Wednesday 4 August 2021
Saint John Mary Vianney, Priest
on Wednesday of week 18 in Ordinary Time
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.
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Hymn
O God, creation’s secret force,
yourself unmoved, all motion’s source,
who from the morn till evening ray
through all its changes guide the day:
Grant us, when this short life is past,
the glorious evening that shall last;
that, by a holy death attained,
eternal glory may be gained.
To God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit, Three in One,
may every tongue and nation raise
an endless song of thankful praise!
St Ambrose of Milan
________
Psalm 38 (39):2-7
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 said: ‘I will be watchful of my ways
for fear I should sin with my tongue.
I will put a curb on my lips
when the wicked man stands before me.’
I was dumb, silent and still.
His prosperity stirred my grief.
My heart was burning within me.
At the thought of it, the fire blazed up
and my tongue burst into speech:
‘O Lord, you have shown me my end,
how short is the length of my days.
Now I know how fleeting is my life.
‘You have given me a short span of days;
my life is as nothing in your sight.
A mere breath, the man who stood so firm,
a mere shadow, the man passing by;
a mere breath the riches he hoards,
not knowing who will have 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):8-14
Lord, hear my prayer: do not be deaf to my tears.
And now, Lord, what is there to wait for?
In you rests all my hope.
Set me free from all my sins,
do not make me the taunt of the fool.
I was silent, not opening my lips,
because this was all your doing.
Take away your scourge from me.
I am crushed by the blows of your hand.
You punish man’s sins and correct him;
like the moth you devour all he treasures.
Mortal man is no more than a breath;
O Lord, hear my prayer.
O Lord, turn your ear to my cry.
Do not be deaf to my tears.
In your house I am a passing guest,
a pilgrim, like all my fathers.
Look away that I may breathe again
before I depart to be no more.
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.
Why do you boast of your wickedness,
you champion of evil,
planning ruin all day long,
your tongue like a sharpened razor,
you master of deceit?
You love evil more than good,
lies more than truth.
You love the destructive word,
you tongue of deceit.
For this God will destroy you
and remove you for ever.
He will snatch you from your tent and uproot you
from the land of the living.
The just shall see and fear.
They shall laugh and say:
‘So this is the man who refused
to take God as his stronghold,
but trusted in the greatness of his wealth
and grew powerful by his crimes.’
But I am like a growing olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the goodness of God
for ever and ever.
I will thank you for evermore;
for this is your doing.
I will proclaim that your name is good,
in the presence of your friends.
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.
________
℣. You will hear the word from my mouth.
℟. You will speak to them in my name.
________
Readings (official one-year cycle)
First Reading
Amos 9:1-15
The salvation of the just
I saw the Lord standing at the side of the altar.
‘Strike the capitals’ he said ‘and let the roof tumble down!
I mean to break their heads, every one,
and all who remain I will put to the sword;
not one shall get away,
not one escape.
Should they burrow their way down to Sheol,
my hand shall haul them out;
should they scale the heavens,
I will drag them down;
should they hide on Carmel’s peak,
there I will track them down and catch them;
should they hide from my sight on the sea bed,
I will tell the Dragon to bite them there;
should they go into exile driven before their enemies,
I will order the sword to slaughter them there;
and my eyes will be on them
for their misfortune, not their good.’
The Lord, the Lord of Hosts –
he touches the earth and it melts,
and all its inhabitants mourn;
it all heaves, like the Nile,
and subsides, like the river of Egypt.
He has built his high dwelling place in the heavens
and supported his vault on the earth;
he summons the waters of the sea
and pours them over the land.
“The Lord” is his name.
‘Are not you and the Cushites all the same to me,
sons of Israel? – it is the Lord who speaks.
Did not I, who brought Israel out of the land of Egypt,
bring the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Aramaeans from Kir?
Now, my eyes are turned on the sinful kingdom,
to wipe it off the face of the earth.
‘Yet I am not going to destroy
the House of Jacob completely – it is the Lord who speaks.
For now I will issue orders
and shake the House of Israel among all the nations,
as you shake a sieve
so that not one pebble can fall on the ground.
All the sinners of my people are going to perish by the sword,
all those who say,
“No misfortune will ever touch us, nor even come anywhere near us.”
‘That day I will re-erect the tottering hut of David,
make good the gaps in it, restore its ruins
and rebuild it as it was in the days of old,
so that they can conquer the remnant of Edom
and all the nations that belonged to me.
It is the Lord who speaks, and he will carry this out.
‘The days are coming now – it is the Lord who speaks –
when harvest will follow directly after ploughing,
the treading of grapes soon after sowing,
when the mountains will run with new wine
and the hills all flow with it.
I mean to restore the fortunes of my people Israel;
they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them,
plant vineyards and drink their wine,
dig gardens and eat their produce.
I will plant them in their own country,
never to be rooted up again
out of the land I have given them,
says the Lord, your God.’
Responsory
Ac 15:14-18
℟. I shall return and rebuild the House of David, says the Lord.* I shall restore the House of David, so that all men, all the pagans consecrated to my name, will look for the Lord.
℣. God has arranged to enlist a people for his name out of the pagans, since the scriptures say:* I shall restore the House of David, so that all men, all the pagans consecrated to my name, will look for the Lord.
________
Second Reading
A Catechism on prayer, by St John Mary Vianney
The noble task of man, to pray and to love
Consider, children, a Christian’s treasure is not on earth, it is in heaven. Well then, our thoughts should turn to where our treasure is.
Man has a noble task: that of prayer and love. To pray and to love, that is the happiness of man on earth.
Prayer is nothing else than union with God. When the heart is pure and united with God it is consoled and filled with sweetness; it is dazzled by a marvellous light. In this intimate union God and the soul are like two pieces of wax moulded into one; they cannot any more be separated. It is a very wonderful thing, this union of God with his insignificant creature, a happiness passing all understanding.
We had deserved to be left incapable of praying; but God in his goodness has permitted us to speak to him. Our prayer is an incense that is delightful to God.
My children, your hearts are small, but prayer enlarges them and renders them capable of loving God. Prayer is a foretaste of heaven, an overflowing of heaven. It never leaves us without sweetness; it is like honey, it descends into the soul and sweetens everything. In a prayer well made, troubles vanish like snow under the rays of the sun.
Prayer makes time seem to pass quickly, and so pleasantly that one fails to notice how long it is. When I was parish priest of Bresse, once almost all my colleagues were ill, and as I made long journeys I used to pray to God, and, I assure you, the time did not seem long to me. There are those who lose themselves in prayer, like a fish in water, because they are absorbed in God. There is no division in their hearts. How I love those noble souls! Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Colette saw our Lord and spoke to him as we speak to one another.
As for ourselves, how often do we come to church without thinking what we are going to do or for what we are going to ask. And yet, when we go to call upon someone, we have no difficulty in remembering why it was we came. Some appear as if they were about to say to God: ‘I am just going to say a couple of words, so I can get away quickly.’ I often think that when we come to adore our Lord we should get all we ask if we asked for it with a lively faith and a pure heart.
Responsory
℟. Our troubles are slight and short-lived, and their outcome:* an eternal glory which far outweighs our distress.
℣. Things no eye has seen, no ear has heard, things beyond our imagining — all these have been prepared by God for those who love him:* an eternal glory which far outweighs our distress.
________
Let us pray.
Almighty and merciful God,
by your grace Saint John Mary Vianney
was remarkable for his zeal as priest and pastor.
Help us by his example and prayers
to win our brethren for Christ by love,
and to share with them in eternal glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
________
Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
Copyright © 1996-2021 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.