Wednesday 27 May 2020
Wednesday of the 7th week of Eastertide
or Saint Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop
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
Bright as fire in darkness,
Sharper than a sword,
Lives throughout the ages
God’s eternal word.
Father, Son and Spirit,
Trinity of might,
Compassed in your glory,
Give the world your light.
Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal
________
Psalm 88 (89)
The Lord's kindness to the house of David
“God has raised up one from the house of David, as he promised: Jesus the Saviour” (Acts 13:22,23).
Love and truth walk in your presence, Lord. Alleluia.
I will síng for éver of your lóve, O Lórd; *
through all áges my móuth will procláim your trúth.
Of thís I am súre, that your lóve lasts for éver, *
that your trúth is fírmly estáblished as the héavens.
‘With my chósen one Í have made a cóvenant; *
I have swórn to Dávid my sérvant:
I will estáblish your dýnasty for éver *
and sét up your thróne through all áges.’
The héavens procláim your wónders, O Lórd; *
the assémbly of your hóly ones procláims your trúth.
For whó in the skíes can compáre with the Lórd *
or whó is like the Lórd among the sóns of Gód?
A Gód to be féared in the cóuncil of the hóly ones, *
gréat and dréadful to áll aróund him.
O Lórd God of hósts, whó is your équal? *
You are míghty, O Lórd, and trúth is your gárment.
It is yóu who rúle the séa in its príde; *
it is yóu who stíll the súrging of its wáves.
It is yóu who trod Ráhab underfóot like a córpse, *
scáttering your fóes with your míghty árm.
The héavens are yóurs, the wórld is yóurs. *
It is yóu who fóunded the éarth and all it hólds;
it is yóu who creáted the Nórth and the Sóuth. *
Tábor and Hérmon shout with jóy at your náme.
Yóurs is a míghty árm, O Lórd; *
your hánd is stróng, your ríght hand réady.
Jústice and ríght are the píllars of your thróne, *
lóve and trúth wálk in your présence.
Háppy the péople who accláim such a kíng, *
who wálk, O Lórd, in the líght of your fáce,
who fínd their jóy every dáy in your náme, *
who máke your jústice the sóurce of their blíss.
For yóu, O Lórd, are the glóry of their stréngth; *
by your fávour it ís that our míght is exálted;
for our rúler ís in the kéeping of the Lórd; *
our kíng in the kéeping of the Hóly One of Ísrael.
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.
Love and truth walk in your presence, Lord. Alleluia.
________
Psalm 88 (89)
The Son of God was born into the house of David when he came into this world. Alleluia.
Of óld you spóke in a vísion. *
To your fríends the próphets you sáid:
‘I have sét the crówn on a wárrior, *
I have exálted one chósen from the péople.
‘I have fóund Dávid my sérvant *
and with my hóly óil anóinted him.
My hánd shall álways be wíth him *
and my árm shall máke him stróng.
‘The énemy shall néver outwít him *
nor the évil mán oppréss him.
I will béat down his fóes befóre him *
and smíte thóse who háte him.
‘My trúth and my lóve shall be wíth him; *
by my náme his míght shall be exálted.
I will strétch out his hánd to the Séa *
and his ríght hand as fár as the Ríver.
‘He will sáy to me: “Yóu are my fáther, *
my Gód, the róck who sáves me.”
And I will máke hím my fírst-born, *
the híghest of the kíngs of the éarth.
‘I will kéep my lóve for him álways; *
with hím my cóvenant shall lást.
I will estáblish his dýnasty for éver, *
make his thróne endúre as the héavens.’
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 Son of God was born into the house of David when he came into this world. Alleluia.
________
Psalm 88 (89)
Once for all, I have sworn to David my servant: his dynasty shall last for ever. Alleluia.
‘If his sóns forsáke my láw *
and refúse to wálk as I decrée
and if éver they víolate my státutes, *
refúsing to kéep my commánds;
‘then I will púnish their offénces with the ród, *
then I will scóurge them on accóunt of their gúilt.
But I will néver take báck my lóve, *
my trúth will néver fáil.
‘I will néver víolate my cóvenant *
nor go báck on the wórd I have spóken.
Once for áll, I have swórn by my hóliness. *
“I will néver líe to Dávid.
‘“His dýnasty shall lást for éver. *
In my síght his thróne is like the sún;
like the móon, it shall endúre for éver, *
a fáithful wítness in the skíes.”’
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.
