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 Show me your mercy, Lord, and keep me safe.

Psalm 6

Lord, do not reprove me in your anger:

But you, O Lord… how long?

I am exhausted with my groaning;

Leave me, all who do evil;

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

Psalm-prayer

Lord God, you love mercy and tenderness; you give life and overcome death. Look upon the many wounds of your Church; restore it to health by your risen Son, so that it may sing a new song in your praise.

Ant. Show me your mercy, Lord, and keep me safe.

Ant. 2 The poor are not alone in their distress; God is here to help them.

Psalm 9A

I

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;

See how my enemies turn back,

You have checked the nations, destroyed the wicked;

But the Lord sits enthroned for ever.

For the oppressed let the Lord be a stronghold,

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

Ant. The poor are not alone in their distress; God is here to help them.

Ant. 3 I will be the herald of your praises, Lord, where the people of Zion gather.

II

Sing psalms to the Lord who dwells in Zion.

Have pity on me, Lord, see my sufferings,

The nations have fallen in the pit which they made,

Let the wicked go down among the dead,

Arise, Lord, let men not prevail!

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

Psalm-prayer

Lord God, when you judge, do not be deaf to the shouts of the poor, bring havoc to the madness of oppressors. Look at our wounds and save us from the gates of death, so that we may always rejoice in your help and speak your praise in the gates of Zion.

Ant. I will be the herald of your praises, Lord, where the people of Zion gather.

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.

Give me insight, Lord, to know your will.

READINGS

First reading

King Ahasuerus raised Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, to high rank, seating him above all his fellow officials. All the king’s servants who were at the royal gate would kneel and bow down to Haman, for that is what the king had ordered in his regard.

Mordecai, however, would not kneel and bow down. The king’s servants who were at the royal gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s order?” When they had reminded him day after day and he would not listen to them, they informed Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s explanation was acceptable, since he had told them that he was a Jew.

When Haman observed that Mordecai would not kneel and bow down to him, he was filled with anger. Moreover, he thought it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Since they had told Haman of Mordecai’s nationality, he sought to destroy all the Jews, Mordecai’s people, throughout the realm of King Ahasuerus.

In the first month, Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, the pur, or lot, was cast in Haman’s presence to determine the day and the month for the destruction of Mordecai’s people on a single day, and the lot fell on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar.

Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus: “Dispersed among the nations throughout the provinces of your kingdom, there is a certain people living apart, with laws differing from those of every other people. They do not obey the laws of the king, and so it is not proper for the king to tolerate them. If it please the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them; and I will deliver to the procurators ten thousand silver talents for deposit in the royal treasury.”

The king took the signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. “The silver you may keep,” the king said to Haman, “but as for this people, do with them whatever you please.”

So the royal scribes were summoned; and on the thirteenth day of the first month they wrote, at the dictation of Haman, an order to the royal satraps, the governors of every province, and the officials of every people, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the royal signet ring. Letters were sent by couriers to all the royal provinces, that all the Jews, young and old, including women and children, should be killed, destroyed, wiped out in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, and that their goods should be seized as spoil.

A copy of the decree to be promulgated as law in every province was published to all the peoples, that they might be prepared for that day. The couriers set out in haste at the king’s command; meanwhile, the decree was promulgated in the stronghold of Susa. The king and Haman then sat down to feast, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.

RESPONSORY Est. 13:9; Ps. 44:26; Est. 13:17

O Lord, ruler of all creation,

Hear our prayer

Second reading

Let us always desire the happy life from the Lord God and always pray for it. But for this very reason we turn our mind to the task of prayer at appointed hours, since that desire grows lukewarm, so to speak, from our involvement in other concerns and occupations. We remind ourselves through the words of prayer to focus our attention on the object of our desire; otherwise, the desire that began to grow lukewarm may grow chill altogether and may be totally extinguished unless it is repeatedly stirred into flame.

Therefore, when the Apostle says: Let your petitions become known before God, this should not be taken in the sense that they are in fact becoming known to God who certainly knew them even before they were made, but that they are becoming known to us before God through submission and not before men through boasting.

Since this is the case, it is not wrong or useless to pray even for a long time when there is the opportunity. I mean when it does not keep us from performing the other good and necessary actions we are obliged to do. But even in these actions, as I have said, we must always pray with that desire. To pray for a longer time is not the same as to pray by multiplying words, as some people suppose. Lengthy talk is one thing, a prayerful disposition which lasts a long time is another. For it is even written in reference to the Lord himself that he spent the night in prayer and that he prayed at great length. Was he not giving us an example by this? In time, he prays when it is appropriate; and in eternity, he hears our prayers with the Father.

The monks in Egypt are said to offer frequent prayers, but these are very short and hurled like swift javelins. Otherwise their watchful attention, a very necessary quality for anyone at prayer, could be dulled and could disappear through protracted delays. They also clearly demonstrate through this practice that a person must not quickly divert such attention if it lasts, just as one must not allow it to be blunted if it cannot last.

Excessive talking should be kept out of prayer but that does not mean that one should not spend much time in prayer so long as fervent attitude continues to accompany his prayer. To talk at length in prayer is to perform a necessary action with an excess of words. To spend much time in prayer is to knock with a persistent and holy fervor at the door of the one whom we beseech. This task is generally accomplished more through sighs than words, more through weeping than speech. He places our tears in his sight, and our sighs are not hidden from him, for he has established all things through his Word and does not seek human words.

RESPONSORY Psalm 88:2-3; Isaiah 26:8

O Lord, God of my salvation,

Your name and your memory are my heart’s desire.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Almighty ever-living God,

ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration)

Let us praise the Lord.