PRAYER OF THE DAY

Prayer of Saint John Chrysostom

Almighty God,

who has given us grace at this time

with one accord to make our common supplications to you

and promised that when two or three are gathered together in your name you will grant their requests:

fulfill now, O Lord,

the desires and petitions of your servants,

as may be most expedient for them;

granting us in this world knowledge of your truth,

and in the world to come life everlasting.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom

Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Reading

1 TM 1:1-2, 12-14

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our savior

and of Christ Jesus our hope,

to Timothy, my true child in faith:

grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father

and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord,

because he considered me trustworthy

in appointing me to the ministry.

I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man,

but I have been mercifully treated

because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.

Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant,

along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 16:1B-2A AND 5, 7-8, 11

R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.

Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;

I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”

O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,

you it is who hold fast my lot.

R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.

I bless the LORD who counsels me;

even in the night my heart exhorts me.

I set the LORD ever before me;

with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.

You will show me the path to life,

fullness of joys in your presence,

the delights at your right hand forever.

R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.

Gospel

LK 6:39-42

Jesus told his disciples a parable:

“Can a blind person guide a blind person?

Will not both fall into a pit?

No disciple is superior to the teacher;

but when fully trained,

every disciple will be like his teacher.

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,

but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?

How can you say to your brother,

‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’

when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?

You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;

then you will see clearly

to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

September 13

St. John Chrysostom (d. 407)

The ambiguity and intrigue surrounding John, the great preacher (his name means "golden-mouthed") from Antioch, are characteristic of the life of any great man in a capital city. Brought to Constantinople after a dozen years of priestly service in Syria, John found himself the reluctant victim of an imperial ruse to make him bishop in the greatest city of the empire. Ascetic, unimposing but dignified, and troubled by stomach ailments from his desert days as a monk, 

John became a bishop under the cloud of imperial politics.

If his body was weak, his tongue was powerful. 

The content of his sermons, his exegesis of Scripture, were never without a point. 

Sometimes the point stung the high and mighty. 

Some sermons lasted up to two hours.

His lifestyle at the imperial court was not appreciated by many courtiers. 

He offered a modest table to episcopal sycophants hanging around for imperial and ecclesiastical favors. 

John deplored the court protocol that accorded him precedence before the highest state officials. 

He would not be a kept man.

His zeal led him to decisive action. Bishops who bribed their way into office were deposed. Many of his sermons called for concrete steps to share wealth with the poor. The rich did not appreciate hearing from John that private property existed because of Adam's fall from grace any more than married men liked to hear that they were bound to marital fidelity just as much as their wives were. When it came to justice and charity, John acknowledged no double standards.

Aloof, energetic, outspoken, especially when he became excited in the pulpit, John was a sure target for criticism and personal trouble. He was accused of gorging himself secretly on rich wines and fine foods. His faithfulness as spiritual director to the rich widow, Olympia, provoked much gossip attempting to prove him a hypocrite where wealth and chastity were concerned. His actions taken against unworthy bishops in Asia Minor were viewed by other ecclesiastics as a greedy, uncanonical extension of his authority.

Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria, and Empress Eudoxia were determined to discredit John. Theophilus feared the growth in importance of the Bishop of Constantinople and took occasion to charge John with fostering heresy. Theophilus and other angered bishops were supported by Eudoxia. The empress resented his sermons contrasting gospel values with the excesses of imperial court life. Whether intended or not, sermons mentioning the lurid Jezebel (1 Kings 9:1—21:23) and impious Herodias (Mark 6:17-29) were associated with the empress, 

who finally did manage to have John exiled. He died in exile in 407.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open our lips.

And we shall praise your name.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 94 (95)

The Lord is the source of all wisdom: 

come, let us adore him.

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.

The Lord is the source of all wisdom: 

come, let us adore him.

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.

The Lord is the source of all wisdom: 

come, let us adore him.

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.

The Lord is the source of all wisdom: 

come, let us adore him.

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.”

The Lord is the source of all wisdom: 

come, let us adore him.

