OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips.

And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 99 (100)

Come, let us worship Christ, who has appeared to us.

– Come, let us worship Christ, who has appeared to us.

Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth,

and serve him with joy.

Exult as you enter his presence.

– Come, let us worship Christ, who has appeared to us.

Know that the Lord is God.

He made us and we are his

– his people, the sheep of his flock.

– Come, let us worship Christ, who has appeared to us.

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 Christ, who has appeared to us.

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 Christ, who has appeared to us.

Hymn

Bethlehem, of noblest cities

none can once with thee compare:

thou alone the Lord from heaven

didst for us Incarnate bear.

Fairer than the sun at morning

was the star that told his birth;

to the lands their God announcing,

hid beneath a form of earth.

By its lambent beauty guided,

see, the eastern kings appear;

see them bend, their gifts to offer,

gifts of incense, gold and myrrh.

Solemn things of mystic meaning:

incense doth the God disclose;

gold a royal Child proclaimeth;

myrrh a future tomb foreshows.

Holy Jesu, in thy brightness

to the Gentile world displayed,

with the Father and the Spirit

endless praise to thee be paid.

Psalm 30 (31)

Trustful prayer in time of adversity

Hear me, Lord, and come to rescue me.

In you, Lord, I put my trust: may I never be put to shame.

In your justice, set me free,

Turn your ear to me,

make haste to rescue me.

Be my rampart, my fortification;

keep me safe.

For you are my strength and my refuge:

you will lead me out to the pastures,

for your own name’s sake.

You will lead me out of the trap that they laid for me –

for you are my strength.

Into your hands I commend my spirit:

you have redeemed me, Lord God of truth.

You hate those who run after vain nothings;

but I put my trust in the Lord.

I will rejoice and be glad in your kindness,

for you have looked on me, lowly as I am.

You saw when my soul was in need:

you did not leave me locked in the grip of the enemy,

but set my feet on free and open ground.

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.

Hear me, Lord, and come to rescue me.

Psalm 30 (31)

Lord, let your face shine on your servant.

Take pity on me, Lord, for I am troubled:

my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

the very centre of my being is disturbed.

For my life is worn out with distress,

my years with groaning;

my strength becomes weakness,

my bones melt away.

I am a scandal and a disgrace,

so many are my enemies;

to my friends and neighbours,

I am a thing to fear.

When they see me in the street,

they run from me.

I have vanished from their minds as though I were dead,

or like a pot that is broken.

I know this – for I have heard the scolding of the crowd.

There is terror all around,

for when they come together against me

it is my life they are resolved to take.

But I put my trust in you, Lord;

I say: “You are my God,

my fate is in your hands.”

Tear me from the grip of my enemies,

from those who hound me;

let your face shine upon your servant,

in your kindness, save 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, let your face shine on your servant.

Psalm 30 (31)

Blessed be the Lord, 

who has shown me the wonders of his love.

How very many are the pleasures, Lord,

that you have stored up for those who fear you.

You have made these things ready for those who trust in you,

to give them in the sight of all men.

Far away from the plottings of men

you hide them in your secret place.

You keep them safe in your dwelling-place

far from lying tongues.

Blessed be the Lord,

for he has shown me his wonderful kindness

within the fortified city.

In my terror, I said

“I am cut off from your sight”;

but you heard the voice of my prayer

when I called to you.

Love the Lord, all his chosen ones.

The Lord keeps his faithful ones safe,

heaps rich revenge on the arrogant.

Be brave, let your hearts be strong,

all who trust in the Lord.

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.

Blessed be the Lord, 

who has shown me the wonders of his love.

The heavens have proclaimed his justice,

– and all peoples have seen his glory.

Reading

Isaiah 61:1-11

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,

for the Lord has anointed me.

He has sent me to bring good news to the poor,

to bind up hearts that are broken;

to proclaim liberty to captives,

freedom to those in prison;

to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord,

a day of vengeance for our God,

to comfort all those who mourn and to give them

for ashes a garland;

for mourning robe the oil of gladness,

for despondency, praise.

