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Ribbon Placement:
Christian Prayer:
Office of Readings for Thursday in Ordinary Time
God, come to my assistance.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
HYMN
Be thou my vision, through night and come day
Be thou my wisdom, my staff and my stay,
Be thou my guardian my sword in the fight
Riches I heed not, or man’s empty praise
High king of heaven, my victory won
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 The word of the Lord is a strong shield for all who put their trust in him.
Psalm 18
IV
As for God, his ways are perfect;
For who is God but the Lord?
My feet you made swift as the deer’s;
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Ant. The word of the Lord is a strong shield for all who put their trust in him.
Ant. 2 Your strong right hand has upheld me, Lord.
V
You gave me your saving shield;
I pursued and overtook my foes,
You girded me with strength for battle;
They cried, but there was no one to save them;
You saved me from the feuds of the people
Foreign nations came to me cringing:
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Ant. Your strong right hand has upheld me, Lord.
Ant. 3 May the living God, my Savior, be praised for ever.
VI
Long life to the Lord, my rock!
You saved me from my furious foes.
He has given great victories to his king
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Psalm-prayer
Lord God, our strength and salvation, put in us the flame of your love and make our love for you grow to a perfect love which reaches to our neighbor.
Ant. May the living God, my Savior, be praised for ever.
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.
Open my eyes, Lord, that I may see.
READINGS
First reading
[On the third day, Esther put on her royal garments and stood in the inner courtyard, looking toward the royal palace, while the king was seated on his royal throne in the audience chamber, facing the palace doorway. He saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, and made her welcome by extending toward her the golden staff which he held. She came up to him, and touched the top of the staff.]
Then the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even if it is half of my kingdom, it shall be granted you.” “If it please your majesty,” Esther replied, “come today with Haman to a banquet I have prepared.” And the king ordered, “Have Haman make haste to fulfill the wish of Esther.”
So the king and Haman went to the banquet with Queen Esther. Again, on this second day, during the drinking of the wine, the king said to Esther, “Whatever you ask, Queen Esther, shall be granted you. Whatever request you make shall be honored, even for half the kingdom.” Queen Esther replied: “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, I ask that my life be spared, and I beg that you spare the lives of my people. For my people and I have been delivered to destruction, slaughter, and extinction. If we were to be sold into slavery I would remain silent, but as it is, the enemy will be unable to compensate for the harm done to the king.”
“Who and where,” said King Ahasuerus to Queen Esther, “is the man who dared to do this?” Esther replied, “The enemy oppressing us is this wicked Haman.” At this, Haman was seized with dread of the king and queen.
The king left the banquet in anger and went into the garden of the palace, but Haman stayed to beg Queen Esther for his life, since he saw that the king had decided on his doom. When the king returned from the garden of the palace to the banquet hall, Haman had thrown himself on the couch on which Esther was reclining; and the king exclaimed, “Will he also violate the queen while she is with me in my own house!” Scarcely had the king spoken, when the face of Haman was covered over.
Harbona, one of the eunuchs who attended the king, said, “At the house of Haman stands a gibbet fifty cubits high, Haman prepared it for Mordecai, who gave the report that benefited the king.” The king answered, “Hang him on it.” So they hanged Haman on the gibbet which he had made ready for Mordecai, and the anger of the king abated.
RESPONSORY See Esther 10:9; Isaiah 48:20
Israel cried out to the Lord,
Proclaim this with shouts of joy:
Second reading
You may still want to ask why the Apostle said: We do not know what it is right to pray for, because, surely, we cannot believe that either he or those to whom he wrote did not know the Lord’s Prayer.
He showed that he himself shared this uncertainty. Did he know what it was right to pray for when he was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to bruise him, so that he might not be puffed up by the greatness of what was revealed to him? Three times he asked the Lord to take it away from him, which showed that he did not know what he should ask for in prayer. At last, he heard the Lord’s answer, explaining why the prayer of so great a man was not granted, and why it was not expedient for it to be granted: My grace is sufficient for you, for power shines forth more perfectly in weakness.
In the kind of affliction, then, which can bring either good or ill, we do not know what it is right to pray for; yet, because it is difficult, troublesome and against the grain for us, weak as we are, we do what every human would do, we pray that it may be taken away from us. We owe, however, at least this much in our duty to God: if he does not take it away, we must not imagine that we are being forgotten by him but because of our loving endurance of evil, must await greater blessings in its place. In this way, power shines forth more perfectly in weakness. These words are written to prevent us from having too great an opinion of ourselves if our prayer is granted, when we are impatient in asking for something that it would be better not to receive; and to prevent us from being dejected, and distrustful of God’s mercy toward us, if our prayer is not granted, when we ask for something that would bring us greater affliction, or completely ruin us through the corrupting influence of prosperity. In these cases we do not know what is right to ask for in prayer.
Therefore, if something happens that we did not pray for, we must have no doubt at all that what God wants is more expedient than what we wanted ourselves. Our great Mediator gave us an example of this. After he had said: Father, if it is possible, let this cup be taken away from me, he immediately added, Yet not what I will, but what you will, Father, so transforming the human will that was his through his taking a human nature. As a consequence, and rightly so, through the obedience of one man the many are made righteous.
RESPONSORY Matthew 7:7, 8; Psalm 145:18
The Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Almighty ever-living God,
ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration)
Let us praise the Lord.
