O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
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.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
Psalm 49 (50) |
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True reverence for the Lord |
The Lord, the God of gods has spoken; he has summoned the whole earth, from east to west. God has shone forth from Sion in her great beauty. Our God will come, and he will not be silent. Before him, a devouring fire; around him, a tempest rages. He will call upon the heavens above, and on the earth, to judge his people. Bring together before me my chosen ones, who have sealed my covenant with sacrifice. The heavens will proclaim his justice; for God is the true judge. 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. |
Psalm 49 (50) |
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Listen, my people, and I will speak; Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. I will not reproach you with your sacrifices, for your burnt offerings are always before me. But I will not accept calves from your houses, nor goats from your flocks. For all the beasts of the forests are mine, and in the hills, a thousand animals. All the birds of the air I know them. Whatever moves in the fields it is mine. If I am hungry, I will not tell you; for the whole world is mine, and all that is in it. Am I to eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer a sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise; to the Most High, fulfil your vows. Then you may call upon me in the time of trouble: I will rescue you, and you will honour me. 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. |
Psalm 49 (50) |
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To the sinner, God has said this: Why do you recite my statutes? Why do you dare to speak my covenant? For you hate what I teach you, and reject what I tell you. The moment you saw a thief, you joined him; you threw in your lot with adulterers. You spoke evil with your mouth, and your tongue made plans to deceive. Solemnly seated, you denounced your own brother; you poured forth hatred against your own mothers son. All this you did, and I was silent; so you thought that I was just like you. But I will reprove you I will confront you with all you have done. Understand this, you who forget God; lest I tear you apart, with no-one there to save you. Whoever offers up a sacrifice of praise gives me true honour; whoever follows a sinless path in life will be shown the salvation of 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. |
Reading | Isaiah 37:21 - 35 © |
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Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah. This he said is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says in answer to the prayer you have addressed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria. Here is the oracle that the Lord has pronounced against him: She despises you, she scorns you, the virgin, daughter of Zion; she tosses her head behind you, the daughter of Jerusalem. Whom have you insulted, whom did you blaspheme? Against whom raised your voice and lifted your insolent eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel. Through your minions you have insulted the Lord; you have said: With my many chariots I have climbed the tops of mountains, the utmost peaks of Lebanon. I have felled its tall forest of cedars, its finest cypresses. I have reached its furthest recesses, its forest garden. Yes I have dug wells and drunk of alien waters; I have put down my feet, and have dried up all the rivers of Egypt. Do you hear? Long ago I planned for it, from days of old I designed it, now I carry it out. Your part was to bring down in heaps of ruins fortified cities. Their inhabitants, hands feeble, dismayed, discomfited, were like plants of the field, like tender grass, like grass of housetop and meadow, under the east wind. I know whenever you rise and whenever you sit, your going out, your coming in. Because you have raved against me and your insolence has come to my ears, I will put my ring through your nostrils, my bit between your lips, to make you return by the road on which you came. This shall be the sign for you: This year will be eaten the self-sown grain, next year what sprouts in the fallow, but in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. The surviving remnant of the House of Judah shall bring forth new roots below and fruits above. For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The jealous love of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this. This, then, is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city, he will let fly no arrow against it, confront it with no shield, throw up no earthwork against it. By the road that he came on he will return; he shall not enter this city. It is the Lord who speaks. I will protect this city and save it for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David. |
Reading | St Ambrose on Psalm 48 |
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Through his blood Christ reconciled the world to God | |
When Christ reconciled the world to God he himself was certainly not in need of reconciliation. What sin could he do penance for, when he had no sin in him? Moreover, when the Jews were asking for the half-shekel, the offering given for sin according to the Law, he said to Peter: Simon, what is your opinion? From whom do the kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their sons or from foreigners? And when Peter replied, From foreigners, Jesus said, Well then, the sons are exempt. However, so as not to offend these people, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that bites, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for you. He showed that he does not owe an offering for any sin of his own, for he was not a slave of sin: the Son of God was free from all fault. For the son gives freedom; it is the slave who is guilty. So Jesus is completely free, and he does not make payment to redeem his soul. The price of his blood was more than enough to redeem all the sins of the entire world. It is right that he who owes nothing for himself should be able to give freedom to others. Let me say more. Christ owes nothing for his own redemption and owes nothing as propitiation for sin. But more than that, if you consider any one of us then you will see that none of us owes anything as a propitiatory offering, because Christ himself is that offering, the offering for all and the redemption of all. What mans blood now has the power to redeem him, when Christ has shed his own blood for the redemption of all? Is there anyone whose blood could be compared to Christs? Or what man is so powerful that his could make an offering of propitiation greater than the offering that Christ made of himself when he alone reconciled the world to God by his blood? What greater sacrificial victim can there be, what superior sacrifice, what better advocate could there be than Christ, who became the atonement for the sins of all, who gave his life for our redemption? Individual propitiation, individual redemption is not needed, because the blood of Christ is the price of all. By that blood the Lord Jesus redeemed us, and he alone has reconciled us to the Father. He laboured at this to the end, for he took our own burdens on himself when he said, Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. |
Concluding Prayer |
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O God, no-one has ever seen gifts like those you have prepared for your loving servants. Fill our hearts with your love; may we love and serve you in all things and above all things, and receive from you gifts that surpass all our desires. 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. |
August 25, 2007
St. Louis of France
(1226-1270)
At his coronation as king of France, Louis bound himself by oath to behave as Gods anointed, as the father of his people and feudal lord of the King of Peace. Other kings had done the same, of course. Louis was different in that he actually interpreted his kingly duties in the light of faith. After the violence of two previous reigns, he brought peace and justice.
He was crowned king at 12, at his fathers death. His mother, Blanche of Castile, ruled during his minority. When he was 19, (and his bride 12) he was married to Marguerite of Provence. It was a loving marriage, though was not without challenge. They had 10 children. Louis took the cross for a Crusade when he was 30. His army took Damietta on the Nile but not long after, weakened by dysentery and without support, they were surrounded and captured. Louis obtained the release of the army by giving up the city of Damietta in addition to paying a ransom. He stayed in Syria four years. He deserves credit for extending justice in civil administration. He drew up regulations for his officials which became the first of a series of reform laws. He replaced trial by battle with a form of examination of witnesses and encouraged the beginning of using written records in court. Louis was always respectful of the papacy, but defended royal interests against the popes and refused to acknowledge Innocent IVs sentence against Emperor Frederick II. Louis was devoted to his people, founding hospitals, visiting the sick and, like his patron St. Francis, caring even for people with leprosy. (He is one of the patrons of the Secular Franciscan Order.) Louis united Francelords and townsfolk, peasants and priests and knightsby the force of his personality and holiness. For many years the nation was at peace. Every day Louis had 13 special guests from among the poor to eat with him, and a large number of poor were served meals near his palace. During Advent and Lent, all who presented themselves were given a meal, and Louis often served them in person. He kept lists of needy people, whom he regularly relieved, in every province of his dominion. Disturbed by new Muslim advances in Syria, he led another crusade in 1267, at the age of 41. His crusade was diverted to Tunis for his brothers sake. The army was decimated by disease within a month, and Louis himself died on foreign soil at the age of 44. He was canonized 27 years later.
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