PRAYER OF THE DAY

For the Crusade of the Family Rosary

O Queen of the most holy Rosary: 

with hearts full of confidence we earnestly beseech you to bless the Crusade of the Family Rosary. 

From you came the grace to begin it. 

From you must come the grace to win souls to it. 

We beg you to bless this Crusade so that from every home the incense of this prayer will daily rise before you, 

O admirable Mother.

O Queen of Homes: 

by the power of the Rosary we beseech you to embrace all the members of our family in the love of your Immaculate Heart. 

May you abide with us and we with you, praying to you while your pray for us. 

May you preside in our homes as once you did at Nazareth with Jesus and Joseph, 

filling them with the holiness of your presence and inspiration.

O Queen of Peace: 

it is you who have placed the Rosary in our hands. 

It is you who bid us to recite it daily. 

By the power of the Family Rosary we beseech you to obtain peace for us-

-peace within our hears, our homes, our country, and throughout the world. 

Through the daily recitation of the Family rosary we beg you to keep sin from our souls, 
enmities from our hearts, and war from our shores. 

By the graces received from the devotion of the Family Rosary we pray to be made helpful to one another in following the paths of virtue so that we may be found worthy to be called children of your family, children of your home.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Reading

1 Cor 1:17-25

Brothers and sisters:

Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel,

and not with the wisdom of human eloquence,

so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For it is written:

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the learning of the learned I will set aside.

Where is the wise one?

Where is the scribe?

Where is the debater of this age?

Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?

For since in the wisdom of God

the world did not come to know God through wisdom,

it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation

to save those who have faith.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,

but we proclaim Christ crucified,

a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,

and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 10-11

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Exult, you just, in the LORD;

praise from the upright is fitting.

Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;

with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

For upright is the word of the LORD,

and all his works are trustworthy.

He loves justice and right;

of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

The LORD brings to nought the plans of nations;

he foils the designs of peoples.

But the plan of the LORD stands forever;

the design of his heart, through all generations.

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Gospel

Mt 25:1-13

Jesus told his disciples this parable:

"The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins

who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Five of them were foolish and five were wise.

The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,

brought no oil with them,

but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.

Since the bridegroom was long delayed,

they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight, there was a cry,

'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'

Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.

The foolish ones said to the wise,

'Give us some of your oil,

for our lamps are going out.'

But the wise ones replied,

'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.

Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'

While they went off to buy it,

the bridegroom came

and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.

Then the door was locked.

Afterwards the other virgins came and said,

'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'

But he said in reply,

'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'

Therefore, stay awake,

for you know neither the day nor the hour."

SAINT OF THE DAY

August 31

Sts. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus

The actions of these two influential Jewish leaders give insight into the charismatic power of Jesus and his teachings—and the risks that could be involved in following him.

Joseph was a respected, wealthy civic leader who had become a disciple of Jesus.

Following the death of Jesus, Joseph obtained Jesus' body from Pilate, wrapped it in fine linen and buried it. For these reasons Joseph is considered the patron saint of funeral directors and pallbearers. More important is the courage Joseph showed in asking Pilate for Jesus' body. Jesus was a condemned criminal who had been publicly executed. According to some legends, Joseph was punished and imprisoned for such a bold act.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee and, like Joseph, an important first-century Jew. We know from John's Gospel that Nicodemus went to Jesus at night—secretly—to better understand his teachings about the kingdom. Later, Nicodemus spoke up for Jesus at the time of his arrest and assisted in Jesus' burial. We know little else about Nicodemus.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips.

And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 94 (95)

Let us give thanks to the Lord, 

for his mercy lasts for ever.

– Let us give thanks to the Lord, 

for his mercy lasts for ever.

Come, let us rejoice in the Lord,

let us acclaim God our salvation.

Let us come before him proclaiming our thanks,

let us acclaim him with songs.

– Let us give thanks to the Lord, 

for his mercy lasts for ever.

For the Lord is a great God,

a king above all gods.

For he holds the depths of the earth in his hands,

and the peaks of the mountains are his.

For the sea is his: he made it;

and his hands formed the dry land.

– Let us give thanks to the Lord, 

for his mercy lasts for ever.

Come, let us worship and bow down,

bend the knee before the Lord who made us;

for he himself is our God and we are his flock,

the sheep that follow his hand.

– Let us give thanks to the Lord, 

for his mercy lasts for ever.

If only, today, you would listen to his voice:

“Do not harden your hearts

as you did at Meribah,

on the day of Massah in the desert,

when your fathers tested me –

they put me to the test,

although they had seen my works.”

