A Service of Prayer

in the Celtic Tradition

For Epiphany III (“B”):
“Jesus Calls Us”
(Scottish Sources Other than ‘Carmina Gadelica’!)
For the Week of Sunday, January 24, 2021
The Rev.Dr. Chris McMullen, Parish of Upper Kennebecasis
Call to Worship
Said the thriving man to the tinker’s wife,
‘Spell me the secret of your happy life.
I could not bide it – I was never made
To couch in bracken with the birch for shade.
And the hills I love not, their ironic smile
Seems scornful of the things I hold worthwhile.’
Nor am I ravished by the woodland note
That breaks in tumult from the merle’s apt throat.’
Yet you love them all. But why? What’s the art
That turns rose-petal into quiet of heart?’
‘Ah, easy to answer,’ she softly said,
‘I’m richer than you – that’s your riddle read.
Have you heard fir-music? Or the whisp’ring tales
That the tide brings in when the white moon pales?
Or glimpsed the small grace of the tall June grass
Bowing demurely to the winds that pass?
Or strayed through a glen where wild violet grew
And thought, “Well, Heaven will be nothing new!”?
‘So I envy none – if I’m poor, I’m free
To the feast Love spreads for the like o’ me.’
(Alistair Maclean, Hebridean Altars: The Spirit of an Island Race [London: Hodder &
Stoughton, 1937; Reprint, Eugene OR: Wipf & Stock, 2013], pp. 90 f.)
Hymn of Praise
“I Bind Unto Myself Today”
I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity:
By invocation of the same,
The three-in-one and one-in-three.
(Continued…)
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I bind unto myself this day

My faith in Jesus, God become man;
Baptized and tried and crucified,
Arisen; reigning; glorified!
I bind unto myself the power
Of all God's angels in heaven above;
Christ's sweet “well-done” in judgement hour,
And all who have died in faith and love.
I bind unto myself this day
The virtues of the star-lit heav'n;
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even.
I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and heal;
His eye to watch, his might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my weal.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, his shield to ward;
The Word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.
O Christ, be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before;
O Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort, and restore!
O Christ, beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my left, and Christ my right;
Christ in the heart of all who meet me,
Christ in my hearing and Christ in my sight!
I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity:
By invocation of the same,
The three-in-one and one-in-three.
“St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” Original translation by Cecil Frances Alexander, 1889
Adapted for the Scottish tune “Candler” (“Ye Banks and Braes”) by Chris McMullen,
With assistance from David Mitchell, 2004.
Prayer of Approach
Almighty God, Creator,
the morning is yours, rising into fullness.
The summer is yours, dipping into the autumn.
(Continued…)
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Eternity is yours, dipping into time.

The vibrant grasses, the scent of flowers,
the lichen on the rocks, the tang of sea-weed,
All are yours.
Gladly we live in this garden of your creating.
But creation is not enough.
Always in the beauty, the foreshadowing of decay.
The lambs frolicking careless: so soon to be led to slaughter.
Nature red and scarred as well as lush and green.
In the garden also: always the thorn.
Creation is not enough.
Almighty God, Redeemer:
the sap of life in our bones and being is yours,
lifting us to ecstasy.
But always in the beauty: the tang of sin, in our consciences.
The dry lichen of sins long dead but seared upon our minds.
In the garden that is each of us, always the thorn.
Yet all are yours as we yield them again to you.
Not only our lives that you have given are yours:
but also our sins that you have taken.
Even our livid rebellions and putrid sins:
You have taken them all away
and nailed them to the Cross!
Our redemption is enough: and we are free.
Holy Spirit, Enlivener:
breathe on us, fill us with life anew.
In your new creation, already upon us, breaking through,
groaning and travailing, but already breaking through,
breathe on us!
(George F. MacLeod, The Whole Earth Shall Cry Glory, Iona Prayers
[Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications, The Iona Community, 1985] p. 8)

Psalm 98
1-2
Sing God a brand-new song!
Earth and everyone in it, sing!
Sing to God—worship God!
2-3
Shout the news of his victory from sea to sea,
Take the news of his glory to the lost,
News of his wonders to one and all!
(Continued…)
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4-5
For God is great, and worth a thousand Hallelujahs.
His furious beauty puts the other gods to shame;
Pagan gods are mere tatters and rags.
5-6
God made the heavens—
Royal splendor radiates from him,
A powerful beauty sets him apart.
7
Bravo, God, Bravo!
Everyone join in the great shout: Encore!
In awe before the beauty, in awe before the might.
8-9
Bring gifts and celebrate,
Bow before the beauty of God,
Then to your knees—everyone worship!
10
Get out the message—God Rules!
He put the world on a firm foundation;
He treats everyone fair and square.
11
Let’s hear it from Sky,
With Earth joining in,
And a huge round of applause from Sea.
12
Let Wilderness turn cartwheels,
Animals, come dance,
Put every tree of the forest in the choir—
13
An extravaganza before God as he comes,
As he comes to set everything right on earth,
Set everything right, treat everyone fair.
(Eugene Peterson, The Message © 1993, 2002, 2018)

Prayer for Grace

Deliver us, O Lord, from evil.
O Lord Jesus Christ,
Guard us ever in all good works.
O Fount and Author of every good thing,
O God, empty us from our faults,
And replenish us with good virtues,
Through you, O Christ Jesus. Amen.
(From the Book of Deer, Culdee Monastery of Deer, Scotland, 9th c.)

