Office of Readings

If you have already recited the Invitatory Psalm today, you should use the alternative opening.

O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Come, let us worship the Lord, the great King.

O God, take pity on us and bless us, and let your face shine upon us,
so that your ways may be known across the world, and all nations learn of your salvation.

Come, let us worship the Lord, the great King.

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and rejoice, for you judge the peoples with fairness and you guide the nations of the earth.

Come, let us worship the Lord, the great King.

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has produced its harvest: may God, our God, bless us.
May God bless us, may the whole world revere him

Come, let us worship the Lord, the great King.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.

Psalm 67 (68)
The Lord's triumphal journey
God arises and his enemies are scattered: those who hate him flee from his sight. You blow them away like wisps of smoke; as wax melts in front of a fire, so the wicked melt away before God. The righteous are glad and exult in God’s sight; they rejoice in their gladness. Sing to the Lord and celebrate his name! Make a road for him who rides upon the clouds – “The Lord” is his name. Rejoice in his sight, the father of orphans, defender of widows, God in his holy dwelling-place, God, who gives the lonely a house to dwell in, God, who leads captives out into prosperity; but the rebellious shall live in a desert land. God, when you set out in the sight of your people, when you crossed the wilderness – the earth shook. The heavens sent down dew at your coming – the God of Sinai, the God of Israel. At your bidding the rains came, O God, your inheritance was worn out but you refreshed it. All your creatures took up residence there, in your goodness you made a place for the needy. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Psalm 67 (68)

The Lord's triumphal journey

God arises and his enemies are scattered:
those who hate him flee from his sight.
You blow them away like wisps of smoke;
as wax melts in front of a fire,
so the wicked melt away before God.
The righteous are glad and exult in God’s sight;
they rejoice in their gladness.

Sing to the Lord and celebrate his name!
Make a road for him who rides upon the clouds –
“The Lord” is his name.
Rejoice in his sight,
the father of orphans, defender of widows,
God in his holy dwelling-place,
God, who gives the lonely a house to dwell in,
God, who leads captives out into prosperity;
but the rebellious shall live in a desert land.

God, when you set out in the sight of your people,
when you crossed the wilderness – the earth shook.
The heavens sent down dew at your coming –
the God of Sinai, the God of Israel.
At your bidding the rains came, O God,
your inheritance was worn out but you refreshed it.
All your creatures took up residence there,
in your goodness you made a place for the needy.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

Psalm 67 (68)
The Lord gives out the word, and a great army of maidens brings the news: “The kings of the armies are fleeing, they are fleeing, and the fair one at home is dividing the spoils. While you sleep among the sheepfolds, the wings of the dove shine with silver, her feathers glow with green gold. Through her the Almighty scatters the kings, and the mountain of Salmon is white with snow. The mountain of Bashan is God’s mountain; the mountain of God is a high-peaked mountain. Why do you envy it, you high-peaked mountains, envy the mountain that God has chosen? The Lord will dwell there for ever. The chariots of God are ten thousand thousand: the Lord has come from Sinai to his holy sanctuary. You have scaled the heights, you have taken captives, you have received men as gifts so that even the rebels live with the Lord God. Blessings on the Lord, day after day! God will carry us, God our saviour. Our God is a God of salvation, our Lord is a Lord who rescues from death. Truly God will break the heads of his enemies, take the scalps of those who tread the path of crime. The Lord has spoken: “I shall bring them back from Bashan, I shall bring them back from the depths of the sea, so that your feet may be dipped in blood and the tongues of your dogs receive food from your enemies.” Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Psalm 67 (68)

The Lord gives out the word,
and a great army of maidens brings the news:
“The kings of the armies are fleeing, they are fleeing,
and the fair one at home is dividing the spoils.
While you sleep among the sheepfolds,
the wings of the dove shine with silver,
her feathers glow with green gold.
Through her the Almighty scatters the kings,
and the mountain of Salmon is white with snow.

The mountain of Bashan is God’s mountain;
the mountain of God is a high-peaked mountain.
Why do you envy it, you high-peaked mountains,
envy the mountain that God has chosen?
The Lord will dwell there for ever.
The chariots of God are ten thousand thousand:
the Lord has come from Sinai to his holy sanctuary.
You have scaled the heights, you have taken captives,
you have received men as gifts
so that even the rebels live with the Lord God.

Blessings on the Lord, day after day!
God will carry us, God our saviour.
Our God is a God of salvation,
our Lord is a Lord who rescues from death.
Truly God will break the heads of his enemies,
take the scalps of those who tread the path of crime.

The Lord has spoken:
“I shall bring them back from Bashan,
I shall bring them back from the depths of the sea,
so that your feet may be dipped in blood
and the tongues of your dogs receive food from your enemies.”