Once for all, I have sworn to David my servant: his dynasty shall last for ever. Alleluia.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, God of mercy and fidelity, you made a new and lasting pact with men and sealed it in the blood of your Son. Forgive the folly of our disloyalty and make us keep your commandments, so that in your new covenant we may be witnesses and heralds of your faithfulness and love on earth, and sharers of your glory in heaven.
________
℣. 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
1 John 5:1-12
This is victory… our faith
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ
has been begotten by God;
and whoever loves the Father that begot him
loves the child whom he begets.
We can be sure that we love God’s children
if we love God himself and do what he has commanded us;
this is what loving God is –
keeping his commandments;
and his commandments are not difficult,
because anyone who has been begotten by God
has already overcome the world;
this is the victory over the world –
our faith.
Who can overcome the world?
Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God:
Jesus Christ who came by water and blood,
not with water only,
but with water and blood;
with the Spirit as another witness –
since the Spirit is the truth –
so that there are three witnesses,
the Spirit, the water and the blood,
and all three of them agree.
We accept the testimony of human witnesses,
but God’s testimony is much greater,
and this is God’s testimony,
given as evidence for his Son.
Everybody who believes in the Son of God
has this testimony inside him;
and anyone who will not believe God
is making God out to be a liar,
because he has not trusted
the testimony God has given about his Son.
This is the testimony:
God has given us eternal life
and this life is in his Son;
anyone who has the Son has life,
anyone who does not have the Son does not have life.
Responsory
1 Jn 5:6-7; Zc 13:1
℟. Jesus Christ has come by water and by blood: not by water only, but by water and blood.* The Spirit is another witness, since the Spirit is the truth, alleluia.
℣. On that day a fountain shall be opened for the line of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to remove all sin and impurity.* The Spirit is another witness, since the Spirit is the truth, alleluia.
________
Second Reading
From "Lumen gentium", the Second Vatican Council's dogmatic constitution on the Church
The mission of the Holy Spirit in the church
When the Son completed the work with which the Father had entrusted him on earth, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost to sanctify the Church unceasingly, and thus enable believers to have access to the Father through Christ in the one Spirit. He is the Spirit of life, the fountain of water welling up to give eternal life. Through him the Father gives life to men, dead because of sin, until he raises up their mortal bodies in Christ.
The Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful as in a temple. He prays in them and bears witness in them to their adoption as sons. He leads the Church into all truth and gives it unity in communion and in service. He endows it with different hierarchical and charismatic gifts, directs it by their means, and enriches it with his fruits.
By the power of the Gospel he enables the Church to grow young, perpetually renews it, and leads it to complete union with its Bridegroom. For the Spirit and the Bride say to the Lord Jesus: “Come!”
In this way the Church reveals itself as a people whose unity has its source in the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The whole company of the faithful, who have an anointing by the Holy Spirit, cannot err in faith. They manifest this distinctive characteristic of theirs in the supernatural instinct of faith (‘sensus fidei’) of the whole people when, from the bishops to the most ordinary lay person among the faithful, they display a universal agreement on matters of faith and morals.
This instinct of faith is awakened and kept in being by the Spirit of truth. Through it the people of God hold indefectibly to the faith once delivered to the saints, penetrate it more deeply by means of right judgement, and apply it more perfectly in their lives. They do all this under the guidance of the sacred teaching office: by faithful obedience to it they receive, not the word of men but in truth the word of God.
Moreover, the Holy Spirit not only sanctifies and guides God’s people by the sacraments and the ministries, and enriches it with virtues, he also distributes special graces among the faithful of every state of life, assigning his gifts to each as he chooses. By means of these special gifts he equips them and makes them eager for various activities and responsibilities that benefit the Church in its renewal or its increase, in accordance with the text: To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for a good purpose.
These charisms, the simpler and more widespread as well as the most outstanding, should be accepted with a sense of gratitude and consolation, since in a very special way they answer and serve the needs of the Church.
Responsory
℟. On the last day of the festival Jesus cried aloud, ‘If a man believes in me, streams of living water shall flow out from his heart.’* He was speaking of the Spirit which believers in him were to receive later, alleluia.
℣. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Streams of living water shall flow out from his heart.* He was speaking of the Spirit which believers in him were to receive later, alleluia.
________
Let us pray.
God of mercy,
you have gathered your Church together by the Holy Spirit.
Keep us devoted to your service
and united among ourselves.
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.