By Divine Office (DivineOffice.org)4.7
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Ribbon Placement:
Christian Prayer:
Office of Readings for Thursday in Ordinary Time
God, come to my assistance.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
HYMN
Be thou my vision, through night and come day
Be thou my wisdom, my staff and my stay,
Be thou my guardian my sword in the fight
Riches I heed not, or man’s empty praise
High king of heaven, my victory won
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 The word of the Lord is a strong shield for all who put their trust in him.
Psalm 18
IV
As for God, his ways are perfect;
For who is God but the Lord?
My feet you made swift as the deer’s;
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Ant. The word of the Lord is a strong shield for all who put their trust in him.
Ant. 2 Your strong right hand has upheld me, Lord.
V
You gave me your saving shield;
I pursued and overtook my foes,
You girded me with strength for battle;
They cried, but there was no one to save them;
You saved me from the feuds of the people
Foreign nations came to me cringing:
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Ant. Your strong right hand has upheld me, Lord.
Ant. 3 May the living God, my Savior, be praised for ever.
VI
Long life to the Lord, my rock!
You saved me from my furious foes.
He has given great victories to his king
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Psalm-prayer
Lord God, our strength and salvation, put in us the flame of your love and make our love for you grow to a perfect love which reaches to our neighbor.
Ant. May the living God, my Savior, be praised for ever.
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.
Open my eyes, Lord, that I may see.
READINGS
First reading
[On the third day, Esther put on her royal garments and stood in the inner courtyard, looking toward the royal palace, while the king was seated on his royal throne in the audience chamber, facing the palace doorway. He saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, and made her welcome by extending toward her the golden staff which he held. She came up to him, and touched the top of the staff.]
Then the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even if it is half of my kingdom, it shall be granted you.” “If it please your majesty,” Esther replied, “come today with Haman to a banquet I have prepared.” And the king ordered, “Have Haman make haste to fulfill the wish of Esther.”
So the king and Haman went to the banquet with Queen Esther. Again, on this second day, during the drinking of the wine, the king said to Esther, “Whatever you ask, Queen Esther, shall be granted you. Whatever request you make shall be honored, even for half the kingdom.” Queen Esther replied: “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, I ask that my life be spared, and I beg that you spare the lives of my people. For my people and I have been delivered to destruction, slaughter, and extinction. If we were to be sold into slavery I would remain silent, but as it is, the enemy will be unable to compensate for the harm done to the king.”
“Who and where,” said King Ahasuerus to Queen Esther, “is the man who dared to do this?” Esther replied, “The enemy oppressing us is this wicked Haman.” At this, Haman was seized with dread of the king and queen.
The king left the banquet in anger and went into the garden of the palace, but Haman stayed to beg Queen Esther for his life, since he saw that the king had decided on his doom. When the king returned from the garden of the palace to the banquet hall, Haman had thrown himself on the couch on which Esther was reclining; and the king exclaimed, “Will he also violate the queen while she is with me in my own house!” Scarcely had the king spoken, when the face of Haman was covered over.
Harbona, one of the eunuchs who attended the king, said, “At the house of Haman stands a gibbet fifty cubits high, Haman prepared it for Mordecai, who gave the report that benefited the king.” The king answered, “Hang him on it.” So they hanged Haman on the gibbet which he had made ready for Mordecai, and the anger of the king abated.
RESPONSORY See Esther 10:9; Isaiah 48:20
Israel cried out to the Lord,
Proclaim this with shouts of joy:
Second reading
You may still want to ask why the Apostle said: We do not know what it is right to pray for, because, surely, we cannot believe that either he or those to whom he wrote did not know the Lord’s Prayer.
He showed that he himself shared this uncertainty. Did he know what it was right to pray for when he was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to bruise him, so that he might not be puffed up by the greatness of what was revealed to him? Three times he asked the Lord to take it away from him, which showed that he did not know what he should ask for in prayer. At last, he heard the Lord’s answer, explaining why the prayer of so great a man was not granted, and why it was not expedient for it to be granted: My grace is sufficient for you, for power shines forth more perfectly in weakness.
In the kind of affliction, then, which can bring either good or ill, we do not know what it is right to pray for; yet, because it is difficult, troublesome and against the grain for us, weak as we are, we do what every human would do, we pray that it may be taken away from us. We owe, however, at least this much in our duty to God: if he does not take it away, we must not imagine that we are being forgotten by him but because of our loving endurance of evil, must await greater blessings in its place. In this way, power shines forth more perfectly in weakness. These words are written to prevent us from having too great an opinion of ourselves if our prayer is granted, when we are impatient in asking for something that it would be better not to receive; and to prevent us from being dejected, and distrustful of God’s mercy toward us, if our prayer is not granted, when we ask for something that would bring us greater affliction, or completely ruin us through the corrupting influence of prosperity. In these cases we do not know what is right to ask for in prayer.
Therefore, if something happens that we did not pray for, we must have no doubt at all that what God wants is more expedient than what we wanted ourselves. Our great Mediator gave us an example of this. After he had said: Father, if it is possible, let this cup be taken away from me, he immediately added, Yet not what I will, but what you will, Father, so transforming the human will that was his through his taking a human nature. As a consequence, and rightly so, through the obedience of one man the many are made righteous.
RESPONSORY Matthew 7:7, 8; Psalm 145:18
The Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Almighty ever-living God,
ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration)
Let us praise the Lord.

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