THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

Daily Mass Readings

Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent

Antiphon

Cf. Hb 2: 3; 1 Cor 4: 5

 

The Lord will come and he will not delay.

He will illumine what is hidden in darkness

and reveal himself to all the nations.

Collect

 

Grant, we pray, almighty God,

that the coming solemnity of your Son

may bestow healing upon us in this present life

and bring us the rewards of life eternal.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, forever and ever.

Amen.

Reading

Is 45:6c-8, 18, 21c-25

I am the LORD, there is no other;

    I form the light, and create the darkness,

I make well-being and create woe;

    I, the LORD, do all these things.

Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above,

    like gentle rain let the skies drop it down.

Let the earth open and salvation bud forth;

    let justice also spring up!

    I, the LORD, have created this.

    For thus says the LORD,

The creator of the heavens,

    who is God,

The designer and maker of the earth

    who established it,

Not creating it to be a waste,

    but designing it be lived in:

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Who announced this from the beginning

    and foretold it from of old?

Was it not I, the LORD,

    besides whom there is no other God?

    There is no just and saving God but me.

Turn to me and be safe,

    all you ends of the earth,

    for I am God; there is no other!

By myself I swear,

    uttering my just decree

    and my unalterable word:

To me every knee shall bend;

    by me every tongue shall swear,

Saying, “Only in the LORD

    are just deeds and power.

Before him in shame shall come

    all who vent their anger against him.

In the LORD shall be the vindication and the glory

    of all the descendants of Israel.”

Responsorial Psalm

85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14

R.    Let the clouds rain down the Just One, 

and the earth bring forth a Savior.

I will hear what God proclaims;

    the Lord–for he proclaims peace to his people.

Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,

    glory dwelling in our land.

R.    Let the clouds rain down the Just One, 

and the earth bring forth a Savior.

Kindness and truth shall meet;

    justice and peace shall kiss.

Truth shall spring out of the earth,

    and justice shall look down from heaven.

R.    Let the clouds rain down the Just One, 

and the earth bring forth a Savior.

The Lord himself will give his benefits;

    our land shall yield its increase.

Justice shall walk before him,

    and salvation, along the way of his steps.

R.    Let the clouds rain down the Just One, 

and the earth bring forth a Savior.

Alleluia

See Isaiah 40:9-10

R.    Alleluia, alleluia.

Raise your voice and tell the Good News:

Behold, the Lord God comes with power.

R.    Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Lk 7:18b-23

At that time,

John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask,

“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” 

When the men came to the Lord, they said,

“John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask,

‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’”

At that time Jesus cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits;

he also granted sight to many who were blind. 

And Jesus said to them in reply,

“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:

the blind regain their sight,

the lame walk,

lepers are cleansed,

the deaf hear, the dead are raised,

the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. 

And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

December 15

Blessed Mary Frances Schervier

(1819 - 1876)

Born into a distinguished family in Aachen—then ruled by Prussia, but formerly Aix-la-Chapelle, France—Frances ran the household after her mother’s death, and established a reputation for generosity to the poor. In 1844, she became a Secular Franciscan. The next year she and four companions established a religious community devoted to caring for the poor. In 1851, the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis were approved by the local bishop; the community soon spread. The first U.S. foundation was made in 1858.

Mother Frances visited the United States in 1863 and helped her sisters nurse soldiers wounded in the Civil War. She visited the United States again in 1868. She encouraged Philip Hoever as he was establishing the Brothers of the Poor of St. Francis.

When Mother Frances died, there were 2,500 members of her community worldwide. They are still engaged in operating hospitals and homes for the aged. Mother Mary Frances was beatified in 1974.

THE LITURGY OF HOURS

The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office or the Work of God
(Opus Dei), is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer.  The Hours are a meditative dialogue on the mystery of Christ, using scripture and prayer.  At times the dialogue is between the Church or individual soul and God; at times it is a dialogue among the members of the Church; and at times it is even between the Church and the world.  The Divine Office "is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses to the Father." (SC 84)  The dialogue is always held, however, in the presence of God and using the words and wisdom of God.  Each of the five canonical Hours includes selections from the Psalms that culminate in a scriptural proclamation.  The two most important or hinge Hours are Morning and Evening Prayer. These each include a Gospel canticle:  the Canticle of Zechariah from Luke 1:68-79 for Morning Prayer (known as the Benedictus), and the Canticle of Mary from Luke 1:46-55 for Evening Prayer (known as the Magnificat). The Gospel canticle acts as a kind of meditative extension of the scriptural proclamation in light of the Christ event.  Morning and Evening Prayer also include intercessions that flow from the scriptural proclamation just as the Psalms prepare for it.

