Wednesday 22 April 2020
Wednesday of the 2nd week of Eastertide
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. Alleluia.
________
Hymn
Love’s redeeming work is done,
fought the fight, the battle won.
Lo, our Sun’s eclipse is o’er!
Lo, he sets in blood no more!
Vain the stone, the watch, the seal!
Christ has burst the gates of hell;
death in vain forbids him rise;
Christ has opened paradise.
Lives again our victor King;
where, O death, is now thy sting?
Dying once, he all doth save;
where thy victory, O grave?
Soar we now where Christ has led,
following our exalted Head;
made like him, like him we rise,
ours the cross, the grave, the skies.
Hail the Lord of earth and heaven!
Praise to thee by both be given:
thee we greet triumphant now;
hail, the Resurrection thou!
________
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. Alleluia.
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. Alleluia.
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.
________
℣. God raised Christ from the dead, alleluia.
℟. So that we would have faith and hope in God, alleluia.
________
Readings (official one-year cycle)
First Reading
Apocalypse 2:12-29
To the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira
Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum and say, “Here is the message of the one who has the sharp sword, double-edged: I know where you live, in the place where Satan is enthroned, and that you still hold firmly to my name, and did not disown your faith in me even when my faithful witness, Antipas, was killed in your own town, where Satan lives.
“Nevertheless, I have one or two complaints to make: some of you are followers of Balaam, who taught Balak to set a trap for the Israelites so that they committed adultery by eating food that had been sacrificed to idols; and among you, too, there are some as bad who accept what the Nicolaitans teach. You must repent, or I shall soon come to you and attack these people with the sword out of my mouth. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: to those who prove victorious I will give the hidden manna and a white stone – a stone with a new name written on it, known only to the man who receives it.”
Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira and say, “Here is the message of the Son of God who has eyes like a burning flame and feet like burnished bronze: I know all about you and how charitable you are; I know your faith and devotion and how much you put up with, and I know how you are still making progress. Nevertheless, I have a complaint to make: you are encouraging the woman Jezebel who claims to be a prophetess, and by her teaching she is luring my servants away to commit the adultery of eating food which has been sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to reform but she is not willing to change her adulterous life. Now I am consigning her to bed, and all her partners in adultery to troubles that will test them severely, unless they repent of their practices; and I will see that her children die, so that all the churches realise that it is I who search heart and loins and give each one of you what your behaviour deserves.
“But on the rest of you in Thyatira, all of you who have not accepted this teaching or learnt the secrets of Satan, as they are called, I am not laying any special duty; but hold firmly on to what you already have until I come. To those who prove victorious, and keep working for me until the end, I will give the authority over the pagans which I myself have been given by my Father, to rule them with an iron sceptre and shatter them like earthenware. And I will give him the Morning Star. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
Responsory
Rv 2:18,23, 22:12
℟. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes blaze like fire: I am he who knows men’s thoughts and wishes.* I will repay each one of you according to what you have done, alleluia.
℣. I am coming soon! I will bring my reward with me.* I will repay each one of you according to what you have done, alleluia.
________
Second Reading
From a sermon of Saint Leo the Great, pope
Christ lives in his Church
My dear brethren, there is no doubt that the Son of God took our human nature into so close a union with himself that one and the same Christ is present, not only in the firstborn of all creation, but in all his saints as well. The head cannot be separated from the members, nor the members from the head. Not in this life, it is true, but only in eternity will God be all in all, yet even now he dwells, whole and undivided, in his temple the Church. Such was his promise to us when he said: See, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.
And so all that the Son of God did and taught for the world’s reconciliation is not for us simply a matter of past history. Here and now we experience his power at work among us. Born of a virgin mother by the action of the Holy Spirit, Christ keeps his Church spotless and makes her fruitful by the inspiration of the same Spirit. In baptismal regeneration she brings forth children for God beyond all numbering. These are the sons of whom it is written: They are born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
In Christ Abraham’s posterity is blessed, because in him the whole world receives the adoption of sons, and in him the patriarch becomes the father of all nations through the birth, not from human stock but by faith, of the descendants that were promised to him. From every nation on earth, without exception, Christ forms a single flock of those he has sanctified, daily fulfilling the promise he once made: I have other sheep, not of this fold, whom it is also ordained that I shall lead; and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Although it was primarily to Peter that he said: Feed my sheep, yet the one Lord guides all the pastors in the discharge of their office and leads to rich and fertile pastures all those who come to the rock. There is no counting the sheep who are nourished with his abundant love, and who are prepared to lay down their lives for the sake of the good shepherd who died for them.
But it is not only the martyrs who share in his passion by their glorious courage; the same is true, by faith, of all who are reborn through baptism. That is why we are to celebrate the Lord’s paschal sacrifice with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The leaven of our former malice is thrown out, and a new creature is filled and inebriated with the Lord himself. For the effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive. As we have died with him, and have been buried and raised to life with him, so we bear him within us, both in body and in spirit, in everything we do.
Responsory
℟. I am the good shepherd.* I know my sheep and they know me, alleluia.
℣. I myself will search for my sheep, find them for myself. Rescued from every kingdom, recovered from every land, I will bring them back to their own country, and they shall have pasture.* I know my sheep and they know me, alleluia.
________
Let us pray.
Year by year, Lord,
we recall the mystery of Easter,
the mystery which restored mankind to its lost dignity
and brought the hope of resurrection.
Grant that we may possess eternally in love
what we now worship in faith.
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.