Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:
Ordinary: 651
Proper of Seasons: 288
Psalter: Sunday, Week I, 682

Office of Readings for Sunday 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 See how the cross of the Lord stands revealed as the tree of life.

Psalm 1
There are two ways a man may take
They are happy who, putting all their trust in the cross, have plunged into the water of life (from an author of the second century).

Happy indeed is the man
who follows not the counsel of the wicked;
nor lingers in the way of sinners
nor sits in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is the law of the Lord
and who ponders his law day and night.

Ant. See how the cross of the Lord stands revealed as the tree of life.

He is like a tree that is planted
beside the flowing waters,
that yields its fruit in due season
and whose leaves shall never fade;
and all that he does shall prosper.
Not so are the wicked, not so!

Ant. See how the cross of the Lord stands revealed as the tree of life.

For they like winnowed chaff
shall be driven away by the wind.
When the wicked are judged they shall not stand,
nor find room among those who are just;
for the Lord guards the way of the just
but the way of the wicked leads to doom.

Ant. See how the cross of the Lord stands revealed as the tree of life.

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 are the fullness of life of holiness and of joy. Fill our days and night with the love of your wisdom, that we may bear fruit in the beauty of holiness, like a tree watered by running streams.

Ant. See how the cross of the Lord stands revealed as the tree of life.

Ant. 2 Here is a King of my own choosing who will rule on Mount Zion.

Psalm 2
The Messiah, king and conqueror
The rulers of the earth joined forces to overthrow Jesus, your anointed Son (Acts 4:27).

Why this tumult among nations,
among peoples this useless murmuring?
They arise, the kings of the earth,
princes plot against the Lord and his Anointed.
“Come let us break their fetters,
come, let us cast off their yoke.”

Ant. Here is a King of my own choosing who will rule on Mount Zion.

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord is laughing them to scorn.
Then he will speak in his anger,
his rage will strike them with terror.
“It is I who have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”

Ant. Here is a King of my own choosing who will rule on Mount Zion.

I will announce the decree of the Lord:
The Lord said to me: “You are my Son.
It is I who have begotten you this day.
Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put the ends of the earth in your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter them like a potter’s jar.”

Ant. Here is a King of my own choosing who will rule on Mount Zion.

Now, O kings, understand,
take warning, rulers of the earth;
serve the Lord with awe
and trembling, pay him your homage
lest he be angry and you perish;
for suddenly his anger will blaze.

Ant. Here is a King of my own choosing who will rule on Mount Zion.

Blessed are they
who put their trust in God.

Ant. Here is a King of my own choosing who will rule on Mount Zion.

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 God, you gave the peoples of the world to be the inheritance of your only Son; you crowned him as king of Zion, your holy city, and gave him your Church to be his bride. As he proclaims the law of your eternal kingdom, may we serve him faithfully, and so share his royal power forever.

Ant. Here is a King of my own choosing who will rule on Mount Zion.

Ant. 3 Lord, you are my protector; you have raised me up in glory.

Psalm 3
I am safe in the Lord’s keeping
Christ fell asleep in death, but he rose from the dead, for God was his deliverer (Saint Irenaeus).

How many are my foes, O Lord!
How many are rising up against me!
How many are saying about me:
“There is no help for him in God.”

Ant. Lord, you are my protector; you have raised me up in glory.

But you, Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, who lift up my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord.
He answers from his holy mountain.

Ant. Lord, you are my protector; you have raised me up in glory.

I lie down to rest and I sleep.
I wake, for the Lord upholds me.
I will not fear even thousands of people
who are ranged on every side against me.

Ant. Lord, you are my protector; you have raised me up in glory.

Arise, Lord; save me, my God,
you who strike all my foes on the mouth,
you who break the teeth of the wicked!
O Lord of salvation, bless your people!

Ant. Lord, you are my protector; you have raised me up in glory.

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 God, you heard the cry of your Son when he was oppressed and saved him from the sleep of death. Arise, Lord, help your Church. Be its shield so that it may hold up its head and radiate the glory of the resurrection.

Ant. Lord, you are my protector; you have raised me up in glory.

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.

May the word of Christ ever fill your hearts
— Share with one another the wisdom you receive.

READINGS

First reading
From the book of Job
28:1-28
Wisdom belongs to God alone

Job said:
There is indeed a mine for silver,
and a place for gold which men refine.
Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is melted out of stone.
The earth, though out of it comes forth bread,
is in fiery upheaval underneath.
Its stones are the source of sapphires,
and there is gold in its dust.

But whence can wisdom be obtained,
and where is the place of understanding?
Man knows nothing to equal it,
nor is it to be had in the land of the living.
Solid gold cannot purchase it,
nor can its price be paid with silver.
It cannot be bought with gold of Ophir,
with the precious onyx or the sapphire.
Gold or crystal cannot equal it,
nor can golden vessels reach its worth.
Neither coral nor jasper should be thought of;
it surpasses pearls and arabian topaz.

