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Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II:
Ordinary: 1045
Proper of Seasons: 658
Psalter: Wednesday, Week II, 1277

Office of Readings for Wednesday in Week 2 of Easter

God, come to my assistance.
— Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 We groan in pain as we await the redemption of our bodies, alleluia.

Psalm 39
Urgent prayer of a sick person
Creation is made subject to futility… by him who subjected it, but it is not without hope (Romans 8:20).

I

I said: “I will be watchful of my ways
for fear I should sin with my tongue.
I will put a curb on my lips
when the wicked man stands before me.”
I was dumb, silent and still.
His prosperity stirred my grief.

My heart was burning within me.
At the thought of it, the fire blazed up
and my tongue burst into speech:
“O Lord, you have shown me my end,
how short is the length of my days.
Now I know how fleeting is my life.

You have given me a short span of days;
my life is as nothing in your sight.
A mere breath, the man who stood so firm,
a mere shadow, the man passing by,
a mere breath, the riches he hoards,
not knowing who will have them.”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. We groan in pain as we await the redemption of our bodies, alleluia.

Ant. 2 Hear and answer my prayer, O Lord; let me not weep in vain, alleluia.

II

And now, Lord, what is there to wait for?
In you rests all my hope.
Set me free from all my sins,
do not make me the taunt of the fool.
I was silent, not opening my lips,
because this was all your doing.

Take away your scourge from me.
I am crushed by the blows of your hand.
You punish man’s sins and correct him;
like the moth you devour all he treasures.
Mortal man is no more than a breath;
O Lord, hear my prayer.

O Lord, turn your ear to my cry.
Do not be deaf to my tears.
In your house I am a passing guest,
a pilgrim, like all my fathers.
Look away that I may breathe again,
before I depart to be no more.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

Through your Son you taught us, Father, not to be fearful of tomorrow but to commit our lives to your care. Do not withhold your Spirit from us but help us find a life of peace after these days of trouble.

Ant. Hear and answer my prayer, O Lord; let me not weep in vain, alleluia.

Ant. 3 I have put all my trust in God’s never-failing mercy, alleluia.

Psalm 52
Against a calumniator
If anyone would boast, let him boast in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31).

Why do you boast of your wickedness,
you champion of evil,
planning ruin all day long,
your tongue like a sharpened razor,
you master of deceit?

You love evil more than good;
lies more than truth.
You love the destructive word,
you tongue of deceit.

For this God will destroy you
and remove you for ever.
He will snatch you from your tent and uproot you
from the land of the living.

The just shall see and fear.
They shall laugh and say:
“So this is the man who refused
to take God as his stronghold,
but trusted in the greatness of his wealth
and grew powerful by his crimes.”

But I am like a growing olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the goodness of God
for ever and ever.

I will thank you for evermore;
for this is your doing.
I will proclaim that your name is good,
in the presence of your friends.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

Father, you cut down the unfruitful branch for burning and prune the fertile to make it bear more fruit. Make us grow like laden olive trees in your domain, firmly rooted in the power and mercy of your Son, so that you may gather from us fruit worthy of eternal life.

Ant. I have put all my trust in God’s never-failing mercy, alleluia.

Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) A moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.

God raised up Christ from the dead, alleluia,
— so that all our faith and hope might be in God, alleluia.

READINGS

First reading
From the Book of Revelation
2:12-29
To the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira

I, John, heard the Lord saying to me: “To the presiding spirit of the church in Pergamum, write this:
“The One with the sharp, two-edged sword has this to say: I know you live in the very place where Satan’s throne is erected; and I know you hold fast to my name and have not denied the faith you have in me, not even at the time when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred in your city where Satan has his home. Nevertheless I hold a few matters against you: there are some among you who follow the teaching of Balaam, who instructed Balak to throw a stumbling block in the way of the Israelites by tempting them to eat food sacrificed to idols and to practice fornication. Yes, you too have those among you who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent! If you do not, I will come to you soon and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

“Let him who has ears heed the Spirit’s word to the churches! To the victor I will give the hidden manna; I will also give him a white stone upon which is inscribed a new name, to be known only by him who receives it.