“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.”

The Lord is the source of all wisdom: 

come, let us adore 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.

The Lord is the source of all wisdom: 

come, let us adore him.

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 68 (69)

I am consumed with zeal for your house

I am wearied with all my crying as I await my God.

Save me, O God,

for the waters have come up to my neck.

I am stuck in bottomless mud;

I am adrift in deep waters

and the flood is sweeping me away.

I am exhausted with crying out, my throat is parched,

my eyes are failing as I look out for my God.

Those who hate me for no reason

are more than the hairs of my head.

They are strong, my persecutors, my lying enemies:

they make me give back things I never took.

God, you know my weakness:

my crimes are not hidden from you.

Let my fate not put to shame those who trust in you,

Lord, Lord of hosts.

Let them not be dismayed on my account,

those who seek you, God of Israel.

For it is for your sake that I am taunted

and covered in confusion:

I have become a stranger to my own brothers,

a wanderer in the eyes of my mother’s children –

because zeal for your house is consuming me,

and the taunts of those who hate you

fall upon my head.

I have humbled my soul with fasting

and they reproach me for it.

I have made sackcloth my clothing

and they make me a byword.

The idlers at the gates speak against me;

for drinkers of wine, I am the butt of their songs.

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.

I am wearied with all my crying as I await my God.

Psalm 68 (69)

For food they gave me poison,

and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

But I turn my prayer to you, Lord,

at the acceptable time, my God.

In your great kindness, hear me,

and rescue me with your faithful help.

Tear me from the mire, before I become stuck;

tear me from those who hate me;

tear me from the depths of the waters.

Do not let the waves overwhelm me;

do not let the deep waters swallow me;

do not let the well’s mouth engulf me.

Hear me, Lord, for you are kind and good.

In your abundant mercy, look upon me.

Do not turn your face from your servant:

I am suffering, so hurry to answer me.

Come to my soul and deliver it,

rescue me from my enemies’ attacks.

You know how I am taunted and ashamed;

how I am thrown into confusion.

You can see all those who are troubling me.

Reproach has shattered my heart – I am sick.

I looked for sympathy, but none came;

I looked for a consoler but did not find one.

They gave me bitterness to eat;

when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.

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.

For food they gave me poison,

and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Psalm 68 (69)

Seek the Lord,

and he will give life to your soul.

I am weak and I suffer,

but your help, O God, will sustain me.

I will praise the name of God in song

and proclaim his greatness with praises.

This will please the Lord more than oxen,

than cattle with their horns and hooves.

Let the humble see and rejoice.

Seek the Lord, and your heart shall live,

for the Lord has heard the needy

and has not despised his captive people.

Let heaven and earth praise him,

the seas and all that swims in them.

For the Lord will make Zion safe

and build up the cities of Judah:

there they will live, the land will be theirs.

The seed of his servants will inherit the land,

and those who love his name will dwell there.

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.

Seek the Lord,

and he will give life to your soul.

The Lord will teach us his ways

– and we shall walk in his paths.

First Reading

Lamentations 3:1-33

Aleph

I am the man familiar with misery

under the rod of his anger;

I am the one he has driven and forced to walk

in darkness, and without any light.

Against me alone he turns his hand,

again and again, all day long.

Beth

He has wasted my flesh and skin away,

has broken my bones.

He has made a yoke for me,

has encircled my head with weariness.

He has forced me to dwell in darkness

with the dead of long ago.

Ghimel

He has walled me in; I cannot escape;

he has made my chains heavy;

and when I call and shout,

he shuts out my prayer.

He has blocked my ways with cut stones,

he has obstructed my paths.

Daleth

For me he has been a lurking bear,

a lion on the watch.

He has filled my paths with briars and torn me,

he has made me a thing of horror.

He has bent his bow and taken aim,

making me the target for his arrows.

He

In my back he has planted his darts,

the children of his quiver.

I have become the laughing-stock of my whole nation,

their butt all day long.

He has given me my fill of bitterness,

he has made me drunk with wormwood.

