Saturday 7 March 2020
Saturday of the 1st week of Lent
(optional commemoration of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs)
Office of Readings
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.
________
Hymn
Lord, who throughout these forty days
for us didst fast and pray,
teach us with thee to mourn our sins,
and close by thee to stay.
As thou with Satan didst contend
and didst the victory win,
O give us strength in thee to fight,
in thee to conquer sin.
As thou didst hunger bear, and thirst,
so teach us, gracious Lord,
to die to self, and chiefly live
by thy most holy word.
And through these days of penitence,
and through thy Passiontide,
yea, evermore in life and death,
Jesus, with us abide.
Abide with us, that so, this life
of suffering overpast,
an Easter of unending joy
we may attain at last.
________
Psalm 104 (105)
The Lord is faithful to his promises
“The Apostles tell the peoples of the wonderful deeds God wrought in his coming to us” (St Athanasius).
Sing to the Lord; tell all his wonderful works.
Give thanks to the Lord, tell his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
O sing to him, sing his praise;
tell all his wonderful works!
Be proud of his holy name,
let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, the judgements he spoke.
O children of Abraham, his servant,
O sons of the Jacob he chose.
He, the Lord, is our God:
his judgements prevail in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant for ever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
He confirmed it for Jacob as a law,
for Israel as a covenant for ever.
He said: ‘I am giving you a land,
Canaan, your appointed heritage.’
When they were few in number,
a handful of strangers in the land,
when they wandered from country to country,
from one kingdom and nation to another,
he allowed no one to oppress them;
he admonished kings on their account:
‘Do not touch those I have anointed;
do no harm to any of my prophets.’
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.
Sing to the Lord; tell all his wonderful works.
________
Psalm 104 (105)
The Lord did not forget the just man who was sold as a slave: he released him from the power of sinful men.
But he called down a famine on the land;
he broke the staff that supported them.
He had sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
His feet were put in chains,
his neck was bound with iron,
until what he said came to pass
and the word of the Lord proved him true.
Then the king sent and released him
the ruler of the people set him free,
making him master of his house
and ruler of all he possessed,
to instruct his princes as he pleased
and to teach his elders wisdom.
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.
The Lord did not forget the just man who was sold as a slave: he released him from the power of sinful men.
________
Psalm 104 (105)
The Lord remembered his holy word, and he brought out his people with joy.
So Israel came into Egypt;
Jacob lived in the country of Ham.
He gave his people increase;
he made them stronger than their foes,
whose hearts he turned to hate his people
and to deal deceitfully with his servants.
Then he sent Moses his servant
and Aaron the man he had chosen.
Through them he showed his marvels
and his wonders in the country of Ham.
He sent darkness, and dark was made
but Egypt resisted his words.
He turned the waters into blood
and caused their fish to die.
Their land was alive with frogs,
even in the halls of their kings.
He spoke; the dog-fly came
and gnats covered the land.
He sent hailstones in place of the rain
and flashing fire in their land.
He struck their vines and fig-trees;
he shattered the trees through their land.
He spoke; the locusts came,
young locusts, too many to be counted.
They ate up every blade in the land;
they ate up all the fruit of their fields.
He struck all the first-born in their land,
the finest flower of their sons.
He led out Israel with silver and gold.
In his tribes were none who fell behind.
Egypt rejoiced when they left
for dread had fallen upon them.
He spread a cloud as a screen
and fire to give light in the darkness.
When they asked for food he sent quails;
he filled them with bread from heaven.
He pierced the rock to give them water;
it gushed forth in the desert like a river.
For he remembered his holy word,
which he gave to Abraham his servant.
So he brought out his people with joy,
his chosen ones with shouts of rejoicing.
And he gave them the land of the nations.
They took the fruit of other men’s toil,
that thus they might keep his precepts,
that thus they might observe his laws.
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.
The Lord remembered his holy word, and he brought out his people with joy.
Psalm-prayer
Abraham, Joseph and Moses prefigured your plan, Father, to redeem mankind from slavery and to lead them into the land of promise. Through the death and resurrection of your Son, your Church fulfils these promises. Grant us living water from the rock and bread from heaven, that we may survive our desert pilgrimage and thank you eternally for your kindness.
________
℣. The man who lives by the truth comes into the light.
℟. So that his good works may be seen.
