Welcome to the ULC Minister's Network

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

Office Readings


  • Tuesday 11 May 2021

    Tuesday of the 6th week of Eastertide 


    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.


    ________

    Hymn

    Love’s redeeming work is done,
    fought the fight, the battle won.
    Lo, our Sun’s eclipse is o’er!
    Lo, he sets in blood no more!

    Vain the stone, the watch, the seal!
    Christ has burst the gates of hell;
    death in vain forbids him rise;
    Christ has opened paradise.

    Lives again our victor King;
    where, O death, is now thy sting?
    Dying once, he all doth save;
    where thy victory, O grave?

    Soar we now where Christ has led,
    following our exalted Head;
    made like him, like him we rise,
    ours the cross, the grave, the skies.

    Hail the Lord of earth and heaven!
    Praise to thee by both be given:
    thee we greet triumphant now;
    hail, the Resurrection thou!


    ________

    Psalm 36 (37):1-11
    The fate of the evil and the righteous


    “Blessed are the gentle: they shall have the earth for their heritage” (Mt 5:5).

    Commit your life to the Lord, and he will act on your behalf. Alleluia.

    Do not fret because of the wicked;
    do not envy those who do evil,
    for they wither quickly like grass
    and fade like the green of the fields.

    If you trust in the Lord and do good,
    then you will live in the land and be secure.
    If you find your delight in the Lord,
    he will grant your heart’s desire.

    Commit your life to the Lord,
    trust in him and he will act,
    so that your justice breaks forth like the light,
    your cause like the noon-day sun.

    Be still before the Lord and wait in patience;
    do not fret at the man who prospers;
    a man who makes evil plots
    to bring down the needy and the poor.

    Calm your anger and forget your rage;
    do not fret, it only leads to evil.
    For those who do evil shall perish;
    the patient shall inherit the land.

    A little longer – and the wicked shall have gone.
    Look at his place, he is not there.
    But the humble shall own the land
    and enjoy the fullness of peace.

    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.

    Commit your life to the Lord, and he will act on your behalf. Alleluia.


    ________

    Psalm 36 (37):12-29

    Turn away from evil and do good: the Lord will support the just. Alleluia.

    The wicked man plots against the just
    and gnashes his teeth against him;
    but the Lord laughs at the wicked
    for he sees that his day is at hand.

    The sword of the wicked is drawn,
    his bow is bent to slaughter the upright.
    Their sword shall pierce their own hearts
    and their bows shall be broken to pieces.

    The just man’s few possessions
    are better than the wicked man’s wealth;
    for the power of the wicked shall be broken
    and the Lord will support the just.

    He protects the lives of the upright,
    their heritage will last for ever.
    They shall not be put to shame in evil days,
    in time of famine their food shall not fail.

    But all the wicked shall perish
    and all the enemies of the Lord.
    They are like the beauty of the meadows,
    they shall vanish, they shall vanish like smoke.

    The wicked man borrows without repaying,
    but the just man is generous and gives.
    Those blessed by the Lord shall own the land,
    but those he has cursed shall be destroyed.

    The Lord guides the steps of a man
    and makes safe the path of one he loves.
    Though he stumble he shall never fall
    for the Lord holds him by the hand.

    I was young and now I am old,
    but I have never seen the just man forsaken
    nor his children begging for bread.
    All the day he is generous and lends
    and his children become a blessing.

    Then turn away from evil and do good
    and you shall have a home for ever;
    for the Lord loves justice
    and will never forsake his friends.

    The unjust shall be wiped out for ever
    and the children of the wicked destroyed.
    The just shall inherit the land;
    there they shall live for ever.

    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.

    Turn away from evil and do good: the Lord will support the just. Alleluia.


    ________

    Psalm 36 (37):30-40

    Wait for the Lord, keep to his way. Alleluia.

    The just man’s mouth utters wisdom
    and his lips speak what is right;
    the law of his God is in his heart,
    his steps shall be saved from stumbling.

    The wicked man watches for the just
    and seeks occasion to kill him.
    The Lord will not leave him in his power
    nor let him be condemned when he is judged.

    Then wait for the Lord, keep to his way.
    It is he who will free you from the wicked,
    raise you up to possess the land
    and see the wicked destroyed.

    I have seen the wicked triumphant,
    towering like a cedar of Lebanon.
    I passed by again; he was gone.
    I searched; he was nowhere to be found.

