Morning Prayer (Lauds)

If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.

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 86 (87)
Jerusalem, mother of all nations
Its foundations are set on the sacred mountains – the Lord loves the gates of Sion more than all the tents of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, city of God! I shall count Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me. The Philistines, Tyrians, Ethiopians – all have their birthplace here. Of Sion it will be said “Here is the birthplace of all people: the Most High himself has set it firm”. The Lord shall write in the book of the nations: “Here is their birthplace”. They will sing as in joyful processions: “All my being springs from you”. 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 86 (87)

Jerusalem, mother of all nations

Its foundations are set on the sacred mountains –
the Lord loves the gates of Sion
more than all the tents of Jacob.
Glorious things are said of you, city of God!

I shall count Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me.
The Philistines, Tyrians, Ethiopians –
all have their birthplace here.
Of Sion it will be said “Here is the birthplace of all people:
the Most High himself has set it firm”.

The Lord shall write in the book of the nations:
“Here is their birthplace”.
They will sing as in joyful processions:
“All my being springs from you”.

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.

Canticle	Isaiah 40
The good shepherd is God, the Most High
Behold, the Lord God comes in strength, and his right arm triumphs. Behold, his reward is with him, his prize is before him. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock, he gathers the lambs in his arms and lifts them to his breast; he carries the pregnant ewes. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and arranged the heavens with his palms? Who has measured the dust of the earth, weighed out the mountains, weighed the hills on the balance? Who directed the spirit of the Lord? Who gave him advice in his task? With whom did he consult? Who taught him? Who led him in the paths of justice, gave him knowledge, showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the Gentiles are like a drop in a bucket, a piece of fluff on the scales. All the islands are a handful of dust. What burnt-offering could be worthy of the Lord? The forests of Lebanon could not feed that fire; all the animals of Lebanon would not be enough for that sacrifice. All the nations count for nothing before him: for him, they are nothingness and emptiness. 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.

Canticle

Isaiah 40

The good shepherd is God, the Most High

Behold, the Lord God comes in strength, and his right arm triumphs.
Behold, his reward is with him, his prize is before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock,
he gathers the lambs in his arms and lifts them to his breast;
he carries the pregnant ewes.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and arranged the heavens with his palms?
Who has measured the dust of the earth,
weighed out the mountains,
weighed the hills on the balance?
Who directed the spirit of the Lord?
Who gave him advice in his task?

With whom did he consult? Who taught him?
Who led him in the paths of justice,
gave him knowledge,
showed him the way of understanding?

Behold, the Gentiles are like a drop in a bucket,
a piece of fluff on the scales.
All the islands are a handful of dust.
What burnt-offering could be worthy of the Lord?
The forests of Lebanon could not feed that fire;
all the animals of Lebanon would not be enough for that sacrifice.
All the nations count for nothing before him:
for him, they are nothingness and emptiness.

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 98 (99)
The Lord our God is holy
The Lord reigns! let the peoples tremble. He is enthroned on the cherubim: let the earth shake. The Lord is great in Sion, he is high above all the peoples. Let them proclaim his name – great and terrible it is, let them proclaim his holy name, the powerful king, who loves justice. The laws you establish are just: you have given Jacob uprightness and right judgement. Praise the Lord, our God, worship at his footstool, for he is holy. Moses and Aaron were among his prophets, Samuel one of those who called on him. They called on the Lord and he listened, and from the pillar of cloud he spoke to them. They kept his decrees and the commands he gave them. Lord our God, you listened to them; O God, you were gracious to them, but you punished their wrongdoing. Praise the Lord, our God, worship on his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy. 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 98 (99)

The Lord our God is holy

The Lord reigns! let the peoples tremble.
He is enthroned on the cherubim: let the earth shake.
The Lord is great in Sion,
he is high above all the peoples.

Let them proclaim his name – great and terrible it is,
let them proclaim his holy name,
the powerful king, who loves justice.
The laws you establish are just:
you have given Jacob uprightness and right judgement.

Praise the Lord, our God,
worship at his footstool,
for he is holy.

Moses and Aaron were among his prophets,
Samuel one of those who called on him.
They called on the Lord and he listened,
and from the pillar of cloud he spoke to them.
They kept his decrees
and the commands he gave them.
Lord our God, you listened to them;
O God, you were gracious to them,
but you punished their wrongdoing.

