This is the Liturgy of the Hours for December 31. Your local date is .
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Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. IV:
Ordinary: 615
Proper of Seasons: 325
Psalter: Wednesday, Week II, 855
Christian Prayer:
Does not contain Office of Readings.
Office of Readings for Wednesday 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.
HYMN
For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flow’r,
Sun and moon, and stars of light,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind's delight,
for the mystic harmony,
linking sense to sound and sight;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For each perfect gift of Thine,
to our race so freely given,
graces human and divine,
flowers of earth and buds of heaven.
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
| 𝄞 | "For The Beauty Of The Earth" by Rebecca Hincke • Available for Purchase • Title: For the Beauty of the Earth; Text: Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835–1917; Music: Conrad Kocher, 1786–1872; Tune: DIX; Artist: Rebecca Hincke; (c) 2017 Surgeworks, Inc. • Albums that contain this Hymn: Hymns and Chants of Divine Office, Vol. 3 |
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 We groan in pain as we await the redemption of our bodies.
Psalm 39
Urgent prayer of a sick person
Creation is made subject to futility… by him who subjected it, but it is not without hope. (Romans 8:20)
I
I said: “I will be watchful of my ways
for fear I should sin with my tongue.
I will put a curb on my lips
when the wicked man stands before me.”
I was dumb, silent and still.
His prosperity stirred my grief.
My heart was burning within me.
At the thought of it, the fire blazed up
and my tongue burst into speech:
“O Lord, you have shown me my end,
how short is the length of my days.
Now I know how fleeting is my life.
You have given me a short span of days;
my life is as nothing in your sight.
A mere breath, the man who stood so firm,
a mere shadow, the man passing by,
a mere breath the riches he hoards,
not knowing who will have them.”
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. We groan in pain as we await the redemption of our bodies.
Ant. 2 Hear and answer my prayer, O Lord; let me not weep in vain.
II
And now, Lord, what is there to wait for?
In you rests all my hope.
Set me free from all my sins,
do not make me the taunt of the fool.
I was silent, not opening my lips,
because this was all your doing.
Take away your scourge from me.
I am crushed by the blows of your hand.
You punish man’s sins and correct him;
like the moth you devour all he treasures.
Mortal man is no more than a breath;
O Lord, hear my prayer.
O Lord, turn your ear to my cry.
Do not be deaf to my tears.
In your house I am a passing guest,
a pilgrim, like all my fathers.
Look away that I may breathe again
before I depart to be no more.
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
Through your Son you taught us, Father, not to be fearful of tomorrow but to commit our lives to your care. Do not withhold your Spirit from us but help us find a life of peace after these days of trouble.
Ant. Hear and answer my prayer, O Lord; let me not weep in vain.
Ant. 3 I have put all my trust in God’s never-failing mercy.
Psalm 52
Against a calumniator
If anyone would boast, let him boast in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31).
Why do you boast of your wickedness,
you champion of evil,
planning ruin all day long,
your tongue like a sharpened razor,
you master of deceit?
You love evil more than good,
lies more than truth.
You love the destructive word,
you tongue of deceit.
For this God will destroy you
and remove you for ever.
He will snatch you from your tent and uproot you
from the land of the living.
The just shall see and fear.
They shall laugh and say:
“So this is the man who refused
to take God as a stronghold,
but trusted in the greatness of his wealth
and grew powerful by his crimes.”
But I am like a growing olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the goodness of God
for ever and ever.
I will thank you for evermore;
for this is your doing.
I will proclaim that your name is good,
in the presence of your friends.
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, you cut down the unfruitful branch for burning and prune the fertile to make it bear more fruit. Make us grow like laden olive trees in your domain, firmly rooted in the power and mercy of your Son, so that you may gather from us fruit worthy of eternal life.
Ant. I have put all my trust in God’s never-failing mercy.
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.
I put my trust in the word of the Lord.
— All my hope is in him.
READINGS
First reading
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Philippians
2:12-30
Work out your salvation
My dearly beloved, obedient as always to my urging, work with anxious concern to achieve your salvation, not only when I happen to be with you but all the more now that I am absent. It is God who, in his good will toward you, begets in you any measure of desire or achievement.