– Let us give thanks to the Lord, 

for his mercy lasts for ever.

“For forty years they wearied me,

that generation.

I said: their hearts are wandering,

they do not know my paths.

I swore in my anger:

they will never enter my place of rest.”

– Let us give thanks to the Lord, 

for his mercy lasts 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.

– Let us give thanks to the Lord, 

for his mercy lasts for ever.

Hymn

Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal

In ancient times God spoke to us

Through prophets, and in varied ways,

But now he speaks through Christ his Son,

His radiance through eternal days.

To God the Father of the world,

His Son through whom he made all things,

And Holy Spirit, bond of love,

All glad creation glory sings.

Psalm 34 (35)

The Lord, a saviour in time of persecution

O Lord, arise to help me.

Judge, Lord, those who are judging me:

attack those who are attacking me.

Take up your shield and come out to defend me.

Brandish your spear and hold back my pursuers.

Say to my soul, “I am your deliverance.”

Let them be thrown into confusion,

those who are after my life.

Let them be weakened and put to flight,

those who plan harm to me.

Let them be like chaff blowing in the wind,

when the angel of the Lord scatters them.

Let their paths be dark and slippery,

when the angel of the Lord harries them.

For it was without cause that they spread out their nets to ensnare me,

without cause that they dug a pit to take my life.

Let death come upon them suddenly,

may they be entangled in their own nets.

But my soul will exult in the Lord

and rejoice in his aid.

My bones themselves will say

“Lord, who is your equal?”

You snatch the poor man

from the hand of the strong,

the needy and weak

from those who would destroy them.

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.

O Lord, arise to help me.

Psalm 34 (35)

Lord, plead my cause; defend me with your strength.

Lying witnesses rose up against me;

they asked me questions I could not answer.

They paid me back evil for the good I did,

my soul is desolation.

Yet I – when they were ill, I put on sackcloth,

I mortified my soul with fasting,

I prayed for them from the depths of my heart.

I walked in sadness as for a close friend, for a brother;

I was bowed down with grief as if mourning my own mother.

But they – when I was unsteady, they rejoiced and gathered together.

They gathered and beat me: I did not know why.

They were tearing me to pieces, there was no end to it:

they teased me, heaped derision on me, they ground their teeth at 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.

Lord, plead my cause; defend me with your strength.

Psalm 34 (35)

My tongue shall speak of your justice, all day long.

Lord, how long will you wait?

Rescue my life from their attacks,

my only life from the lions.

I will proclaim you in the great assembly,

in the throng of people I will praise you.

Let not my lying enemies triumph over me,

those who hate me for no reason,

who conspire against me by secret signs,

who do not speak of peace,

who plan crimes against the innocent,

who cry out slanders against me,

saying “Yes! Yes! We saw it ourselves!”

You see them, Lord, do not stay silent:

Lord, do not leave me.

Rise up and keep watch at my trial:

my God and my Lord, watch over my case.

Judge me according to your justice,

Lord: my God, let them not rejoice over me!

Let them not think to themselves,

“Yes! We have what we wanted!”

Let them not say,

“We have swallowed him up.”

But let those who support my cause rejoice,

let them say always “How great is the Lord,

who takes care of his servant’s welfare.”

And my tongue too will ponder your justice,

and praise you all day long.

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.

My tongue shall speak of your justice, all day long.

My son, keep my words in your heart.

– Follow my commandments and you will live.

Reading

Jeremiah 4:5-8,13-28

Announce it in Judah,

proclaim it in Jerusalem!

Sound the trumpet in the countryside,

shout the message aloud:

Mobilise!

Take to the fortified towns!

Signpost the way to Zion;

Run! Do not delay!

I am bringing you disaster from the North,

an immense calamity.

The lion is up from his thicket,

the destroyer of nations is on his way,

he has come from his home

to reduce your land to a desert;

your towns will be in ruins, deserted.

So wrap yourselves in sackcloth,

lament and wail,

since the burning anger of the Lord

has not turned away from us.

“Look, he is advancing like the clouds,

his chariots like a hurricane,

his horses swifter than eagles.

Trouble is coming! We are lost!”

Wash your heart clean of wickedness, Jerusalem,

and so be saved.

How long will you harbour in your breast

your pernicious thoughts?

For a voice from Dan shouts the news,

proclaims disaster from the highlands of Ephraim.