Praise the Lord, our God,
worship on his holy mountain,
for the Lord our God is holy.

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.

A short Bible reading and responsory may follow here.

Canticle	Benedictus
The Messiah and his forerunner
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption. He has raised up the sign of salvation in the house of his servant David, as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones, his prophets through the ages: to rescue us from our enemies and all who hate us, to take pity on our fathers, to remember his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham our father, that he would give himself to us, that we could serve him without fear – freed from the hands of our enemies – in uprightness and holiness before him, for all of our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path, to let his people know their salvation, so that their sins may be forgiven. Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death; to lead our feet in the path of peace. 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.

Canticle

Benedictus

The Messiah and his forerunner

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption.
He has raised up the sign of salvation in the house of his servant David,
as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones, his prophets through the ages:
to rescue us from our enemies and all who hate us, to take pity on our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham our father,
that he would give himself to us, that we could serve him without fear – freed from the hands of our enemies –
in uprightness and holiness before him, for all of our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path,
to let his people know their salvation, so that their sins may be forgiven.
Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us
to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death;
to lead our feet in the path of peace.

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.

Some short prayers may follow here, to offer up the day's work to God.

Our Father, who art in Heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those that trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

A concluding prayer may follow here.

May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life.

A M E N

REgnum Christi

Christian Unity Through the Holy Spirit
June 1, 2006

How can I, as a person of faith, help the cause of Christian unity? Above all through prayer.

Saint Justin, martyr
Father Walter Schu, LC

John 17: 20-26
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: "I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, may you bring about the unity of all Christians in the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. May many more people throughout the earth become Christian by our authentic witness of Christian charity.

Petition: Lord, help me to grow in authentic Christian love through the power of the Holy Spirit. Enable me to be an instrument of love so that “the world may believe.”

1. “That the World May Believe That You Sent Me.” “The mission of Christ the Redeemer, which is entrusted to the Church, is still very far from completion.” These haunting words, with which Pope John Paul the Great opened his 1990 encyclical Redemptoris Missio, reflect the urgency of the Holy Spirit’s call to a new evangelization. Christ’s priestly prayer to his Father that all may be one reveals what John Paul the Great has called the biggest obstacle to evangelization: the lack of Christian unity. Pope Benedict XVI has made Christian unity one of the main goals of his pontificate. How can I, as a person of faith, help the cause of Christian unity? Above all through prayer. Vatican II has defined prayer as “the soul of the whole ecumenical movement” (Unitatis redintegratio, no. 8).

2. “That They May Be One:” Christ’s Prayer and Ours. In his sublime priestly prayer, just hours before his passion and death, Christ reveals that his desire for all people to be one with him and the Father arises from the depths of his heart. Yet over 2,000 years after Christ’s redemption, less than one third of the people in the world call themselves Christians. How urgent is the call to Christian unity so that “the world may believe”! Our prayer must echo Christ’s constant appeal to the Father that the lost unity of Christians may be restored. “Prayer puts us, first and foremost, before the Lord, purifies us in intentions, in sentiments, in our heart, and produces that ‘interior conversion,’ without which there is no real ecumenism” (cf. Unitatis redintegratio,, no. 7).

3. “That the Love with Which You Loved Me May Be in Them.” On this feast of St Justin Martyr, we cannot help but recall a profound conviction of our beloved Pope John Paul the Great: There is no greater witness to Christ than the martyrs. The martyrs gave testimony to the depths of Christ’s love to point of shedding their own blood for him. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we too can live out the witness of Christian charity in our lives: the one force capable of uniting all men and women in Christ. Legionary of Christ founder Fr Marcial Maciel reflects on the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to live authentic Christian love: “He teaches us to love, he teaches us to forgive, he teaches us to forget offences, to do good without expecting any recompense, to trust in God and love him above all things” (Letter, May 3, 1986).

Dialogue with Christ: Lord, help me to ardently desire the unity of all Christians. Help me to pray constantly for this unity and work for it in my life.

Resolution: I will pray for Christian unity in a special way today and do an act of charity to help draw someone closer to Christ.