From: Isaiah 58:9b-14
Misguided Fasting Denounced (Continuation)
(Thus says the LORD God), [9b] “If you take away from the midst of you the
yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself
out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise
in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. [11] And the LORD will guide
you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones
strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose wa-
ters fall not. [12] And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the
foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
[13] “If you turn back your foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my
holy day, and call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking
idly; [14] then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon
the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for
the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
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Commentary:
58:1-14. This new denunciation, very much in the style of this part of the book,
criticizes fasting done in the wrong spirit; it is uncompromising (vv. 1-7) but it
ends with words of encouragement. The Lord cannot go along with the hypocrisy
of a purely external religion—with people going through the motions of religious
observance while being unjust in their dealings with others and ignoring those in
need. Those who act in this way cannot know much about God this is why the
prophet feels compelled to speak out and use every opportunity to correct them.
“They seek me daily” (v. 2), that is, they are keen to hear the oracles spoken by
the prophets, to learn what God is saying, but they do not act on them — which
shows that they do not really know what religion is all about. Conversion to God
is not a matter of engaging in many external acts of worship and fasting, while
being unjust, exploiting workers and neglecting the poor. It is not surprising that
God ignores fasts if those who perform them commit sins against justice and
charity (vv. 3-6). In this poem different people’s voices are heard at different points:
first God tells the prophet to keep on condemning hypocrisy (vv. 1-2); then men
speak, complaining that God ignores their fasting (v. 3) and at the end God tea-
ches and reproaches: he will have nothing to do with the hypocrisy of those who
perform fasts but behave wickedly (vv. 4-7); whereas he will certainly listen to
prayers if they are accompanied by acts of justice and charity (vv. 8-14).
The works of mercy recommended in this oracle are echoed in Jesus’ discourse
on the Last Judgment in Matthew 25:23-45. Christian spirituality has always
stressed that love of neighbor and works of mercy are clear proof of a person’s
love of God and are a touchstone of true religion, for “...works of mercy are proof
of a truly holy life” (Rabanus Maurus, recorded by St Thomas Aquinas in the
“Catena Aurea”). And St Leo the Great taught: “Let each of the faithful examine
his own conscience, seeking out his deepest desires; if he finds the fruits of love
within his soul, he will know that God is with him, and he should strive even har-
der to be worthy of so great a guest, being ever more generous in his works of
mercy” (”Sermones”, 48, 3).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Scripture readings taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd
Mass Readings
| First reading |
Isaiah 58:9-14 © |
The Lord says this:
If you do away with the yoke,
the clenched fist, the wicked word,
if you give your bread to the hungry,
and relief to the oppressed,
your light will rise in the darkness,
and your shadows become like noon.
The Lord will always guide you,
giving you relief in desert places.
He will give strength to your bones
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never run dry.
You will rebuild the ancient ruins,
build up on the old foundations.
You will be called ‘Breach-mender’,
‘Restorer of ruined houses.’
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
and doing business on the holy day,
if you call the Sabbath ‘Delightful’,
and the day sacred to the Lord ‘Honourable’,
if you honour it by abstaining from travel,
from doing business and from gossip,
then shall you find your happiness in the Lord
and I will lead you triumphant over the heights of the land.
I will feed you on the heritage of Jacob your father.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
Turn your ear, O Lord, and give answer
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am faithful;
save the servant who trusts in you.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord,
for I cry to you all the day long.
Give joy to your servant, O Lord,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving,
full of love to all who call.
Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my voice.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
| Gospel Acclamation |
cfPs94:8 |
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man
– it is the Lord who speaks –
but in the turning back of a wicked man
who changes his ways to win life.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Jesus noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything he got up and followed him.
In his honour Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at table was a large gathering of tax collectors and others. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples and said, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus said to them in reply, ‘It is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.
Feb 25, Invitatory for Saturday of the 0th week of Lent
Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II:
Antiphon: 1043
Psalm: 1044
Christian Prayer:
Antiphon: 687
Psalm: 688
Lord, open my lips.
