Saturday 4 April 2020
Saturday of the 5th week of Lent
(optional commemoration of Saint Isidore, Bishop, Doctor)
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 thánks to the Lórd, tell his náme, *
make knówn his déeds among the péoples.
O síng to him, síng his práise; *
téll all his wónderful wórks!
Be próud of his hóly náme, *
let the héarts that seek the Lórd rejóice.
Consíder the Lórd and his stréngth; *
cónstantly séek his fáce.
Remémber the wónders he has dóne, *
his míracles, the júdgements he spóke.
O chíldren of Ábraham, his sérvant, *
O sóns of the Jácob he chóse.
Hé, the Lórd, is our Gód: *
his júdgements preváil in all the éarth.
He remémbers his cóvenant for éver, *
his prómise for a thóusand generátions,
the cóvenant he máde with Ábraham, *
the óath he swóre to Ísaac.
He confírmed it for Jácob as a láw, *
for Ísrael as a cóvenant for éver.
He sáid: ‘I am gíving you a lánd, *
Cánaan, your appóinted héritage.’
Whén they were féw in númber, *
a hándful of strángers in the lánd,
when they wándered from cóuntry to cóuntry, *
from one kíngdom and nátion to anóther,
he allówed nó one to oppréss them; *
he admónished kíngs on their accóunt:
‘Do not tóuch thóse I have anóinted; *
do no hárm to ány of my próphets.’
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 cálled down a fámine on the lánd; *
he bróke the stáff that suppórted them.
He had sént a mán befóre them, *
Jóseph, sóld as a sláve.
His féet were pút in cháins, *
his néck was bóund with íron,
untíl what he sáid came to páss *
and the wórd of the Lórd proved him trúe.
Then the kíng sént and reléased him *
the rúler of the péople set him frée,
máking him máster of his hóuse *
and rúler of áll he posséssed,
to instrúct his prínces as he pléased *
and to téach his élders wísdom.
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 Ísrael cáme into Égypt; *
Jacob líved in the cóuntry of Hám.
He gáve his péople íncrease; *
he máde them strónger than their fóes,
whose héarts he túrned to hate his péople *
and to déal decéitfully with his sérvants.
Thén he sent Móses his sérvant *
and Áaron the mán he had chósen.
Through thém he shówed his márvels *
and his wónders in the cóuntry of Hám.
He sent dárkness, and dárk was máde *
but Égypt resísted his wórds.
He túrned the wáters into blóod *
and cáused their físh to díe.
Their lánd was alíve with frógs, *
éven in the hálls of their kíngs.
He spóke; the dóg-fly cáme *
and gnáts cóvered the lánd.
He sent háilstones in pláce of the ráin *
and fláshing fíre in their lánd.
He strúck their vínes and fíg-trees; *
he sháttered the trées through their lánd.
He spóke; the lócusts cáme, *
young lócusts, too mány to be cóunted.
They áte up every bláde in the lánd; *
they áte up all the frúit of their fíelds.
He strúck all the fírst-born in their lánd, *
the fínest flówer of their sóns.
He led out Ísrael with sílver and góld. *
In his tríbes were nóne who fell behínd.
Égypt rejóiced when they léft *
for dréad had fállen upón them.
He spréad a clóud as a scréen *
and fíre to give líght in the dárkness.
When they ásked for fóod he sent quáils; *
he fílled them with bréad from héaven.
He píerced the róck to give them wáter; *
it gushed fórth in the désert like a ríver.
For he remémbered his hóly wórd, *
which he gáve to Ábraham his sérvant.
So he bróught out his péople with jóy, *
his chósen ones with shóuts of rejóicing.
And he gáve them the lánd of the nátions. *
They took the frúit of óther men’s tóil,
that thús they might kéep his précepts, *
that thús they might obsérve his láws.
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.
