Divine Office Office of Readings

Jan 25, Invitatory for Sunday of the 3rd week of Ordinary Time

Lord, open my lips. — And my mouth will proclaim your praise. Ant. Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us, alleluia. Psalm 95 Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us. Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving and sing joyful songs to the Lord. Ant. Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us, alleluia. The Lord is God, the mighty God, the great king over all the gods. He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the highest mountains as well He made the sea; it belongs to him, the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands. Ant. Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us, alleluia. Come, then, let us bow down and worship, bending the knee before the Lord, our maker, For he is our God and we are his people, the flock he shepherds. Ant. Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us, alleluia. Today, listen to the voice of the Lord: Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did in the wilderness, when at Meriba and Massah they challenged me and provoked me, Although they had seen all of my works. Ant. Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us, alleluia. Forty years I endured that generation. I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray and they do not know my ways.” So I swore in my anger, “They shall not enter into my rest.” Ant. Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us, alleluia. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us, alleluia. [1] Instructions from Proper of Saints for November 2, Liturgy of the Hours vol IV, page 1537

Jan 25, Office of Readings for Sunday of the 3rd week of Ordinary Time

Ribbon Placement: Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III: Ordinary: 651 Proper of Seasons: 108 Psalter: Sunday, Week III, 978 Office of Readings for Sunday in Ordinary Time God, come to my assistance. — Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia. HYMN 1. God Father, praise and glory Your children come to sing. Goodwill and peace to mankind. The gifts your kingdom brings. Refrain: O most Holy Trinity. Undivided Unity; Holy God, Mighty God. God Immortal, be adored. 2. And you, Lord Coeternal, God's sole begotten Son; O Jesus. King anointed. You have redemption won. Refrain: O most Holy Trinity. Undivided Unity; Holy God, Mighty God. God Immortal, be adored. 3. O Holy Ghost, Creator The Gift of God most high; Life, love and holy wisdom, Our weakness now supply. Refrain: O most Holy Trinity. Undivided Unity; Holy God, Mighty God. God Immortal, be adored. 𝄞"God Father, Praise and Glory" by Rebecca Hincke • Available for Purchase [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NTPHX87/ref=dm_ws_tlw_trk3] • Musical Score [https://divineoffice.org/wp-content/uploads/O-God-Almighty-Father.pdf] • Title: God Father, Praise and Glory; Text: anon; Translator: John Rothensteiner, 1936, alt.; Melody: Gott Vater! Sel Gepriesen; Music: Mains Gesangbuch, 183; Artist: Rebecca Hincke; (c) 2016 Surgeworks, Inc. • Albums that contain this Hymn: Hymns and Chants of Divine Office, Vol. 4 PSALMODY Ant. 1 Day by day I shall bless you, Lord, alleluia. Psalm 145 Praise of God’s majesty Lord, you are the Just One, who was and who is (Revelation 16:5). I I will give you glory, O God my King, I will bless your name forever. Ant. Day by day I shall bless you, Lord, alleluia. I will bless you day after day and praise your name forever. The Lord is great, highly to be praised, his greatness cannot be measured. Ant. Day by day I shall bless you, Lord, alleluia. Age to age shall proclaim your works, shall declare your mighty deeds, shall speak of your splendor and glory, tell the tale of your wonderful works. Ant. Day by day I shall bless you, Lord, alleluia. They will speak of your terrible deeds, recount your greatness and might. They will recall your abundant goodness; age to age shall ring out your justice. Ant. Day by day I shall bless you, Lord, alleluia. The Lord is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in love. How good is the Lord to all, compassionate to all his creatures. Ant. Day by day I shall bless you, Lord, alleluia. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. Day by day I shall bless you, Lord, alleluia. Ant. 2 Your kingdom, Lord, is an everlasting kingdom, alleluia. II All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord, and your friends shall repeat their blessing. They shall speak of the glory of your reign and declare your might, O God, to make known to men your mighty deeds and the glorious splendor of your reign. Yours is an everlasting kingdom; your rule lasts from age to age. Ant. Your kingdom, Lord, is an everlasting kingdom, alleluia. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. Your kingdom, Lord, is an everlasting kingdom, alleluia. Ant. 3 The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds, alleluia. III The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds. The Lord supports all who fall and raises all who are bowed down. Ant. The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds, alleluia. The eyes of all creatures look to you and you give them their food in due time. You open wide your hand, grant the desires of all who live. Ant. The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds, alleluia. The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds. He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their hearts. Ant. The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds, alleluia. He grants the desires of those who fear him, he hears their cry and he saves them. The Lord protects all who love him; but the wicked he will utterly destroy. Ant. The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds, alleluia. Let me speak the praise of the Lord, let all mankind bless his holy name for ever, for ages unending. Ant. The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds, alleluia. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Psalm-prayer Lord, be near to all who call upon you in truth and increase the dedication of those who revere you. Hear their prayers and save them that we may always love and praise your holy name. Ant. The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds, alleluia. 