
with joy and hope in every moment.
 
(Source: http://lectionaryliturgies.blogspot.com/2017/02/ash-wednesday-alternate-service.html)

Scripture (2 Cor 5:17-21)

17 So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 And all this is from God, Who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake, He made Him to be sin Who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Chant Responsory

Gospel (Lk 13:6-9)

Jesus told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So, cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not, you can cut it down.’”

Optional Reflection (Pope Francis' Message for Lent 2024)

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/lent/documents/20231203-messaggio-quaresima2024.html

Responsory

Go to the inner room, the secret chamber. Go to the inner room, the storehouse of God. Do not heap up empty words, vein repetitions. Like empty stammering,  pray with the Spirit. Do not pray like hypocrites, like actors on a stage. Pray with sincerity, mean the words that you say. The inner room, the secret chamber. The inner room, the storehouse of God. The inner room, the secret chamber. The inner room, with God alone. Pray to your Father, who knows your secrets. He knows just what you need before you even ask. And forgive your enemies, their sins and transgressions. Forgive your enemies and you'll be forgiven. The inner room, the secret chamber. The inner room, the storehouse of God. The inner room, the secret chamber. The inner room, with God alone. Go to the inner room, with God alone.

Intercessions

In the dark of night God calls to us; beckoning us on, seeking us out, calling us to peace, to quietness, to wholeness.

The world is dark around us, filled with coldness, terror and restlessness.

It is a darkness of our creation: greed, hatred, envy: brokenness.

Take us and heal us of every evil. Bring us back into the comfort and closenessof your embrace, O God.

Your cleansing love, O God, purifies our darkness restoring it to us: warm, comforting, restful, complete.

In the dark of our night we hear God call, offering love and strength and forgiveness.

With God the darkness brings comfort not fear, love not hatred, righteousness not punishment.

Walk in the darkness of your life as in the light, for both the dark and the light belong to God, as do you. Amen.

(Source: Lisa Frenz for the Mt. Carmel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon.  https://sites.google.com/site/lisasliturgies/home. “Copyright © 1999 Lisa Frenz. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.")

 

(During the chant, lift up in prayer any person or situation for whom or for which you desire to pray).

Closing Chant

In manus tuas Pater, commendo spiritum meum, in manus tuas Pater, commendo spiritum meum.
Into your hands, Father, I commend my spirit.