Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. IV:
Ordinary: 615
Proper of Seasons: 213
Psalter: Saturday, Week II, 922

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 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 man. 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 the prophet Jeremiah
31:15-22, 27-34
A foretelling of salvation and the new covenant

Thus says the Lord:
In Ramah is heard the sound of moaning,
of bitter weeping!
Rachel mourns her children,
she refuses to be consoled
because her children are no more.

Thus says the Lord:
Cease your cries of mourning,
wipe the tears from your eyes.
The sorrow you have shown shall have its reward,
says the Lord,
they shall return from the enemy’s land.
There is hope for your future, says the Lord;
your sons shall return to their own borders.

I hear, I hear Ephraim pleading:
You chastised me, and I am chastened;
I was an untamed calf.
If you allow me, I will return,
for you are the Lord, my God.
I turn in repentance;
I have come to myself, I strike my breast;
I blush with shame,
I bear the disgrace of my youth.

Is Ephraim not my favored son,
the child in whom I delight?
Often as I threaten him,
I still remember him with favor;
My heart stirs for him,
I must show him mercy, says the Lord.

Set up road markers,
put up guideposts;
Turn your attention to the highway,
the road by which you went.
Turn back, O virgin Israel,
turn back to these your cities.
How long will you continue to stray,
rebellious daughter?
The Lord has created a new thing upon the earth:
the woman must encompass the man with devotion.

The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will seed the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. As I once watched over them to uproot and pull down, to destroy, to ruin, and to harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord.

In those days they shall no longer say,
“The fathers ate unripe grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge,”
but through his own fault only shall anyone die: the teeth of him who eats the unripe grapes shall be set on edge.

The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant and I had to show myself their master, says the Lord.

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the Lord. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

RESPONSORY Psalm 51:12, 11

Create a clean heart in me, O God,
— and put a new and steadfast spirit within me.

Turn away your face from my sins, O God,
and blot out all my guilt.
— And put a new and steadfast spirit within me.

Second reading
From a sermon on the beatitudes by Saint Leo the Great, pope
The blessedness of Christ’s reign

After preaching the blessings of poverty, the Lord went on to say: Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. But the mourning for which he promises eternal consolation, dearly beloved, has nothing to do with ordinary worldly distress; for the tears which have as their origin in the sorrow common to all mankind do not make anyone blessed. There is another cause for the sighs of the saints, another reason for their blessed tears. Religious grief mourns for sin, one’s own or another’s; it does not lament because of what is done by human malice. Indeed, he who does wrong is more to be lamented than he who suffers it, for his wickedness plunges the sinner into punishment, whereas endurance can raise the just man to glory.

Next the Lord says: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. To the meek and gentle, the lowly and the humble, and to all who are ready to endure any injury, he promises that they will possess the earth. Nor is this inheritance to be considered small or insignificant, as though it were distinct from our heavenly dwelling; for we know that it is the kingdom of heaven which is also the inheritance promised to the meek. The earth that is promised to the meek and which will be given to the gentle for their own possession is none other than the bodies of the saints. Through the merit of their humility their bodies will be transformed by a joyous resurrection and clothed in the glory of immortality. No longer opposed in any way to their spirits, their bodies will remain in perfect harmony and unity with the will of the soul. Then indeed, the outer man will be the peaceful and unblemished possession of the inner man.

Then, truly will the meek inherit the earth in perpetual peace, and nothing will be taken from their rights; for this perishable nature shall put on the imperishable and this mortal nature shall put on immortality. Their risk will turn into reward; what was a burden will have become an honor.

RESPONSORY Matthew 5:5-6, 4

Blessed are those who mourn;
they shall be consoled.
— Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for what is right;
they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are those of gentle spirit;
they shall inherit the land.
— Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for what is right;
they shall be satisfied.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

God of might,
giver of every good gift,
put into our hearts the love of your name,
so that, by deepening our sense of reverence,
you may nurture in us what is good and,
by your watchful care,
keep safe what you have nurtured.
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.