THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

Daily Mass Readings

Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus

Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Antiphon

Dt 32:10-12

 

The Lord led her and taught her,

and kept her as the apple of his eye.

Like an eagle spreading its wings

he took her up and bore her on his shoulders.

The Lord alone was her guide.

Collect

O God, who open your Kingdom

to those who are humble and to little ones,

lead us to follow trustingly in the little way of Saint Thérèse,

so that through her intercession

we may see your eternal glory revealed.

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

JB 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17

Job answered the LORD and said:

I know that you can do all things,

and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.

I have dealt with great things that I do not understand;

things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.

I had heard of you by word of mouth,

but now my eye has seen you.

Therefore I disown what I have said,

and repent in dust and ashes.

Thus the LORD blessed the latter days of Job

more than his earlier ones.

For he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels,

a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.

And he had seven sons and three daughters,

of whom he called the first Jemimah,

the second Keziah, and the third Kerenhappuch.

In all the land no other women were as beautiful

as the daughters of Job;

and their father gave them an inheritance

along with their brothers.

After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years;

and he saw his children, his grandchildren,

and even his great-grandchildren.

Then Job died, old and full of years.

 

Responsorial Psalm

PS 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130

R. Lord, let your face shine on me.

Teach me wisdom and knowledge,

for in your commands I trust.

R. Lord, let your face shine on me.

It is good for me that I have been afflicted,

that I may learn your statutes.

R. Lord, let your face shine on me.

I know, O LORD, that your ordinances are just,

and in your faithfulness you have afflicted me.

R. Lord, let your face shine on me.

According to your ordinances they still stand firm:

all things serve you.

R. Lord, let your face shine on me.

I am your servant; give me discernment

that I may know your decrees.

R. Lord, let your face shine on me.

The revelation of your words sheds light,

giving understanding to the simple.

R. Lord, let your face shine on me.

Alleluia

MT 11:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

LK 10:17-24

The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus,

“Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”

Jesus said, 

“I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.

Behold, I have given you the power

‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions

and upon the full force of the enemy

and nothing will harm you.

Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,

but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.

”At that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,

“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

for although you have hidden these things

from the wise and the learned

you have revealed them to the childlike.

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

No one knows who the Son is except the Father,

and who the Father is except the Son

and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said,

“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

For I say to you,

many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,

but did not see it,

and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

October 1

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

(1873 - 1897)

“I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. 

To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul.”

These are the words of Thérèse of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun called the “Little Flower,” who lived a cloistered life of obscurity in the convent of Lisieux, France. 

And her preference for hidden sacrifice did indeed convert souls. Few saints of God are more popular than this young nun. Her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, 

is read and loved throughout the world. Thérèse Martin entered the convent at the age of 15 and died in 1897 at the age of 24.

Life in a Carmelite convent is indeed uneventful and consists mainly of prayer and hard domestic work. But Thérèse possessed that holy insight that redeems the time, however dull that time may be. She saw in quiet suffering a redemptive suffering, suffering that was indeed her apostolate. Thérèse said she came to the Carmel convent “to save souls and pray for priests.” And shortly before she died, she wrote: 

“I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth.”

Thérèse was canonized in 1925. On October 19, 1997, Pope John Paul II proclaimed her a Doctor of the Church, the third woman to be so recognized in light of her holiness and the influence of her teaching on spirituality in the Church.

Her parents, Louis and Zélie, were beatified in 2008 and canonized in 2015.

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