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Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. IV:
Ordinary: 615
Proper of Seasons: 394
Psalter: Friday, Week IV, 1194

Christian Prayer:
Does not contain Office of Readings.

Office of Readings for Friday 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 My God, do not reject my cry for help, assailed as I am by the wicked.

Psalm 55
Against a friend proved traitor
Jesus was seized with fear and distress (Mark 14:33).

I

O God, listen to my prayer,
do not hide from my pleading,
attend to me and reply;
with my cares, I cannot rest.

I tremble at the shouts of the foe,
at the cries of the wicked;
for they bring down evil upon me.
They assail me with fury.

My heart is stricken within me,
death’s terror is on me,
trembling and fear fall upon me
and horror overwhelms me.

O that I had wings like a dove
to fly away and be at rest.
So I would escape far away
and take refuge in the desert.

I would hasten to find a shelter
from the raging wind,
from the destructive storm, O Lord,
and from their plotting tongues.

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. My God, do not reject my cry for help, assailed as I am by the wicked.

Ant. 2 The Lord himself will free us from hostile and treacherous hands.

II

For I can see nothing but violence
and strife in the city.
Night and day they patrol
high on the city walls.

It is full of wickedness and evil;
it is full of sin.
Its streets are never free
from tyranny and deceit.

If this had been done by an enemy
I could bear his taunts.
If a rival had risen against me,
I could hide from him.

But it is you, my own companion,
my intimate friend!
How close was the friendship between us.
We walked together in harmony
in the house of God.

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 himself will free us from hostile and treacherous hands.

Ant. 3 Entrust your cares to the Lord; he will sustain you.

III

As for me, I will cry to God
and the Lord will save me.
Evening, morning and at noon
I will cry and lament.

He will deliver my soul in peace
in the attack against me:
for those who fight me are many,
but he hears my voice.

God will hear and will humble them,
the eternal judge:
for they will not amend their ways.
They have no fear of God.

The traitor has turned against his friends;
he has broken his word.
His speech is softer than butter,
but war is in his heart.
His words are smoother than oil,
but they are naked swords.

Entrust your cares to the Lord
and he will support you.
He will never allow
the just man to stumble.

But you, O God, will bring them down
to the pit of death.
Deceitful and bloodthirsty men
shall not live half their days.
O Lord, I will trust in you.

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 Jesus, you were rejected by your people, betrayed by the kiss of a friend, and deserted by your disciples. Give us the confidence that you had in the Father, and our salvation will be assured.

Ant. Entrust your cares to the Lord; he will sustain you.

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.

Children, listen to my words of wisdom.
— Pay attention to my counsels.

READINGS

First reading
From the beginning of the book of the prophet Malachi
1:1-14; 2:13-16
A prophecy concerning negligent priests and concerning repudiation

An oracle. The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.

I have loved you, says the Lord;
but you say, “How have you loved us?”
Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? says the Lord:
yet I loved Jacob, but hated Esau;
I made his mountains a waste,
his heritage a desert for jackals.
If Edom says, “We have been crushed
but we will rebuild the ruins,”
Thus says the Lord of hosts:
They indeed may build, but I will tear down,
And they shall be called the land of guilt,
the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.
Your own eyes shall see it, and you will say,
“Great is the Lord, even beyond the land of Israel.”

A son honors his father,
and a servant fears his master;
If then I am a father,
where is the honor due to me?
And if I am a master,
where is the reverence due to me?–
So says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests,
who despise his name.

But you ask, “How have we despised your name?”
By offering polluted food on my altar!
Then you ask, “How have we polluted it?”
By saying the table of the Lord may be slighted!
When you offer a blind animal for sacrifice,
is this not evil?
When you offer the lame or the sick,
is it not evil?
Present it to your governor; see if he will accept it,
or welcome you, says the Lord of hosts.

So now if you implore God for mercy on us,
when you have done the like
Will he welcome any of you?
says the Lord of hosts.
Oh, that one among you would shut the temple gates
to keep you from kindling fire on my altar in vain!
I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts;
neither will I accept any sacrifice from your hands,
For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting,
my name is great among the nations;
And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name,
and a pure offering;
For great is my name among the nations,
says the Lord of hosts.