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 to my words. — Give ear to my precepts. READINGS First reading From the book of Deuteronomy 18:1-22 Levitical priests. True and false prophets Moses spoke to the people, saying: “The whole priestly tribe of Levi shall have no share in the heritage with Israel; they shall live on the oblations of the Lord and the portions due to him. Levi shall have no heritage among his brothers; the Lord himself is his heritage, as he has told him. “The priests shall have a right to the following things from the people: from those who are offering a sacrifice, whether the victim is from the herd or from the flock, the priest shall receive the shoulder, the jowls and the stomach. You shall also give him the first fruits of your grain and wine and oil, as well as the first fruits of the shearing of your flock; for the Lord, your God, has chosen him and his sons out of all your tribes to be always in attendance to minister in the name of the Lord. “When a Levite goes from one of your communities anywhere in Israel in which he ordinarily resides, to visit, as his heart may desire, the place which the Lord chooses, he may minister there in the name of the Lord, his God, like all his fellow Levites who are in attendance there before the Lord. He shall then receive the same portions to eat as the rest, along with his monetary offerings and heirlooms. “When you come into the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of the peoples there. Let there not be found among you anyone who immolates his son or daughter in the fire, nor a fortune-teller, soothsayer, charmer, diviner, or caster of spells, nor one who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord, and because of such abominations the Lord, your God, is driving these nations out of your way. You, however, must be altogether sincere toward the Lord, your God. Though these nations whom you are to dispossess listen to their soothsayers and fortune-tellers, the Lord, your God, will not permit you to do so. “A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kinsmen; to him you shall listen. This is exactly what you requested of the Lord, your God, at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let us not again hear the voice of the Lord, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.’ And the Lord said to me, ‘This was well said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him. If any man will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it. But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.’ “If you say to yourselves, ‘How can we recognize an oracle which the Lord has spoken?’, know that, even though a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if his oracle is not fulfilled or verified, it is an oracle which the Lord did not speak. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously, and you shall have no fear of him.” RESPONSORY Deuteronomy 18:18; Luke 20:13; see John 6:14 I will raise up for them a prophet, and I will place my words in his mouth. — He will tell them all that I command. I am sending my own beloved Son. He is truly the prophet who is to come into the world. — He will tell them all that I command. Second reading From the constitution on the sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council Christ is present to his Church Christ is always present to his Church, especially in the actions of the liturgy. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, in the person of the minister (it is the same Christ who formerly offered himself on the cross that now offers by the ministry of priests) and most of all under the Eucharistic species. He is present in the sacraments by his power, in such a way that when someone baptizes, Christ himself baptizes. He is present in his word, for it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Finally, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he himself promised: Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in their midst. Indeed, in this great work which gives perfect glory to God and brings holiness to men, Christ is always joining in partnership with himself his beloved Bride, the Church, which calls upon its Lord and through him gives worship to the eternal Father. It is therefore right to see the liturgy as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ, in which through signs addressed to the senses man’s sanctification is signified and, in a way proper to each of these signs, made effective, and in which public worship is celebrated in its fullness by the mystical body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the head and by his members. Accordingly, every liturgical celebration, as an activity of Christ the priest and of his body, which is the Church, is a sacred action of a preeminent kind. No other action of the Church equals its title to power or its degree of effectiveness. In the liturgy on earth we are given a foretaste and share in the liturgy of heaven, celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem, the goal of our pilgrimage, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, as minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. With the whole company of heaven we sing a hymn of praise to the Lord; as we reverence the memory of the saints, we hope to have some part with them, and to share in their fellowship; we wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, until he, who is our life, appears, and we appear with him in glory. By an apostolic tradition taking its origin from the very day of Christ’s resurrection, the Church celebrates the paschal mystery every eighth day, the day that is rightly called the Lord’s day. On Sunday the Christian faithful ought to gather together, so that by listening to the word of God and sharing in the Eucharist they may recall the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God who has given them a new birth with a lively hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Lord’s day is therefore the first and greatest festival, one to be set before the loving devotion of the faithful and impressed upon it, so that it may be also a day of joy and of freedom from work. Other celebrations must not take precedence over it, unless they are truly of the greatest importance, since it is the foundation and the kernel of the whole liturgical year. RESPONSORY Hebrews 10:1, 14; Ephesians 5:2 Christ prays for us: he is our priest; he prays in us: he is our head; we pray to him: he is our God. —Let us be ever aware, then, of our prayer in him, and his prayer in us. When we turn to God in prayer, we must not separate ourselves from his Son. — Let us be ever aware, then, of our prayer in him, and his prayer in us. TE DEUM You are God: we praise you; You are the Lord: we acclaim you; You are the eternal Father: All creation worships you. To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise: Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. The glorious company of apostles praise you. The noble fellowship of prophets praise you. The white-robed army of martyrs praise you. Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you: Father, of majesty unbounded, your true and only Son, worthy of all worship, and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide. You, Christ, are the King of glory, the eternal Son of the Father. When you became man to set us free you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb. You overcame the sting of death, and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. You are seated at God’s right hand in glory. We believe that you will come, and be our judge. Come then, Lord, and help your people, bought with the price of your own blood, and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting. Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance. — Govern and uphold them now and always. Day by day we bless you. — We praise your name for ever. Keep us today, Lord, from all sin. — Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy. Lord, show us your love and mercy, — for we have put our trust in you. In you, Lord, is our hope: — And we shall never hope in vain. CONCLUDING PRAYER Almighty ever-living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. 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. Acclamation (at least in the communal celebration) Let us praise the Lord. — And give him thanks.

