Wednesday 8 April 2020
Wednesday of Holy Week
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
Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle,
sing the last, the dread affray;
o’er the cross, the victor’s trophy,
sound the high triumphal lay,
how, the pains of death enduring,
earth’s Redeemer won the day.
When at length the appointed fullness
of the sacred time was come,
he was sent, the world’s Creator,
from the Father’s heavenly home,
and was found in human fashion,
offspring of the virgin’s womb.
Now the thirty years are ended
which on earth he willed to see.
Willingly he meets his passion,
born to set his people free:
on the cross the Lamb is lifted,
there the sacrifice to be.
There the nails and spear he suffers,
vinegar and gall and reed.
From his sacred body piercèd
blood and water both proceed:
precious flood, which all creation
from the stain of sin hath freed.
Faithful Cross, above all other,
one and only noble Tree.
none in foliage, none in blossom,
none in fruit thy peer may be.
Sweet the wood and sweet the iron,
and thy load, most sweet is he.
Bend, O lofty Tree, thy branches,
thy too rigid sinews bend;
and awhile the stubborn harshness,
which thy birth bestowed, suspend;
and the limbs of heaven’s high Monarch
gently on thine arms extend.
Thou alone wast counted worthy
this world’s ransom to sustain,
that a shipwrecked race for ever
might a port of refuge gain,
with the sacred Blood anointed
of the Lamb for sinners slain.
Praise and honour to the Father,
praise and honour to the Son,
praise and honour to the Spirit,
ever Three and ever One:
One in might and One in glory,
while eternal ages run.
________
Psalm 38 (39)
A prayer in sickness
“Creation was unable to attain its purpose because of him who kept it so in a state of hope” (Rom 8:20).
We groan inwardly and await the redemption of our bodies.
I sáid: ‘I will be wátchful of my wáys *
for féar I should sín with my tóngue.
I will pút a cúrb on my líps *
when the wícked man stánds befóre me.’
I was dúmb, sílent and stíll. *
His prospérity stírred my gríef.
My héart was búrning withín me. *
At the thóught of it, the fíre blazed úp
and my tóngue búrst into spéech: *
‘O Lórd, you have shówn me my énd,
how shórt is the léngth of my dáys. *
Now I knów how fléeting is my lífe.
‘You have gíven me a shórt span of dáys; *
my lífe is as nóthing in your síght.
A mere bréath, the mán who stood so fírm, *
a mere shádow, the mán passing bý;
a mere bréath the ríches he hóards, *
not knówing whó will háve them.’
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.
We groan inwardly and await the redemption of our bodies.
________
Psalm 38 (39)
Lord, hear my prayer: do not be deaf to my tears.
And nów, Lord, whát is there to wáit for? *
In yóu rests áll my hópe.
Set me frée from áll my síns, *
do not máke me the táunt of the fóol.
I was sílent, not ópening my líps, *
because thís was áll your dóing.
Take awáy your scóurge from mé. *
I am crúshed by the blóws of your hánd.
You púnish man’s síns and corréct him; *
like the móth you devóur all he tréasures.
Mortal mán is no móre than a bréath; *
O Lórd, héar my práyer.
O Lórd, turn your éar to my crý. *
Dó not be déaf to my téars.
In your hóuse I am a pássing gúest, *
a pílgrim, like áll my fáthers.
Look awáy that I may bréathe agáin *
befóre I depárt to be no móre.
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.
Lord, hear my prayer: do not be deaf to my tears.
Psalm-prayer
Through your Son you taught us, Father, not to be fearful of tomorrow but to commit our lives to your care. Do not withhold your Spirit from us but help us find a life of peace after these days of trouble.
________
Psalm 51 (52)
Against calumny
“Let the one who glories glory in the Lord” (1 Cor 1:31).
I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.
Whý do you bóast of your wíckedness, *
you chámpion of évil,
planning rúin áll day lóng, †
your tóngue like a shárpened rázor, *
you máster of decéit?
You love évil móre than góod, *
líes more than trúth.
You lóve the destrúctive wórd, *
you tóngue of decéit.
For thís Gód will destróy you *
and remóve you for éver.
He will snátch you from your tént and upróot you *
from the lánd of the líving.
The júst shall sée and féar. *
They shall láugh and sáy:
‘So thís is the mán who refúsed *
to take Gód as a strónghold,
but trústed in the gréatness of his wéalth *
and grew pówerful by his crímes.’
But Í am like a grówing olive trée *
in the hóuse of Gód.
I trúst in the góodness of Gód *
for éver and éver.
I will thánk you for évermóre; *
for thís is your dóing.
I will procláim that your náme is góod, *
in the présence of your fríends.
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 trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.
Psalm-prayer
Father, hear the prayer of your family. Make us flourish in your domain like fruitful olive trees, confiding in your loving kindness here and longing to see your face when we take our place among the blessed in heaven.