They are to be called ‘terebinths of integrity’,

planted by the Lord to glorify him.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins,

they will raise what has long lain waste,

they will restore the ruined cities,

all that has lain waste for ages past.

Strangers will be there to feed your flocks,

foreigners as your ploughmen and vinedressers;

but you, you will be named ‘priests of the Lord’,

they will call you ‘ministers of our God.’

You will feed on the wealth of nations

and array yourselves in their magnificence.

For their shame was twofold,

disgrace and spitting their lot.

Twofold therefore shall they possess in their land,

everlasting joy is theirs.

For I, the Lord, love justice,

I hate robbery and all that is wrong.

I reward them faithfully

and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their race will be famous throughout the nations,

their descendants throughout the peoples.

All who see them will admit

that they are a race whom the Lord has blessed.

‘I exult for joy in the Lord,

my soul rejoices in my God,

for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation,

he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity,

like a bridegroom wearing his wreath,

like a bride adorned in her jewels.

‘For as the earth makes fresh things grow,

as a garden makes seeds spring up,

so will the Lord make both integrity and praise

spring up in the sight of the nations.’

Responsory

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,

for the Lord has anointed me.

He has sent me to bring good news to the poor,

to bind up hearts that are broken,

to proclaim liberty to captives,

freedom to those in prison.

I have come from God;

yes, I have come from him;

not that I came because I chose, no,

I was sent by him,

to bind up hearts that are broken,

to proclaim liberty to captives,

freedom to those in prison.

Reading

A sermon by St Peter Chrysologus

In choosing to be born for us, God chose to be known by us

In the mystery of our Lord’s incarnation there were clear indications of his eternal Godhead. Yet the great events we celebrate today disclose and reveal in different ways the fact that God himself took a human body. Mortal man, enshrouded always in darkness, 
must not be left in ignorance, and so be deprived of what he can understand and retain only by grace.

In choosing to be born for us, God chose to be known by us. He therefore reveals himself in this way, 
in order that this great sacrament of his love may not be an occasion for us of great misunderstanding.

Today the Magi find, crying in a manger, the one they have followed as he shone in the sky. Today the Magi see clearly, 
in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars.

Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.

So the Gentiles, who were the last, become the first: the faith of the Magi is the first fruits of the belief of the Gentiles.

Today Christ enters the Jordan to wash away the sin of the world. John himself testifies that this is why he has come: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Today a servant lays his hand on the Lord, a man lays his hand on God, 
John lays his hand on Christ, not to forgive but to receive forgiveness.

Today, as the psalmist prophesied: The voice of the Lord is heard above the waters. What does the voice say? 
This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

Today the Holy Spirit hovers over the waters in the likeness of a dove. A dove announced to Noah that the flood had disappeared from the earth; so now a dove is to reveal that the world’s shipwreck is at an end for ever. The sign is no longer an olive-shoot of the old stock: instead, the Spirit pours out on Christ’s head the full richness of a new anointing by the Father, to fulfil what the psalmist had prophesied: 
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

Today Christ works the first of his signs from heaven by turning water into wine. But water has still to be changed into the sacrament of his blood, so that Christ may offer spiritual drink from the chalice of his body, to fulfil the psalmist’s prophecy: How excellent is my chalice, warming my spirit.

Responsory

On that day the Magi presented to the Lord three precious gifts,

signifying divine mysteries:

gold, acknowledging his regal power;

incense, his role of High Priest;

and myrrh, his burial.

The Magi paid homage to the author of our salvation as he lay in a manger,

and from their treasures they offered him mystic gifts:

gold, acknowledging his regal power;

incense, his role of High Priest;

and myrrh, his burial.

Let us pray.

Lord, may the radiance of your glory light up our hearts

and bring us through the shadows of this world

until we reach our homeland of everlasting light.

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.