But you behave profanely toward me by thinking
the Lord’s table and its offering may be polluted,
and its food slighted.
You also say, “What a burden!”
and you scorn it, says the Lord of hosts;
You bring in what you seize, or the lame, or the sick;
yes, you bring it as a sacrifice.
Shall I accept it from your hands?
says the Lord.

Cursed is the deceiver, who has in his flock a male,
but under his vow sacrifices to the Lord a gelding;
For a great King am I, says the Lord of hosts,
and my name will be feared among the nations.

This also you do: the altar of the Lord you cover
with tears, weeping and groaning,
Because he no longer regards your sacrifice
nor accepts it favorably from your hand;
And you say, “Why is it?”–
Because the Lord is witness
between you and the wife of your youth,
With whom you have broken faith
though she is your companion, your betrothed wife.

Did he not make one being, with flesh and spirit:
and what does that one require but godly offspring?
You must then safeguard life that is your own,
and not break faith with the wife of your youth.
For I hate divorce,
says the Lord, the God of Israel,
And covering one’s garment with injustice,
says the Lord of hosts;
You must then safeguard life that is your own,
and not break faith.

RESPONSORY Malachi 2:5, 6; Psalm 110:4

I made a covenant with Levi, the priest.
In it I promised him life and peace.
I filled him with fear,
and he revered me.
— His teaching was true,
and no dishonesty fell from his lips.

The Lord has sworn an oath
which he will not regret:
You are a priest for ever in the line of Melchizedek.
— His teaching was true,
and no dishonesty fell from his lips.

Second reading
From The City of God by Saint Augustine, bishop
In every place there is sacrifice and a clean oblation offered to my name

Every work that effects our union with God in a holy fellowship is a true sacrifice; every work, that is, which is referred to that final end, that ultimate good, by which we are able to be in the true sense happy. As a consequence even that mercy by which aid is given to man is not a sacrifice unless it is done for the sake of God. Sacrifice, though performed or offered by man, is something divine; that is why the ancient Latins gave it this name of “sacrifice,” of something sacred. Man himself, consecrated in the name of God and vowed to God, is therefore a sacrifice insofar as he dies to the world in order to live for God. This too is part of mercy, the mercy that each one has for himself. Scripture tells us: Have mercy on your soul by pleasing God.

Works of mercy, then, done either to ourselves or to our neighbor and referred to God are true sacrifices. Works of mercy, however, are performed for no other reason than to free us from wretchedness and by this means to make us happy (and we cannot be happy except through that good of which Scripture speaks: It is good for me to cling to God). It clearly follows that the whole redeemed city, that is, the assembly and fellowship of the saints, is offered to God as a universal sacrifice through the great high priest, who in the nature of a slave offered even himself for us in his passion, in order that we might be the body of so great a head. He offered this nature of a slave; he was offered in that nature, because in that nature he is the mediator, in that nature he is the high priest, in that nature he is the sacrifice.

The Apostle urges us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, and as our spiritual worship, and not to follow the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds and hearts, so that we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect, the total sacrifice that is ourselves. By the grace of God that has been given me, he says, I say to all who are among you: Do not think more highly of yourselves than you should, but judge yourselves with moderation according to the measure of faith God has given to each of you. As we have in the same body many members, yet all the members do not have the same functions, so we are many, but are one body in Christ; we are each of us members of one another, having different gifts according to the grace that has been given us.

This is the sacrifice of Christians, the many who are one body in Christ. This is the sacrifice which the Church celebrates in the sacrament of the altar, that sacrament known to the faithful; in that sacrament it is made clear to the Church that in the sacrifice she offers, she herself is offered.

RESPONSORY Micah 6:6, 8; Deuteronomy 10:14, 12

With what gift shall I come before the Lord?
I will tell you, O man, what is good
and what the Lord asks of you:
—only to act justly, to love goodness
and to walk humbly with your God.

Heaven and earth and all that is in them
belong to the Lord your God;
and now, this is what the Lord your God requires of you:
—Only to act justly, to love goodness
and to walk humbly with your God.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

May your grace,
O Lord, we pray,
at all times go before us and follow after
and make us always determined to carry out good works.
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.