Wednesday 12 August 2020
Wednesday of week 19 in Ordinary Time
or Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious
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.
I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.
‘With my chosen one I have made a covenant;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your dynasty for ever
and set up your throne through all ages.’
The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord;
the assembly of your holy ones proclaims your truth.
For who in the skies can compare with the Lord
or who is like the Lord among the sons of God?
A God to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
great and dreadful to all around him.
O Lord God of hosts, who is your equal?
You are mighty, O Lord, and truth is your garment.
It is you who rule the sea in its pride;
it is you who still the surging of its waves.
It is you who trod Rahab underfoot like a corpse,
scattering your foes with your mighty arm.
The heavens are yours, the world is yours.
It is you who founded the earth and all it holds;
it is you who created the North and the South.
Tabor and Hermon shout with joy at your name.
Yours is a mighty arm, O Lord;
your hand is strong, your right hand ready.
Justice and right are the pillars of your throne,
love and truth walk in your presence.
Happy the people who acclaim such a king,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
who find their joy every day in your name,
who make your justice the source of their bliss.
For you, O Lord, are the glory of their strength;
by your favour it is that our might is exalted;
for our ruler is in the keeping of the Lord;
our king in the keeping of the Holy One of Israel.
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.
________
Psalm 88 (89)
The Son of God was born into the house of David when he came into this world.
Of old you spoke in a vision.
To your friends the prophets you said:
‘I have set the crown on a warrior,
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
‘I have found David my servant
and with my holy oil anointed him.
My hand shall always be with him
and my arm shall make him strong.
‘The enemy shall never outwit him
nor the evil man oppress him.
I will beat down his foes before him
and smite those who hate him.
‘My truth and my love shall be with him;
by my name his might shall be exalted.
I will stretch out his hand to the Sea
and his right hand as far as the River.
‘He will say to me: “You are my father,
my God, the rock who saves me.”
And I will make him my first-born,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
‘I will keep my love for him always;
with him my covenant shall last.
I will establish his dynasty for ever,
make his throne endure as the heavens.’
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.
________
Psalm 88 (89)
Once for all, I have sworn to David my servant: his dynasty shall last for ever.
‘If his sons forsake my law
and refuse to walk as I decree
and if ever they violate my statutes,
refusing to keep my commands;
‘then I will punish their offences with the rod,
then I will scourge them on account of their guilt.
But I will never take back my love,
my truth will never fail.
‘I will never violate my covenant
nor go back on the word I have spoken.
Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness.
“I will never lie to David.
‘“His dynasty shall last for ever.
In my sight his throne is like the sun;
like the moon, it shall endure for ever,
a faithful witness in the skies.”’
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.
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.
________
℣. The unfolding of your word gives light.
℟. It teaches the simple.
________
Readings (official one-year cycle)
First Reading
Micah 4:1-7
The nations ascend the mountain of the Lord
In the days to come
the mountain of the Temple of the Lord
will be put on top of the mountains
and be lifted higher than the hills.
The peoples will stream to it,
nations without number will come to it; and they will say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Temple of the God of Jacob
so that he may teach us his ways
and we may walk in his paths;
since from Zion the Law will go out,
and the oracle of the Lord from Jerusalem.’
He will wield authority over many peoples
and arbitrate for mighty nations;
they will hammer their swords into ploughshares,
their spears into sickles.
Nation will not lift sword against nation,
there will be no more training for war.
Each man will sit under his vine and his fig tree,
with no one to trouble him.
The mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken it.
For all the peoples go forward, each in the name of its god;
but we, we go forward in the name of the Lord, our God,
for ever and evermore.
That day – it is the Lord who speaks –
I will finally gather in the lame,
and bring together those that have been led astray
and those that have suffered at my hand.
Out of the lame I will make a remnant,
and out of the weary a mighty nation.
Then will the Lord reign over them
on the mountain of Zion
from now and for ever.
Responsory
Mi 4:2; Jn 4:25
℟. Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob:* he will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths.
℣. The Messiah is coming – he who is called Christ. When he comes, he will show us all things.* He will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths.
________
Second Reading
From a discourse on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop
Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord
As we have heard, so also have we seen. Truly blessed Church! You have both heard and seen. You have heard the promises, and you see their fulfilment; you have heard in prophecy, and you see in the Gospel. Yes, all that has now been brought to completion was prophesied in times past. Raise up your eyes, then, and cast your gaze around the world. See God’s people, your heritage, spread to the ends of the earth. See the Scripture now fulfilled: All the kings of the earth will adore him, all the nations will serve him. See fulfilled what has been said: Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and your glory above all the earth. See him whose hands and feet were pierced by nails, whose bones were numbered as they hung upon the wood, and for whose garments they cast lots. See him reigning, whom they saw hanging upon the cross; see him enthroned in heaven, whom they despised when he walked on the earth. See the word fulfilled: All the ends of the earth shall turn to the Lord, and all nations shall worship in his sight. See all this and shout with joy: As we have heard, so also have we seen.
Deservedly then the Church is itself called from among the Gentiles: Hear, O daughter, and see, and forget your people and your father’s house. Hear and see. First you hear what you do not see; later you will see what you have heard. For he says: A people I did not know served me, as soon as they heard me they obeyed. If they obeyed as soon as they heard, it follows that they did not see. What then of the passage: Those who were not told of him will see, and they who have not heard will understand? Those to whom the prophets were not sent were the first to hear and understand the prophets, whereas those who at first did not hear them were astonished when they heard them later. Those to whom the prophets were sent remained behind, possessing the books of Scripture but not understanding the truth, possessing the tables of the law but not keeping their inheritance. As we have heard, so also have we seen also applies to us.
In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, that is where we have heard; there too we have seen. God has made this city firm for ever. No one should say boastfully: See, here is Christ; see, he is there. Such a claim only leads to factions. But God has promised unity. The kings were gathered together in unity, not scattered through schisms. Yet perhaps that city which had gained possession of the world will at some time be overthrown? No, God has made it firm for ever. If God has made its foundation firm for ever, how can you fear that this foundation may collapse?
Responsory
℟. I will set up my dwelling-place among you, and I will not cast you off;* I will live in your midst; I will be your God and you shall be my people.
℣. You are the temple of the living God. God himself has said:* I will live in your midst; I will be your God and you shall be my people.
________
Let us pray.
Almighty, ever-living God,
we confidently call you Father as well as Lord.
Renew your Spirit in our hearts:
make us ever more perfectly your children,
so that we may enter upon the inheritance you have promised us.
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.