Welcome to the ULC Minister's Network

Arch Bishop Micheal Ralph Vendegna S.O.S.M.A.

Office Readings


  • Sunday 27 September 2020

    26th Sunday in Ordinary Time 


    Office of Readings


    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

    This day at thy creating Word
    First o’er the earth the light was poured:
    O Lord, this day upon us shine
    And fill our souls with light divine.

    This day the Lord for sinners slain
    In might victorious rose again:
    O Jesus, may we raisèd be
    From death of sin to life in thee!

    This day the Holy Spirit came
    With fiery tongues of cloven flame:
    O Spirit, fill our hearts this day
    With grace to hear and grace to pray.

    O day of light and life and grace,
    From earthly toil a resting-place,
    The hallowed hours, blest gift of love,
    Give we again to God above.

    All praise to God the Father be,
    All praise, eternal Son, to thee,
    Whom, with the Spirit, we adore
    For ever and for evermore.


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    Psalm 103 (104)
    Hymn to God the Creator


    “For everyone who is in Christ there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here” (2 Cor 5:17).

    Lord God, how great you are, clothed in majesty and glory, wrapped in light as in a robe. Alleluia.

    Bless the Lord, my soul!
    Lord God, how great you are,
    clothed in majesty and glory,
    wrapped in light as in a robe!

    You stretch out the heavens like a tent.
    Above the rains you build your dwelling.
    You make the clouds your chariot,
    you walk on the wings of the wind,
    you make the winds your messengers
    and flashing fire your servant.

    You founded the earth on its base,
    to stand firm from age to age.
    You wrapped it with the ocean like a cloak:
    the waters stood higher than the mountains.

    At your threat they took to flight;
    at the voice of your thunder they fled.
    They rose over the mountains and flowed down
    to the place which you had appointed.
    You set limits they might not pass
    lest they return to cover the earth.

    You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
    they flow in between the hills.
    They give drink to all the beasts of the field;
    the wild-asses quench their thirst.
    On their banks dwell the birds of heaven;
    from the branches they sing their song.

    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.

    Lord God, how great you are, clothed in majesty and glory, wrapped in light as in a robe. Alleluia.


    ________

    Psalm 103 (104)

    The Lord brought forth bread from the earth and wine, to cheer man’s heart. Alleluia.

    From your dwelling you water the hills;
    earth drinks its fill of your gift.
    You make the grass grow for the cattle
    and the plants to serve man’s needs,

    that he may bring forth bread from the earth
    and wine to cheer man’s heart;
    oil, to make his face shine
    and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

    The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
    the cedars he planted on Lebanon;
    there the birds build their nests;
    on the tree-top the stork has her home.
    The goats find a home on the mountains
    and rabbits hide in the rocks.

    You made the moon to mark the months;
    the sun knows the time for its setting.
    When you spread the darkness it is night
    and all the beasts of the forest creep forth.
    The young lions roar for their prey
    and ask their food from God.

    At the rising of the sun they steal away
    and go to rest in their dens.
    Man goes forth to his work,
    to labour till evening falls.

    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.

    The Lord brought forth bread from the earth and wine, to cheer man’s heart. Alleluia.


    ________

    Psalm 103 (104)

    God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Alleluia.

    How many are your works, O Lord!
    In wisdom you have made them all.
    The earth is full of your riches.

    There is the sea, vast and wide,
    with its moving swarms past counting,
    living things great and small.
    The ships are moving there
    and the monsters you made to play with.

    All of these look to you
    to give them their food in due season.
    You give it, they gather it up:
    you open your hand, they have their fill.

    You hide your face, they are dismayed;
    you take back your spirit, they die,
    returning to the dust from which they came.
    You send forth your spirit, they are created;
    and you renew the face of the earth.

    May the glory of the Lord last for ever!
    May the Lord rejoice in his works!
    He looks on the earth and it trembles;
    the mountains send forth smoke at his touch.

    I will sing to the Lord all my life,
    make music to my God while I live.
    May my thoughts be pleasing to him.
    I find my joy in the Lord.
    Let sinners vanish from the earth
    and the wicked exist no more.
    Bless the Lord, my soul.

    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 saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Alleluia.


    Psalm-prayer

    Father, as you made springs in valleys to form streams between mountains, so you made living streams of grace flow from the apostles that their teaching may bring salvation to all nations. May we have a practical knowledge of their doctrine, be obedient to their commands, obtain remission of sins through their prayers, and finally receive the reward of eternal happiness.


    Or:

    God of all life, light, and love, through the visible things of this world you raise our thoughts to things unseen, and you show us your power and your love. From your dwelling place refresh our hearts and renew the face of the earth with the life-giving water of your word, until the new heaven and new earth resound with the song of resurrection.


    ________

    ℣. Blessed are your eyes, for they see.
    ℟. Blessed are your ears, for they hear.