Give warning of it, announce it in Judah,

proclaim it to Jerusalem:

“Enemies are coming from a distant country,

shouting their war cry against the towns of Judah;

they surround Jerusalem like watchmen round a field

because she has apostatised from me – it is the Lord who speaks.

Your own behaviour and actions

have brought this on you.

This is your fate! How bitter!

How it pierces your heart!”

I am in anguish! I writhe with pain!

Walls of my heart!

My heart is throbbing!

I cannot keep quiet,

for I have heard the trumpet call

and the cry of war.

Ruin on ruin is the news:

the whole land is laid waste,

my tents are suddenly destroyed,

in one moment all that sheltered me is gone.

How long must I see the standard

and hear the trumpet call?

“This is because my people are stupid,

they do not know me,

they are slow-witted children,

they have no understanding:

they are clever enough at doing wrong,

but do not know how to do right.”

I looked to the earth, to see a formless waste;

to the heavens, and their light had gone.

I looked to the mountains, to see them quaking

and all the heights astir.

I looked, to see no man at all,

the very birds of heaven had fled.

I looked, to see the wooded country a wilderness,

all its towns in ruins,

at the presence of the Lord,

at the presence of his burning anger.

Yes, thus speaks the Lord,

“The whole land shall be laid waste,

I will make an end of it once for all;

at which the earth will go into mourning,

and the heavens above grow dark.

For I have spoken and will not change my mind,

I have decided and will not go back on it.”

Responsory

The whole earth trembles, O God, at the presence of your burning anger.

Lord, have mercy on us: do not utterly destroy us.

Restore us again, O God our Saviour, 

and turn away your anger from us: do not utterly destroy us.

Reading

From a commentary on Joel by St. Jerome, priest

Return to me

Return to me with all your heart and show a spirit of repentance with fasting, weeping and mourning; so that while you fast now, later you may be satisfied, while you weep now, later you may laugh, while you mourn now, you may some day enjoy consolation. It is customary for those in sorrow or adversity to tear their garments. The gospel records that the high priest did this to exaggerate the charge against our Lord and Saviour; and we read that Paul and Barnabas did so when they heard words of blasphemy. I bid you not to tear your garments but rather to rend your hearts which are laden with sin. Like wine skins, unless they have been cut open, they will burst of their own accord. After you have done this, return to the Lord your God, from whom you had been alienated by your sins. Do not despair of his mercy, no matter how great your sins, for great mercy will take away great sins.

For the Lord is gracious and merciful and prefers the conversion of a sinner rather than his death. Patient and generous in his mercy, he does not give in to human impatience but is willing to wait a long time for our repentance. So extraordinary is the Lord’s mercy in the face of evil, that if we do penance for our sins, he regrets his own threat and does not carry out against us the sanctions he had threatened. So by the changing of our attitude, he himself is changed. But in this passage we should interpret “evil” to mean, not the opposite of virtue, but affliction, as we read in another place: Sufficient for the day are its own evils. And, again: If there is evil in the city, God did not create it.

In like manner, given all that we have said above – that God is kind and merciful, patient, generous with his forgiveness, and extraordinary in his mercy toward evil – lest the magnitude of his clemency make us lax and negligent, he adds this word through his prophet: Who knows whether he will not turn and repent and leave behind him a blessing? In other words, he says: “I exhort you to repentance, because it is my duty, and I know that God is inexhaustibly merciful, as David says: Have mercy on me, God, according to your great mercy, and in the depths of your compassion, blot out all my iniquities. But since we cannot know the depth of the riches and of the wisdom and knowledge of God, I will temper my statement, expressing a wish rather than taking anything for granted, and I will say: Who knows whether he will not turn and repent? “ Since he says, Who, it must be understood that it is impossible or difficult to know for sure.

To these words the prophet adds: Offerings and tribulations for the Lord our God. What he is saying to us in other words is that, God having blessed us and forgiven us our sins, we will then be able to offer sacrifice to God.

Responsory

Turn back to God, each and every one of you, with clean hands and a pure and sincere heart,

so that the record of your sins may be blotted out.

Rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn back to the Lord your God,

so that the record of your sins may be blotted out.

Let us pray.

Lord, by your grace we are made one in mind and heart.

Give us a love for what you command

and a longing for what you promise,

so that, amid this world’s changes,

our hearts may be set on the world of lasting joy.

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.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Prayer to Saint Jeanne Jugan,

foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor

Jesus, you rejoiced and praised Your Father for having revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. We thank You for the graces granted to Your humble servant, Jeanne Jugan, to whom we confide our petitions and needs.