________
First Reading
Exodus 12:37-49,13:11-16
The Hebrews depart. Laws for Passover and the firstborn
The sons of Israel left Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand on the march – all men – not counting their families. People of various sorts joined them in great numbers; there were flocks, too, and herds in immense droves. They baked cakes with the dough which they had brought from Egypt, unleavened because the dough was not leavened; they had been driven out of Egypt, with no time for dallying, and had not provided themselves with food for the journey. The time that the sons of Israel had spent in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And on the very day the four hundred and thirty years ended, all the array of the Lord left the land of Egypt. The night, when the Lord kept vigil to bring them out of the land of Egypt, must be kept as a vigil in honour of the Lord for all their generations.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘This is what is ordained for the Passover: No alien may take part in it, but any slave bought for money may take part when you have had him circumcised. No stranger and no hired servant may take part in it. It is to be eaten in one house alone, out of which not a single morsel of the flesh is to be taken; nor must you break any bone of it. The whole community of Israel must keep the Passover. Should a stranger be staying with you and wish to celebrate the Passover in honour of the Lord, all the males of his household must be circumcised: he may then be admitted to the celebration, for he becomes as it were a native-born. But no uncircumcised person may take part. The same law will run for the native and for the stranger resident among you.
‘When the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites – as he swore to you and your fathers he would do – and gives it to you, you are to make over to the Lord all that first issues from the womb, and every first-born cast by your animals: these males belong to the Lord. But every first-born donkey you will redeem with an animal from your flocks. If you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. Of your sons, every first-born of men must be redeemed. And when your son asks you in days to come, “What does this mean?” you will tell him, “By sheer power the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the first-born in the land of Egypt, of man and of beast alike. For this I sacrifice to the Lord every male that first issues from the womb, and redeem every first-born of my sons.” The rite will serve as a sign on your hand would serve, or a circlet on your forehead, for the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.’
Responsory
Lk 2:22-24
℟. The parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,* as it stands written in the law of the Lord: ‘Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord.’
℣. They offered to the Lord on his behalf a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons,* as it stands written in the law of the Lord: ‘Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord.’
________
Second Reading
From the Second Vatican Council's pastoral constitution "Gaudium et spes" on the Church in the modern world
Man's deeper questionings
The world of today reveals itself as at once powerful and weak, capable of achieving the best or the worst. There lies open before it the way to freedom or slavery, progress or regression, brotherhood or hatred. In addition, man is becoming aware that it is for himself to give the right direction to forces that he himself has awakened, forces that can be his master or his servant. He therefore puts questions to himself.
The tensions disturbing the world of today are in fact related to a more fundamental tension rooted in the human heart. In man himself many elements are in conflict with each other. On one side, he has experience of his many limitations as a creature. On the other, he knows that there is no limit to his aspirations, and that he is called to a higher kind of life.
Many things compete for his attention, but he is always compelled to make a choice among them, and to renounce some. What is more, in his weakness and sinfulness he often does what he does not want to do, and fails to do what he would like to do. In consequence, he suffers from a conflict within himself, and this in turn gives rise to so many great tensions in society.
Very many people, infected as they are with a materialistic way of life, cannot see this dramatic state of affairs in all its clarity, or at least are prevented from giving thought to it because of the unhappiness that they themselves experience.
Many think that they can find peace in the different philosophies that are proposed.
Some look for complete and genuine liberation for man from man’s efforts alone. They are convinced that the coming kingdom of man on earth will satisfy all the desires of his heart.
There are those who despair of finding any meaning in life: they commend the boldness of those who deny all significance to human existence in itself, and seek to impose a total meaning on it only from within themselves.
But in the face of the way the world is developing today, there is an ever increasing number of people who are asking the most fundamental questions or are seeing them with a keener awareness: What is man? What is the meaning of pain, of evil, of death, which still persist in spite of such great progress? What is the use of those successes, achieved at such a cost? What can man contribute to society, what can he expect from society? What will come after this life on earth?
The Church believes that Christ died and rose for all, and can give man light and strength through his Spirit to fulfil his highest calling; his is the only name under heaven in which men can be saved.
So too the Church believes that the centre and goal of all human history is found in her Lord and Master.
The Church also affirms that underlying all changes there are many things that do not change; they have their ultimate foundation in Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and for ever.
Responsory
℟. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin,* so let us thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
℣. The Lord is good to those who trust him, to the soul that searches for him.* So let us thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
________
Let us pray.
Turn our hearts to yourself, eternal Father,
so that, always seeking the one thing necessary
and devoting ourselves to works of charity,
we may worship you in spirit and in truth.
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.
Copyright © 1996-2020 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.