    ________


    Readings (official one-year cycle)

    First Reading
    Philippians 1:1-11
    Greeting and thanksgiving

    From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, together with their presiding elders and deacons. We wish you the grace and peace of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
    I thank my God whenever I think of you; and every time I pray for all of you, I pray with joy, remembering how you have helped to spread the Good News from the day you first heard it right up to the present. I am quite certain that the One who began this good work in you will see that it is finished when the Day of Christ Jesus comes. It is only natural that I should feel like this towards you all, since you have shared the privileges which have been mine: both my chains and my work defending and establishing the gospel. You have a permanent place in my heart, and God knows how much I miss you all, loving you as Christ Jesus loves you. My prayer is that your love for each other may increase more and more and never stop improving your knowledge and deepening your perception so that you can always recognise what is best. This will help you to become pure and blameless, and prepare you for the Day of Christ, when you will reach the perfect goodness which Jesus Christ produces in us for the glory and praise of God.


    Responsory
    Ph 1:9-10,6

    ℟. It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and discernment, so that you may prize what is of true value:* then you will be free from all impurity and blame on the Day of Christ.
    ℣. I am sure of this: that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished in the Day of Christ Jesus.* Then you will be free from all impurity and blame on the Day of Christ.


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    Second Reading
    From a letter of St Polycarp to the Philippians
    You have been saved by grace

    Polycarp and the Elders with him, to the Church of God sojourning in Philippi: all mercy and peace to you, from God Almighty and Jesus Christ our Saviour.
    When you welcomed those copies of the True Love and took the opportunity of setting them forward on their road, I rejoiced with you in Jesus Christ. The chains that bound them were the badges of saints, the diadems of men truly chosen by our Lord and God. I rejoiced too that your firmly rooted faith, so well-known since the earliest times, still flourishes and bears fruit for our Lord Jesus Christ. He bore the burden of our sins even as far as suffering death, and God raised him up, releasing him from the pains of the underworld; you did not see him but still you believed in him, in unspeakably glorious joy. Many desire to come into this joy, knowing that you are saved by grace, not by works, – not by your actions but by the will of God through Jesus Christ.
    So gird up your loins and serve God in fear and sincerity. Leave aside empty vanities and vulgar error, believing in him who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and gave him glory and a throne on his right hand, to whom are subject all things in heaven and earth, whom everything that has breath serves, who is coming as the judge of the living and of the dead: God will require vengeance for his blood from any who disobey him.
    Now he who raised him from the dead will also raise us up if we do his will and walk according to his commandments and love the things which he loved, if we refrain from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, and false witness, if we do not render evil with evil, abuse for abuse, blow for blow, or curse for curse, but if we remember what the Lord taught when he said, Do not judge, that you may not be judged; forgive and you will be forgiven; be merciful and you will receive mercy. For whatever you measure out to other people will be measured out to you also… Blessed are the poor, and they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.


    Responsory

    ℟. God has saved us and called us to be holy, not because of anything we ourselves have accomplished, but for his own purpose, and by his own grace.* This grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time.
    ℣. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your own name give glory for the sake of your love and your truth.* This grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time.


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    Vigils

    If time allows, those who celebrate the Office of Readings of a Sunday (or solemnity, or feast of the Lord) on the evening before, or at the crack of dawn on the day itself, may enrich the celebration with three Old Testament canticles and a Gospel reading.


    ________

    Canticle
    Te Deum

    We praise you, O God:
    we acclaim you as the Lord.

    Everlasting Father,
    all the world bows down before you.

    All the angels sing your praise,
    the hosts of heaven and all the angelic powers,

    all the cherubim and seraphim
    call out to you in unending song:

    Holy, Holy, Holy,
    is the Lord God of angel hosts!

    The heavens and the earth are filled
    with your majesty and glory.

    The glorious band of apostles,
    the noble company of prophets,

    the white-robed army who shed their blood for Christ,
    all sing your praise.

    And to the ends of the earth
    your holy Church proclaims her faith in you:

    Father, whose majesty is boundless,
    your true and only Son, who is to be adored,
    the Holy Spirit sent to be our Advocate.

    You, Christ, are the king of glory,
    Son of the eternal Father.

    When you took our nature to save mankind
    you did not shrink from birth in the Virgin’s womb.

    You overcame the power of death
    opening the Father’s kingdom to all who believe in you.

    Enthroned at God’s right hand in the glory of the Father,
    you will come in judgement according to your promise.

    You redeemed your people by your precious blood.
    Come, we implore you, to our aid.

    Grant us with the saints
    a place in eternal glory.

    The final part of the hymn may be omitted:

    Lord, save your people
    and bless your inheritance.

    Rule them and uphold them
    for ever and ever.

    Day by day we praise you:
    we acclaim you now and to all eternity.

    In your goodness, Lord, keep us free from sin.
    Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

    May your mercy always be with us, Lord,
    for we have hoped in you.

    In you, Lord, we put our trust:
    we shall not be put to shame.


    ________

    Let us pray.

    Lord,
    you reveal your mighty power
    most of all by your forgiveness and compassion:
    fill us constantly with your grace
    as we hasten to share the joys you have promised us in 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.


    ________

    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.

     

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