Office of Readings
INVITATORY
The Invitatory is said when this is the first ‘hour’ of the day.
Go to the Hymn
Go to the Psalmody
Lord, + open my lips.
– And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
The antiphon is repeated. In individual recitation, the antiphon may be said only at the beginning of the psalm; it need not be repeated after each strophe.
Go to Psalm 24
Go to Psalm 67
Go to Psalm 100
Psalm 95
A call to praise God
Encourage each other daily while it is still today (Hebrews 3:13).
Come, let us sing to the Lord *
and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us.
Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving *
and sing joyful songs to the Lord.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
The Lord is God, the mighty God, *
the great king over all the gods.
He holds in his hands the depths of the earth *
and the highest mountains as well.
He made the sea; it belongs to him, *
the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Come, then, let us bow down and worship, *
bending the knee before the Lord, our maker.
For he is our God and we are his people, *
the flock he shepherds.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Today, listen to the voice of the Lord: †
Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did
in the wilderness, *
when at Meriba and Massah
they challenged me and provoked me, *
Although they had seen all of my works.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Forty years I endured that generation. *
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray
and they do not know my ways.”
So I swore in my anger, *
“They shall not enter into my rest.”
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Go to the Hymn
Psalm 24
The Lord’s entry into his temple
Christ opened heaven for us in the manhood he assumed (Saint Irenaeus).
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness, *
the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas; *
on the waters he made it firm.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? *
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart, †
who desires not worthless things, *
who has not sworn so as to deceive his neighbor.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
He shall receive blessings from the Lord *
and reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who seek him, *
seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
O gates, lift high your heads; †
grow higher, ancient doors. *
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Who is the king of glory? †
The Lord, the mighty, the valiant, *
the Lord, the valiant in war.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
O gates, lift high your heads; †
grow higher, ancient doors. *
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Who is he, the king of glory? †
He, the Lord of armies, *
he is the king of glory.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Go to the Hymn
Psalm 67
People of all nations will worship the Lord
You must know that God is offering his salvation to all the world (Acts 28:28).
O God, be gracious and bless us *
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth *
and all nations learn your saving help.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Let the nations be glad and exult *
for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples, *
you guide the nations on earth.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
The earth has yielded its fruit *
for God, our God, has blessed us.
May God still give us his blessing *
till the ends of the earth revere him.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Go to the Hymn
Psalm 100
The joyful song of those entering God’s temple
The Lord calls his ransomed people to sing songs of victory (Saint Athanasius).
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. †
Serve the Lord with gladness. *
Come before him, singing for joy.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Know that he, the Lord, is God. †
He made us, we belong to him, *
we are his people, the sheep of his flock.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Go within his gates, giving thanks. †
Enter his courts with songs of praise. *
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Indeed, how good is the Lord, †
eternal his merciful love. *
He is faithful from age to age.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
If the Invitatory is not said, then the following is used:
God, + come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
HYMN
O God of truth, prepare our minds
To hear and heed your holy word.
Fill every heart that longs for you
With your mysterious presence, Lord.
Almighty Father, with your Son
And blessed Spirit, hear our prayer;
Teach us to love eternal truth
And seek its freedom everywhere.
Tune: Warrington L.M.
Music: R. Harrison, 1748-1810
Text: © Stanbrook Abbey, used with permission
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 Show me your mercy, Lord, and keep me safe.
Psalm 6
A suffering man cries to God for mercy
I am filled with dismay . . . Father, save me from this hour (John 12:27).
Lord, do not reprove me in your anger: *
punish me not in your rage.
Have mercy on me, Lord, I have no strength; †
Lord, heal me, my body is racked; *
my soul is racked with pain.
But you, O Lord . . . how long? *
Return, Lord, rescue my soul.
Save me in your merciful love; †
for in death no one remembers you; *
from the grave, who can give you praise?
I am exhausted with my groaning; *
every night I drench my pillow with tears;
I bedew my bed with weeping. †
My eye wastes away with grief; *
I have grown old surrounded by my foes.
Leave me, all you who do evil; *
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my plea; *
the Lord will accept my prayer.
All my foes will retire in confusion, *
foiled and suddenly confounded.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm Prayer
Lord God, you love mercy and tenderness; you give life and overcome death. Look upon the many wounds of your Church; restore it to health by your risen Son, so that it may sing a new song in your praise.
Ant. Show me your mercy, Lord, and keep me safe.
Ant. 2 The poor are not alone in their distress; God is here to help them.
Psalm 9A
Thanksgiving for victory
You will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; *
I will recount all your wonders.
I will rejoice in you and be glad, *
and sing psalms to your name, O Most High.
See how my enemies turn back, *
how they stumble and perish before you.
You upheld the justice of my cause; *
you sat enthroned, judging with justice.
You have checked the nations, destroyed the wicked; *
you have wiped out their name for ever and ever.
The foe is destroyed, eternally ruined. *
You uprooted their cities; their memory has perished.
But the Lord sits enthroned for ever. *
He has set up his throne for judgment;
he will judge the world with justice, *
he will judge the peoples with his truth.
For the oppressed let the Lord be a stronghold, *
a stronghold in times of distress.
Those who know your name will trust you; *
you will never forsake those who seek you.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. The poor are not alone in their distress. God is here to help them.
Ant. 3 I will be the herald of your praises, Lord, where the people of Zion gather.
II
Sing psalms to the Lord who dwells in Zion. *
Proclaim his mighty works among the peoples,
for the Avenger of blood has remembered them, *
has not forgotten the cry of the poor.
Have pity on me, Lord, see my sufferings, *
you who save me from the gates of death;
that I may recount all your praise †
at the gates of the city of Zion *
and rejoice in your saving help.
