Ribbon Placement:

Christian Prayer:

Office of Readings for Monday in Ordinary Time

God, come to my assistance.

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

HYMN

For the beauty of the earth,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

For the beauty of each hour

Lord of all, to thee we raise

For the joy of ear and eye,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

For the joy of human love,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

For each perfect gift of Thine,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Our God will be made manifest; he will not come in silence.

Psalm 50

I

The God of gods, the Lord,

Our God comes, he keeps silence no longer.

“Summon before me my people

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

Ant. Our God will be made manifest; he will not come in silence.

Ant. 2 Offer to God the sacrifice of praise.

II

“Listen, my people, I will speak;

I find no fault with your sacrifices,

For I own all the beasts of the forest,

Were I hungry, I would not tell you,

Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God

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

Ant. Offer to God the sacrifice of praise.

Ant. 3 I want a loving heart more than sacrifice, knowledge of my ways more than holocausts.

III

But God says to the wicked:

“But how can you recite my commandments

you who see a thief and go with him;

you who sit and malign your brother

Mark this, you who never think of God,

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

Psalm-prayer

Father, accept us as a sacrifice of praise, so that we may go through life unburdened by sin, walking in the way of salvation, and always giving thanks to you.

Ant. I want a loving heart more than sacrifice, knowledge of my ways more than holocausts.

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.

Listen, my people, and I will speak.

READINGS

First reading

After Ehud’s death, however, the Israelites again offended the Lord. So the Lord allowed them to fall into the power of the Canaanite king, Jabin, who reigned in Hazor. The general of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth-ha-goiim. But the Israelites cried out to the Lord; for with his nine hundred iron chariots he sorely oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.

At this time the prophetess Deborah, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under Deborah’s palm tree, situated between Ramah and Bethel in the mountain region of Ephraim, and there the Israelites came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak, son of Abinoam, from Kedesh of Naphtali. “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, commands,” she said to him; “go, march on Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand Naphtalites and Zebulunites. I will lead Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, out to you at the Wadi Kishon, together with his chariots and troops, and will deliver them into your power.”

But Barak answered her, “If you come with me, I will go; if you do not come with me, I will not go.” “I will certainly go with you,” she replied, “but you shall not gain the glory in the expedition on which you are setting out, for the Lord will have Sisera fall into the power of a woman.” So Deborah joined Barak and journeyed with him to Kedesh.

Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and ten thousand men followed him. Deborah also went up with him. Now the Kenite Heber had detached himself from his own people, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, and had pitched his tent by the terebinth of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.

It was reported to Sisera that Barak, son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor. So Sisera assembled from Harosheth-ha-goiim at the Wadi Kishon all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all his forces. Deborah then said to Barak, “Be off, for this is the day on which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your power. The Lord marches before you.”

So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by his ten thousand men. And the Lord put Sisera and all his chariots and all his forces to rout before Barak. Sisera himself dismounted from his chariot and fled on foot. Barak, however, pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-ha-goiim. The entire army of Sisera fell beneath the sword, not even one man surviving.

Sisera, in the meantime, had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of the Kenite Heber, since Jabin, king of Hazor, and the family of the Kenite Heber were at peace with one another. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord, come in with me; do not be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a rug. He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink. I am thirsty.” But she opened a jug of milk for him to drink, and then covered him over. “Stand at the entrance of the tent,” he said to her. “If anyone comes and asks, ‘Is there someone here?’ say, ‘No!'”

Instead Jael, wife of Heber, got a tent peg and took a mallet in her hand. While Sisera was sound asleep, she stealthily approached him and drove the peg through his temple down into the ground, so that he perished in death. Then when Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man you seek.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg through his temple.

Thus on that day God humbled the Canaanite king, Jabin, before the Israelites; their power weighed ever heavier upon him, till at length they destroyed the Canaanite king, Jabin.

RESPONSORY 1 Corinthians 1:27, 29; 2 Corinthians 12:9; 1 Corinthians 1:28

To shame the strong, God chose the weak so that no one might boast in his presence.

God chose those who were nothing at all, to humble those who were everything.

Second reading

Above all, he who preaches peace and unity did not want us to pray by ourselves in private or for ourselves alone. We do not say “My Father, who art in heaven,” nor “Give me this day my daily bread.” It is not for himself alone that each person asks to be forgiven, not to be led into temptation or to be delivered from evil. Rather, we pray in public as a community, and not for one individual but for all. For the people of God are all one.

God is then the teacher of harmony, peace and unity, and desires each of us to pray for all men, even as he bore all men in himself alone. The three young men shut up in the furnace of fire observed this rule of prayer. United in the bond of the Spirit they uttered together the same prayer. The witness of holy Scripture describes this incident for us, so that we might imitate them in our prayer. Then all three began to sing in unison, blessing God. Even though Christ had not yet taught them to pray, nevertheless, they spoke as with one voice.

It is for this reason that their prayer was persuasive and efficacious. For their simple and spiritual prayer of peace merited the presence of the Lord. So too, after the ascension we find the apostles and the disciples praying together in this way. Scripture relates: They all joined together in continuous prayer, with the women including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. They all joined together in continuous prayer. The urgency and the unity of their prayer declares that God, who fashions a bond of unity among those who live in his home, will admit into his divine home for all eternity only those who pray in unity.

My dear friends, the Lord’s Prayer contains many great mysteries of our faith. In these few words there is great spiritual strength, for this summary of divine teaching contains all of our prayers and petitions. And so, the Lord commands us: Pray then like this: Our Father, who art in heaven.

We are new men; we have been reborn and restored to God by his grace. We have already begun to be his sons and we can say “Father.” John reminds us of this: He came to his own home, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who received him, who believe in his name, he gave the power to become children of God. Profess your belief that you are sons of God by giving thanks. Call upon God who is your Father in heaven.

RESPONSORY Psalm 22:23; 57:10

I will proclaim your name to my brothers

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples

CONCLUDING PRAYER

O God,

ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration)

Let us praise the Lord.