O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Invitatory Psalm
Psalm 23 (24)
Let us exult in the Lord’s presence.
– Let us exult in the Lord’s presence.
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world and all who live in it.
He himself founded it upon the seas
and set it firm over the waters.
– Let us exult in the Lord’s presence.
Who will climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who will stand in his holy place?
The one who is innocent of wrongdoing and pure of heart,
who has not given himself to vanities or sworn falsely.
He will receive the blessing of the Lord
and be justified by God his saviour.
This is the way of those who seek him,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.
– Let us exult in the Lord’s presence.
Gates, raise your heads. Stand up, eternal doors,
and let the king of glory enter.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord of might and power.
The Lord, strong in battle.
– Let us exult in the Lord’s presence.
Gates, raise your heads. Stand up, eternal doors,
and let the king of glory enter.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord of hosts
– he is the king of glory.
– Let us exult in the Lord’s presence.
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 exult in the Lord’s presence.
Hymn
Where true love is dwelling, God is dwelling there:
Love’s own loving Presence love does ever share.
Love of Christ has made us out of many one;
In our midst is dwelling God’s eternal Son.
Give him joyful welcome, love him and revere:
Cherish one another with a love sincere.
Psalm 43 (44)
In time of defeat
Their own arm did not bring them victory:
this was won by your right hand and the light of your face.
Our own ears have heard, O God,
and our fathers have proclaimed it to us,
what you did in their days, the days of old:
how with your own hand you swept aside the nations
and put us in their place,
struck them down to make room for us.
It was not by their own swords that our fathers took over the land,
it was not their own strength that gave them victory;
but your hand and your strength,
the light of your face,
for you were pleased in them.
You are my God and my king,
who take care for the safety of Jacob.
Through you we cast down your enemies;
in your name we crushed those who rose against us.
I will not put my hopes in my bow,
my sword will not bring me to safety;
for it was you who saved us from our afflictions,
you who set confusion among those who hated us.
We will glory in the Lord all the day,
and proclaim your name for all ages.
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.
Their own arm did not bring them victory:
this was won by your right hand and the light of your face.
Psalm 43 (44)
If you return to the Lord, then he will not hide his face from you.
But now, God, you have spurned us and confounded us,
so that we must go into battle without you.
You have put us to flight in the sight of our enemies,
and those who hate us plunder us at will.
You have handed us over like sheep sold for food,
you have scattered us among the nations.
You have sold your people for no money,
not even profiting by the exchange.
You have made us the laughing-stock of our neighbours,
mocked and derided by those who surround us.
The nations have made us a by-word,
the peoples toss their heads in scorn.
All the day I am ashamed,
I blush with shame
as they reproach me and revile me,
my enemies and my persecutors.
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.
If you return to the Lord, then he will not hide his face from you.
Psalm 43 (44)
Arise, Lord, do not reject us for ever.
All this happened to us,
but not because we had forgotten you.
We were not disloyal to your covenant;
our hearts did not turn away;
our steps did not wander from your path;
and yet you brought us low,
with horrors all about us:
you overwhelmed us in the shadows of death.
If we had forgotten the name of our God,
if we had spread out our hands before an alien god —
would God not have known?
He knows what is hidden in our hearts.
It is for your sake that we face death all the day,
that we are reckoned as sheep to be slaughtered.
Awake, Lord, why do you sleep?
Rise up, do not always reject us.
Why do you turn away your face?
How can you forget our poverty and our tribulation?
Our souls are crushed into the dust,
our bodies dragged down to the earth.
Rise up, Lord, and help us.
In your mercy, redeem 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.
Arise, Lord, do not reject us for ever.
Lord, let your face shine on your servant;
– teach me your decrees.
Reading
2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
From Paul, Silvanus and Timothy,
to the Church in Thessalonika which is in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ;
wishing you grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We feel we must be continually thanking God for you, brothers; quite rightly,
because your faith is growing so wonderfully and the love that you have for one another never stops increasing;
and among the churches of God we can take special pride in you for your constancy and faith
under all the persecutions and troubles you have to bear.
It all shows that God’s judgement is just,
and the purpose of it is that you may be found worthy of the kingdom of God;
it is for the sake of this that you are suffering now.
God will very rightly repay with injury those who are injuring you, and reward you,
who are suffering now, with the same peace as he will give us,
when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with the angels of his power.
He will come in flaming fire to impose the penalty on all who do not acknowledge God and refuse to accept the Good News of our Lord Jesus.
It will be their punishment to be lost eternally,
excluded from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength on that day when he comes to be glorified among his saints and seen in his glory by all who believe in him;
and you are believers, through our witness.
Knowing this, we pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call,
and by his power fulfil all your desires for goodness and complete all that you have been doing through faith;
because in this way the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in you and you in him,
by the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Responsory
The Lord will come to be glorified among his own, and to be adored among all believers.
The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds, and to be adored among all believers.
Reading
From the Instructions to Catechumens by St Cyril of Jerusalem
Even in time of persecution let the Cross be your joy
The Catholic Church glories in every deed of Christ.
Her supreme glory, however, is the cross.
Well aware of this, Paul says:
God forbid that I glory in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!
At Siloam, there was a sense of wonder, and rightly so:
a man born blind recovered his sight.
But of what importance is this, when there are so many blind people in the world?
Lazarus rose from the dead, but even this affected only Lazarus:
what of those countless numbers who have died because of their sins?
Those miraculous loaves fed five thousand people;
yet this is a small number compared to those all over the world who were starved by ignorance.
After eighteen years a woman was freed from the bondage of Satan;
but are we not all shackled by the chains of our own sins?
For us all, however, the cross is the crown of victory.
It has brought light to those blinded by ignorance.
It has released those enslaved by sin.
Indeed, it has redeemed the whole of mankind!
Do not, then, be ashamed of the cross of Christ; rather, glory in it.
Although it is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles,
the message of the cross is our salvation.
Of course it is folly to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For it was not a mere man who died for us, but the Son of God, God made man.
In the Mosaic law a sacrificial lamb banished the destroyer.
But now it is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Will he not free us from our sins even more?
The blood of an animal, a sheep, brought salvation.
Will not the blood of the only-begotten Son bring us greater salvation?
He was not killed by violence, he was not forced to give up his life:
his was a willing sacrifice.
Listen to his own words:
I have the power to lay down my life and take it up again.
Yes, he willingly submitted to his own passion.
He took joy in his achievement;
in his crown of victory he was glad and in the salvation of man he rejoiced.
He did not blush at the cross,
for by it he was to save the world.
No, it was not a lowly man who suffered,
but God incarnate.
He entered the contest for the reward he would win by his patient endurance.
Certainly in times of tranquillity the cross should give you joy.
But maintain the same faith in times of persecution.
Otherwise you will be a friend of Jesus in times of peace and his enemy during war.
Now you receive the forgiveness of your sins and the generous gift of grace from your king.
When war comes, fight courageously for him.
Jesus never sinned; yet he was crucified for you.
Will you refuse to be crucified for him,
who for your sake was nailed to the cross?
You are not the one who gives the favour;
you have received one first.
For your sake he was crucified on Golgotha.
Now you are returning his favour:
you are fulfilling your debt to him.
Responsory
To those who court their own ruin,
the message of the cross is but folly;
to us, who are on the way to salvation,
it is evidence of God’s power.
What we preach is Christ crucified,
to the Jews a discouragement, to the Gentiles, mere folly;
to us, who are on the way to salvation,
it is evidence of God’s power.
Let us pray.
Lord our God,
make us love you above all things,
and all our fellow-men
with a love that is worthy of you.
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.
