Tuesday 14 December 2021
Saint John of the Cross, Priest, Doctor
on Tuesday of the 3rd week of Advent
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
The Advent of our God
With eager prayers we greet
And singing haste upon the road
His glorious gift to meet.
The everlasting Son
Scorns not a Virgin’s womb;
That we from bondage may be won
He bears a bondsman’s doom.
Daughter of Zion, rise
To meet thy lowly King;
Let not thy stubborn heart despise
The peace he deigns to bring.
In clouds of awful light,
As Judge he comes again,
His scattered people to unite,
With them in heaven to reign.
Let evil flee away
Ere that dread hour shall dawn.
Let this old Adam day by day
God’s image still put on.
Praise to the Incarnate Son,
Who comes to set us free,
With God the Father, ever One,
To all eternity.
________
Psalm 67 (68):2-11
The Lord's triumphal journey
“When he ascended on high he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to men” (Eph 4:8).
Let God arise, let those who hate him flee before him.
Let God arise, let his foes be scattered.
Let those who hate him flee before him.
As smoke is blown away so will they be blown away;
like wax that melts before the fire,
so the wicked shall perish at the presence of God.
But the just shall rejoice at the presence of God,
they shall exult and dance for joy.
O sing to the Lord, make music to his name;
make a highway for him who rides on the clouds.
Rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence.
Father of the orphan, defender of the widow,
such is God in his holy place.
God gives the lonely a home to live in;
he leads the prisoners forth into freedom:
but rebels must dwell in a parched land.
When you went forth, O God, at the head of your people,
when you marched across the desert, the earth trembled:
the heavens melted at the presence of God,
at the presence of God, Israel’s God.
You poured down, O God, a generous rain:
when your people were starved you gave them new life.
It was there that your people found a home,
prepared in your goodness, O God, for the poor.
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.
Let God arise, let those who hate him flee before him.
________
Psalm 67 (68):12-24
This God of ours is a God who saves. The Lord holds the keys of death.
The Lord gives the word to the bearers of good tidings:
‘The Almighty has defeated a numberless army
and kings and armies are in flight, in flight
while you were at rest among the sheepfolds.’
At home the women already share the spoil.
They are covered with silver as the wings of a dove,
its feathers brilliant with shining gold
and jewels flashing like snow on Mount Zalmon.
The mountains of Bashan are mighty mountains;
high-ridged mountains are the mountains of Bashan.
Why look with envy, you high-ridged mountains,
at the mountain where God has chosen to dwell?
It is there that the Lord shall dwell for ever.
The chariots of God are thousands upon thousands.
The Lord has come from Sinai to the holy place.
You have gone up on high; you have taken captives,
receiving men in tribute, O God,
even those who rebel, into your dwelling, O Lord.
May the Lord be blessed day after day.
He bears our burdens, God our saviour.
This God of ours is a God who saves.
The Lord our God holds the keys of death.
And God will smite the head of his foes,
the crown of those who persist in their sins.
The Lord said: ‘I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depth of the sea.
Then your feet will tread in their blood
and the tongues of your dogs take their share of the foe.’
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.
This God of ours is a God who saves. The Lord holds the keys of death.
________
Psalm 67 (68):25-36
Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, praise the Lord.
They see your solemn procession, O God,
the procession of my God, of my king, to the sanctuary:
the singers in the forefront, the musicians coming last,
between them, maidens sounding their timbrels.
‘In festive gatherings, bless the Lord;
bless God, O you who are Israel’s sons.’
There is Benjamin, least of the tribes, at the head,
Judah’s princes, a mighty throng,
Zebulun’s princes, Naphtali’s princes.
Show forth, O God, show forth your might,
your might, O God, which you have shown for us.
For the sake of your temple high in Jerusalem
may kings come to you bringing their tribute.
Threaten the wild beast that dwells in the reeds,
the bands of the mighty and lords of the peoples.
Let them bow down offering silver.
Scatter the peoples who delight in war.
Princes will make their way from Egypt:
Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God.
Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, praise the Lord
who rides on the heavens, the ancient heavens.
He thunders his voice, his mighty voice.
Come, acknowledge the power of God.
His glory is on Israel; his might is in the skies.
God is to be feared in his holy place.
He is the Lord, Israel’s God.
He gives strength and power to his people.
Blessed be God!
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.
Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, praise the Lord.
Psalm-prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, King of the universe, you have given us joy in your holy meal. Help us to understand the significance of your death and to acknowledge you as the conqueror of death seated at the right hand of the Father.
