Replies

Office of Readings

INVITATORY

The Invitatory may be said for the first ëhourí recited in the day.

Lord, + open my lips.
ñ And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.

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: Ü
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, ìThey are a people whose hearts go astray
and they do not know my ways.î
So I swore in my anger, *
ìThey shall not enter into my rest.î

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.
ñ Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
ñ as it was in the beginning, is now, will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

HYMN

Sing praise to God who reigns above,
The God of all creation,
The God of power, the God of love,
The God of our salvation;
With healing balm my soul he fills,
And every faithless murmur stills:
To God all praise and glory.

What Godís almighty power hath made,
His gracious mercy keepeth;
By morning glow or evening shade
His watchful eye never sleepeth;
Within the kingdom of his might,
Lo! all is just and all is right:
To God all praise and glory.

Then all my gladsome way along,
I sing aloud thy praises,
That men may hear the grateful song
My voice unwearied raises;
Be joyful in the Lord, my heart,
Both soul and body, bear your part;
To God all praise and glory.

O ye who name Christís holy name,
Give God all praise and glory;
All ye who own his power, proclaim
Aloud the wondrous story!
Cast each false idol from his throne;
The Lord is God, and he alone:
To God all praise and glory.

Melody: Mit Freuden Zart 87.87.887
Music: Bohemian Brethrenís Hymnbook, 1566
Text: Johann J. Schutz, 1640-1690
Translation: Frances E. Cox, 1812-1897

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Our God will be made manifest; he will not come in silence.

Psalm 50
Genuine love of God

I have come not to abolish the law but to bring it to perfection (see Matthew 5:17).

I

The God of gods, the Lord, *
has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting. *
Out of Zionís perfect beauty he shines.

Our God comes, he keeps silence no longer. Ü
Before him fire devours, *
around him tempest rages.
He calls on the heavens and the earth *
to witness his judgment of his people.

ìSummon before me my people *
who made covenant with me by sacrifice.î
The heavens proclaim his justice, *
for God himself is the judge.

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. Our God will be made manifest; he will not come in silence.

Ant. 2 Offer to God the sacrifice of praise.

II

ìListen, my people, I will speak; *
Israel, I will testify against you,
for I am God your God. *
I accuse you, lay the charge before you.

I find no fault with your sacrifices, *
your offerings are always before me.
I do not ask more bullocks from your farms, *
nor goats from among your herds.

For I own all the beasts of the forest, *
beasts in their thousands on my hills.
I know all the birds in the sky, *
all that moves in the field belongs to me.

Were I hungry, I would not tell you, *
for I own the world and all it holds.
Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, *
or drink the blood of goats?

Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God *
and render him your votive offerings.
Call on me in the day of distress. *
I will free you and you shall honor me.î

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. Offer to God the sacrifice of praise.

Ant. 3 I want a loving heart more than sacrifice, knowledge of my ways more than holocausts.

III

But God says to the wicked:

ìBut how can you recite my commandments *
and take my covenant on your lips,
you who despise my law *
and throw my words to the winds,

you who see a thief and go with him; *
who throw in your lot with adulterers,
who unbridle your mouth for evil *
and whose tongue is plotting crime,

you who sit and malign your brother *
and slander your own motherís son.
You do this, and should I keep silence? *
Do you think that I am like you?

Mark this, you who never think of God, *
lest I seize you and you cannot escape;
a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me *
and I will show Godís salvation to the upright.î

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

Father, accept us as a sacrifice of praise, so that we may go through life unburdened by sin, walking in the way of salvation, and always giving thanks to you.

Ant. I want a loving heart more than sacrifice, knowledge of my ways more than holocausts.

Listen, my people, and I will speak.
ñ I am the Lord, your God.

READINGS

FIRST READING

From the book of Judges
4:1-24

Deborah and Barak

After Ehudís death the Israelites again offended the Lord. So the Lord allowed them to fall into the power of the Canaanite king, Jabin, who reigned in Hazor. The general of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth-ha-goiim. But the Israelites cried out to the Lord; for with his nine hundred iron chariots he sorely oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.

At this time the prophetess Deborah, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under Deborahís palm tree, situated between Ramah and Bethel in the mountain region of Ephraim, and there the Israelites came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak, son of Abinoam, from Kedesh of Naphtali. ìThis is what the Lord, the God of Israel, commands,î she said to him; ìgo, march on Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand Naphtalites and Zebulunites. I will lead Sisera, the general of Jabinís army, out to you at the Wadi Kishon, together with his chariots and troops, and will deliver them into your power.î

But Barak answered her, ìIf you come with me, I will go; if you do not come with me, I will not go.î ìI will certainly go with you,î she replied, ìbut you shall not gain the glory in the expedition on which you are setting out, for the Lord will have Sisera fall into the power of a woman.îSo Deborah joined Barak and journeyed with him to Kedesh.

Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and ten thousand men followed him. Deborah also went up with him. Now the Kenite Heber had detached himself from his own people, the descendants of Hobab, Mosesí brother-in-law, and had pitched his tent by the terebinth of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.

It was reported to Sisera that Barak, son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor. So Sisera assembled from Harosheth-ha-goiim at the Wadi Kishon all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all his forces. Deborah then said to Barak, ìBe off, for this is the day on which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your power. The Lord marches before you.î

So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by his ten thousand men. And the Lord put Sisera and all his chariots and all his forces to rout before Barak. Sisera himself dismounted from his chariot and fled on foot. Barak, however, pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-ha-goiim. The entire army of Sisera fell beneath the sword, not even one man surviving.

Sisera, in the meantime, had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of the Kenite Heber, since Jabin, king of Hazor, and the family of the Kenite Heber were at peace with one another. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, ìCome in, my lord, come in with me; do not be afraid.î So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a rug. He said to her, ìPlease give me a little water to drink. I am thirsty.î But she opened a jug of milk for him to drink, and then covered him over. ìStand at the entrance of the tent,î he said to her. ìIf anyone comes and asks, ëIs there someone here?í say, ëNo!í î

Instead Jael, wife of Heber, got a tent peg and took a mallet in her hand. While Sisera was sound asleep, she stealthily approached him and drove the peg through his temple down into the ground, so that he perished in death. Then when Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, ìCome, I will show you the man you seek.î So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg through his temple.

Thus on that day God humbled the Canaanite king, Jabin, before the Israelites; their power weighed ever heavier upon him, till at length they destroyed the Canaanite king, Jabin.

RESPONSORY
1 Corinthians 1:27, 29; 2 Corinthians 12:9; 1 Corinthians 1:28

To shame the strong, God chose the weak
so that no one might boast in his presence.
ñ For his power is made perfect in weakness.

God chose those who were nothing at all,
to humble those who were everything.
ñ For his power is made perfect in weakness.

SECOND READING

From a treatise on the Lordís Prayer by Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr
(Nn. 8-9: CSEL 3, 271-272)

Our prayer is communal

Above all, he who preaches peace and unity did not want us to pray by ourselves in private or for ourselves alone. We do not say ìMy Father, who art in heaven,î nor ìGive me this day my daily bread.î It is not for himself alone that each person asks to be forgiven, not to be led into temptation or to be delivered from evil. Rather, we pray in public as a community, and not for one individual but for all. For the people of God are all one.

God is then the teacher of harmony, peace and unity, and desires each of us to pray for all men, even as he bore all men in himself alone. The three young men shut up in the furnace of fire observed this rule of prayer. United in the bond of the Spirit they uttered together the same prayer. The witness of holy Scripture describes this incident for us, so that we might imitate them in our prayer. Then all three began to sing in unison, blessing God. Even though Christ had not yet taught them to pray, nevertheless, they spoke as with one voice.

It is for this reason that their prayer was persuasive and efficacious. For their simple and spiritual prayer of peace merited the presence of the Lord. So too, after the ascension we find the apostles and the disciples praying together in this way. Scripture relates: They all joined together in continuous prayer, with the women including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. They all joined together in continuous prayer. The urgency and the unity of their prayer declares that God, who fashions a bond of unity among those who live in his home, will admit into his divine home for all eternity only those who pray in unity.

My dear friends, the Lordís Prayer contains many great mysteries of our faith. In these few words there is great spiritual strength, for this summary of divine teaching contains all of our prayers and petitions. And so, the Lord commands us: Pray then like this: Our Father, who art in heaven.

We are new men; we have been reborn and restored to God by his grace. We have already begun to be his sons and we can say ìFather.î John reminds us of this: He came to his own home, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who received him, who believe in his name, he gave the power to become children of God. Profess your belief that you are sons of God by giving thanks. Call upon God who is your Father in heaven.

RESPONSORY
Psalm 22:23; 57:10

I will proclaim your name to my brothers
ñ and praise you in the midst of the assembly.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples
and sing psalms to you among the nations.
ñ and praise you in the midst of the assembly.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Let us pray.

Almighty God,
our hope and our strength,
without you we falter.
Help us to follow Christ
and to live according to your will.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
ñ Amen.

Or:

O God, strength of those who hope in you,
graciously hear our pleas,
and, since without you mortal frailty can do nothing,
grant us always the help of your grace
that in following your commands
we may please you by our resolve and our deeds.
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.
ñ Amen.

ACCLAMATION

Let us praise the Lord.
ñ And give him thanks.