Office of Readings
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.
INTRODUCTION
O God, come to our aid.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
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.
Hymn
O God, creation’s secret force,
yourself unmoved, all motion’s source,
who from the morn till evening ray
through all its changes guide the day:
Grant us, when this short life is past,
the glorious evening that shall last;
that, by a holy death attained,
eternal glory may be gained.
To God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit, Three in One,
may every tongue and nation raise
an endless song of thankful praise!
St Ambrose of Milan
Psalm 102 (103)
Praise of the compassionate Lord
My soul, give thanks to the Lord, and never forget all his blessings.
My soul, bless the Lord!
All that is in me, bless his holy name.
My soul, bless the Lord!
Never forget all he has done for you.
The Lord, who forgives your wrongdoing,
who heals all your weaknesses.
The Lord, who redeems your life from destruction,
who crowns you with kindness and compassion.
The Lord, who fills your age with good things,
who renews your youth like an eagle’s.
The Lord, who gives fair judgements,
who gives judgement in favour of the oppressed.
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.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord, and never forget all his blessings.
Psalm 102 (103)
As a father has compassion on his sons, the Lord has pity on those who fear him.
The Lord is compassion and kindness,
full of patience, full of mercy.
He will not fight against you for ever:
he will not always be angry.
He does not treat us as our sins deserve;
he does not pay us back for our wrongdoing.
As high as the sky above the earth,
so great is his kindness to those who fear him.
As far as east is from west,
so far he has put our wrongdoing from us.
As a father cares for his children,
so the Lord cares for those who fear him.
For he knows how we are made,
he remembers we are nothing but dust.
Man – his life is like grass,
he blossoms and withers like flowers of the field.
The wind blows and carries him away:
no trace of him remains.
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.
As a father has compassion on his sons, the Lord has pity on those who fear him.
Psalm 102 (103)
Give thanks to the Lord, all his works.
The Lord has been kind from the beginning;
to those who fear him his kindness lasts for ever.
His justice is for their children’s children,
for those who keep his covenant,
for those who remember his commandments
and try to perform them.
The Lord’s throne is high in the heavens
and his rule shall extend over all.
Bless the Lord, all his angels,
strong in your strength, doers of his command,
bless him as you hear his words.
Bless the Lord, all his powers,
his servants who do his will.
Bless the Lord, all he has created,
in every place that he rules.
My soul, bless the Lord!
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.
Give thanks to the Lord, all his works.
℣. Make me grasp the way of your precepts, Lord.
℟. I will meditate on your wonders.
First Reading
Daniel 5:1-2,5-9,13-17,25-6:1
©
God’s judgement at Belshazzar’s banquet
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his noblemen; a thousand of them attended, and he drank wine in company with this thousand. As he sipped his wine, Belshazzar gave orders for the gold and silver vessels to be brought which his father Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the sanctuary in Jerusalem, so that the king, his noblemen, his wives and his singing women could drink out of them.
Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared, and began to write on the plaster of the palace wall, directly behind the lamp-stand; and the king could see the hand as it wrote. The king turned pale with alarm: his thigh-joints went slack and his knees began to knock. He shouted for his enchanters, Chaldaeans and wizards. And the king said to the Babylonian sages, ‘Anyone who can read this writing and tell me what it means shall be dressed in purple, and have a chain of gold put round his neck, and be third in rank in the kingdom.’ The king’s sages all crowded forward, but they could neither read the writing nor explain to the king what it meant. Greatly alarmed, King Belshazzar turned even paler, and his noblemen were equally disturbed.
Daniel was brought into the king’s presence; the king said to Daniel, ‘Are you the Daniel who was one of the Judaean exiles brought by my father the king from Judah? I am told that the spirit of God Most Holy lives in you, and that you are known for your perception, intelligence and marvellous wisdom. The sages and enchanters have already been brought to me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they have been unable to reveal its meaning. As I am told that you are able to give interpretations and to unravel difficult problems, if you can read the writing and tell me what it means, you shall be dressed in purple, and have a chain of gold put round your neck, and be third in rank in the kingdom.’
Then Daniel spoke up in the presence of the king. ‘Keep your gifts for yourself,’ he said ‘and give your rewards to others. I will read the writing to the king without them, and tell him what it means. The writing reads: Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin. The meaning of the words is this: Mene: God has measured your sovereignty and put an end to it; Tekel: you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; Parsin: your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.’
At Belshazzar’s order Daniel was dressed in purple, a chain of gold was put round his neck and he was proclaimed third in rank in the kingdom.
That same night, the Chaldaean king Belshazzar was murdered, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
Responsory
Ps 75:4-8; Rv 14:9-10
℟. Abate your overweening pride: it is God who rules all, humbling one man and exalting another.* In the Lord’s hand is a cup of strong wine: sinners everywhere must drain it to the dregs.
℣. Whoever worships the beast and his image shall drink the wine of God’s anger.* In the Lord’s hand is a cup of strong wine: sinners everywhere must drain it to the dregs.
Second Reading
A sermon of the second century
Let hope give us endurance
And so, my brethren, let us do the will of the Father who has called us to life. Let us try harder for virtue and abandon bad habits which pave the way for crimes to follow. For if we try hard to do good, peace will always be with us. That is why men can never be at peace while they are dragged along by human fears and put present pleasure above the promise of the future. They are ignorant of how much torment worldly indulgence brings and how much delight is promised in the future.
If they alone behaved like that, it might be tolerable; but they go one step further and imbue the souls of the innocent with their perverse teachings – not realising that this will condemn them twice, once for themselves and once for their hearers.
Therefore let us serve God with a pure heart, and we shall be justified. On the other hand, if we do not serve him, disbelieving in his promises, we shall be miserable. For in the words of the prophecy: Unhappy those who are undecided, those who hesitate in their hearts and say “We have heard these things before, in our fathers’ time, but now we look for them day after day and see nothing.” Fools, compare yourselves to a plant: a vine, for instance. First its leaves fall, then comes the shoot, then a small unripe grape, and at last a mature and ripe fruit. In the same way my people has endured turmoil and suffering, and later will receive good from it.
So let us not be in two minds, my brethren, but let us endure in hope so that we receive our due reward. God is faithful and he has promised to give everyone the due reward of his actions. So if we have acted righteously in God’s eyes we shall enter into his kingdom and receive what he has promised, that no eye has seen and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man.
Let us expect the kingdom of God hourly in love and righteousness, seeing that we do not know the day of his coming. Let us do penance. At present we are full of malice and madness, so now let us revive, let us come back to life, to good life. Let us wipe off the slime of our old sins and by doing heartfelt penance let us recover our health. Let us not be sycophantic. Let us seek men’s favour solely by our righteousness, both in the Church and outside it, so that the holy Name is not blasphemed because of us.
Responsory
℟. Stand firm, immovable in your resolve, doing your full share continually in the task the Lord has given you,* since you know that in the Lord’s service you cannot labour in vain.
℣. Never weary of doing good,* since you know that in the Lord’s service you cannot labour in vain.
Let us pray.
Defend us, Lord, against every distress
so that, unencumbered in body and soul,
we may devote ourselves to your service in freedom and joy.
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.
Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