Father of the Poor, You have never refused the prayer of the lowly. We ask You, therefore, to hear the petitions she presents to You on our behalf.

Jesus, through Mary, Your Mother and ours, we ask this of You, who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and forever.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Thursday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Reading

1 Cor 1:1-9

Paul, called to be an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

and Sosthenes our brother,

to the Church of God that is in Corinth,

to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,

with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to my God always on your account

for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,

that in him you were enriched in every way,

with all discourse and all knowledge,

as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,

so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift

as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He will keep you firm to the end,

irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is faithful,

and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.

Every day will I bless you,

and I will praise your name forever and ever.

Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;

his greatness is unsearchable.

R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.

Generation after generation praises your works

and proclaims your might.

They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty

and tell of your wondrous works.

R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.

They discourse of the power of your terrible deeds

and declare your greatness.

They publish the fame of your abundant goodness

and joyfully sing of your justice.

R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.

Gospel

Mt 24:42-51

Jesus said to his disciples:

"Stay awake!

For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

Be sure of this:

if the master of the house

had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,

he would have stayed awake

and not let his house be broken into.

So too, you also must be prepared,

for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

"Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,

whom the master has put in charge of his household

to distribute to them their food at the proper time?

Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.

Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.

But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is long delayed,'

and begins to beat his fellow servants,

and eat and drink with drunkards,

the servant's master will come on an unexpected day

and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely

and assign him a place with the hypocrites,

where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."

SAINT OF THE DAY

August 30

St. Jeanne Jugan (1792-1879)

Born in northern France during the French Revolution—a time when congregations of women and men religious were being suppressed by the national government, Jeanne would eventually be highly praised in the French academy for her community's compassionate care of elderly poor people.

When Jeanne was three and a half years old, her father, a fisherman, was lost at sea. Her widowed mother was hard pressed to raise her eight children (four died young) alone. At the age of 15 or 16, Jeanne became a kitchen maid for a family that not only cared for its own members, but also served poor, elderly people nearby. Ten years later, Jeanne became a nurse at the hospital in Le Rosais. Soon thereafter she joined a third order group founded by St. John Eudes (August 19).

After six years she became a servant and friend of a woman she met through the third order. They prayed, visited the poor and taught catechism to children. After her friend's death, Jeanne and two other women continued a similar life in the city of Saint-Sevran. In 1839, they brought in their first permanent guest. They began an association, received more members and more guests. Mother Marie of the Cross, as Jeanne was now known, founded six more houses for the elderly by the end of 1849, all staffed by members of her association—the Little Sisters of the Poor. By 1853 the association numbered 500 and had houses as far away as England.

Abbé Le Pailleur, a chaplain, had prevented Jeanne's reelection as superior in 1843; nine year later, he had her assigned to duties within the congregation, but would not allow her to be recognized as its founder. He was removed from office by the Holy See in 1890.

By the time Pope Leo XIII gave her final approval to the community's constitutions in 1879, there were 2,400 Little Sisters of the Poor. Jeanne died later that same year, on August 30. Her cause was introduced in Rome in 1970, and she was beatified in 1982 and canonized in 2009.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips.

  And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 99 (100)

Come, let us worship the Lord, for he is our God.

– Come, let us worship the Lord, for he is our God.

Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth,

  and serve him with joy.

Exult as you enter his presence.

– Come, let us worship the Lord, for he is our God.

Know that the Lord is God.

He made us and we are his

 – his people, the sheep of his flock.

– Come, let us worship the Lord, for he is our God.

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.

– Come, let us worship the Lord, for he is our 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.

– Come, let us worship the Lord, for he is our God.

Hymn

Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal

Eternal Father, through your Word

You gave new life to Adam’s race,

And call us now to live in light,

New creatures by your saving grace.

To you who stooped to all who sin

We render homage and give praise:

To Father, Son and Spirit blest

Whose loving gift is endless days.

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.

Uncover my eyes, Lord,

– and I will consider the wonders of your Law.

Reading

Jeremiah 3:1-5,19-4:4 

If a man divorces his wife

and she leaves him

to marry someone else,

may she still go back to him?

Has not that piece of land

been totally polluted?

And you, who have prostituted yourself with so many lovers,

you would come back to me? – it is the Lord who speaks.

Lift your eyes to the bare heights and look!

Is there a single place where you have not offered your body?

You waited by the roadside for clients

like an Arab in the desert.