“To the presiding spirit of the church in Thyatira, write this:
“The Son of God, whose eyes blaze like fire and whose feet gleam like polished brass, has this to say: I know your deeds—your love and faith and service—as well as your patient endurance; I know also that your efforts of recent times are greater than ever. Nevertheless I hold this against you: you tolerate a Jezebel—that self-styled prophetess who seduces my servants by teaching them to practice lewdness and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I have given her a chance to repent but she refuses to turn from her lewdness. I mean to cast her down on a bed of pain; her companions in sin I will plunge into intense suffering unless they repent of their sins with her, and her children I will put to death. Thus shall all the churches come to know that I am the searcher of hearts and minds, and that I will give each of you what your conduct deserves.

And now I address myself to you others in Thyatira who do not uphold this teaching and know nothing of the so-called “deep secrets” of Satan; on you I place no further burden. In any case, hold fast to what you have until I come.

“To the one who wins the victory, who keeps to my ways till the end, I will give authority over the nations—the same authority I received from my Father. He shall rule them with a rod of iron and shatter them like crockery; and I will give him the morning star.

“Let him who has ears heed the Spirit’s word to the churches!”

RESPONSORY Revelation 2:18, 23; 22:12

These are the words of the Son of God whose eyes are like flames of fire: I search the mind and the heart,
— and I will repay each one as his deeds deserve, alleluia.

Behold I am coming soon and I bring my reward with me.
— And I will repay each one as his deeds deserve, alleluia.

Second reading
From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope
Christ lives in his Church

My dear brethren, there is no doubt that the Son of God took our human nature into so close a union with himself that one and the same Christ is present, not only in the firstborn of all creation, but in all his saints as well. The head cannot be separated from the members, nor the members from the head. Not in this life, it is true, but only in eternity will God be all in all, yet even now he dwells, whole and undivided, in his temple the Church. Such was his promise to us when he said: See, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.

And so all that the Son of God did and taught for the world’s reconciliation is not for us simply a matter of past history. Here and now we experience his power at work among us. Born of a virgin mother by the action of the Holy Spirit, Christ keeps his Church spotless and makes her fruitful by the inspiration of the same Spirit. In baptismal regeneration she brings forth children for God beyond all numbering. These are the sons of whom it is written: They are born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

In Christ Abraham’s posterity is blessed, because in him the whole world receives the adoption of sons, and in him the patriarch becomes the father of all nations through the birth, not from human stock but by faith, of the descendants that were promised to him. From every nation on earth, without exception, Christ forms a single flock of those he has sanctified, daily fulfilling the promise he once made: I have other sheep, not of this fold, whom it is also ordained that I shall lead; and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

Although it was primarily to Peter that he said: Feed my sheep, yet the one Lord guides all the pastors in the discharge of their office and leads to rich and fertile pastures all those who come to the rock. There is no counting the sheep who are nourished with his abundant love, and who are prepared to lay down their lives for the sake of the good shepherd who died for them.

But it is not only the martyrs who share in his passion by their glorious courage; the same is true, by faith, of all who are reborn through baptism. That is why we are to celebrate the Lord’s paschal sacrifice with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The leaven of our former malice is thrown out, and a new creature is filled and inebriated with the Lord himself. For the effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive. As we have died with him, and have been buried and raised to life with him, so we bear him within us, both in body and in spirit, in everything we do.

RESPONSORY John 10:14; Ezekiel 34:11, 13

I am the good shepherd;
— I know my sheep and my sheep know me, alleluia.

I shall look after my sheep and seek them out. I shall bring them out from among the peoples and lead them to pasture.
— I know my sheep and my sheep know me, alleluia.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

As we recall
year by year the mysteries by which,
through the restoration of its original dignity,
human nature has received the hope of rising again,
we earnestly beseech your mercy, Lord,
that what we celebrate in faith we may possess in unending love.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
— Amen.

ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration)

Let us praise the Lord.
— And give him thanks.