Saint John, December 27

Collect:
Shed upon thy Church, we beseech thee, O Lord, the brightness of thy light, that we, being illumined by the teaching of thine apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of thy truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Exodus 33:18-23
Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."

And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

Second Lesson: 1 John 1:1-9
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make ourA joy complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

Psalm: 92 or 92:1-4,11-14

1. It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD, *
   and to sing praises to your Name, O Most High;
2. To tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning *
   and of your faithfulness in the night season;
3. On the psaltery, and on the lyre, *
   and to the melody of the harp.
4. For you have made me glad by your acts, O LORD; *
   and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
5. LORD, how great are your works! *
   your thoughts are very deep.
6. The dullard does not know,
   nor does the fool understand, *
   that though the wicked grow like weeds,
   and all the workers of iniquity flourish,
7. They flourish only to be destroyed for ever; *
   but you, O LORD, are exalted for evermore.
8. For lo, your enemies, O LORD,
   lo, your enemies shall perish, *
   and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
9. But my horn you have exalted like the horns of wild bulls; *
   I am anointed with fresh oil.
10. My eyes also gloat over my enemies, *
    and my ears rejoice to hear the doom of the wicked who
    rise up against me.
11. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, *
    and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
12. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD *
    shall flourish in the courts of our God;
13. They shall still bear fruit in old age; *
    they shall be green and succulent;
14. That they may show how upright the LORD is, *
    my Rock, in whom there is no fault.

Gospel: John 21:19b-24
Then he said to him, "Follow me!"

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?"

Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"

This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

Collect & Psalm from the Book of Common Prayer
Other excerpts from the New International Bible

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