– And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Ant. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.
Psalm 95
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. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.
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. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.
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. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.
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. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.
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. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be fore ever, Amen
Ant. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.
Feb 25, Office of Readings for Saturday of the 0th week of Lent
Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II:
Ordinary: 1045
Proper of Seasons: 75
Psalter: Saturday, Week IV, 1606
Office of Readings for Saturday after Ash Wednesday
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.
HYMN
Maker of this heart of mine
You know me very well.
You understand my deepest part
More than I know myself.
So when I face the darkness,
When I need to find my way.
I’ll trust in You,
Shepherd of my heart.
Keeper of this heart of mine
Your patience has no end.
You’ve loved me back into Your arms
Time and time again.
So if I start to wander
Like a lamb that’s gone astray,
I’ll trust in You,
Shepherd of my heart.
You’re the beacon of my nights,
You’re the sunlight of my days,
I can rest within Your arms,
I can know Your loving ways.
So let the cold winds blow,
Let the storms rage all around.
I’ll trust in You
Shepherd of my heart.
Giver of this life in me
You’re what I’m living for.
For all my deepest gratitude
You love me even more.
So as I walk through valleys
Listening for the Master’s call,
I’ll trust in you
Shepherd of my heart.
You’re the beacon of my nights
You’re the sunlight of my days,
I can rest within Your arms,
I can know Your loving ways.
So as I walk through valleys
Listening for my Master’s call.
I’ll trust in You
Shepherd of my heart.
I’ll trust in You
Shepherd of my heart.
“Shepherd of my heart” song performed by Melinda Kirigin-Voss on her album “Yesterday, Today, and Forever”
“Shepherd of my heart” by Melinda Kirigin-Voss is available from Amazon.com
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 The Lord delivered his people from the oppressor.
Psalm 78:1-39
Salvation history reveals the goodness of God and the faithlessness of his people
These events are recalled as a warning to us (1 Corinthians 10:6).
IV
How often they defied him in the wilderness
and caused him pain in the desert!
Yet again they put God to the test
and grieved the Holy One of Israel.
They did not remember his deeds
nor the day he saved them from the foe;
when he worked his miracles in Egypt,
his wonders in the plains of Zoan:
when he turned their rivers into blood,
made their streams impossible to drink.
He sent dog-flies against them to devour them
and swarms of frogs to molest them.
He gave their crops to the grub,
the fruit of their labor to the locust.
He destroyed their vines with hail,
their sycamore trees with frost.
He gave up their cattle to plague,
Their flocks and herds to pestilence.
He turned on them the heat of his anger,
fury, rage and havoc,
a troop of destroying angels.
He gave free course to his anger.
He did not spare them from death
but gave their lives to the plague.
He struck all the first born in Egypt,
the finest flower in the dwellings of Ham.
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 Lord delivered his people from the oppressor.
Ant. 2 The Lord led his people to his holy mountain.
V
Then he brought forth his people like sheep;
he guided his flock in the desert.
He led them safely with nothing to fear,
while the sea engulfed their foes.
So he brought them to his holy land,
to the mountain which his right hand had won.
He drove out the nations before them,
and divided the land for their heritage.
Their tents he gave as a dwelling
to each one of Israel’s tribes.
Still they put God to the proof and defied him;
they refused to obey the Most High.
They strayed, as faithless as their fathers,
like a bow on which the archer cannot count.
With their mountain shrines they angered him;
made him jealous with the idols they served.
God saw and was filled with fury:
he utterly rejected Israel.
He forsook his dwelling place in Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
He gave his ark into captivity,
his glorious ark into the hands of the foe.
He gave up his people to the sword,
in his anger against his chosen ones.
So war devoured their young men,
their maidens had no wedding songs;
their priests fell by the sword
and their widows made no lament.
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 Lord led his people to his holy mountain.
Ant. 3 The Lord chose the tribe of Judah, and David, his servant, to shepherd Israel, his chosen people.
VI
Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep,
like a warrior overcome with wine.
He struck his foes from behind
and put them to everlasting shame.
