Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II:
Ordinary: 1045
Proper of Seasons: 416
Psalter: Sunday, Week II, 1213

Office of Readings for Passion Sunday in the Holy Week

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.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Lord, our God, in splendor and majesty you are clothed, wrapped in light as in a robe.

Psalm 104
Hymn to God the Creator
To be in Christ means being a completely new creature. Everything of the old is gone, now everything is made anew (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I

Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory,
wrapped in light as in a robe!

You stretch out the heavens like a tent.
Above the rains you build your dwelling.
You make the clouds your chariot,
and walk on the wings of the wind;
you make the winds your messengers
and flashing fire your servants.

You founded the earth on its base,
to stand firm from age to age.
You wrapped it with the ocean like a cloak:
the waters stood higher than the mountains.

At your threat they took to flight;
at the voice of your thunder they fled.
They rose over the mountains and flowed down
to the place which you had appointed.
You set the limits they might not pass
lest they return to cover the earth.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys:
they flow in between the hills.
They give drink to all the beasts of the field;
the wild-asses quench their thirst.
On their banks dwell the birds of heaven;
from the branches they sing their song.

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. Lord, our God, in splendor and majesty you are clothed, wrapped in light as in a robe.

Ant. 2 The Lord has brought forth bread from the earth, and wine to give warmth to men’s hearts.

II

From your dwelling you water the hills;
earth drinks its fill of your gift.
You make the grass grow for the cattle
and the plants to serve man’s needs,

that he may bring forth bread from the earth
and wine to cheer man’s heart;
oil, to make him glad
and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
the cedars he planted on Lebanon;
there the birds build their nests:
on the tree-top the stork has her home.
The goats find a home on the mountains
and rabbits hide in the rocks.

You made the moon to mark the months;
the sun knows the time for its setting.
When you spread the darkness it is night
and all the beasts of the forest creep forth.
The young lions roar for their prey
and ask their food from God.

At the rising of the sun they steal away
and go to rest in their dens.
Man goes forth to his work,
to labor till evening falls.

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. The Lord has brought forth bread from the earth, and wine to give warmth to men’s hearts.

Ant. 3 The Lord looked upon all he had made and saw that it was very good.

III

How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.

There is the sea, vast and wide,
with its moving swarms past counting,
living things great and small.
The ships are moving there
and the monsters you made to play with.

All of these look to you
to give them their food in due season.
You give it, they gather it up:
you open your hand, they have their fill.

You hide your face, they are dismayed;
you take back your spirit, they die,
returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the Lord last forever!
May the Lord rejoice in his works!
He looks on the earth and it trembles;
the mountains send forth smoke at his touch.

I will sing to the Lord all my life,
make music to my God while I live.
May my thoughts be pleasing to him.
I find my joy in the Lord.
Let sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked exist no more.

Bless the Lord, my soul.

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, as you made springs in valleys to form streams between mountains, so you made living streams of grace flow from the Apostles that their teaching may bring salvation to all the nations. May we have a practical knowledge of their doctrine, be obedient to their commands, obtain remission of our sins through their prayers, and finally receive the reward of eternal happiness.

Ant. The Lord looked upon all he had made and saw that it was very good.

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.

When I am lifted up from the earth.
— I will draw all people to myself.

READINGS

First reading
From the letter to the Hebrews
10:1-18
We are sanctified through the offering of Christ

Since the law had only a shadow of the good things to come, and no real image of them, it was never able to perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices offered continually year after year. Were matters otherwise, the priests would have stopped offering them, for the worshipers, once cleansed, would have had no sin on their conscience. But through those sacrifices there came only a yearly recalling of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take sins away. Wherefore, on coming into the world, Jesus said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you have prepared for me;
Holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the book,
I have come to do your will, O God.’”

First he says,
“Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in.”
(These are offered according to the prescriptions of the law.) Then he says,
“I have come to do your will.”

In other words, he takes away the first covenant to establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every other priest stands ministering day by day, and offering again and again those same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are placed beneath his feet. By one offering he has forever perfected those who are being sanctified. The Holy Spirit attests this to us, for after saying,

“This is the covenant I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts
and I will write them on their minds,”
he also says,

“Their sins and their transgressions
I will remember no more.”
Once these have been forgiven, there is no further offering for sin.

RESPONSORY Hebrews 10:5, 6, 7, 4 (Psalm 40:7-8)

Sacrifice and offerings you did not desire, but you prepared a body for me. Burnt offerings for sin could not please you. So I said:
— Here I am, Lord God, I come to do your will.

The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins. When Christ came into the world he said:
— Here I am, Lord God, I come to do your will.

Second reading
From a sermon by Saint Andrew of Crete, bishop
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel

Let us go together to meet Christ on the Mount of Olives. Today he returns from Bethany and proceeds of his own free will toward his holy and blessed passion, to consummate the mystery of our salvation. He who came down from heaven to raise us from the depths of sin, to raise us with himself, we are told in Scripture, above every sovereignty, authority and power, and every other name that can be named, now comes of his own free will to make his journey to Jerusalem. He comes without pomp or ostentation. As the psalmist says: He will not dispute or raise his voice to make it heard in the streets. He will be meek and humble, and he will make his entry in simplicity.

Let us run to accompany him as he hastens toward his passion, and imitate those who met him then, not by covering his path with garments, olive branches or palms, but by doing all we can to prostrate ourselves before him by being humble and by trying to live as he would wish. Then we shall be able to receive the Word at his coming, and God, whom no limits can contain, will be within us.

In his humility Christ entered the dark regions of our fallen world and he is glad that he became so humble for our sake, glad that he came and lived among us and shared in our nature in order to raise us up again to himself. And even though we are told that he has now ascended above the highest heavens—the proof, surely, of his power and godhead—his love for man will never rest until he has raised our earthbound nature from glory to glory, and made it one with his own in heaven.

So let us spread before his feet, not garments or soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but ourselves, clothed in his grace, or rather, clothed completely in him. We who have been baptized into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before him. Now that the crimson stains of our sins have been washed away in the saving waters of baptism and we have become white as pure wool, let us present the conqueror of death, not with mere branches of palms but with the real rewards of his victory. Let our souls take the place of the welcoming branches as we join today in the children’s holy song: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.

RESPONSORY John 12:12, 13; Matthew 21:8, 9

When the people heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem, they went out to meet him. Many spread their cloaks before him, while others took branches from the trees, as they cried aloud:
— Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

The crowd that went ahead of him, and the crowd that followed after cried out:
— Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Almighty ever-living God,
who as an example of humility
for the human race to follow,
caused our savior to take flesh
and submit to the Cross,
graciously grant that
we may heed his lesson of patient suffering
and so merit a share in his Resurrection.
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.