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) |
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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 |
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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) |
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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. |
Short reading | 1 Peter 4:10 - 11 © |
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Each one of you has received a special grace, so, like good stewards responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourselves at the service of others. If you are a speaker, speak in words which seem to come from God; if you are a helper, help as though every action was done at Gods orders; so that in everything God may receive the glory, through Jesus Christ, since to him alone belong all glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. |
Canticle | Benedictus |
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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. |
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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. |
Almighty and eternal God, shed the brightness of your light on the people living in the shadow of death: the light that was brought to us by the Dawn from on high, our Dawn, the Lord Jesus Christ. He lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. |
May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life. |
A M E N |
A Most High Ideal
Luke 6: 27-38
Petition:Lord Jesus, help me to advance, step by step, towards the perfection you desire for me. 1. Revolution or a Civil War? The values that Jesus proposes in his sermon on the mountain might be termed revolutionary. Never had the ideal of love been placed so high, demanding such heroism in practice. Thats why what Jesus asks provokes a struggle within me, between the old man, who resists this message, and the ideals my Lord places before me. This might be termed a civil war played out on the battlefield of my heart. 2. The Golden Rule Jesus gives me what has been termed the Golden Rule: do to others as you would have them do to you. Since I naturally love myself to the point of desiring all good things and nothing bad to come my way, Jesus exhorts me to transfer that benevolence to others. This requires an effort for me, since I tend towards egoism. What can lift me up out of my smallness, my narrowness? 3. Becoming like God Gods plan for me is marvelous. It escapes my comprehension when Jesus tells me to be perfect, not according to a standard of human perfection, but according to divine perfection. My vocation is to become like God, for his divine life to increase in me and for my narrow, egoistic standards to diminish and disappear. I would not strive for such a high goal, if it were not commanded by my Lord. I must trust that he can do it in me. What I have to do is to collaborate with him, seeking him in prayer and discerning his will for me always. Conversation with Christ: I thank you Lord Jesus for wanting to transform me into a greater likeness of God. Without you, this is impossible. With you, everything is possible, even in me with all my weaknesses and limitations. Your will be done! Resolution: I will transform my way of judging: from my point of view to Gods. Today I will strive to put into practice the Golden Rule. |