Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:
Ordinary: 651
Proper of Seasons: 69
Psalter: Friday, Week I, 786

Office of Readings for Friday in Ordinary Time

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 Rise up, Lord, and come to my aid.

Psalm 35:1-2, 3c, 9-19, 22-23, 27-28
The Lord as Savior in time of persecution
They came together… and laid their plans to capture Jesus by treachery and put him to death (Matthew 26:3-4).

I

O Lord, plead my cause against my foes;
fight those who fight me.
Take up your buckler and shield;
arise to help me.

O Lord, say to my soul:
“I am your salvation.”

But my soul shall be joyful in the Lord
and rejoice in his salvation.
My whole being will say:
“Lord, who is like you
who rescue the weak from the strong
and the poor from the oppressor?”

Lying witnesses arise
and accuse me unjustly.
They repay me evil for good:
my soul is forlorn.

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. Rise up, Lord, and come to my aid.

Ant. 2 All-powerful Lord, stand by me and defend me.

II

When they were sick I went into mourning,
afflicted with fasting.
My prayer was ever on my lips,
as for a brother, a friend.
I went as though mourning a mother,
bowed down with grief.

Now that I am in trouble they gather,
they gather and mock me.
They take me by surprise and strike me
and tear me to pieces.
They provoke me with mockery on mockery
and gnash their teeth.

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. All-powerful Lord, stand by me and defend me.

Ant. 3 My tongue will speak of your goodness all the day long.

III

O Lord, how long will you look on?
Come to my rescue!
Save my life from these raging beasts,
my soul from these lions.
I will thank you in the great assembly,
amid the throng I will praise you.

Do not let my lying foes
rejoice over me.
Do not let those who hate me unjustly
wink eyes at each other.

O Lord, you have seen, do not be silent,
do not stand afar off!
Awake, stir to my defense,
to my cause, O God!

Let there be joy for those who love my cause.
Let them say without end:
“Great is the Lord who delights
in the peace of his servant.”
Then my tongue shall speak of your justice,
all day long of your praise.

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

Lord, you rescue the poor from their oppressors, and you rose to the aid of your beloved Son against those who unjustly sought his life. Look on your Church as we journey to you, that the poor and weak may recognize the help you provide and proclaim your saving acts.

Ant. My tongue will speak of your goodness all the day long.

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.

My son, take my words to heart.
— Do as I say, and you will live.

READINGS

First reading
From the book of Sirach
43:13-35
All creation gives praise to God

His rebuke marks out the path for the lightning,
and speeds the arrows of his judgment to their goal.
At it the storehouse is opened,
and like vultures the clouds hurry forth.
In his majesty he gives the storm its power
and breaks off the hailstones.
The thunder of his voice makes the earth writhe;
before his might the mountains quake.
A word from him drives on the south wind,
the angry north wind, the hurricane and the storm.
He sprinkles the snow like fluttering birds;
it comes to settle like swarms of locusts.
Its shining whiteness blinds the eyes,
the mind is baffled by its steady fall.

He scatters frost like so much salt;
it shines like blossoms on the thornbush.
Cold northern blasts he sends
that turn the ponds to lumps of ice.
He freezes over every body of water,
and clothes each pool with a coat of mail.
When the mountain growth is scorched with heat,
and the flowering plains as though by flames,
The dripping clouds restore them all,
and the scattered dew enriches the parched land.
His is the plan that calms the deep,
and plants the islands in the sea.

Those who go down to the sea tell part of its story,
and when we hear them we are thunderstruck;
In it are his creatures, stupendous, amazing,
all kinds of life, and the monsters of the deep.

For him each messenger succeeds,
and at his bidding accomplishes his will.
More than this we need not add;
let the last word be, he is all in all!
Let us praise him the more, since we cannot fathom him,
for greater is he than all his works;
Awful indeed is the Lord’s majesty,
and wonderful is his power.
Lift up your voices to glorify the Lord,
though he is still beyond your power to praise;
Extol him with renewed strength,
and weary not, though you cannot reach the end:

For who can see him and describe him?
or who can praise him as he is?
Beyond these, many things lie hid;
only a few of his works have we seen.
It is the Lord who has made all things,
and to those who fear him he gives wisdom.

RESPONSORY See Sirach 43:27, 28

Glorify God with all your skill, and still all you say will fall short.
— The sum of all our words is: he is all.

How shall we be able to give him fitting praise? For he is so much greater than all his works.
— The sum of all our words is: he is all.

Second reading
From a Discourse Against the Pagans by Saint Athanasius, bishop
The Word creates a divine harmony in creation

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made. In these words John the theologian teaches that nothing exists or remains in being except in and through the Word.

Think of a musician tuning his lyre. By his skill he adjusts high notes to low and intermediate notes to the rest, and produces a series of harmonies. So too the wisdom of God holds the world like a lyre and joins things in the air to those on earth, and things in heaven to those in the air, and brings each part into harmony with the whole. By his decree and will he regulates them all to produce the beauty and harmony of a single, well-ordered universe. While remaining unchanged with his Father, he moves all creation by his unchanging nature, according to the Father’s will. To everything he gives existence and life in accordance with its nature, and so creates a wonderful and truly divine harmony.

To illustrate this profound mystery, let us take the example of a choir of many singers. A choir is composed of a variety of men, women and children, of both old and young. Under the direction of one conductor, each sings in the way that is natural for him: men with men’s voices, boys with boys’ voices, old people with old voices, young people with young voices. Yet all of them produce a single harmony. Or consider the example of our soul. It moves our senses according to their several functions so that in the presence of a single object they all act simultaneously: the eye sees, the ear hears, the hand touches, the nose smells, the tongue tastes, and often the other parts of the body act as well as, for example, the feet may walk.

Although this is only a poor comparison, it gives some idea of how the whole universe is governed. The Word of God has but to give a gesture of command and everything falls into place; each creature performs its own proper function, and all together constitute one single harmonious order.

RESPONSORY Tobit 12:6, 18

Praise the God of heaven; give thanks to him before all men,
— for he has done many good things for you.

Praise God, and sing to him; proclaim the marvels he has done.
— For he has done many good things for you.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Attend to the pleas of your people with heavenly care,
O Lord, we pray,
that they may see what must be done
and gain strength to do what they have seen.
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.