Or:
God our Father, the Exodus foreshadowed the eternal liberation of all peoples from bondage; by the paschal mystery you have rescued us from our former slavery. Bring us rejoicing to the promised land where we shall sing your glory continually.
________
℣. You will hear the word from my mouth.
℟. You will speak to them in my name.
________
The one-year and two-year cycles of readings are identical today.
First Reading
Isaiah 30:27-33,31:4-9
The salvation of Jerusalem from the Assyrians
See, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
blazing is his anger, heavy his exaction.
His lips brim with fury,
his tongue is like a devouring fire.
His breath is like a river in spate
coming up to the neck.
He comes to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
to put the bit of his bridle between the jaws of the nations.
The Lord will make his majestic voice be heard
and display his arm falling to strike,
in the ferocity of his anger, in the glare of a devouring fire,
in cloudburst, downpour, hailstones.
For at the voice of the Lord Assyria will be battered
and beaten with the rod.
Each time he will feel the punishing rod
that the Lord will lay on him.
The song you sing will be like that on a festal night
when hearts are gay,
or when to the sound of flute men make
a pilgrimage to the mountain of the Lord,
to the rock of Israel,
with music of tambourine and harp
and with dancing...
For in Topheth there has been prepared beforehand,
yes, made ready for Molech,
a pit deep and wide
with straw and wood in plenty.
The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,
will set fire to it.
Yes, this is what the Lord has said to me:
As a lion or lion cub
growls over its prey,
and even when a whole band of shepherds
gathers against him,
he is not frightened by their shouting
or alarmed by the noise they make,
just so will the Lord of Hosts descend to fight
on Mount Zion and on its hill.
Like hovering birds
so will the Lord of Hosts protect Jerusalem,
he will protect it, rescue it,
spare it and save it.
Come back to the one you have so wickedly betrayed,
sons of Israel.
Yes, that day, every one of you will throw away the silver idols and gold idols which you have made with your guilty hands.
Assyria will fall by a sword that is not man’s,
will be devoured by a sword that is more than human,
he will flee before the sword
and his young warriors will be enslaved.
In his terror he will abandon his rock,
and his panic-stricken leaders desert their standard.
It is the Lord who speaks, whose fire is in Zion,
and his furnace in Jerusalem.
Responsory
Is 31:4-5, 30:29
℟. The Lord of hosts will come down upon Mount Zion.* Like birds hovering, so the Lord will protect Jerusalem; he will spare and rescue it.
℣. You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart.* Like birds hovering, so the Lord will protect Jerusalem; he will spare and rescue it.
________
Second Reading
From a Spiritual Canticle of St John of the Cross
Recognising the mystery hidden within Christ Jesus
Though holy doctors have uncovered many mysteries and wonders, and devout souls have understood them in this earthly condition of ours, yet the greater part still remains to be unfolded by them, and even to be understood by them.
We must then dig deeply in Christ. He is like a rich mine with many pockets containing treasures: however deep we dig we will never find their end or their limit. Indeed, in every pocket new seams of fresh riches are discovered on all sides.
For this reason the apostle Paul said of Christ: In him are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God. The soul cannot enter into these treasures, nor attain them, unless it first crosses into and enters the thicket of suffering, enduring interior and exterior labours, and unless it first receives from God very many blessings in the intellect and in the senses, and has undergone long spiritual training.
All these are lesser things, disposing the soul for the lofty sanctuary of the knowledge of the mysteries of Christ: this is the highest wisdom attainable in this life.
Would that men might come at last to see that it is quite impossible to reach the thicket of the riches and wisdom of God except by first entering the thicket of much suffering, in such a way that the soul finds there its consolation and desire. The soul that longs for divine wisdom chooses first, and in truth, to enter the thicket of the cross.
Saint Paul therefore urges the Ephesians not to grow weary in the midst of tribulations, but to be steadfast and rooted and grounded in love, so that they may know with all the saints the breadth, the length, the height and the depth – to know what is beyond knowledge, the love of Christ, so as to be filled with all the fullness of God.
The gate that gives entry into these riches of his wisdom is the cross; because it is a narrow gate, while many seek the joys that can be gained through it, it is given to few to desire to pass through it.
Responsory
℟. What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, things beyond our imagining – all that God has prepared for those who love him:* these are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
℣. The Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God:* these are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
________
Let us pray.
Lord God, you gave Saint John of the Cross
the grace of complete self-denial
and an ardent love for the cross of Christ.
Grant that by following always in his footsteps
we may come to the eternal vision of your 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.