2nd Sunday before Lent

Year B

Almighty God,

you have created the heavens and the earth

and made us in your own image:

teach us to discern your hand in all your works

and your likeness in all your children;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who with you and the Holy Spirit reigns supreme over all things,

now and for ever.

or

Almighty God,

give us reverence for all creation

and respect for every person,

that we may mirror your likeness

in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Readings

Proverbs 8.1, 22-31

8Does not wisdom call,
   and does not understanding raise her voice?

²² The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
   the first of his acts of long ago.
²³ Ages ago I was set up,
   at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
²⁴ When there were no depths I was brought forth,
   when there were no springs abounding with water.
²⁵ Before the mountains had been shaped,
   before the hills, I was brought forth—
²⁶ when he had not yet made earth and fields,
   or the world’s first bits of soil.
²⁷ When he established the heavens, I was there,
   when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸ when he made firm the skies above,
   when he established the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ when he assigned to the sea its limit,
   so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
³⁰   then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
   rejoicing before him always,
³¹ rejoicing in his inhabited world
   and delighting in the human race. 

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

Psalm 104.26-end

26  O Lord, how manifold are your works! •
   In wisdom you have made them all;
      the earth is full of your creatures.
27  There is the sea, spread far and wide, •
   and there move creatures beyond number, both small and great.
28  There go the ships, and there is that Leviathan •
   which you have made to play in the deep.
29  All of these look to you •
   to give them their food in due season.
30  When you give it them, they gather it; •
   you open your hand and they are filled with good.
31  When you hide your face they are troubled; •
   when you take away their breath,
      they die and return again to the dust.
32  When you send forth your spirit, they are created, •
   and you renew the face of the earth.
33  May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; •
   may the Lord rejoice in his works;
34  He looks on the earth and it trembles; •
   he touches the mountains and they smoke.
35  I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; •
   I will make music to my God while I have my being.
36  So shall my song please him •
   while I rejoice in the Lord.
37  Let sinners be consumed out of the earth
      and the wicked be no more. •
   Bless the Lord, O my soul.
      Alleluia.

Colossians 1.15-20

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; ¹⁶for inhim all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,²⁰and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

Gospel Reading

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

AllGlory to you, O Lord.

John 1.1-14

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

AllPraise to you, O Christ.

Post Communion

God our creator,

by your gift

the tree of life was set at the heart of the earthly paradise,

and the bread of life at the heart of your Church:

may we who have been nourished at your table on earth

be transformed by the glory of the Saviour’s cross

and enjoy the delights of eternity;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.