Or:
Father, you cut down the unfruitful branch for burning and prune the fertile to make it bear more fruit. Make us grow like laden olive trees in your domain, firmly rooted in the power and mercy of your Son, so that you may gather from us fruit worthy of eternal life.
________
℣. When I am lifted up from the earth,
℟. I shall draw all things to myself.
________
Readings (official one-year cycle)
First Reading
Hebrews 12:14-29
The approach to the mountain of the Living God
Always be wanting peace with all people, and the holiness without which no one can ever see the Lord. Be careful that no one is deprived of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness should begin to grow and make trouble; this can poison a whole community. And be careful that there is no immorality, or that any of you does not degrade religion like Esau, who sold his birthright for one single meal. As you know, when he wanted to obtain the blessing afterwards, he was rejected and, though he pleaded for it with tears, he was unable to elicit a change of heart.
What you have come to is nothing known to the senses: not a blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a storm; or trumpeting thunder or the great voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them. They were appalled at the order that was given: If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned. The whole scene was so terrible that Moses said: I am afraid, and was trembling with fright. But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads more insistently than Abel’s. Make sure that you never refuse to listen when he speaks. The people who refused to listen to the warning from a voice on earth could not escape their punishment, and how shall we escape if we turn away from a voice that warns us from heaven? That time his voice made the earth shake, but now he has given us this promise: I shall make the earth shake once more and not only the earth but heaven as well. The words once more show that since the things being shaken are created things, they are going to be changed, so that the unshakeable things will be left. We have been given possession of an unshakeable kingdom. Let us therefore hold on to the grace that we have been given and use it to worship God in the way that he finds acceptable, in reverence and fear. For our God is a consuming fire.
Responsory
Dt 5:23-24; Heb 12:22
℟. When you heard the voice coming out of the darkness, while the mountain of Sinai was all on fire, you came to Moses and said,* See, how the Lord our God has shown us his glory and his greatness.
℣. Now you have come to mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.* See, how the Lord our God has shown us his glory and his greatness.
________
Second Reading
From a treatise on John by St Augustine
The perfection of love
Dear brethren, the Lord has marked out for us the fullness of love that we ought to have for each other. He tells us: No one has greater love than the man who lays down his life for his friends. In these words, the Lord tells us what the perfect love we should have for one another involves. John, the evangelist who recorded them, draws the conclusion in one of his letters: As Christ laid down his life for us, so we too ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. We should indeed love one another as he loved us, he who laid down his life for us.
This is surely what we read in the Proverbs of Solomon: If you sit down to eat at the table of a ruler, observe carefully what is set before you; then stretch out your hand, knowing that you must provide the same kind of meal yourself. What is this ruler’s table if not the one at which we receive the body and blood of him who laid down his life for us? What does it mean to sit at this table if not to approach it with humility? What does it mean to observe carefully what is set before you if not to meditate devoutly on so great a gift? What does it mean to stretch out one’s hand, knowing that one must provide the same kind of meal oneself, if not what I have just said: as Christ laid down his life for us, so we in our turn ought to lay down our lives for our brothers? This is what the apostle Paul said: Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we might follow in his footsteps.
This is what is meant by providing “the same kind of meal.” This is what the blessed martyrs did with such burning love. If we are to give true meaning to our celebration of their memorials, to our approaching the Lord’s table in the very banquet at which they were fed, we must, like them, provide “the same kind of meal.”
At this table of the Lord we do not commemorate the martyrs in the same way as we commemorate others who rest in peace. We do not pray for the martyrs as we pray for those others, rather, they pray for us, that we may follow in his footsteps. They practised the perfect love of which the Lord said there could be none greater. They provided “the same kind of meal” as they had themselves received at the Lord’s table.
This must not be understood as saying that we can be the Lord’s equals by bearing witness to him to the extent of shedding our blood. He had the power of laying down his life; we by contrast cannot choose the length of our lives, and we die even if it is against our will. He, by dying, destroyed death in himself; we are freed from death only in his death. His body did not see corruption; our body will see corruption and only then be clothed through him in incorruption at the end of the world. He needed no help from us in saving us; without him we can do nothing. He gave himself to us as the vine to the branches; apart from him we cannot have life.
Finally, even if brothers die for brothers, yet no martyr by shedding his blood brings forgiveness for the sins of his brothers, as Christ brought forgiveness to us. In this he gave us, not an example to imitate but a reason for rejoicing. Inasmuch, then, as they shed their blood for their brothers, the martyrs provided “the same kind of meal” as they had received at the Lord’s table. Let us then love one another as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us.
Responsory
℟. God’s love for us was revealed when he sent into the world his only Son so that we could have life through him.* Since God loved us so much, we too should love one another.
℣. God first loved us and sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.* Since God loved us so much, we too should love one another.
________
Let us pray.
By your will, Lord God,
your Son underwent the agony of the cross
to break the power of Satan over man.
Give your people grace to rise again with Christ,
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.