Friday 29 November 2019
Friday of week 34 in Ordinary Time
Office of Readings
(combined with Lauds)
This is the Office of Readings joined to another Hour, as described in §99 of the General Instruction. To see the Office of Readings on its own, use the menu button on the right.
Introduction (without Invitatory)
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, use the version with the Invitatory Psalm instead.
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
What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding,
When the just are mercy needing?
King of Majesty tremendous,
Who dost free salvation send us,
Fount of pity, then befriend us!
Think, kind Jesu! – my salvation
Caused thy wondrous Incarnation;
Leave me not to reprobation.
Faint and weary, thou hast sought me,
On the Cross of suffering bought me.
Shall such grace be vainly brought me?
Righteous Judge, for sin’s pollution
Grant thy gift of absolution,
Ere the day of retribution.
Guilty, now I pour my moaning,
All my shame with anguish owning;
Spare, O God, thy suppliant groaning!
O God of majesty
nourishing light of the Trinity
join us with the blessed. Amen.
Dies Iræ
________
Psalm 37 (38)
The plea of a sinner in great peril
“All his friends stood at a distance” (Lk 23:49).
Do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.
O Lórd, do not rebúke me in your ánger; *
do not púnish me, Lórd, in your ráge.
Your árrows have sunk déep in mé; *
your hánd has come dówn upón me.
Through your ánger all my bódy is síck: *
through my sín, there is no héalth in my límbs.
My gúilt towers hígher than my héad; *
it is a wéight too héavy to béar.
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.
Do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.
________
Psalm 37 (38)
O Lord, you know all my longing.
My wóunds are fóul and féstering, *
the resúlt of my ówn fólly.
I am bówed and bróught to my knées. *
I go móurning áll the day lóng.
All my fráme búrns with féver; *
áll my bódy is síck.
Spént and útterly crúshed, *
I cry alóud in ánguish of héart.
O Lórd, you knów all my lónging: *
my gróans are not hídden from yóu.
My heart thróbs, my stréngth is spént; *
the very líght has góne from my éyes.
My fríends avóid me like a léper; *
those clósest to me stánd afar óff.
Those who plót against my lífe lay snáres; †
those who séek my rúin speak of hárm, *
planning tréachery áll the day lóng.
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.
O Lord, you know all my longing.
________
Psalm 37 (38)
I confess my guilt to you, Lord; do not forsake me, my saviour.
But Í am like the déaf who cannot héar, *
like the dúmb unáble to spéak.
Í am like a mán who hears nóthing *
in whose móuth is nó defénce.
I cóunt on yóu, O Lórd: *
it is yóu, Lord Gód, who will ánswer.
I práy: ‘Do not lét them móck me, *
those who tríumph if my fóot should slíp.’
For Í am on the póint of fálling *
and my páin is álways befóre me.
I conféss that Í am gúilty *
and my sín fílls me with dismáy.
My wánton énemies are númberless *
and my lýing fóes are mány.
They repáy me évil for góod *
and attáck me for séeking what is ríght.
O Lórd, dó not forsáke me! *
My Gód, do not stáy afar óff!
Make háste and cóme to my hélp, *
O Lórd, my Gód, my sáviour!
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.
I confess my guilt to you, Lord; do not forsake me, my saviour.
Psalm-prayer
Do not abandon us, Lord our God; you did not forget the broken body of your Christ, nor the mockery his love received. We, your children, are weighed down with sin; give us the fullness of your mercy.
________
℣. My eyes yearn for your saving help.
℟. I await the promise of your justice.
________
First Reading
2 Peter 3:1-18
My friends, this is my second letter to you, and in both of them I have tried to awaken a true understanding in you by giving you a reminder: recalling to you what was said in the past by the holy prophets and the commandments of the Lord and saviour which you were given by the apostles.
We must be careful to remember that during the last days there are bound to be people who will be scornful, the kind who always please themselves what they do, and they will make fun of the promise and ask, ‘Well, where is this coming? Everything goes on as it has since the Fathers died, as it has since it began at the creation.’ They are choosing to forget that there were heavens at the beginning, and that the earth was formed by the word of God out of water and between the waters, so that the world of that time was destroyed by being flooded by water. But by the same word, the present sky and earth are destined for fire, and are only being reserved until Judgement day so that all sinners may be destroyed.
But there is one thing, my friends, that you must never forget: that with the Lord, ‘a day’ can mean a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not being slow to carry out his promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but he is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways. The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all that it contains will be burnt up.
Since everything is coming to an end like this, you should be living holy and saintly lives while you wait and long for the Day of God to come, when the sky will dissolve in flames and the elements melt in the heat. What we are waiting for is what he promised: the new heavens and new earth, the place where righteousness will be at home. So then, my friends, while you are waiting, do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that he will find you at peace. Think of our Lord’s patience as your opportunity to be saved: our brother Paul, who is so dear to us, told you this when he wrote to you with the wisdom that is his special gift. He always writes like this when he deals with this sort of subject, and this makes some points in his letter hard to understand; these are the points that uneducated and unbalanced people distort, in the same way as they distort the rest of scripture – a fatal thing for them to do. You have been warned about this, my friends; be careful not to get carried away by the errors of unprincipled people, from the firm ground that you are standing on. Instead, go on growing in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory, in time and in eternity. Amen.
