Office of Readings for Wednesday in the 4th week of Easter or St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, P & M

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Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II:
Ordinary: 1045
Proper of Seasons: 777
Psalter: Wednesday, Week IV, 1550

Office of Readings for Wednesday in Week 4 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 Bless the Lord, my soul; never forget all he has done for you, alleluia.

Psalm 103
Praise for God’s tender compassion
In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us (see Luke 1:78).

I

My soul, give thanks to the Lord,
all my being, bless his holy name.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
and never forget all his blessings.

It is he who forgives all your guilt,
who heals every one of your ills,
who redeems your life from the grave,
who crowns you with love and compassion,
who fills your life with good things,
renewing your youth like an eagle’s.

The Lord does deeds of justice,
gives judgment for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses
and his deeds to Israel’s sons.

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. Bless the Lord, my soul; never forget all he has done for you, alleluia.

Ant. 2 As a father is gentle with his children, so is the Lord with those who revere him, alleluia.

II

The Lord is compassion and love,
slow to anger and rich in mercy.
His wrath will come to an end;
he will not be angry for ever.
He does not treat us according to our sins
nor repay us according to our faults.

For as the heavens are high above the earth
so strong is his love for those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west
so far does he remove our sins.

As a father has compassion on his sons,
the Lord has pity on those who fear him;
for he knows of what we are made,
he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;
he flowers like the flower of the field;
the wind blows and he is gone
and his place never sees him again.

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. As a father is gentle with his children, so is the Lord with those who revere him, alleluia.

Ant. 3 Bless the Lord, all you his works, alleluia.

III

But the love of the Lord is everlasting
upon those who hold him in fear;
his justice reaches out to children’s children
when they keep his covenant in truth,
when they keep his will in their mind.

The Lord has set his sway in heaven
and his kingdom is ruling over all.
Give thanks to the Lord, all his angels,
mighty in power, fulfilling his word,
who heed the voice of his word.

Give thanks to the Lord, all his hosts,
his servants who do his will.
Give thanks to the Lord, all his works,
in every place where he rules.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord!

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

You have compassion for the sinner, Lord, as a father has compassion for his children. Heal the weakness of your people and save us from lasting death, that we may praise and glorify you for ever.

Ant. Bless the Lord, all you his works, 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
14:14 ― 15:4
The harvest at the end of time

As I, John, watched, a white cloud appeared, and on the cloud sat One like a Son of Man wearing a gold crown on his head and holding a sharp sickle in his hand. Another angel came out of the temple and in a loud voice cried out to him who sat on the cloud, “Use your sickle and cut down the harvest, for now is the time to reap; the earth’s harvest is fully ripe.” So the one sitting on the cloud wielded his sickle over all the earth and reaped the earth’s harvest.

Then out of the temple in heaven came another angel, who likewise held a sharp sickle. A second angel, who was in charge of the fire at the altar of incense, cried out in a loud voice to the one who held the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the grapes from the vines of the earth, for the clusters are ripe.” So the angel wielded his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes of the earth. He threw them into the huge winepress of God’s wrath. The winepress was trodden outside the city, and so much blood poured out of the winepress that for two hundred miles around, it reached as high as a horse’s bridle.

I saw in heaven another sign, great and awe-inspiring: seven angels holding the seven final plagues which would bring God’s wrath to a climax.

I then saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire. On the sea of glass were standing those who had won the victory over the beast and its image, and also the number that signified its name. They were holding the harps used in worshiping God, and they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:

“Mighty and wonderful are your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Righteous and true are your ways,
O King of the nations!
Who would dare refuse you honor,
or the glory due your name, O Lord?
Since you alone are holy,
all nations shall come
and worship in your presence.
Your mighty deeds are clearly seen.”

RESPONSORY Revelation 15:3; Exodus 15:11

They sang the song of the Lamb: How wonderful and great are your works, Lord God Almighty!
— Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations, alleluia.

O Lord, you have performed wonderful deeds. Who is your equal among all the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness?
— Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations, alleluia.

Second Reading
From the treatise On the Trinity by Saint Hilary, bishop
The unity of the faithful in God through the incarnation of the Word and the sacrament of the eucharist

We believe that the Word became flesh and that we receive his flesh in the Lord’s Supper. How then can we fail to believe that he really dwells within us? When he became man, he actually clothed himself in our flesh, uniting it to himself for ever. In the sacrament of his body he actually gives us his own flesh, which he has united to his divinity. This is why we are all one, because the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in us. He is in us through his flesh and we are in him. With him we form a unity which is in God.

The manner of our indwelling in him through the sacrament of his body and blood is evident from the Lord’s own words: This world will see me no longer but you shall see me. Because I live you shall live also, for I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you. If it had been a question of mere unity of will, why should he have given us this explanation of the steps by which it is achieved? He is in the Father by reason of his divine nature, we are in him by reason of his human birth, and he is in us through the mystery of the sacraments. This, surely, is what he wished us to believe; this is how he wanted us to understand the perfect unity that is achieved through our Mediator, who lives in the Father while we live in him, and who, while living in the Father, lives also in us. This is how we attain to unity with the Father. Christ is in very truth in the Father by his eternal generation; we are in very truth in Christ, and he likewise is in us.

Christ himself bore witness to the reality of his unity when he said: He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I in him. No one will be in Christ unless Christ himself has been in him; Christ will take to himself only the flesh of those who have received his flesh.

He had already explained the mystery of this perfect unity when he said: As the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so he who eats my flesh will draw life from me. We draw life from his flesh just as he draws life from the Father. Such comparisons aid our understanding, since we can grasp a point more easily when we have an analogy. And the point is that Christ is the wellspring of our life. Since we who are in the flesh have Christ dwelling in us through his flesh, we shall draw life from him in the same way he draws life from the Father.

RESPONSORY John 6:56; see Deuteronomy 4:7

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood,
— He lives in me and I in him, says the Lord, alleluia.

There is no great nation which has gods as near to it as our God is to us.
— He lives in me and I in him, says the Lord, alleluia.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

O God,
life of the faithful,
glory of the humble,
blessedness of the just,
listen kindly to the prayers of those who call on you,
that they who thirst for what you generously promise
may always have their fill of your plenty.
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.