OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips.

And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 99 (100)

Christ has been born for us: come, let us worship him.

– Christ has been born for us: come, let us worship him.

Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth,

and serve him with joy.

Exult as you enter his presence.

– Christ has been born for us: come, let us worship him.

Know that the Lord is God.

He made us and we are his

– his people, the sheep of his flock.

– Christ has been born for us: come, let us worship him.

Cry out his praises as you enter his gates,

fill his courtyards with songs.

Proclaim him and bless his name;

for the Lord is our delight.

His mercy lasts for ever,

his faithfulness through all the ages.

– Christ has been born for us: come, let us worship him.

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.

– Christ has been born for us: come, let us worship him.

Hymn

Jesu, the Ransomer of man,

who, ere created light began,

didst from the sovereign Father spring,

his power and glory equalling!

Salvation’s author, call to mind

how, taking form of humankind,

born of a Virgin undefiled,

thou in man’s flesh becam’st a Child.

The heavens above, the rolling main

and all that earth’s wide realms contain,

with joyous voice now loudly sing

the glory of their newborn King.

And we who, by thy precious Blood

from sin redeemed, are marked for God,

on this the day that saw thy birth,

sing the new song of ransomed earth.

O Lord, the Virgin-born, to Thee

eternal praise and glory be,

whom with the Father we adore

and Holy Ghost for evermore.

Psalm 17 (18)

Thanksgiving

The word of the Lord is a shield for all who make him their refuge.

The Lord’s ways are pure;

the words of the Lord are refined in the furnace;

the Lord protects all who hope in him.

For what God is there, but our Lord?

What help, but in the Lord our God?

God, who has wrapped me in his strength

and set me on the perfect path,

who has made my feet like those of the deer,

who has set me firm upon the heights,

who trains my hands for battle,

teaches my arms to bend a bow of bronze.

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.

The word of the Lord is a shield for all who make him their refuge.

Psalm 17 (18)

Lord, your right hand upheld me.

You have given me the shield of your salvation;

your right hand holds me up;

by answering me, you give me greatness.

You have stretched the length of my stride,

my feet do not weaken.

I pursue my enemies and surround them;

I do not turn back until they are no more.

I smash them to pieces, they cannot stand,

they fall beneath my feet.

You have wrapped me round with strength for war,

and made my attackers fall under me.

You turned my enemies’ backs on me,

you destroyed those who hated me.

They cried out, but there was no-one to save them;

they cried to the Lord, but he did not hear.

I have ground them up until they are dust in the wind,

trodden them down like the mud of the street.

You have delivered me from the murmurings of the people

and placed me at the head of the nations.

A people I do not even know serves me –

at a mere rumour of my orders, they obey.

The children of strangers beg for my favour;

they hide away and tremble where they hide.

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, your right hand upheld me.

Psalm 17 (18)

Long life to the Lord! Praised be the God who saves me.

The Lord lives, my blessed Helper.

Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

God, you give me my revenge,

you subject peoples to my rule,

you free me from my enraged enemies.

You raise me up from those who attack me,

you snatch me from the grasp of the violent.

And so I will proclaim you among the nations, Lord,

and sing to your name.

Time and again you save your king,

you show your loving kindness to your anointed,

to David and his descendants for ever.

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.

Long life to the Lord! Praised be the God who saves me.

The son of God came and gave us the power

– to come to know the true God.

Reading

Colossians 3:5-16

You must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god; all this is the sort of behaviour that makes God angry. And it is the way in which you used to live when you were surrounded by people doing the same thing, but now you, of all people, must give all these things up: getting angry, being bad-tempered, spitefulness, abusive language and dirty talk; and never tell each other lies. You have stripped off your old behaviour with your old self, and you have put on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its creator; and in that image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free man. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.

You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same. Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, 
because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful.

Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. 
With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God.

Responsory

Baptized into union with Christ, we have taken upon ourselves the qualities of Christ himself:

we are all one in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

There is no difference between Jews and Gentiles,

between slaves and free men,

between men and women:

we are all one in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

Reading

St Augustine's tractates on St John

The twin commandments of love

The Lord himself came, the Teacher of love, full of love, shortening the word upon the earth, as it was foretold that he would do. 
He showed that from the two precepts of love depend the whole of the Law and the prophets.

What are these two commandments? Join me, my brethren, in recollecting them. They ought to be thoroughly familiar to you and not just come into your mind when we recite them: they ought never to be blotted out from your hearts. Always and everywhere, bear in mind that you must love God and your neighbour, love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and love your neighbour as you would love yourself.

We must always ponder these words, meditate them, hold them in our minds, practise them and bring them to fruition. As far as teaching is concerned, the love of God comes first; but as far as doing is concerned, the love of our neighbour comes first. Whoever sets out to teach you these two commandments of love must not commend your neighbour to you first, and then God, but God first and then your neighbour. You, on the other hand, do not yet see God, but loving your neighbour will bring you that sight. By loving your neighbour you purify your eyes so that they are ready to see God, as John clearly says: If you do not love your brother, whom you see, how can you love God, whom you do not see?

You are told “Love God”. If you say to me “Show me whom I should love”, what can I say except what John says? No man has ever seen God. But you must not think yourself wholly unsuited to seeing God: God is love, says John, and whoever dwells in love dwells in God. 
So love whoever is nearest to you and look inside you to see where that love is coming from: thus, as far as you are capable, you will see God.

So start to love your neighbour. Share your bread with the hungry, bring the homeless pauper into your house. 
Clothe the naked, and do not despise the servants of your kin.

What will you get from doing all this? Your light will break forth like the dawn. Your light is your God, your dawn, 
because he will come to you to end the night of this world — he who, himself, neither rises nor sets but is eternal.

By loving your neighbour, by having care for your neighbour, you are travelling on a journey. Where are you journeying, except to the Lord God, whom we must love with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind? We have not yet reached the Lord, but our neighbour is with us already. 
So support your neighbour, who is travelling with you, so that you may reach him with whom you long to dwell.

Responsory

God first loved us and sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.

Since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another.

We have known God’s love for us,

and have put our faith in him.

Since God has loved us so much,

we too should love one another.

Let us pray.

Almighty God,

your Son’s manhood, born of the Virgin,

was a new creation, untainted by our sinful condition.

Renew us, then, in Christ

and cleanse us from all trace of sin.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.