Scripture Lesson
Mark 1: 14-20
Meditation
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Prayer of Adoration
Father, forestall your thunder and lightning,
Lest we be shattered by its horror and fire!
We would fear only you, awesome and powerful,
there is nothing like you.
Armies of angels lead creation in praising you.
May the lightning, free and forceful,
be but visualization of creation’s praise!
O righteous King of kings; you are none other than the loving Jesus.
Blessed for ever, reigning with justice and power,
You were announced by your cousin John, prophet of fife,
even in his mother’s womb.
The fiery lightning of God’s love dwells in our hearts:
May we be holy, so that the [fire of your holy eternity]
May [abide in us, like a] jewel in a silver [chalice]!
(The “Noli Pater”, attributed to St. Columba, Adapted by C. McMullen from
Thomas Owen Clancy, ed., The Triumph Tree: Scotland’s Earliest Poetry AD 550-1350
[Edinburgh: Canongate Classics, 1998], p. 101)
Affirmation of Faith
“Ninian’s Catechism”
What is best in this world?
To do the will of our Maker.
What is His will?
That we should live
according to the laws of His creation.
How do we know these laws?
By study –
studying the Scriptures with devotion.
What tool has our Maker
provided for this study?
The intellect,
which can probe everything.
And what is the fruit of study?
To perceive the eternal Word of God
reflected in every plant and insect,
bird and animal,
and every man and woman.
(Robert Van de Weyer, Celtic Fire: The Passionate Religious Vision of Ancient Britain and
Ireland [London: Doubleday, 1990], pp. 177 f. Source Unknown, even to Van de Weyer.)
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The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name!
Thy kingdom, come, thy will be done, On earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread, And forgive our sins
As we forgive each one of those Who sins against us.
And lead us not to the time of trial, But deliver us from evil
For thine is the kingdom, The power and the glory.
Let all the people say Amen, In every tribe and tongue;
Let every heart's desire be joined, To see the kingdom come…
Paul Field and David Deal
© 1998 Meadowgreen Music Ltd. (EMI Christian Music)
Used with permission, CCLI # 3117248
Prayers of Intercession
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy:
God the Father in heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
You are Three, and yet One God, have mercy on us.
Be gracious, free us, Lord.
Be gracious, hear us, Lord.
Be gracious, spare us, Lord.
From every evil,
from every evil inclination,
from every impurity of heart and body,
from a haughty spirit,
from the evil of sickness,
from the snares of the devil,
from enemies to the Christian name,
from destructive storms,
from famine and nakedness,
from thieves and robbers,
from wolves and all dangerous beasts,
from floods of water,
from trials of death,
in the day of judgement, free us Lord.
By your advent, by your birth, by your circumcision,
by your baptism, by your passion,
by the sending of the Counselling Spirit, free us, Lord.
(Continued…)
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We sinners pray, free us, Lord.

Holy Father, we pray, hear us.
To give us peace and concord,
to give us life and health,
to give us the fruits of the earth,
to protect our livestock from all pestilence,
to give us favourable weather,
to give us rain at the proper time,
to give us perseverance in good works,
to work true repentance in us,
to move us in charity for those in need,
to give us fervor in your service,
to give all Christian people peace and unity,
to keep us in the true faith and religion,
to preserve and spread your holy church,
to give long life and health to pastors, teachers and leaders,
to protect the leaders of our land from all enemies and snares,
to give them victory and long life,
to drive out the enemies of Christians from the earth,
to bring them to holy baptism,
to give all Christians your mercy,
to spare us, to grant us mercy,
to look upon us we pray: hear us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, Grant us your peace.
Christ conquers. Christ rules. Christ commands.
O Christ, hear us.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
O Christ, give us your grace.
O Christ, give us joy and peace.
O Christ, give us life and salvation. Amen.
(From “The Dunkeld Litany,” Culdee Community, 8th-10th century, tr. Paul C. Stratman,
ed., Prayers from the Ancient Celtic Church [© Paul C. Stratman, 2018], pp. 71 f.)
Hymn
“Sing of Andrew, John’s Disciple”
Sing of Andrew, John's disciple,
led by faith through ways untrod,
till the Baptist cried at Jordan,
(Continued…)
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"There behold the Lamb of God."

Stirred by hearing this new teacher,
Andrew, freed from doubt and fear,
ran to tell his brother Simon,
"God's Anointed One is here!"
Sing of Andrew, called by Jesus
from the shores of Galilee,
leaving boats and nets and kindred,
trusting in that "Follow me."
When a lad's small meal fed thousands,
when inquiring Greeks found care,
when the Spirit came in blessing,
Andrew faithfully was there.
Sing of Andrew, bold apostle,
sent to make the gospel known,
faithful to his Lord's example,
called to make a cross his own.
So may we who prize his memory
honor Christ in our own day,
bearing witness to our neighbors,
living what we sing and pray.
Carl P. Daw Jr., © 1987 Hope Publishing Company
Used with permission CCLI # 3117248
(Sung to “Blaenwern”, Welsh Revival Tune)
The Benediction
Jesus! [Our] companion be
On the roads we take today
Through the moor or o’er the sea,
Thou for [us], be Guide and Stay.
Jesus, Our sweet Lover! Place
In the hearts of all [we] greet
Love like Thine that is a grace
To homing [folk] or roving feet.
Up the hill-way, down the glen,
Past the forest edged with broom,
Where the shadows hide the ben,
Where the rivers deepen gloom,
Radiant, [we], Thy love[rs] go,
Free from fear and sain* from foe.
(Alistair Maclean, Hebridean Altars, op.cit., pp. 15 f.
* “sain”: sainted, sanctified, made holy.)