THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

Daily Mass Readings

Memorial of Saint Irenaeus

Bishop and Martyr

Antiphon

Mal 2: 6

 

The law of truth was in his mouth;

no dishonesty was found on his lips.

He walked with me in integrity and peace,

and turned many away from evil.

Collect

O God, who called the Bishop Saint Irenaeus

to confirm true doctrine and the peace of the Church,

grant, we pray, through his intercession,

that, being renewed in faith and charity,

we may always be intent on fostering unity and concord.

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

2 KGS 25:1-12

In the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign,

on the tenth day of the month,

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his whole army

advanced against Jerusalem, encamped around it,

and built siege walls on every side.

The siege of the city continued until the eleventh year of Zedekiah.

On the ninth day of the fourth month,

when famine had gripped the city,

and the people had no more bread,

the city walls were breached.

Then the king and all the soldiers left the city by night

through the gate between the two walls

that was near the king’s garden.

Since the Chaldeans had the city surrounded,

they went in the direction of the Arabah.

But the Chaldean army pursued the king

and overtook him in the desert near Jericho,

abandoned by his whole army.

The king was therefore arrested and brought to Riblah

to the king of Babylon, who pronounced sentence on him.

He had Zedekiah’s sons slain before his eyes.

Then he blinded Zedekiah, bound him with fetters,

and had him brought to Babylon.On the seventh day of the fifth month

(this was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar,

king of Babylon),

Nebuzaradan, captain of the bodyguard,

came to Jerusalem as the representative

of the king of Babylon.

He burned the house of the Lord,

the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem;

every large building was destroyed by fire.

Then the Chaldean troops who were with the captain of the guard

tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.

Then Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard,

led into exile the last of the people remaining in the city,

and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon,

and the last of the artisans.

But some of the country’s poor, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard,

left behind as vinedressers and farmers.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

By the streams of Babylon

we sat and wept

when we remembered Zion.

On the aspens of that land

we hung up our harps.

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

Though there our captors asked of us

the lyrics of our songs,

And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:

“Sing for us the songs of Zion!”

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

How could we sing a song of the Lord

in a foreign land?

If I forget you, Jerusalem,

may my right hand be forgotten!

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

May my tongue cleave to my palate

if I remember you not,

If I place not Jerusalem

ahead of my joy.

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

Alleluia 

MATTHEW 8:17

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Christ took away our infirmities

and bore our diseases.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel 

MT 8:1-4

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.

And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said,

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”

He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,

“I will do it.  Be made clean.”

His leprosy was cleansed immediately.

Then Jesus said to him, 

“See that you tell no one,

but go show yourself to the priest,

and offer the gift that Moses prescribed;

that will be proof for them.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

June 28

Saint Irenaeus

(130 - 202)

The Church is fortunate that Irenaeus was involved in many of its controversies in the second century. He was a student, 

well trained no doubt, with great patience in investigating, tremendously protective of apostolic teaching, but prompted more by a desire to win over his opponents than to prove them in error.

As bishop of Lyons he was especially concerned with the Gnostics, who took their name from the Greek word for “knowledge.” Claiming access to secret knowledge imparted by Jesus to only a few disciples, their teaching was attracting and confusing many Christians. After thoroughly investigating the various Gnostic sects and their “secret,” Irenaeus showed to what logical conclusions their tenets led. These he contrasted with the teaching of the apostles and the text of Holy Scripture, giving us, in five books, a system of theology of great importance to subsequent times. Moreover, his work, widely used and translated into Latin and Armenian, gradually ended the influence of the Gnostics.

The circumstances and details about his death, like those of his birth 

and early life in Asia Minor, are not at all clear. However in 2022, 

Pope Francis named Saint Irenaeus a Doctor of the Church.

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

03/02/24