Responsory
℟. Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: be glad and rejoice for ever in my creation.* See, I make all things new.
℣. I create Jerusalem to be a delight and her people a joy.* See, I make all things new.
________
Second Reading
The treatise of St Cyprian on mortality
Let us shut out the fear of death and meditate upon immortality
Our obligation is to do God’s will, and not our own. We must remember this if the prayer that our Lord commanded us to say daily is to have any meaning on our lips. How unreasonable it is to pray that God’s will be done, and then not promptly obey it when he calls us from this world! Instead we struggle and resist like self-willed slaves and are brought into the Lord’s presence with sorrow and lamentation, not freely consenting to our departure, but constrained by necessity. And yet we expect to be rewarded with heavenly honours by him to whom we come against our will! Why then do we pray for the kingdom of heaven to come if this earthly bondage pleases us? What is the point of praying so often for its early arrival if we would rather serve the devil here than reign with Christ?
The world hates Christians, so why give your love to it instead of following Christ, who loves you and has redeemed you? John is most urgent in his epistle when he tells us not to love the world by yielding to sensual desires. Never give your love to the world, he warns, or to anything in it. A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time. All that the world offers is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and earthly ambition. The world and its allurements will pass away, but the man who has done the will of God shall live for ever. Our part, my dear brothers, is to be single-minded, firm in faith, and steadfast in courage, ready for God’s will, whatever it may be. Banish the fear of death and think of the eternal life that follows it. That will show people that we really live our faith.
We ought never to forget, beloved, that we have renounced the world. We are living here now as aliens and only for a time. When the day of our homecoming puts an end to our exile, frees us from the bonds of the world, and restores us to paradise and to a kingdom, we should welcome it. What man, stationed in a foreign land, would not want to return to his own country as soon as possible? Well, we look upon paradise as our country, and a great crowd of our loved ones awaits us there, a countless throng of parents, brothers and children longs for us to join them. Assured though they are of their own salvation, they are still concerned about ours. What joy both for them and for us to see one another and embrace! O the delight of that heavenly kingdom where there is no fear of death! O the supreme and endless bliss of everlasting life!
There, is the glorious band of apostles, there the exultant assembly of prophets, there the innumerable host of martyrs, crowned for their glorious victory in combat and in death. There in triumph are the virgins who subdued their passions by the strength of continence. There the merciful are rewarded, those who fulfilled the demands of justice by providing for the poor. In obedience to the Lord’s command, they turned their earthly patrimony into heavenly treasure.
My dear brothers, let all our longing be to join them as soon as we may. May God see our desire, may Christ see this resolve that springs from faith, for he will give the rewards of his love more abundantly to those who have longed for him more fervently.
Responsory
℟. Our true home is in heaven, and from heaven we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ;* he will change our lowly body and make it like his glorious body.
℣. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory;* he will change our lowly body and make it like his glorious body.
________
Psalm 50 (51)
God, have mercy on me
“You must be made new in mind and spirit, and put on the new nature of God’s creating” (Eph 4:23,24).
O God, you will not spurn a humbled, contrite heart.
Have mércy on me, Gód, in your kíndness. *
In your compássion blot óut my offénce.
O wásh me more and móre from my gúilt *
and cléanse me fróm my sín.
My offénces trúly I knów them; *
my sín is álways befóre me.
Against yóu, you alóne, have I sínned; *
what is évil in your síght I have dóne.
That you may be jústified whén you give séntence *
and be withóut repróach when you júdge,
O sée, in gúilt I was bórn, *
a sínner was Í concéived.
Indéed you love trúth in the héart; *
then in the sécret of my héart teach me wísdom.
O púrify me, thén I shall be cléan; *
O wásh me, I shall be whíter than snów.
Make me héar rejóicing and gládness, *
that the bónes you have crúshed may revíve.
From my síns turn awáy your fáce *
and blót out áll my gúilt.
A púre heart creáte for me, O Gód, *
put a stéadfast spírit withín me.
Do not cást me awáy from your présence, *
nor depríve me of your hóly spírit.
Give me agáin the jóy of your hélp; *
with a spírit of férvour sustáin me,
that I may téach transgréssors your wáys *
and sínners may retúrn to yóu.
O réscue me, Gód, my hélper, *
and my tóngue shall ríng out your góodness.
O Lórd, ópen my líps *
and my móuth shall decláre your práise.
For in sácrifice you táke no delíght, *
burnt óffering from mé you would refúse,
my sácrifice, a cóntrite spírit. *
A húmbled, contrite héart you will not spúrn.
In your góodness, show fávour to Síon: *
rebúild the wálls of Jerúsalem.
Thén you will be pléased with lawful sácrifice, *
hólocausts óffered on your áltar.
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.
O God, you will not spurn a humbled, contrite heart.
Psalm-prayer
Father, he who knew no sin was made sin for us, to save us and restore us to your friendship. Look upon our contrite heart and afflicted spirit and heal our troubled conscience, so that in the joy and strength of the Holy Spirit we may proclaim your praise and glory before all the nations.
