Opening Prayer
O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace through your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. BCP 230-231
TEXT
John 3:31-36 ESV
He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
Read
And if you want to learn what condition your life is in, inquire of your soul and ask it: “Soul, have you kept all of God’s commandments, or not?” And, opening the mouth of its conscience, it will tell the whole truth. For it will not seek to please you, rather it will reprove you, and whatever you have stored up and keep in yourself, whether good or ill, it will show you. For within the soul’s conscience you will discover whether you have loved the world; whether you have preferred the world to God; whether you have sought the glory of men, or whether you have longed for the glory, which is God’s gift alone.
— St. Symeon the New Theologian, “First Ethical Discourse,” On the Mystical Life
Prayer of Response
Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statues, and I will observe it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life.
— Psalm 119:33-35, 40