In the Hours, the royal priesthood of the baptized is exercised, and this sacrifice of praise is thus connected to the sacrifice of the Eucharist, 

both preparing for and flowing from the Mass.

"The hymns and litanies of the Liturgy of the Hours integrate the prayer of the psalms into the age of the Church, expressing the symbolism of the time of day, the liturgical season, or the feast being celebrated. Moreover, the reading from the Word of God at each Hour (with the subsequent responses or troparia) and readings from the Fathers and spiritual masters at certain Hours, reveal more deeply the meaning of the mystery being celebrated, assist in understanding the psalms, and prepare for silent prayer." (CCC 1177)

OFFICE OF READINGS

"The office of readings seeks to provide God's people, and in particular those consecrated to God in a special way, with a wider selection of passages from sacred Scripture for meditation, together with the finest excerpts from spiritual writers. Even though the cycle of scriptural readings at daily Mass is now richer, the treasures of revelation and tradition to be found in the office of readings will also contribute greatly to the spiritual life" (General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours [GILH], no. 55).

https://www.universalis.com/0/readings.htm

LAUDS - Morning Prayer

"As is clear from many of the elements that make it up, morning prayer is intended and arranged to sanctify the morning. St. Basil the Great gives an excellent description of this character in these words: "It is said in the morning in order that the first stirrings of our mind and will may be consecrated to God and that we may take nothing in hand until we have been gladdened by the thought of God, as it is written: 'I was mindful of God and was glad' (Ps 77:4 [Jerome's translation from Hebrew]), or set our bodies to any task before we do what has been said: 'I will pray to you, Lord, you will hear my voice in the morning; I will stand before you in the morning and gaze on you' 

(Ps 5:4-5)."

"Celebrated as it is as the light of a new day is dawning, this hour also recalls the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the true light enlightening all people (see Jn 1:9) and "the sun of justice" (Mal 4:2), "rising from on high" (Lk 1:78). Hence, we can well understand the advice of St. Cyprian: "There should be prayer in the morning so that the resurrection of the Lord may thus be celebrated" (GILH, no. 38).

https://www.universalis.com/0/lauds.htm

TERCE - Mid-Morning Prayer

"Following a very ancient tradition Christians have made a practice of praying out of private devotion at various times of the day, even in the course of their work, in imitation of the Church in apostolic times. In different ways with the passage of time this tradition has taken the form of a liturgical celebration.

"Liturgical custom in both East and West has retained midmorning, midday, and midafternoon prayer, mainly because these hours were linked to a commemoration of the events of the Lord's passion and of the first preaching of the Gospel" 

(GILH, no. 74-75).

https://www.universalis.com/0/terce.htm

SEXT - Mid-Day Prayer

 https://www.universalis.com/0/sext.htm

NONE - Afternoon Prayer

 https://www.universalis.com/0/none.htm

VESPERS - Evening Prayer

"When evening approaches and the day is already far spent, evening prayer is celebrated in order that 'we may give thanks for what has been given us, or what we have done well, during the day.' We also recall the redemption through the prayer we send up 'like incense in the Lord's sight,' and in which 'the raising up of our hands' becomes 'an evening sacrifice' (see Ps 141:2). This sacrifice 'may also be interpreted more spiritually as the true evening sacrifice that our Savior the Lord entrusted to the apostles at supper on the evening when he instituted the sacred mysteries of the Church or of the evening sacrifice of the next day, the sacrifice, that is, which, raising his hands, he offered to the Father at the end of the ages for the salvation of the whole world.' Again, in order to fix our hope on the light that knows no setting, 'we pray and make petition for the light to come down on us anew; we implore the coming of Christ who will bring the grace of eternal light.' Finally, at this hour we join with the Churches of the East in calling upon the 'joy-giving light of that holy glory, born of the immortal, heavenly Father, the holy and blessed Jesus Christ; now that we have come to the setting of the sun and have seen the evening star, we sing in praise of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…'" 

(GILH, no. 39).

https://www.universalis.com/0/vespers.htm

COMPLINE - Night Prayer

"Night prayer is the last prayer of the day, said before retiring, even if that is after midnight" (GILH, no. 84).The Psalms that are chosen for Night Prayer are full of confidence in the Lord.

https://www.universalis.com/0/compline.htm

ABOUT TODAY

https://www.universalis.com/0/today.htm