O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
Psalm 50 (51) |
---|
God, have mercy on me |
Take pity on me, Lord, in your mercy; in your abundance of mercy wipe out my guilt. Wash me ever more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For I know how guilty I am: my sin is always before me. Against you, you alone have I sinned, and I have done evil in your sight. Know this, so that you may give just sentence and an unbiased judgement. See, I was conceived in guilt, in sin my mother conceived me; but you love truth in the heart, and deep within me you have shown me your wisdom. You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be made clean; you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. You will make me hear the sound of joy and gladness; the bones you have crushed will rejoice. Turn your face away from my sins and wipe out all my transgressions; create a pure heart in me, God, put a steadfast spirit into me. Do not send me away from your presence, or withdraw your holy spirit from me; give me again the joy of your salvation, and be ready to strengthen me with your spirit. I will teach the unjust your ways, and the impious will return to you. Free me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, God my saviour, and my voice will glory in your justice. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will proclaim your praise; for you do not delight in sacrifices: if I offered you a burnt offering, it would not please you. The true sacrifice is a broken spirit: a contrite and humble heart, O God, you will not refuse. Be pleased, Lord, to look kindly on Sion, so that the walls of Jerusalem can be rebuilt, Then indeed you will accept the proper sacrifices, gifts and burnt offerings; then indeed will bullocks be laid upon your altar. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
Canticle | Isaiah 45 |
---|---|
All peoples, turn to the Lord | |
In truth you are a hidden God, the God and Saviour of Israel. They were dismayed and ashamed, all the makers of idols, all of them fled in dismay. Israel has been saved by the Lord, saved for ever; you will not be dismayed or ashamed, to the end of time. For thus says the Lord, the God who made the heavens, who made the earth, shaped it, set it firm he did not make it to be empty, but to be full of life I am the Lord, there is no other. I have not spoken secretly, in some dark corner of the earth. I have not said to the children of Jacob, seek me in vain. I am the Lord who speaks justice, who proclaims uprightness. Gather together, come, approach me all of you who have been rescued from the Gentiles. They were ignorant, who raised up wooden idols and begged favours of a god without power. Announce it come, ponder it together who was saying this from the beginning, who foretold this from the start? Am I not the Lord? Is there any other God but me? Do you seek a just God who will save you? There is no other. Turn to me and you will be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, there is no other. I have sworn by my own being, I have decreed a judgement that will not be revoked; for every knee will bend to me, every tongue swear by my name. Only in the Lord, they will say, are there justice and strength! All who resisted him will come to him, and be dismayed; but in the Lord all descendants of Israel will receive justice and glory. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
Psalm 94 (95) |
---|
A call to worship |
Come, let us rejoice in the Lord, let us acclaim God our salvation. Let us come before him proclaiming our thanks, let us acclaim him with songs. For the Lord is a great God, a king above all gods. For he holds the depths of the earth in his hands, and the peaks of the mountains are his. For the sea is his: he made it; and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, bend the knee before the Lord who made us; for he himself is our God and we are his flock, the sheep that follow his hand. If only, today, you would listen to his voice: Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, on the day of Massah in the desert, when your fathers tested me they put me to the test, although they had seen my works. For forty years they wearied me, that generation. I said: their hearts are wandering, they do not know my paths. I swore in my anger: they will never enter my place of rest. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
Short reading | Ephesians 4:29 - 32 © |
---|---|
Guard against foul talk; let your words be for the improvement of others, as occasion offers, and do good to your listeners, otherwise you will only be grieving the Holy Spirit of God who has marked you with his seal for you to be set free when the day comes. Never have grudges against others, or lose your temper, or raise your voice to anybody, or call each other names, or allow any sort of spitefulness. Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ. |
Canticle | Benedictus |
---|---|
The Messiah and his forerunner | |
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption. He has raised up the sign of salvation in the house of his servant David, as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones, his prophets through the ages: to rescue us from our enemies and all who hate us, to take pity on our fathers, to remember his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham our father, that he would give himself to us, that we could serve him without fear freed from the hands of our enemies in uprightness and holiness before him, for all of our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path, to let his people know their salvation, so that their sins may be forgiven. Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death; to lead our feet in the path of peace. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
|
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. |
O God, your light dispels the darkness of ignorance of your word, morning, noon and night: Increase in our hearts the faith that you have given us: may no trials extinguish the fire lit by your grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. |
May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life. |
A M E N |
Lack of Faith
Matthew 13:54-58
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I come before you today to renew my faith in you. Help me to see the great things you have done in my life. Thank you for your constant mercy towards me. I put myself at your service so you can do whatever you wish in my life. Petition: Lord, increase my faith in you. 1. Too Much Familiarity. The people of Nazareth thought they knew all about Jesus. He had grown up among them. Apparently they had not seen anything extraordinary about him before he started his public ministry. They thought he was just like everyone else. So when they hear that he is doing miracles and teaching with authority, they do not believe it. Sometimes I also run the danger of putting limits on Christs power in my life. I see the unimpressive circumstances of my life and the recurrence of the same old problems. I do not believe that Christ can do something supernatural in the midst of an ordinary situation. Today I am receiving an invitation to step beyond the routine and believe more deeply in the power of Christ
Conversation with Christ: Lord, I know you want to do great things in my life. Help me to see how you can transform the ordinary, seemingly unimportant circumstances of my day into moments when your grace can triumph. Enable me to be docile to your Holy Spirit, so he can do miracles in my life. Resolution: I will increase my faith in Christ by taking a risk for him in some aspect of my spiritual or apostolic life. |