SUNDAY (November 8, 2020)
Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Gospel Sentence
“But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’” (Matthew 25:6)
Reading
“Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:18–20)
Meditation
The prophets of old spoke of the “day of the LORD” as a time when God dramatically reveals and/or executes judgement by condemning the wicked and delivering the righteous. In this text, there seems to be no way out, and certainly no righteous. It is an ominous text full of woe and judgment. A fitting text for the end of the Church year—a time when we hear of judgement and end times.
Silence
Prayer for Holy Cross Member
Let your grace be upon Gundi, O Lord, and teach her to hope in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer of the Week
Lord God, heavenly Father, send forth Your Son to lead home His bride, the Church, that with all the company of the redeemed we may finally enter into His eternal wedding feast; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Lord’s Prayer