He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim
but he chose the tribe of Judah,
the hill of Zion which he loves.
He built his shrine like the heavens,
or like the earth which he made firm for ever.
And he chose David his servant
and took him away from the sheepfolds.
From the care of the ewes he called him
to be shepherd of Jacob his people,
of Israel his own possession.
He tended them with blameless heart,
with discerning mind he led them.
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
For your people, Lord Jesus, you bring water from the rock and rain bread from heaven; you forgive sins with limitless generosity. Do not let us be marked by unfaithfulness, as in days of old, but grant that the covenant you sealed with your blood may merit us a place with you in your kingdom.
Ant. The Lord chose the tribe of Judah, and David, his servant, to shepherd Israel, his chosen people.
Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) A moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.
The man of God welcomes the light.
– So that all may see that his deeds are true.
READINGS
First reading
From the book of Exodus
3:1-20
The call of Moses and the revelation of the Lord’s name
Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the Lord appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, “I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned.”
When the Lord saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” God said, “Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father,” he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
But the Lord said, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the country of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. So indeed the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have truly noted that the Egyptians are oppressing them. Come, now! I will send you to Pharaoh to lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?” He answered, “I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain.”
“But,” said Moses to God, “when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” God replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.”
God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.
“This is my name forever; this is my title for all generations.
“Go and assemble the elders of the Israelites, and tell them: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I am concerned about you and about the way you are being treated in Egypt; so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.
“Thus they will heed your message. Then you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent us word. Permit us, then, to go a three days’ journey in the desert, that we may offer sacrifice to the Lord, our God.
“Yet I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless he is forced. I will stretch out my hand, therefore, and smite Egypt by doing all kinds of wondrous deeds there. After that he will send you away.”
RESPONSORY Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 43:11
God said to Moses: I am who am.
– Tell the people of Israel: I AM sent me to you.
I, and I alone, am the Lord; there is no other who can save you.
– Tell the people of Israel: I AM sent me to you.
Second reading
From the treatise Against Heresies by Saint Irenaeus, bishop
The friendship of God
Our Lord, the Word of God, first drew men to God as servants, but later he freed those made subject to him. He himself testified to this: I do not call you servants any longer, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. Instead I call you friends, since I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. Friendship with God brings the gift of immortality to those who accept it.
In the beginning God created Adam, not because he needed man, but because he wanted to have someone on whom to bestow his blessings. Not only before Adam but also before all creation, the Word was glorifying the Father in whom he dwelt, and was himself being glorified by the Father. The Word himself said: Father, glorify me with that glory I had with you before the world was.
Nor did the Lord need our service. He commanded us to follow him, but his was the gift of salvation. To follow the Savior is to share in salvation; to follow the light is to enjoy the light. Those who are in the light do not illuminate the light but are themselves illuminated and enlightened by the light. They add nothing to the light; rather, they are beneficiaries, for they are enlightened by the light.
The same is true of service to God: it adds nothing to God, nor does God need the service of man. Rather, he gives life and immortality and eternal glory to those who follow and serve him. He confers a benefit on his servants in return for their service and on his followers in return for their loyalty, but he receives no benefit from them. He is rich, perfect and in need of nothing.
The reason why God requires service from man is this: because he is good and merciful he desires to confer benefits on those who persevere in his service. In proportion to God’s need of nothing is man’s need for communion with God.
This is the glory of man: to persevere and remain in the service of God. For this reason the Lord told his disciples: You did not choose me but I chose you. He meant that his disciples did not glorify him by following him, but in following the Son of God they were glorified by him. As he said: I wish that where I am they also may be, that they may see my glory.
RESPONSORY Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:38
This is what the Lord God asks of you:
– to fear him, and to love and serve him with all your heart and soul.
This is the first and the greatest commandment:
– To fear him, and to love and serve him with all your heart and soul.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Almighty ever-living God,
look with compassion on our weakness
and ensure us your protection
by stretching forth the right hand of your majesty.
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 (only added when praying in community)
Let us praise the Lord.
– And give him thanks.
