Ribbon Placement:

Office of Readings for Friday in the Octave of Easter

God, come to my assistance.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

HYMN

Glory be to Jesus,

Grace and life eternal

Blest through endless ages

Abel's blood for vengeance

Oft as earth exulting

Lift we then our voices;

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Give thanks to the Lord; he alone does marvelous deeds, alleluia.

Psalm 136

I

O give thanks to the Lord for he is good,

who alone has wrought marvelous works,

It was he who made the great lights,

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

Ant. Give thanks to the Lord; he alone does marvelous deeds, alleluia.

Ant. 2 He led Israel out of Egypt; his love endures for ever, alleluia.

II

The first-born of the Egyptians he smote,

He divided the Red Sea in two,

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

Ant. He led Israel out of Egypt; his love endures for ever, alleluia.

Ant. 3 The Lord has rescued us from our enemies, alleluia.

III

Through the desert his people he led,

Sihon, king of the Amorites,

He let Israel inherit their land,

And he snatched us away from our foes,

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

Ant. The Lord has rescued us from our enemies, alleluia.

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.

God has given us a new birth into a living hope, alleluia.

READINGS

First reading

The reason why Christ died for sins once for all, the just man for the sake of the unjust, was that he might lead you to God. He was put to death insofar as fleshly existence goes, but was given life in the realm of the spirit. It was in the spirit also that he went to preach to the spirits in prison. They had disobeyed as long ago as Noah’s day, while God patiently waited until the ark was built. At that time, a few persons, eight in all, escaped in the ark through the water.

You are now saved by a baptismal bath which corresponds to this exactly. This baptism is no removal of physical stain, but the pledge to God of an irreproachable conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He went to heaven and is at God’s right hand, with angelic rulers and powers subjected to him.

Christ suffered in the flesh; therefore arm yourselves with his same mentality. He who has suffered in the flesh has broken with sin. You are not to spend what remains of your earthly life on human desires but on the will of God. Already you have devoted enough time to what the pagans enjoy, living lives of debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and wanton idolatry.

It is no wonder that those blasphemers are surprised when you do not plunge into the same swamp of profligacy as they. They shall give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. The reason the gospel was preached even to the dead was that, although condemned in the flesh in the eyes of men, they might live in the spirit in the eyes of God.

The consummation of all is close at hand. Therefore do not be perturbed; remain calm so that you will be able to pray. Above all, let your love for one another be constant, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be mutually hospitable without complaining. As generous distributors of God’s manifold grace, put your gifts at the service of one another, each in the measure he has received. The one who speaks is to deliver God’s message. The one who serves is to do it with the strength provided by God. Thus, in all of you God is to be glorified through Jesus Christ: to him be glory and dominion throughout the ages. Amen.

RESPONSORY 1 Peter 3:18, 22

Christ died for our sins: the innocent for the guilty, so that he might lead us back to God.

He is seated at God’s right hand; he died to make eternal life our heritage.

Second reading

When we were baptized into Christ and clothed ourselves in him, we were transformed into the likeness of the Son of God. Having destined us to be his adopted sons, God gave us a likeness to Christ in his glory, and living as we do in communion with Christ, God’s anointed, we ourselves are rightly called “the anointed ones.” When he said: Do not touch my anointed ones, God was speaking of us.

We became “the anointed ones” when we received the sign of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, everything took place in us by means of images, because we ourselves are images of Christ. Christ bathed in the river Jordan, imparting to its waters the fragrance of his divinity, and when he came up from them the Holy Spirit descended upon him, like resting upon like. So we also, after coming up from the sacred waters of baptism, were anointed with chrism, which signifies the Holy Spirit, by whom Christ was anointed and of whom blessed Isaiah prophesied in the name of the Lord: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor.

Christ’s anointing was not by human hands, nor was it with ordinary oil. On the contrary, having destined him to be the Savior of the whole world, the Father himself anointed him with the Holy Spirit. The words of Peter bear witness to this: Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit. And David the prophet proclaimed: Your throne, O God, shall endure for ever; your royal scepter is a scepter of justice. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above all your fellows.

The oil of gladness with which Christ was anointed was a spiritual oil; it was in fact the Holy Spirit himself, who is called the oil of gladness because he is the source of spiritual joy. But we too have been anointed with oil, and by this anointing we have entered into fellowship with Christ and have received a share in his life. Beware of thinking that this holy oil is simply ordinary oil and nothing else. After the invocation of the Spirit it is no longer ordinary oil but the gift of Christ, and by the presence of his divinity it becomes the instrument through which we receive the Holy Spirit. While symbolically, on our foreheads and senses, our bodies are anointed with this oil that we see, our souls are sanctified by the holy and life-giving Spirit.

RESPONSORY Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

You have believed the good news and have been sealed according to the promise with the Holy Spirit.

God has anointed us and sealed us as his own; and as a pledge of what is to come

TE DEUM

You are God: we praise you;

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,

The glorious company of apostles praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:

You, Christ, are the King of glory,

When you became man to set us free

You overcame the sting of death,

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,

Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.

Day by day we bless you.

Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.

Lord, show us your love and mercy,

In you, Lord, is our hope:

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Almighty ever-living God,

ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration)

Let us praise the Lord.