You have polluted the country

with your prostitution and your vices:

this is why the showers have been withheld,

the late rains have not come.

And you maintained a prostitute’s bold front,

never thinking to blush.

Even then did you not cry to me, “My father!

You, the friend of my youth!

Will he keep his resentment for ever,

will he maintain his wrath to the end?”

That was what you said, and still you went on sinning,

you were so obstinate.

And I was thinking:

How I wanted to rank you with my sons,

and give you a country of delights,

the fairest heritage of all the nations!

I had thought you would call me: My father,

and would never cease to follow me.

But like a woman betraying her lover,

the House of Israel has betrayed me –

it is the Lord who speaks.

A noise is heard on the bare heights:

the weeping and entreaty of the sons of Israel,

because they have gone so wildly astray,

and forgotten the Lord their God.

‘Come back, disloyal sons,

I want to heal your disloyalty.’

‘We are here, we are coming to you,

for you are the Lord our God.

The heights are a delusion after all,

so is the tumult of the mountains.

‘The Lord our God is, after all,

the saving of Israel.

The Thing of Shame has devoured what our ancestors worked for

since our youth

(their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters).

Let us lie down in our shame, let our dishonour be our covering,

for we have sinned against the Lord our God

(we and our ancestors since our youth until today;

and we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God).’

‘If you wish to come back, Israel – it is the Lord who speaks –

it is to me you must return.

Do away with your abominations

and you will have no need to avoid me.

If you swear, “As the Lord lives!”

truthfully, justly, honestly,

the nations will bless themselves by you,

and glory in you.

For thus speaks the Lord

to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem:

Clean your ground thoroughly,

sow nothing among thorns.

Circumcise yourselves for the Lord; off with the foreskin of your hearts

(men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem),

lest my wrath should leap out like a fire,

and burn with no one to quench it,

in return for the wickedness of your deeds.’

Responsory

If our crimes are witness against us, then, Lord, for your name’s sake, act! 

Yes, our apostasies have been many, we have sinned against you.

If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive? 

Yes, our apostasies have been many, we have sinned against you.

Reading

From the Instructions of St Columbanus

You, God, are everything to us

My brethren, let us follow this call. We are called to the source and fountain of life, by the Life who is not just the fountain of living water but also the fountain of eternal life, the fountain of light, the fountain and source of glory. From this Life comes everything: wisdom, life, eternal light. The Creator of life is the fountain from which life springs; the Creator of light is the fountain of light. So let us leave this world of visible things. Let us leave this world of time and head for the heavens. Like fish seeking water, like wise and rational fish let us seek the fountain of light, the fountain of life, the fountain of living water. Let us swim in, let us drink from the water of the spring welling up into eternal life.

  Merciful God, righteous Lord, grant that I may reach that fountain. There let me join the others who thirst for you, drinking living water from the living stream that flows from the fountain of life. Overwhelmed by its sweetness let me cling close to it and say “How sweet is the spring of living water that never runs dry, the spring that wells up into eternal life!.”

  O Lord, you yourself are that spring, always and for ever to be desired, always and for ever to be drunk from. Christ our Lord, give us this water as the Samarian woman once asked you, so that in us also it can be a spring of living water welling up into eternal life. It is an enormous gift I am asking – everyone knows that – but you, King of glory, have given great gifts in the past and made great promises. Nothing, after all, is greater than you; and yet you have given yourself to us and given yourself for us.

  Therefore we beg you that we should come to full knowledge of the thing that we love; for we pray to be given nothing other than you yourself. You are everything to us, our life, our light, our health and strength, our food, our drink, our God. Jesus, our Jesus, I beg you to fill our hearts with the breath of your Spirit. Pierce our souls with the sword of your love so that each of us can say truthfully in his heart, “Show me the one with whom my soul is in love, for by love I am wounded.”

  Lord, let me bear such wounds in my soul. Blessed is the soul that is wounded by such love and, thus wounded, seeks the fountain and drinks, thirsts even while it drinks: it seeks by loving, and the very wound of love brings it healing. May Jesus Christ, our righteous God and Lord, our true and healing doctor, deign to wound our innermost hearts with that healing wound. With the Father and the Holy Spirit he is one, for ever and for ever. Amen.

Responsory

Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst: 

the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

’Lord, give me this water that I may not thirst.’ 

The water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Let us pray.

Lord, by your grace we are made one in mind and heart.

Give us a love for what you command

  and a longing for what you promise,

  so that, amid this world’s changes,

  our hearts may be set on the world of lasting joy.

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.