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

Zechariah 12:9-12,13:1-9

‘When that day comes, I shall set myself to destroy all the nations who advance against Jerusalem. But over the House of David and the citizens of Jerusalem I will pour out a spirit of kindness and prayer. They will look on the one whom they have pierced; they will mourn for him as for an only son, and weep for him as people weep for a first-born child. When that day comes, there will be great mourning in Judah, like the mourning of Hadad
-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. And the country will mourn clan by clan.

‘When that day comes, a fountain will be opened for the House of David and the citizens of Jerusalem, 
for sin and impurity.

‘When that day comes – it is the Lord (of Hosts) who speaks – I am going to root out the names of the idols from the country, and they shall never be mentioned again; and I will also rid the country of the prophets, and of the spirit of impurity. If anyone still wants to prophesy, his father and the mother who gave him birth shall say to him, “You have no right to live, since you utter lies in the name of the Lord.” And while he is prophesying, his father and the mother who gave him birth shall run him through. When that day comes, every prophet shall be ashamed of his prophetic vision; they will no longer put on their hair cloaks to utter their lies, but they will all say, “I am no prophet. I am a peasant; the land has been my living ever since I was a boy.” And if anyone asks him, 
“Then what are these wounds on your body?” he will reply, “ These I received in the house of my friends.”

‘Awake, sword, against my shepherd

and against the man who is my companion –

it is the Lord of Hosts who speaks.

I am going to strike the shepherd

so that the sheep may be scattered,

and I will turn my hand against the weak.

And it will happen throughout this territory –

it is the Lord who speaks –

that two-thirds in it will be cut off (‘will be killed’)

and the remaining third will be left.

I will lead that third into the fire,

and refine them as silver is refined,

test them as gold is tested.

They will call on my name

and I shall listen;

and I shall say: These are my people;

and each will say, “The Lord is my God!”’

Responsory

You will all lose faith in me this night, for the scripture says:

I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.

Let the sword be unsheathed against my shepherd and against the man who is my companion 
– it is the Lord who speaks.

I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.

Reading

The treatise of St John Eudes on the kingdom of Jesus

The mystery of Christ in us and in the Church

We must strive to follow and fulfil in ourselves the various stages of Christ’s plan as well as his mysteries, and frequently beg him to bring them to completion in us and in the whole Church. For the mysteries of Jesus are not yet completely perfected and fulfilled. They are complete, indeed, in the person of Jesus, but not in us, who are his members, nor in the Church, which is his mystical body. The Son of God wills to give us a share in his mysteries and somehow to extend them to us. He wills to continue them in us and in his universal Church. This is brought about first through the graces he has resolved to impart to us and then through the works he wishes to accomplish in us through these mysteries. 
This is his plan for fulfilling his mysteries in us.

For this reason Saint Paul says that Christ is being brought to fulfilment in his Church and that all of us contribute to this fulfilment, and thus he achieves the fullness of life, that is, the mystical stature that he has in his mystical body, which will reach completion only on judgement day. In another place Paul says: 
I complete in my own flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

This is the plan by which the Son of God completes and fulfils in us all the various stages and mysteries. He desires us to perfect the mystery of his incarnation and birth by forming himself in us and being reborn in our souls through the blessed sacraments of baptism and the eucharist. He fulfils his hidden life in us, hidden with him in God.

He intends to perfect the mysteries of his passion, death and resurrection, by causing us to suffer, die and rise again with him and in him. Finally, he wishes to fulfil in us the state of his glorious and immortal life, 
when he will cause us to live a glorious, eternal life with him and in him in heaven.

In the same way he would complete and fulfil in us and in his Church his other stages and mysteries. He wants to give us a share in them and to accomplish and continue them in us. So it is that the mysteries of Christ will not be completed until the end of time, because he has arranged that the completion of his mysteries in us and in the Church will only be achieved at the end of time.

Responsory

It makes me happy to suffer as I am suffering now,

and in my own body I do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, 
the Church.

I struggle wearily on,

helped only by Christ’s power driving me irresistibly,

and in my own body I do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body,

the Church.

Let us pray.

Lord our God,

give us grace to serve you always with joy,

because our full and lasting happiness

is to make of our lives

a constant service to the Author of all that is good.

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.