Office of Readings for Saturday in the 14th week of Ordinary Time or St. Henry, Hm or Blessed Virgin Mary

Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:
Ordinary: 651
Proper of Seasons: 475
Psalter: Saturday, Week II, 958

Christian Prayer:
Does not contain Office of Readings.

Office of Readings for Saturday 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 None but the Lord has done such marvels; his love endures for ever.

Psalm 136
Paschal hymn
We praise God by recalling his marvelous deeds (Cassiodorus).

I

O give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love endures for ever
Give thanks to the God of gods
for his love endures for ever
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his love endures for ever;

who alone has wrought marvelous works,
for his love endures for ever;
whose wisdom it was made the skies,
for his love endures for ever;
who fixed the earth firmly on the seas,
for his love endures for ever.

It was he who made the great lights,
for his love endures for ever;
the sun to rule in the day,
for his love endures for ever;
the moon and the stars in the night,
for his love endures for ever.

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. None but the Lord has done such marvels; his love endures for ever.

Ant. 2 He brought Israel out of Egypt with powerful hand and arm outstretched.

II

The first-born of the Egyptians he smote,
for his love endures for ever
He brought Israel out from the midst,
for his love endures for ever;
arm outstretched, with power in his hand,
for his love endures for ever.

He divided the Red Sea in two,
for his love endures for ever;
he made Israel pass through the midst,
for his love endures for ever;
he flung Pharaoh and his force in the sea,
for his love endures for ever.

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. He brought Israel out of Egypt with powerful hand and arm outstretched.

Ant. 3 Give praise to the God of heaven; he has ransomed us from our enemies.

III

Through the desert his people he led,
for his love endures for ever
Nations in their greatness he struck,
for his love endures for ever
Kings in their splendor he slew,
for his love endures for ever.

Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his love endures for ever;
and Og, the king of Bashan,
for his love endures for ever.

He let Israel inherit their land,
for his love endures for ever
On his servant their land he bestowed,
for his love endures for ever
He remembered us in our distress,
for his love endures for ever.

And he snatched us away from our foes,
for his love endures for ever
He gives food to all living things,
for his love endures for ever
To the God of heaven give thanks,
for his love endures for ever.

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

God, our Creator, how wonderfully you made us. You transformed dust into your own image and gave it a share in your own nature; yet you are more wonderful in pardoning the one who had rebelled against you. Grant that where sin has abounded, grace may more abound, so that we can become holier through forgiveness and be more grateful to you.

Ant. Give praise to the God of heaven; he has ransomed us from our enemies.

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.

Lord, show me your ways.
— Teach me to walk in your footsteps.

READINGS

First reading
From the book of Sirach
47:12-25
The history of the fathers from Solomon to Jeroboam

Because of his merits David had as his successor
a wise son, who lived in security:
Solomon reigned during an era of peace,
for God made tranquil all his borders.
He built a house to the name of God,
and established a lasting sanctuary.

How wise you were when you were young,
overflowing with instruction, like the Nile in flood!
Your understanding covered the whole earth,
and, like a sea, filled it with knowledge.
Your fame reached distant coasts,
and their peoples came to hear you;
With song and story and riddle,
and with your answers, you astounded the nations.
You were called by that glorious name
which was conferred upon Israel.
Gold you gathered like so much iron,
you heaped up silver as though it were lead;

But you abandoned yourself to women
and gave them dominion over your body.
You brought dishonor upon your reputation,
shame upon your marriage,
Wrath upon your descendants,
and groaning upon your domain;
Thus two governments came into being,
when in Ephraim kingship was usurped.

But God does not withdraw his mercy,
nor permit even one of his promises to fail.
He does not uproot the posterity of his chosen one,
nor destroy the offspring of his friend.
So he gave to Jacob a remnant,
to David a root from his own family.

Solomon finally slept with his fathers,
and left behind him one of his sons,
Expansive in folly, limited in sense,
Rehoboam, who by his policy made the people rebel;
Until one arose who should not be remembered,
the sinner who led Israel into sin,
Who brought ruin to Ephraim
and caused them to be exiled from their land.

Their sinfulness grew more and more,
and they lent themselves to every evil.

RESPONSORY Ezekiel 37:21, 22, 23, 24; John 10:16

I shall gather the Israelites together. No longer shall they be two nations; no longer shall they defile themselves with their idols.
— They shall be my people, and they shall have one shepherd.

I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must lead them also, and there shall be one flock.
— They shall be my people, and they shall have one shepherd.

Second reading
From a discourse on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop
Jesus Christ, the true Solomon

The temple that Solomon built to the Lord was a type and figure of the future Church as well as of the body of the Lord. For this reason Christ says in the Gospel: Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.For just as Solomon built the ancient temple, so the true Solomon, the true peacemaker, our Lord Jesus Christ, built a temple for himself. Now Solomon means peacemaker; Jesus, however, is the true peacemaker, of whom Saint Paul says: He is our peace, uniting the two into one. The true peacemaker brought together in himself two walls coming from different angles and himself became the cornerstone. One wall was formed of the circumcised believers and the other of the uncircumcised gentiles who had faith. And of these two peoples he made one Church, with himself as the cornerstone and, therefore, the true peacemaker.

And so when Solomon the king of Israel, the son of David and Bathsheba, built his temple, he acted as a figure of Christ, the true Solomon and peacemaker. But I do not think it was Solomon of old, the type of Christ, who really built God’s dwelling. As the beginning of the psalm tells us: Unless the Lord build the house, in vain have the builders labored on it. Thus it is the Lord who builds the house; it is the Lord Jesus who builds his own dwelling. Many may toil on its building, but unless he builds it, in vain have the builders labored on it.

And who are those who labor on it? All those who preach God’s word in the Church, who are ministers of his sacraments. All of us now rush, work and build, and before us other men rushed, worked and built; still, unless the Lord build the house, in vain have the builders labored on it. The apostles, and Paul specifically, saw some of them fail, and said: You observe the days, the years, the months and the seasons; I fear that I may have toiled for you to no purpose. For realizing that he was the result of the Lord’s building from within, he was sorrowful because he had toiled for them to no avail. Hence, we are the ones who speak from without, but he builds from within. We notice the fact that you are listening, but he alone knows what you are thinking, for he sees our thoughts. He is the one who builds, admonishes, instills fear, opens the mind, and bends the perceptions to the act of belief. Yet we too, his ministers, labor, and are as it were his workmen.

RESPONSORY

When the building of the temple was finished, the glory of the Lord filled its hall; and the king, rejoicing, said:
— Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for all he has promised to David my father.

Destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it.
— Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for all he has promised to David my father.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

O God,
who in the abasement of your Son
have raised up a fallen world,
fill your faithful with holy joy,
for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin
you bestow eternal gladness.
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.