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Ribbon Placement:
Office of Readings for Tuesday in Week 2 of Easter
God, come to my assistance.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
HYMN
Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest,
O Comfort Blest to Thee we cry,
Praise be to Thee Father and Son,
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 Surrender to God, and he will do everything for you, alleluia.
Psalm 37
I
Do not fret because of the wicked;
If you trust in the Lord and do good,
Commit your life to the Lord,
Be still before the Lord and wait in patience;
Calm your anger and forget your rage;
A little longer — and the wicked shall have gone.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Ant. Surrender to God, and he will do everything for you, alleluia.
Ant. 2 Turn away from evil, learn to do God’s will; the Lord will strengthen you if you obey him.
II
The wicked man plots against the just
The sword of the wicked is drawn,
The just man’s few possessions
He protects the lives of the upright,
But all the wicked shall perish
The wicked man borrows without repaying,
The Lord guides the steps of a man
I was young and now I am old,
Then turn away from evil and do good
The unjust shall be wiped out for ever
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Ant. Turn away from evil, learn to do God’s will; the Lord will strengthen you if you obey him.
Ant. 3 Wait for the Lord to lead, then follow in his way.
III
The just man’s mouth utters wisdom
The wicked man watches for the just
Then wait for the Lord, keep to his way.
I have seen the wicked triumphant,
See the just man, mark the upright,
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord,
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
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.
Ant. Wait for the Lord to lead, then follow in his way.
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.
Christ risen from the dead will never die again, alleluia.
READINGS
First reading
I, John, heard the Lord saying to me: “To the presiding spirit of the church in Ephesus, write this:
“ ‘The One who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven lampstands of gold has this to say: I know your deeds, your labors, and your patient endurance. I know you cannot tolerate wicked men; you have tested those self-styled apostles who are nothing of the sort, and discovered that they are impostors. You are patient and endure hardship for my cause. Moreover, you do not become discouraged. I hold this against you, though: you have turned aside from your early love. Keep firmly in mind the heights from which you have fallen. Repent, and return to your former deeds. If you do not repent I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this much in your favor: you detest the practices of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.
“’Let him who has ears heed the Spirit’s word to the churches! I will see to it that the victor eats from the tree of life which grows in the garden of God.’
“To the presiding spirit of the church in Smyrna, write this:
“’Let him who has ears heed the Spirit’s word to the churches! The victor shall never be harmed by the second death.’”
RESPONSORY Revelation 2:10, 11; Sirach 4:33
Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Fight to the death for truth, and the Lord God will do battle for you.
Second reading
The spiritual building up of the body of Christ is achieved through love. As Saint Peter says: Like living stones you are built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And there can be no more effective way to pray for this spiritual growth than for the Church, itself Christ’s body, to make the offering of his body and blood in the sacramental form of bread and wine. For the cup we drink is a participation in the blood of Christ, and the bread we break is a participation in the body of Christ. Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, since we all share the same bread. And so we pray that, by the same grace which made the Church Christ’s body, all its members may remain firm in the unity of that body through the enduring bond of love.
We are right to pray that this may be brought about in us through the gift of the one Spirit of the Father and the Son. The holy Trinity, the one true God, is of its nature unity, equality and love, and by one divine activity sanctifies its adopted sons. That is why Scripture says that God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit he has given us. The Holy Spirit, who is the one Spirit of the Father and the Son, produces in those to whom he gives the grace of divine adoption the same effect as he produced among those whom the Acts of the Apostles describes as having received the Holy Spirit. We are told that the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, because the one Spirit of the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is one God, had created a single heart and soul in all those who believed.
This is why Saint Paul in his exhortation to the Ephesians says that this spiritual unity in the bond of peace must be carefully preserved. I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, he writes, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, with all humility and meekness and with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit.
God makes the Church itself a sacrifice pleasing in his sight by preserving within it the love which his Holy Spirit has poured out. Thus the grace of that spiritual love is always available to us, enabling us continually to offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to him for ever.
RESPONSORY John 17:20, 21, 22, 18
I pray for them, that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you.
As you have sent me into the world,
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Enable us,
ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration)
Let us praise the Lord.