Waw

He has broken my teeth with gravel,

he has given me ashes for food.

My soul is shut out from peace;

I have forgotten happiness.

And now I say, ‘My strength is gone,

that hope which came from the Lord.’

Zain

Brooding on my anguish and affliction

is gall and wormwood.

My spirit ponders it continually

and sinks within me.

This is what I shall tell my heart,

and so recover hope:

Heth

the favors of the Lord are not all past,

his kindnesses are not exhausted;

every morning they are renewed;

great is his faithfulness.

‘My portion is the Lord’ says my soul

‘and so I will hope in him.’

Teth

The Lord is good to those who trust him,

to the soul that searches for him.

It is good to wait in silence

for the Lord to save.

It is good for a man to bear the yoke

from youth onwards,

Yod

to sit in solitude and silence

when the Lord fastens it on him,

to put his lips to the dust

– perhaps there still is hope –

to offer his cheek to the striker,

to be overwhelmed with insults.

Kaph

For the Lord does not reject mankind

for ever and ever.

If he has punished, he has compassion

so great is his kindness;

since he takes no pleasure in abasing

and afflicting the human race.

Responsory

They were my enemies for no reason.

I said: My end has come.

I called on your name, O Lord,

and you heard my appeal.

Have no fear, you said;

you pleaded my cause, you ransomed my life.

I am ready not merely to be fettered,

but even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.

Have no fear, you said;

you pleaded my cause, you ransomed my life.

Second Reading

A sermon

by St John Chrysostom

For me, life means Christ, and death is gain

The waters have risen and severe storms are upon us, but we do not fear drowning, for we stand firmly upon a rock. Let the sea rage, it cannot break the rock. Let the waves rise, they cannot sink the boat of Jesus. What are we to fear? Death? Life to me means Christ, and death is gain. Exile? ‘The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord. The confiscation of goods? We brought nothing into this world, and we shall surely take nothing from it. I have only contempt for the world’s threats, I find its blessings laughable. I have no fear of poverty, no desire for wealth. I am not afraid of death nor do I long to live, except for your good. I concentrate therefore on the present situation, 

and I urge you, my friends, to have confidence.

Do you not hear the Lord saying: Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst? Will he be absent, then, when so many people united in love are gathered together? I have his promise; I am surely not going to rely on my own strength! I have what he has written; that is my staff, my security, my peaceful harbor. Let the world be in upheaval. I hold to his promise and read his message; that is my protecting wall and garrison. 

What message? Know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!

If Christ is with me, whom shall I fear? Though the waves and the sea and the anger of princes are roused against me, they are less to me than a spider’s web. Indeed, unless you, my brothers, had detained me, I would have left this very day. For I always say “Lord, your will be done”; not what this fellow or that would have me do, but what you want me to do. That is my strong tower, my immovable rock, my staff that never gives way. If God wants something, let it be done! 

If he wants me to stay here, I am grateful. But wherever he wants me to be, I am no less grateful.

Yet where I am, there you are too, and where you are, I am. For we are a single body, and the body cannot be separated from the head nor the head from the body. Distance separates us, but love unites us, and death itself cannot divide us. For though my body die, my soul will live and be mindful of my people.

You are my fellow citizens, my fathers, my brothers, my sons, my limbs, my body. You are my light, sweeter to me than the visible light. For what can the rays of the sun bestow on me that is comparable to your love? 

The sun’s light is useful in my earthly life, 

but your love is fashioning a crown for me in the life to come.

Responsory

It is the gospel for which I am suffering and wearing fetters like a criminal,

but the word of God is not fettered.

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of God’s chosen people.

The Lord is my light and my salvation: 

whom shall I fear?

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of God’s chosen people.

Let us pray.

Lord God, strength of those who hope in you,

by your will Saint John Chrysostom became renowned in the Church

for his astounding eloquence and his forbearance in persecution.

Grant that we may be enriched by his teaching

and encouraged by the example of his unconquerable fortitude.

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 praise the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.