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

Psalm 67 (68)
They have seen your processions, O God, the processions of God, my king, to his sanctuary. First came the singers, last the musicians, between them the maidens playing their drums. “Bless God in the assemblies: bless the Lord, you who spring from Israel!” There was young Benjamin, leading them, the princes of Judah in their rich robes, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. O God, command in your strength; make firm what you have achieved in us. From your temple in Jerusalem, kings shall bring you tribute. Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds, the herd of bulls, the lords of peoples. Let them lie prostrate before you with tribute of silver. Scatter the peoples that delight in war. Nobles will come from Egypt, Ethiopia will stretch out its hands to God. Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; celebrate the Lord. Sing to God who rides on the highest heavens, at the origin of all things. Listen! – he speaks, a voice of power. Acknowledge the strength of the Lord: his majesty is over Israel, his strength is in the clouds. God inspires awe in his holy place; he, the God of Israel, gives power to his people; he gives them strength. Blessed be God! Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Psalm 67 (68)

They have seen your processions, O God,
the processions of God, my king, to his sanctuary.
First came the singers, last the musicians,
between them the maidens playing their drums.
“Bless God in the assemblies:
bless the Lord, you who spring from Israel!”
There was young Benjamin, leading them,
the princes of Judah in their rich robes,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

O God, command in your strength;
make firm what you have achieved in us.
From your temple in Jerusalem,
kings shall bring you tribute.
Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds,
the herd of bulls, the lords of peoples.
Let them lie prostrate before you with tribute of silver.
Scatter the peoples that delight in war.
Nobles will come from Egypt,
Ethiopia will stretch out its hands to God.

Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
celebrate the Lord.
Sing to God who rides on the highest heavens,
at the origin of all things.
Listen! – he speaks, a voice of power.

Acknowledge the strength of the Lord:
his majesty is over Israel,
his strength is in the clouds.
God inspires awe in his holy place;
he, the God of Israel, gives power to his people;
he gives them strength.
Blessed be God!

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

Reading	1 Timothy 3:1 - 16 ©
Here is a saying that you can rely on: To want to be a presiding elder is to want to do a noble work. That is why the president must have an impeccable character. He must not have been married more than once, and he must be temperate, discreet and courteous, hospitable and a good teacher; not a heavy drinker, nor hot-tempered, but kind and peaceable. He must not be a lover of money. He must be a man who manages his own family well and brings his children up to obey him and be well-behaved: how can any man who does not understand how to manage his own family have responsibility for the church of God? He should not be a new convert, in case pride might turn his head and then he might be condemned as the devil was condemned. It is also necessary that people outside the Church should speak well of him, so that he never gets a bad reputation and falls into the devil’s trap. In the same way, deacons must be respectable men whose word can be trusted, moderate in the amount of wine they drink and with no squalid greed for money. They must be conscientious believers in the mystery of the faith. They are to be examined first, and only admitted to serve as deacons if there is nothing against them. In the same way, the women must be respectable, not gossips but sober and quite reliable. Deacons must not have been married more than once, and must be men who manage their children and families well. Those of them who carry out their duties well as deacons will earn a high standing for themselves and be rewarded with great assurance in their work for the faith in Christ Jesus. At the moment of writing to you, I am hoping that I may be with you soon; but in case I should be delayed, I wanted you to know how people ought to behave in God’s family – that is, in the Church of the living God, which upholds the truth and keeps it safe. Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is very deep indeed: He was made visible in the flesh, attested by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the pagans, believed in by the world, taken up in glory.

Reading

Here is a saying that you can rely on: To want to be a presiding elder is to want to do a noble work. That is why the president must have an impeccable character. He must not have been married more than once, and he must be temperate, discreet and courteous, hospitable and a good teacher; not a heavy drinker, nor hot-tempered, but kind and peaceable. He must not be a lover of money. He must be a man who manages his own family well and brings his children up to obey him and be well-behaved: how can any man who does not understand how to manage his own family have responsibility for the church of God? He should not be a new convert, in case pride might turn his head and then he might be condemned as the devil was condemned. It is also necessary that people outside the Church should speak well of him, so that he never gets a bad reputation and falls into the devil’s trap.
In the same way, deacons must be respectable men whose word can be trusted, moderate in the amount of wine they drink and with no squalid greed for money. They must be conscientious believers in the mystery of the faith. They are to be examined first, and only admitted to serve as deacons if there is nothing against them. In the same way, the women must be respectable, not gossips but sober and quite reliable. Deacons must not have been married more than once, and must be men who manage their children and families well. Those of them who carry out their duties well as deacons will earn a high standing for themselves and be rewarded with great assurance in their work for the faith in Christ Jesus.
At the moment of writing to you, I am hoping that I may be with you soon; but in case I should be delayed, I wanted you to know how people ought to behave in God’s family – that is, in the Church of the living God, which upholds the truth and keeps it safe. Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is very deep indeed:
He was made visible in the flesh,
attested by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed to the pagans,
believed in by the world,
taken up in glory.