Ribbon Placement:
Office of Readings for Tuesday in Week 2 of Easter
God, come to my assistance.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
HYMN
Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest,
O Comfort Blest to Thee we cry,
Praise be to Thee Father and Son,
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 Surrender to God, and he will do everything for you, alleluia.
Psalm 37
I
Do not fret because of the wicked;
If you trust in the Lord and do good,
Commit your life to the Lord,
Be still before the Lord and wait in patience;
Calm your anger and forget your rage;
A little longer — and the wicked shall have gone.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Ant. Surrender to God, and he will do everything for you, alleluia.
Ant. 2 Turn away from evil, learn to do God’s will; the Lord will strengthen you if you obey him.
II
The wicked man plots against the just
The sword of the wicked is drawn,
The just man’s few possessions
He protects the lives of the upright,
But all the wicked shall perish
The wicked man borrows without repaying,
The Lord guides the steps of a man
I was young and now I am old,
Then turn away from evil and do good
The unjust shall be wiped out for ever
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Ant. Turn away from evil, learn to do God’s will; the Lord will strengthen you if you obey him.
Ant. 3 Wait for the Lord to lead, then follow in his way.
III
The just man’s mouth utters wisdom
The wicked man watches for the just
Then wait for the Lord, keep to his way.
I have seen the wicked triumphant,
See the just man, mark the upright,
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord,
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
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.
Ant. Wait for the Lord to lead, then follow in his way.
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.
Christ risen from the dead will never die again, alleluia.
READINGS
First reading
I, John, heard the Lord saying to me: “To the presiding spirit of the church in Ephesus, write this:
“ ‘The One who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven lampstands of gold has this to say: I know your deeds, your labors, and your patient endurance. I know you cannot tolerate wicked men; you have tested those self-styled apostles who are nothing of the sort, and discovered that they are impostors. You are patient and endure hardship for my cause. Moreover, you do not become discouraged. I hold this against you, though: you have turned aside from your early love. Keep firmly in mind the heights from which you have fallen. Repent, and return to your former deeds. If you do not repent I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this much in your favor: you detest the practices of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.
“’Let him who has ears heed the Spirit’s word to the churches! I will see to it that the victor eats from the tree of life which grows in the garden of God.’
“To the presiding spirit of the church in Smyrna, write this:
“’Let him who has ears heed the Spirit’s word to the churches! The victor shall never be harmed by the second death.’”
RESPONSORY Revelation 2:10, 11; Sirach 4:33
Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Fight to the death for truth, and the Lord God will do battle for you.
Second reading
The spiritual building up of the body of Christ is achieved through love. As Saint Peter says: Like living stones you are built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And there can be no more effective way to pray for this spiritual growth than for the Church, itself Christ’s body, to make the offering of his body and blood in the sacramental form of bread and wine. For the cup we drink is a participation in the blood of Christ, and the bread we break is a participation in the body of Christ. Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, since we all share the same bread. And so we pray that, by the same grace which made the Church Christ’s body, all its members may remain firm in the unity of that body through the enduring bond of love.
We are right to pray that this may be brought about in us through the gift of the one Spirit of the Father and the Son. The holy Trinity, the one true God, is of its nature unity, equality and love, and by one divine activity sanctifies its adopted sons. That is why Scripture says that God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit he has given us. The Holy Spirit, who is the one Spirit of the Father and the Son, produces in those to whom he gives the grace of divine adoption the same effect as he produced among those whom the Acts of the Apostles describes as having received the Holy Spirit. We are told that the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, because the one Spirit of the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is one God, had created a single heart and soul in all those who believed.
This is why Saint Paul in his exhortation to the Ephesians says that this spiritual unity in the bond of peace must be carefully preserved. I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, he writes, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, with all humility and meekness and with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit.
God makes the Church itself a sacrifice pleasing in his sight by preserving within it the love which his Holy Spirit has poured out. Thus the grace of that spiritual love is always available to us, enabling us continually to offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to him for ever.
RESPONSORY John 17:20, 21, 22, 18
I pray for them, that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you.
As you have sent me into the world,
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Enable us,
ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration)
Let us praise the Lord.