________
Readings (official one-year cycle)
First Reading
Hebrews 8:1-13
Christ’s priesthood in the New Covenant
The great point of all that we have said is that we have a high priest of exactly this kind. He has his place at the right of the throne of divine Majesty in the heavens, and he is the minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tent of Meeting which the Lord, and not any man, set up. It is the duty of every high priest to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so this one too must have something to offer. In fact, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are others who make the offerings laid down by the Law and these only maintain the service of a model or a reflection of the heavenly realities. For Moses, when he had the Tent to build, was warned by God who said: See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
We have seen that he has been given a ministry of a far higher order, and to the same degree it is a better covenant of which he is the mediator, founded on better promises. If that first covenant had been without a fault, there would have been no need for a second one to replace it. And in fact God does find fault with them; he says:
See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks –
when I will establish a new covenant
with the House of Israel and the House of Judah,
but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors
on the day I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
They abandoned that covenant of mine,
and so I on my side deserted them. It is the Lord who speaks.
No, this is the covenant I will make
with the House of Israel
when those days arrive – it is the Lord who speaks.
I will put my laws into their minds
and write them on their hearts.
Then I will be their God
and they shall be my people.
There will be no further need for neighbour to try to teach neighbour,
or brother to say to brother,
‘Learn to know the Lord.’
No, they will all know me,
the least no less than the greatest,
since I will forgive their iniquities
and never call their sins to mind.
By speaking of a new covenant, he implies that the first one is already old. Now anything old only gets more antiquated until in the end it disappears.
Responsory
Heb 8:1-2, 9:24
℟. We have a high priest whose place is at the right of the throne of divine Majesty in the heavens; and he is the minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tent of Meeting,* so that he may appear in the actual presence of God on our behalf.
℣. Christ has entered not a man-made sanctuary which was only modelled on a real one, but heaven itself,* so that he may appear in the actual presence of God on our behalf.
________
Second Reading
From a sermon by Saint Gregory Nazianzen
We are soon going to share in the Passover
We are soon going to share in the Passover, and although we still do so only in a symbolic way, the symbolism already has more clarity than it possessed in former times because, under the law, the Passover was, if I may dare to say so, only a symbol of a symbol. Before long, however, when the Word drinks the new wine with us in the kingdom of his Father, we shall be keeping the Passover in a yet more perfect way, and with deeper understanding. He will then reveal to us and make clear what he has so far only partially disclosed. For this wine, so familiar to us now, is eternally new.
It is for us to learn what this drinking is, and for him to teach us. He has to communicate this knowledge to his disciples, because teaching is food, even for the teacher.
So let us take our part in the Passover prescribed by the law, not in a literal way, but according to the teaching of the Gospel; not in an imperfect way, but perfectly; not only for a time, but eternally. Let us regard as our home the heavenly Jerusalem, not the earthly one; the city glorified by angels, not the one laid waste by armies. We are not required to sacrifice young bulls or rams, beasts with horns and hoofs that are more dead than alive and devoid of feeling; but instead, let us join the choirs of angels in offering God upon his heavenly altar a sacrifice of praise. We must now pass through the first veil and approach the second, turning our eyes towards the Holy of Holies. I will say more: we must sacrifice ourselves to God, each day and in everything we do, accepting all that happens to us for the sake of the Word, imitating his passion by our sufferings, and honouring his blood by shedding our own. We must be ready to be crucified.
If you are a Simon of Cyrene, take up your cross and follow Christ. If you are crucified beside him like one of the thieves, now, like the good thief, acknowledge your God. For your sake, and because of your sin, Christ himself was regarded as a sinner; for his sake, therefore, you must cease to sin. Worship him who was hung on the cross because of you, even if you are hanging there yourself. Derive some benefit from the very shame; purchase salvation with your death. Enter paradise with Jesus, and discover how far you have fallen. Contemplate the glories there, and leave the other scoffing thief to die outside in his blasphemy.
If you are a Joseph of Arimathea, go to the one who ordered his crucifixion, and ask for Christ’s body. Make your own the expiation for the sins of the whole world. If you are a Nicodemus, like the man who worshipped God by night, bring spices and prepare Christ’s body for burial. If you are one of the Marys, or Salome, or Joanna, weep in the early morning. Be the first to see the stone rolled back, and even the angels perhaps, and Jesus himself.
Responsory
℟. Jesus suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people with his own blood.* Let us go to him, then, outside the camp, and share his degradation.
℣. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to know fighting to the point of death.* Let us go to him, then, outside the camp, and share his degradation.
________
Let us pray.
Lord God,
at all times you are working out the salvation of man,
but now more especially you enrich your people with grace.
Look kindly on this people:
keep the seal of baptism inviolate in those who have received it
and in those who still await their rebirth in the Spirit.
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.