Whence, then, comes wisdom,
and where is the place of understanding?
It is hid from the eyes of any beast;
from the birds of the air it is concealed.
The path to it no bird of prey knows,
nor has the hawk’s eye seen that path.
The proud beasts have not trodden it,
nor has the lion gone that way.
The abyss declares, “It is not in me”;
and the sea says, “I have it not.”
Abaddon and Death say,
“Only by rumor have we heard of it.”

God knows the way to it;
it is he who is familiar with its place.
For he beholds the ends of the earth
and sees all that is under the heavens.
He has set a boundary for the darkness;
to the farthest confines he penetrates.
He sets his hand to the flinty rock,
and overturns the mountains at their foundations.
He splits channels in the rocks;
his eyes behold all that is precious.
He probes the wellsprings of the streams,
and brings hidden things to light.
He has weighed out the wind,
and fixed the scope of the waters;
When he made rules for the rain
and a path for the thunderbolts,
Then he saw wisdom and appraised it,
gave it its setting, knew it through and through.
And to man he said:
Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom;
and avoiding evil is understanding.

RESPONSORY 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1:30

I speak of God’s secret wisdom, hidden from men,
— which, before time began, God planned for our glory.

God has made us one with Christ Jesus, and given us Christ to be our wisdom.
— Which, before time began, God planned for our glory.

Second reading
From the Confessions of Saint Augustine, bishop
Our heart is restless until it rests in you

You are great, Lord, and worthy of our highest praise; your power is great and there is no limit to your wisdom. Man, a tiny part of your creation, wishes to praise you. Though he bears about him his mortality, the evidence of his sin and the evidence that you resist the proud, yet this man, a tiny part of your creation, wishes to praise you. It is you who move man to delight in your praise. For you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.

Lord, help me to know and understand which is the soul’s first movement, to call upon you for help or to praise you; or if it must first know you before it can call upon you. But if someone does not know you, how can he call upon you? For, not knowing you, he might call upon someone else instead of you. Or must you first be called upon in order to be known? But Scripture says: Unless they believe in him, how shall they call upon him. And how shall they believe unless someone preaches to them?

Those who seek the Lord will praise him. Seeking the Lord they will find him, and finding him they will praise him. Lord, let me seek you by calling upon you, and let me call upon you believing in you, for you have been preached to us. Lord, my faith calls upon you, the faith you have given me, the faith you have inspired in me by the incarnation of your Son and through the ministry of your preacher.

How shall I call upon my God, my Lord and my God? For when I call upon him, I am really calling him into myself. Where within me can my God come? How can God who made heaven and earth come into me? Lord my God, is there anything in me that can contain you? Can heaven and earth, which you have made and in which you have made me, contain you? Or is it true that whatever exists contains you since without you nothing would exist?

Since I do indeed exist and yet would not exist unless you were in me, why do I ask you to come to me? I am not now in hell, yet you are there. For the psalmist says: If I descend into hell you are there. Therefore, my God, I would not exist at all, unless you were in me; or rather, I would not exist unless I were in you from whom and by whom and in whom all things exist. Yes, Lord, it is so. To what place do I call you to come, since I am in you? Or from what place are you to come to me? Where can I go beyond the bounds of heaven and earth, that my God may come to me, for he has said: I fill heaven and earth?

Who will help me to find rest in you? Who will send you into my heart to inebriate it, so that I will forget my evil ways and embrace you, my only good? What are you to me? Have mercy on me, that I may speak. What am I to you that you command me to love you, and grow angry and threaten me with terrible punishment if I do not? Is it then a small sorrow not to love you?

In your mercy, Lord my God, tell me what you are to me. Say to my soul, I am your salvation. So speak that I may hear you. The ears of my heart are turned to you, Lord; open them and say to my soul: I am your salvation. I will run after your voice and I will lay hold of you. Do not hide your face from me. Let me see your face even if I die, for if I see it not, I shall die of longing.

RESPONSORY Psalm 73:25-26; 34:3

Whom else have I in heaven but you? With you nothing on the earth gives me delight. Though my flesh and my heart waste away,
— God is the strength of my heart and my inheritance for ever.

Say to me, O God: I am your salvation.
— God is the strength of my heart and my inheritance for ever.

TE DEUM

You are God: we praise you;
You are the Lord: we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the King of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.

When you became man to set us free
you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death,
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come, and be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.
— Govern and uphold them now and always.

Day by day we bless you.
— We praise your name for ever.

Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.
— Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Lord, show us your love and mercy,
— for we have put our trust in you.

In you, Lord, is our hope:
— And we shall never hope in vain.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Father,
your love never fails.
Hear our call.
Keep us from danger
and provide for all our needs.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
— Amen.

Acclamation (at least in the communal celebration)

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