________
Canticle
Habakkuk 3
The Lord will appear in judgement
“Lift up your heads, for your redemption is near at hand” (Lk 21:28).
In spite of your anger, Lord, have compassion.
Lord, I have heard of your fame, *
I stand in awe at your deeds.
Do them again in our days, †
in our days make them known! *
In spite of your anger, have compassion.
God comes forth from Teman, *
the Holy One comes from Mount Paran.
His splendour covers the sky *
and his glory fills the earth.
His brilliance is like the light, †
rays flash from his hands; *
there his power is hidden.
You march out to save your people, *
to save the one you have anointed.
You made a path for your horses in the sea, *
in the raging of the mighty waters.
This I heard and I tremble with terror, *
my lips quiver at the sound.
Weakness invades my bones, *
my steps fail beneath me
yet I calmly wait for the doom *
that will fall upon the people who assail us.
For even though the fig does not blossom, *
nor fruit grow on the vine,
even though the olive crop fail, *
and fields produce no harvest,
even though flocks vanish from the folds *
and stalls stand empty of cattle,
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord *
and exult in God my saviour.
The Lord my God is my strength. †
He makes me leap like the deer, *
he guides me to the high places.
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.
In spite of your anger, Lord, have compassion.
________
Psalm 147 (147B)
God, the foundation of Jerusalem
“Come, and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has chosen” (Rev 21:9).
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem. †
O práise the Lórd, Jerúsalem! *
Síon, práise your Gód!
He has stréngthened the bárs of your gátes *
he has bléssed the chíldren withín you.
He estáblished péace on your bórders, *
he féeds you with fínest whéat.
He sénds out his wórd to the éarth *
and swíftly rúns his commánd.
He shówers down snów white as wóol, *
he scátters hóar-frost like áshes.
He húrls down háilstones like crúmbs. *
The wáters are frózen at his tóuch;
he sénds forth his wórd and it mélts them: *
at the bréath of his móuth the waters flów.
He mákes his wórd known to Jácob, *
to Ísrael his láws and decrées.
He has not déalt thus with óther nátions; *
he has not táught them hís decrées.
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.
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, you established peace within the borders of Jerusalem. Give the fullness of peace now to your faithful people. May peace rule us in this life and possess us in eternal life. You are about to fill us with the best of wheat; grant that what we see dimly now as in a mirror, we may come to perceive clearly in the brightness of your truth.
Or:
All-powerful God, it is through your Church, generously endowed with gifts of grace and fortified by the Holy Spirit, that you send out your word to all nations. Strengthen your Church with the best of all food and make her dauntless in faith. Multiply her children to celebrate with one accord the mysteries of your love at the altar on high.
________
Short Reading
Ephesians 2:13-16
Now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law. This was to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God: in his own person he killed the hostility.
________
Short Responsory
I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.
– I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.
May he send from heaven and save me.
– I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.
________
Canticle
Benedictus
The Messiah and the one who was sent before him
Through the loving mercy of our God, the Rising Sun has come to visit us.
Bléssed be the Lórd, the Gód of Ísrael! *
He has vísited his péople and redéemed them.
He has raised úp for ús a mighty sáviour *
in the hóuse of Dávid his sérvant,
as he prómised by the líps of holy mén, *
thóse who were his próphets from of óld.
A sáviour who would frée us from our fóes, *
from the hánds of áll who háte us.
So his lóve for our fáthers is fulfílled *
and his hóly covenant remémbered.
He swóre to Ábraham our fáther to gránt us, *
that frée from féar, and sáved from the hánds of our fóes,
we might sérve him in hóliness and jústice *
all the dáys of our lífe in his présence.
As for yóu, little chíld, *
you shall be cálled a próphet of Gód, the Most Hígh.
You shall go ahéad of the Lórd *
to prépare his wáys befóre him,
To make knówn to his péople their salvátion *
through forgíveness of áll their síns,
the loving-kíndness of the héart of our Gód *
who vísits us like the dáwn from on hígh.
He will give líght to those in dárkness, †
those who dwéll in the shádow of déath, *
and gúide us into the wáy of péace.
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.
Through the loving mercy of our God, the Rising Sun has come to visit us.
________
Prayers and intercessions
Father, we praise you for your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; through the Holy Spirit he offered himself in sacrifice to you, that we might be delivered from death and selfishness, and be free to live in your peace.
– Father, in your will is our peace.
We accept this new day as your gift, Lord;
grant that we may live in newness of life.
– Father, in your will is our peace.
You made all things, and keep all things in being;
give us the insight to see your hand at work in them all.
– Father, in your will is our peace.
Your Son sealed the new and everlasting covenant in his blood;
help us to live by this covenant and honour it.
– Father, in your will is our peace.
As Jesus died on the cross, blood and water flowed from his side;
as we share in the eucharist, pour out your Spirit upon us.
– Father, in your will is our peace.
________
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 who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
________
Almighty God,
as in this morning prayer we offer you our praise,
grant that in your kingdom,
together with your saints,
we may praise you with even greater 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.
________
The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.