The provincial Eucharist will be live-streamed at 11am (and available thereafter) on YouTube and Facebook.
Here is a Service of the Word Suitable for use at Home.
May our gift of love in worship be offered in the name of the God whose best name is Love, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us keep silence.
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The Greeting
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The collect for purity
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Confession and absolution.
God is love and we are God’s children. There is no room for fear in love. We love because God loved us first.
God our Father, we confess to you and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ that we have sinned in thought, word and deed, and in what we have failed to do. We are truly sorry. Forgive us our sins, and deliver us from the power of evil, for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
May God, who is both power and love, forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by the Holy Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Gloria
The Collects.
Lord of life and power, through the mighty resurrection of your Son you Almighty God: in your great goodness, grant that we, as pilgrims through the Easter mysteries, may hold them fast in our lives; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. Amen.
Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our end,
you break through the locks gated communities
and hardened hearts:
accept our doubts,
heal our desire for certainty
and, by your Spirit’s gentle touch,
make us a people forgiven and forgiving;
through Jesus Christ, the Giver of Peace.
Amen.
Lord God almighty, come and dispel the darkness from our hearts, that in the radiance of your brightness we may know you, the only unfading light, glorious in all eternity. Amen.
Liturgy of the Word
The First Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22–32
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
‘You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. For David says concerning him,
“I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
moreover, my flesh will live in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One experience corruption.
You have made known to me the ways of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.”
‘Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,
“He was not abandoned to Hades,
nor did his flesh experience corruption.”
This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.
For the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
An unfolding of Psalm 16
A reading from the Gospel according to John.
Glory to Christ our Saviour.
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Give thanks for the glorious gospel of the Lord.
Praise to Christ our Lord.
Profession of Faith
We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
Gracious God, you have brought a new and living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Bless our community as we continue to celebrate your resurrection in difficult times.
Risen and glorified Lord,
hear our prayer.
Through your resurrection the whole of creation is renewed. Forgive our lack of vision in caring for the world you created.
Risen and glorified Lord,
hear our prayer.
Your new life has brought us out of the darkness of fear and sin. Be with those who have lost hope in the promise of your resurrection life.
Risen and glorified Lord,
hear our prayer.
Bless those whose hope in the resurrection is blighted by the fear of death.
May the reality of the empty tomb shatter the bonds of apprehension.
Risen and glorified Lord,
hear our prayer.
Be with all prisoners and captives. Let your light shine in their hearts.
Risen and glorified Lord,
hear our prayer.
Reflection – for Divine Mercy Sunday, by John Michael Talbot.
The Dismissal
With the risen life of Christ within you,
go in the peace of Christ. Alleluia, alleluia.
Thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia!
St Ternans Banchory 