In everything you do, act without grumbling or arguing; prove yourselves innocent and straightforward, children of God beyond reproach in the midst of a twisted and depraved generation—among whom you shine like the stars in the sky while holding fast to the word of life. As I look to the Day of Christ, you give me cause to boast that I did not run the race in vain or work to no purpose. Even if my life is to be poured out as a libation over the sacrificial service of your faith, I am glad of it and rejoice with all of you. May you be glad on the same score, and rejoice with me!
I hope, in the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you very soon, that I may derive courage from learning how things go with you. I have no one quite like him for genuine interest in whatever concerns you. Everyone is busy seeking his own interests rather than those of Christ Jesus.
You know from experience what Timothy’s qualities are, how he was like a son at his father’s side serving the gospel along with me. I hope to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. In fact, I am confident in the Lord that I myself will be coming soon.
I have decided, too, that I must send you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker, and comrade in arms, whom you sent to take care of my needs. He has been longing for all of you, and was distressed that you heard about his illness. He was, in fact, sick to the point of death, but God took pity on him; not just on him, I should say, but on me, too, so as to spare me one sorrow after another. I have been especially eager to send him so that you may renew your joy on seeing him, and my own anxieties may be lessened. Welcome him joyously in the Lord and hold men like him in esteem, for he came near to death for the sake of Christ’s work. He risked his life in an effort to render me those services you could not render.
RESPONSORY 2 Peter 1:10,11; Ephesians 5:8,11
Strive all the more to confirm God’s choice and calling of you.
— Then you will generously be granted entrance into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Live as children of light
and take no part in the empty works of darkness.
— Then you will generously be granted entrance into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Second reading
From a letter to the Philippians by Saint Polycarp, bishop and martyr
Let us run our race in faith and righteousness
I ask you all to respond to the call of righteousness and to practice boundless patience. Your own eyes have seen it not only in blessed Ignatius, Zosimus and Rufus, but in others from among you as well, to say nothing of Paul and the other apostles. Be assured that all these men did not run their race in vain. No, they ran it in faith and in righteousness and are now with the Lord in the place that they have earned, even as they were once with him in suffering. Their love was not for this present world; rather, it was for him who died for our sakes and, on account of us, was raised up again by God.
Be steadfast, then, and follow the Lord’s example, strong and unshaken in faith, loving the community as you love one another. United in the truth, show the Lord’s own gentleness in your dealings with one another, and look down on no one. If you can do good, do not put it off, because almsgiving frees one from death. Be subject to one another, and make sure that your behavior among the pagans is beyond reproach. Thus you will be praised for the good you have done, and the Lord will not be blasphemed because of you. But woe to that man on whose account the Lord’s name is blasphemed. Therefore, teach everyone to live soberly, just as you live yourselves.
I am greatly saddened on account of Valens who at one time was presbyter among you; he does not understand the position to which he was called. So I urge all of you to be chaste and honest, to avoid avarice and to refrain from every form of evil. If a man cannot control himself in these ways, how can he teach someone else to do so? If he does not avoid greed, he will be defiled by idolatrous practices and will be reckoned as one of the pagans who know nothing of the Lord’s judgment. Or, as Paul teaches: Do we not know that the holy ones will judge the world?
However, I have never seen of heard of anything of that sort among you, for whom blessed Paul labored and whom he commends at the beginning of his letter. For he boasted about you in all the churches which at that time were the only ones that had come to know God – we ourselves had not yet come to that knowledge.
Brothers, I am deeply sorry for Valens and for his wife; may the Lord grant them true repentance. As for yourselves, be self-controlled in this respect. Do not look upon such people as enemies, but invite them back as frail members who have gone astray, so that the entire body of which you are a part will be saved. In doing this you are contributing to your own spiritual development.
RESPONSORY Philippians 2:12-13; John 15:5
In fear and trembling work out your salvation;
— It is God who is working in you so that you both will and do according to his own good purpose.
The Lord says: Without me you can do nothing.
— It is God who is working in you so that you both will and do according to his own good purpose.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
O God,
who manifest your almighty power above all
by pardoning and showing mercy,
bestow, we pray, your grace abundantly upon us
and make those hastening to attain your promises
heirs to the treasures of heaven.
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.