THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

Daily Mass Readings

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier

Priest

Antiphon

Ps 18 (17): 50; 22 (21): 23

 

I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

I will tell of your name to my kin.

Collect

O God, who through the preaching of Saint Francis Xavier

won many peoples to yourself,

grant that the hearts of the faithful

may burn with the same zeal for the faith

and that Holy Church may everywhere rejoice

in an abundance of offspring.

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 30:19-21, 23-26

Thus says the Lord GOD,

the Holy One of Israel:

O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,

no more will you weep;

He will be gracious to you when you cry out,

as soon as he hears he will answer you.

The Lord will give you the bread you need

and the water for which you thirst.

No longer will your Teacher hide himself,

but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,

While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:

“This is the way; walk in it,”

when you would turn to the right or to the left.

He will give rain for the seed

that you sow in the ground,

And the wheat that the soil produces

will be rich and abundant.

On that day your flock will be given pasture

and the lamb will graze in spacious meadows;

The oxen and the asses that till the ground

will eat silage tossed to them

with shovel and pitchfork.

Upon every high mountain and lofty hill

there will be streams of running water.

On the day of the great slaughter,

when the towers fall,

The light of the moon will be like that of the sun

and the light of the sun will be seven times greater

like the light of seven days.

On the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people,

he will heal the bruises left by his blows.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.

Praise the LORD, for he is good;

sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;

it is fitting to praise him.

The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;

the dispersed of Israel he gathers. 

R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.

He heals the brokenhearted

and binds up their wounds.

He tells the number of the stars;

he calls each by name.

R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.

Great is our LORD and mighty in power:

to his wisdom there is no limit.

The LORD sustains the lowly;

the wicked he casts to the ground.

R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.

 

Alleluia

IS 33:22

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The LORD is our Judge, our Lawgiver, our King;

he it is who will save us.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

MT 9:35–10:1, 5A, 6-8

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,

teaching in their synagogues,

proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,

and curing every disease and illness. 

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them

because they were troubled and abandoned,

like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples,

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;

so ask the master of the harvest

to send out laborers for his harvest.” 

Then he summoned his Twelve disciples

and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out

and to cure every disease and every illness. 

Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,

“Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

As you go, make this proclamation: 

‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 

Cure the sick, raise the dead,

cleanse lepers, drive out demons.

Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

December 3

Saint Francis Xavier

(1506 - 1552)

Jesus asked, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:26a). The words were repeated to a young teacher of philosophy who had a highly promising career in academics, with success and a life of prestige and honor before him.

Francis Xavier, 24 at the time, and living and teaching in Paris, did not heed these words at once. They came from a good friend, Ignatius of Loyola, whose tireless persuasion finally won the young man to Christ. Francis then made the spiritual exercises under the direction of Ignatius, and in 1534, joined his little community, the infant Society of Jesus. Together at Montmartre they vowed poverty, chastity, obedience, 

and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope.

From Venice, where he was ordained a priest in 1537, Xavier went on to Lisbon and from there sailed to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India. For the next 10 years he labored to bring the faith to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans, and the Japanese. He spent much of that time in India, 

and served as provincial of the newly established Jesuit province of India.

Wherever he went, Xavier lived with the poorest people, sharing their food and rough accommodations. He spent countless hours ministering to the sick and the poor, particularly to lepers. Very often he had no time to sleep or even to say his breviary but, as we know from his letters, he was filled always with joy.

Xavier went through the islands of Malaysia, then up to Japan. He learned enough Japanese to preach to simple folk, to instruct, and to baptize, and to establish missions for those who were to follow him. From Japan he had dreams of going to China, but this plan was never realized. Before reaching the mainland, he died. 

His remains are enshrined in the Church of Good Jesus in Goa. 

He and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux were declared co-patrons of the missions in 1925.

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