THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

Daily Mass Readings

Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Antiphon

Ps 84 (83): 10-11

 

Turn your eyes, O God, our shield;

and look on the face of your anointed one;

one day within your courts

is better than a thousand elsewhere.

Collect

O God, who have prepared for those who love you

good things which no eye can see,

fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love,

so that, loving you in all things and above all things,

we may attain your promises,

which surpass every human desire.

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

Jgs 6:11-24a

The angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth in Ophrah

that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite.

While his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press

to save it from the Midianites,

the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said,

“The LORD is with you, O champion!”

Gideon said to him, “My Lord, if the LORD is with us,

why has all this happened to us?

Where are his wondrous deeds of which our fathers

told us when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’

For now the LORD has abandoned us

and has delivered us into the power of Midian.”

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have

and save Israel from the power of Midian.

It is I who send you.”

But Gideon answered him, “Please, my lord, how can I save Israel?

My family is the lowliest in Manasseh,

and I am the most insignificant in my father’s house.”

“I shall be with you,” the LORD said to him,

“and you will cut down Midian to the last man.”

Gideon answered him, “If I find favor with you,

give me a sign that you are speaking with me.

Do not depart from here, I pray you, until I come back to you

and bring out my offering and set it before you.”

He answered, “I will await your return.”

So Gideon went off and prepared a kid and a measure of flour

in the form of unleavened cakes.

Putting the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot,

he brought them out to him under the terebinth

and presented them.

The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and unleavened cakes

and lay them on this rock; then pour out the broth.”

When he had done so,

the angel of the LORD stretched out the tip of the staff he held,

and touched the meat and unleavened cakes.

Thereupon a fire came up from the rock

that consumed the meat and unleavened cakes,

and the angel of the LORD disappeared from sight.

Gideon, now aware that it had been the angel of the LORD,

said, “Alas, Lord GOD,

that I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

The LORD answered him,

“Be calm, do not fear. You shall not die.”

So Gideon built there an altar to the LORD

and called it Yahweh-shalom.

Responsorial Psalm

85:9, 11-12, 13-14

R.    The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

I will hear what God proclaims;

    the LORD–for he proclaims peace

To his people, and to his faithful ones,

    and to those who put in him their hope.

R.    The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

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.    The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

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.    The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

Alleluia

2 Cor 8:9

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich

so that by his poverty you might become rich.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 19:23-30

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich

to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Again I say to you,

it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle

than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said,

“Who then can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said,

“For men this is impossible,

but for God all things are possible.”

Then Peter said to him in reply,

“We have given up everything and followed you.

What will there be for us?”

Jesus said to them, 

“Amen, I say to you

that you who have followed me, in the new age,

when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory,

will yourselves sit on twelve thrones,

judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters

or father or mother or children or lands

for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,

and will inherit eternal life.

But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

August 17

Saint Joan of the Cross

(1666 - 1736)

Born in 1666, in Anjou, France, Joan worked in the family business

—a small shop near a religious shrine—from an early age. After her parents’ death she took over the shop.  She quickly became known for her greediness and insensitivity to the beggars who often came seeking help.

That was until she was touched by the strange woman who claimed she was on intimate terms with the deity. Joan, who had always been devout, even scrupulous, became a new person. She began caring for needy children. Then the poor, elderly, 

and sick came to her. Over time, she closed the family business so she could devote herself fully to good works and penance.

She went on to found what came to be known as the Congregation of Saint Anne of Providence. It was then she took the religious name of Joan of the Cross. By the time of her death in 1736 she had founded 12 religious houses, hospices, and schools. 

Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1982.

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