Thursday 10 September 2020
Thursday of week 23 in Ordinary Time
Afternoon Prayer (None)
Introduction (without Invitatory)
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, use the version with the Invitatory Psalm instead.
O God, come to our aid.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
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Hymn
Eternal Father, loving God,
Who made us from the dust of earth,
Transform us by the Spirit’s grace,
Give value to our little worth.
Prepare us for that day of days
When Christ from heaven will come with might
To call us out of dust again,
Our bodies glorified in light.
O Godhead, here untouched, unseen,
All things created bear your trace;
The seed of glory sown in man
Will flower when we see your face.
Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal
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PSALMS OF THE DAY
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Psalm 118(119): 113-120
Meditating the word of the Lord in the Law
“Happy are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28)
Uphold me by your promise, Lord, and I shall live.
I have no love for half-hearted men;
my love is for your law.
You are my shelter, my shield;
I hope in your word.
Leave me, you who do evil;
I will keep God’s command.
If you uphold me by your promise I shall live;
let my hopes not be in vain.
Sustain me and I shall be saved
and ever observe your statutes.
You spurn all who swerve from your statutes;
their cunning is in vain.
You throw away the wicked like dross;
so I love your will.
I tremble before you in terror;
I fear your decrees.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Uphold me by your promise, Lord, and I shall live.
Psalm-prayer
Help us and we shall be saved, Lord God; leave us and we are doomed. May you remain with us always so that the fullness of life may be ours.
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Psalm 78 (79)
A lamentation over Jerusalem
“If you had only understood the message of peace” (Lk 19:42).
Come to our help, O God our saviour, and forgive us our sins.
O God, the nations have invaded your land,
they have profaned your holy temple.
They have made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
They have handed over the bodies of your servants
as food to feed the birds of heaven
and the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out blood like water in Jerusalem;
no one is left to bury the dead.
We have become the taunt of our neighbours,
the mockery and scorn of those who surround us.
How long, O Lord? Will you be angry for ever;
how long will your anger burn like fire?
Do not hold the guilt of our fathers against us.
Let your compassion hasten to meet us;
we are left in the depths of distress.
O God our saviour, come to our help,
come for the sake of the glory of your name.
O Lord our God, forgive us our sins;
rescue us for the sake of your name.
Why should the nations say: ‘Where is their God?’
Let us see the nations around us repaid
with vengeance for the blood of your servants that was shed!
Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
let your strong arm reprieve those condemned to die.
But we, your people, the flock of your pasture,
will give you thanks for ever and ever.
We will tell your praise from age to age.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Come to our help, O God our saviour, and forgive us our sins.
Psalm-prayer
Father of mercy, your only Son on the night he suffered did not ask you to take his disciples from the world but to preserve them from evil. Grant us your mercy that we may work out our salvation in repentance. Let us not be held back by the evil in us or in the world, but let all men see in our lives the glory of your transforming power.
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Psalm 79 (80)
Lord, tend your vine
“Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20).
God of hosts, look down from heaven, and come to visit this vine of yours.
O shepherd of Israel, hear us,
you who lead Joseph’s flock,
shine forth from your cherubim throne
upon Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh.
O Lord, rouse up your might,
O Lord, come to our help.
God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
Lord God of hosts, how long
will you frown on your people’s plea?
You have fed them with tears for their bread,
an abundance of tears for their drink.
You have made us the taunt of our neighbours,
our enemies laugh us to scorn.
God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
You brought a vine out of Egypt;
to plant it you drove out the nations.
Before it you cleared the ground;
it took root and spread through the land.
The mountains were covered with its shadow,
the cedars of God with its boughs.
It stretched out its branches to the sea,
to the Great River it stretched out its shoots.
Then why have you broken down its walls?
It is plucked by all who pass by.
It is ravaged by the boar of the forest,
devoured by the beasts of the field.
God of hosts, turn again, we implore,
look down from heaven and see.
Visit this vine and protect it,
the vine your right hand has planted.
Men have burnt it with fire and destroyed it.
May they perish at the frown of your face.
May your hand be on the man you have chosen,
the man you have given your strength.
And we shall never forsake you again;
give us life that we may call upon your name.
God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
God of hosts, look down from heaven, and come to visit this vine of yours.
Psalm-prayer
Lord God, eternal shepherd, you so tend the vineyard you planted that now it extends its branches even to the farthest coast. Look down on your Church and come to us. Help us remain in your Son as branches on the vine, that, planted firmly in your love, we may testify before the whole world to your great power working everywhere.
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Short Reading
Esther 10:3
The single nation, mine, is Israel, those who cried out to God and were saved. Yes, the Lord has saved his people, the Lord has delivered us from all these evils, God has worked such signs and great wonders as have never happened among the nations.
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℣. I will praise you, Lord, you have listened to my prayer.
℟. You have become my saviour.
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Let us pray.
Lord, in answer to our prayer
give us patience in suffering hardships
after the example of your Only-Begotten Son,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.
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Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
Copyright © 1996-2020 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.