The nations have fallen in the pit which they made, *
their feet caught in the snare they laid.
The Lord has revealed himself, and given judgment. *
The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.
Let the wicked go down among the dead, *
all the nations forgetful of God.
For the needy shall not always be forgotten *
nor the hopes of the poor be in vain.
Arise, Lord, let men not prevail! *
Let the nations be judged before you.
Lord, strike them with terror, *
let the nations know they are but men.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm Prayer
Lord God, when you judge, do not be deaf to the shouts of the poor, bring havoc to the madness of oppressors. Look at our wounds and save us from the gates of death, so that we may always rejoice in your help and speak your praise in the gates of Zion.
Ant. I will be the herald of your praises, Lord, where the people of Zion gather.
Give me insight, Lord, to know your will.
– Then I will cherish it with all my heart.
READINGS
FIRST READING
From the book of the prophet Ezekiel
34:1-6, 11-16, 23-31
Israel is the Lord’s flock
Thus the word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, in these words prophesy to them [to the shepherds]: Thus says the Lord God:
Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep? You have fed off their milk, worn their wool, and slaughtered the fatlings, but the sheep you have not pastured. You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured. You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost, but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered and wandered over all the mountains and high hills; my sheep were scattered over the whole earth, with no one to look after them or to search for them.
For thus says the Lord God: I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark. I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the foreign lands; I will bring them back to their own country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel [in the land’s ravines and all its inhabited places]. In good pastures will I pasture them, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing ground. There they shall lie down on good grazing ground, and in rich pastures shall they be pastured on the mountains of Israel.
I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord God. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal [but the sleek and the strong I will destroy], shepherding them rightly.
I will appoint one shepherd over them to pasture them, my servant David; he shall pasture them and be their shepherd. I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.
I will make a covenant of peace with them, and rid the country of ravenous beasts, that they may dwell securely in the desert and sleep in the forests. I will place them about my hill, sending rain in due season, rains that shall be a blessing to them. The trees of the field shall bear their fruits, and the land its crops, and they shall dwell securely on their own soil. Thus they shall know that I am the Lord when I break the bonds of their yoke and free them from the power of those who enslaved them. They shall no longer be despoiled by the nations or devoured by beasts of the earth, but shall dwell secure, with no one to frighten them.
I will prepare for them peaceful fields for planting; they shall no longer be carried off by famine in the land, or bear the reproaches of the nations. Thus they shall know that I, the Lord, am their God, and they are my people, the house of Israel, says the Lord God. [You, my sheep, you are the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, says the Lord God.]
RESPONSORY
Ezekiel 34:12, 13, 14; John 10:10
I shall rescue my sheep from wherever they were scattered
on the day of mist and darkness,
and I shall bring them back to their own land,
– and in rich pasture lands I shall feed them.
I have come that they may have life,
and have it more abundantly.
– And in rich pasture lands I shall feed them.
SECOND READING
From a sermon On Pastors by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Sermo 46, 14-15: CCL 41, 541-542)
Welcome or unwelcome, insist upon the message
The straying sheep you have not recalled; the lost sheep you have not sought. In one way or another, we go on living between the hands of robbers and the teeth of raging wolves, and in light of these present dangers we ask your prayers. The sheep moreover are insolent. The shepherd seeks out the straying sheep, but because they have wandered away and are lost they say that they are not ours. “Why do you want us? Why do you seek us?” they ask, as if their straying and being lost were not the very reason for our wanting them and seeking them out. “If I am straying,” he says, “if I am lost, why do you want me?” You are straying, that is why I wish to recall you. You have been lost, I wish to find you. “But I wish to stray,” he says: “I wish to be lost.”
So you wish to stray and be lost? How much better that I do not also wish this. Certainly, I dare say, I am unwelcome. But I listen to the Apostle who says: Preach the word; insist upon it, welcome and unwelcome. Welcome to whom? Unwelcome to whom? By all means welcome to those who desire it; unwelcome to those who do not. However unwelcome, I dare to say: “You wish to stray, you wish to be lost; but I do not want this.” For the one whom I fear does not wish this. And should I wish it, consider his words of reproach: The straying sheep you have not recalled; the lost sheep you have not sought. Shall I fear you rather than him? Remember, we must all present ourselves before the judgment seat of Christ.
I shall recall the straying; I shall seek the lost. Whether they wish it or not, I shall do it. And should the brambles of the forests tear at me when I seek them, I shall force myself through all straits; I shall put down all hedges. So far as the God whom I fear grants me the strength, I shall search everywhere. I shall recall the straying; I shall seek after those on the verge of being lost. If you do not want me to suffer, do not stray, do not become lost. It is enough that I lament your straying and loss. No, I fear that in neglecting you, I shall also kill what is strong. Consider the passage that follows: And what was strong you have destroyed. Should I neglect the straying and lost, the strong one will also take delight in straying and in being lost.
RESPONSORY
Sirach 4:23-24; 2 Timothy 4:2
Speak out when the time is right;
do not hide your wisdom,
– for speech makes wisdom known,
and all a man has learned appears in his words.
Preach the word, persevere in this task,
both when convenient and inconvenient;
correct, reprove, summon to obedience,
but do all with patience and sound doctrine.
– For speech makes wisdom known,
and all a man has learned appears in his words.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Let us pray.
Father,
guide us, as you guide creation
according to your law of love.
May we love one another
and come to perfection
in the eternal life prepared for us.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.
Or:
O God, who founded all the commands of your sacred Law
upon love of you and of our neighbor,
grant that, by keeping your precepts,
we may merit to attain eternal life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.
ACCLAMATION
Let us praise the Lord.
– And give him thanks.
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