    See the just man, mark the upright,
    for the peaceful man a future lies in store,
    but sinners shall all be destroyed.
    No future lies in store for the wicked.

    The salvation of the just comes from the Lord,
    their stronghold in time of distress.
    The Lord helps them and delivers them
    and saves them: for their refuge is in him.

    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.

    Wait for the Lord, keep to his way. Alleluia.


    Psalm-prayer

    You proclaimed the poor to be blessed, Lord Jesus, for the kingdom of heaven is given to them. Fill us generously with your gifts. Teach us to put our trust in the Father and to seek his kingdom first of all rather than imitate the powerful and envy the rich.


    ________

    ℣. Christ has risen from the dead: he will never die again, alleluia.
    ℟. No more has death any power over him, alleluia.


    ________

    The one-year and two-year cycles of readings are identical today.

    First Reading
    1 John 2:12-17
    Observance of the will of God


    I am writing to you, my own children,
    whose sins have already been forgiven through his name;
    I am writing to you, fathers,
    who have come to know the one
    who has existed since the beginning;
    I am writing to you, young men,
    who have already overcome the Evil One;
    I have written to you, children,
    because you already know the Father;
    I have written to you, fathers,
    because you have come to know the one
    who has existed since the beginning;
    I have written to you, young men,
    because you are strong and God’s word has made its home in you,
    and you have overcome the Evil One.
    You must not love this passing world
    or anything that is in the world.
    The love of the Father cannot be
    in any man who loves the world,
    because nothing the world has to offer
    – the sensual body,
    the lustful eye,
    pride in possessions –
    could ever come from the Father
    but only from the world;
    and the world, with all it craves for,
    is coming to an end;
    but anyone who does the will of God
    remains for ever.


    Responsory
    1 Jn 2:17,15

    ℟. I will pour out water on the thirsty soil, streams on the dry ground, I will pour out my spirit on your descendants,* and they shall grow like poplars by running streams, alleluia.
    ℣. The water that I shall give will turn into a spring, welling up to eternal life,* and they shall grow like poplars by running streams, alleluia.


    ________

    Second Reading
    From a commentary on the gospel of John by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop
    What binds us together is Christ

    Paul bears witness to the fact that we achieve bodily union with Christ to the extent that we partake of his holy flesh. About this great mystery he says: This that has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets was unknown to any men in past generations: it means that pagans now share the same inheritance, that they are parts of the same body, and that the same promise has been made to them, in Jesus Christ.
    If we are all the same body with one another in Christ – not just with one another, but with him who, through communion with his flesh, is actually within us – are we not then all of us clearly one with one another and one with Christ? For Christ is the bond that unites us, being at once God and Man.
    Following the same line of thought, we can say this about spiritual unity: we all receive one and the same Spirit, I mean the Holy Spirit. So in a way we are blended together with one another and with God. Even though we are many individuals and Christ, the Spirit of the Father and his own Spirit, dwells in each one of us individually, still the Spirit is really one and indivisible. And so that one Spirit binds together the separated spirits of each one of us so that we are seen to be one, together in Christ.
    Just as the power of Christ’s holy flesh makes into one body everyone in whom it exists, in the same way the Spirit of God, being indivisible, ties together the spirits in which it dwells.
    Again, Paul emphasized this point: Bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all. As the one Spirit abides in us, the one God and Father will be with us through the Son, leading those who share the Spirit into unity with each other and with himself.
    There is another way to show that we are united through sharing in the Holy Spirit. If we abandon living as mere animals and surrender ourselves wholly to the laws of the Spirit, it is surely beyond question that by effectively denying our own life and taking upon ourselves the transcendent likeness of the Holy Spirit who is joined to us, we are practically transformed into another nature. We are no longer mere men, but sons of God and citizens of Heaven, through becoming partakers of the divine nature.
    We are all, therefore, one in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; one because we have the same relationship, one because we live the same life of righteousness, and one in receiving the holy flesh of Christ and in sharing the one Holy Spirit.


    Responsory

    ℟. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body,* because we share the one loaf and the one cup, alleluia.
    ℣. You give the lonely a home to live in; you have prepared good things, O God, for the poor,* because we share the one loaf and the one cup, alleluia.


    ________

    Let us pray.

    Lord God,
    grant your people constant joy
    in the renewed vigour of their souls.
    They rejoice because you have restored them
    to the glory of your adopted children:
    let them look forward gladly
    in the certain hope of resurrection.
    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 © 1996-2021 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.