Reading	A sermon by St Bernard
We should meditate on the mysteries of salvation
The child to be born of you will be called holy, the Son of God, the fountain of wisdom, the Word of the Father on high. Through you, blessed Virgin, this Word will become flesh, so that even though, as he says: I am in the Father and the Father is in me, it is still true for him to say: “I came forth from God and am here.” In the beginning was the Word. The spring was gushing forth, yet still within himself. Indeed, the Word was with God, truly dwelling in inaccessible light. And the Lord said from the beginning: I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. Yet your thought was locked within you, and whatever you thought, we did not know; for who knew the mind of the Lord, or who was his counsellor? And so the idea of peace came down to do the work of peace: The Word was made flesh and even now dwells among us. It is by faith that he dwells in our hearts, in our memory, our intellect and penetrates even into our imagination. What concept could man have of God if he did not first fashion an image of him in his heart? By nature incomprehensible and inaccessible, he was invisible and unthinkable, but now he wished to be understood, to be seen and thought of. But how, you ask, was this done? He lay in a manger and rested on a virgin’s breast, preached on a mountain, and spent the night in prayer. He hung on a cross, grew pale in death, and roamed free among the dead and ruled over those in hell. He rose again on the third day, and showed the apostles the wounds of the nails, the signs of victory; and finally in their presence he ascended to the sanctuary of heaven. How can we not contemplate this story in truth, piety and holiness? Whatever of all this I consider, it is God I am considering; in all this he is my God. I have said it is wise to meditate on these truths, and I have thought it right to recall the abundant sweetness, given by the fruits of this priestly root; and Mary, drawing abundantly from heaven, has caused this sweetness to overflow for us.

Reading

A sermon by St Bernard

We should meditate on the mysteries of salvation

The child to be born of you will be called holy, the Son of God, the fountain of wisdom, the Word of the Father on high. Through you, blessed Virgin, this Word will become flesh, so that even though, as he says: I am in the Father and the Father is in me, it is still true for him to say: “I came forth from God and am here.”
In the beginning was the Word. The spring was gushing forth, yet still within himself. Indeed, the Word was with God, truly dwelling in inaccessible light. And the Lord said from the beginning: I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. Yet your thought was locked within you, and whatever you thought, we did not know; for who knew the mind of the Lord, or who was his counsellor?
And so the idea of peace came down to do the work of peace: The Word was made flesh and even now dwells among us. It is by faith that he dwells in our hearts, in our memory, our intellect and penetrates even into our imagination. What concept could man have of God if he did not first fashion an image of him in his heart? By nature incomprehensible and inaccessible, he was invisible and unthinkable, but now he wished to be understood, to be seen and thought of.
But how, you ask, was this done? He lay in a manger and rested on a virgin’s breast, preached on a mountain, and spent the night in prayer. He hung on a cross, grew pale in death, and roamed free among the dead and ruled over those in hell. He rose again on the third day, and showed the apostles the wounds of the nails, the signs of victory; and finally in their presence he ascended to the sanctuary of heaven.
How can we not contemplate this story in truth, piety and holiness? Whatever of all this I consider, it is God I am considering; in all this he is my God. I have said it is wise to meditate on these truths, and I have thought it right to recall the abundant sweetness, given by the fruits of this priestly root; and Mary, drawing abundantly from heaven, has caused this sweetness to overflow for us.

Concluding Prayer
Lord, we ask you to fill our minds with your grace. The Angel brought the news of the incarnation of Christ your Son. By the intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary may his passion and death bring us to the glory of the resurrection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

October 2008
Mon 6	Monday of week 27 of the year or Saint Bruno, priest or Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher
Tue 7	Our Lady of the Rosary
Wed 8
Thu 9	Thursday of week 27 of the year or Saints Denis, Bishop, and his Companions, Martyrs or Saint John Leonardi, priest
Fri 10
Sat 11
Sun 12	28th Sunday of the year
Mon 13	Monday of week 28 of the year
Tue 14	Tuesday of week 28 of the year or Saint Callistus, Pope, Martyr

Calendar used: United States

Scripture readings taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. For on-line information about other Random House, Inc. books and authors, see the Internet web site at http://www.randomhouse.com.

Site sponsored by Cardbox – "The database for real people"