Jan 26, Invitatory for Monday of the 3rd week of Ordinary Time

Lord, open my lips. — And my mouth will proclaim your praise. Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving. Psalm 24 The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness, the world and all its peoples. It is he who set it on the seas; on the waters he made it firm. Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving. Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? The man with clean hands and pure heart, who desires not worthless things, who has not sworn so as to deceive his neighbor. Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving. He shall receive blessings from the Lord and reward from the God who saves him. Such are the men who seek him, seek the face of the God of Jacob. Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving. O gates, lift high your heads; grow higher, ancient doors. Let him enter, the king of glory! Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving. Who is the king of glory? The Lord, the mighty, the valiant, the Lord, the valiant in war. Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving. O gates, lift high your heads; grow higher, ancient doors. Let him enter, the king of glory! Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving. Who is he, the king of glory? He, the Lord of armies, he is the king of glory. Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.

Jan 26, Office of Readings for Monday of the 3rd week of Ordinary Time

Ribbon Placement: Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III: Ordinary: 651 Proper of Seasons: 113 Psalter: Monday, Week III, 999 Christian Prayer: Does not contain Office of Readings. Office of Readings for Monday in Ordinary Time God, come to my assistance. — Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia. HYMN For the beauty of the earth, For the beauty of the skies, For the love which from our birth Over and around us lies, Lord of all, to thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise. For the beauty of each hour Of the day and of the night, Hill and vale, and tree and flow’r, Sun and moon, and stars of light, Lord of all, to thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise. For the joy of ear and eye, for the heart and mind's delight, for the mystic harmony, linking sense to sound and sight; Lord of all, to thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise. For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child, friends on earth and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild; Lord of all, to thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise. For each perfect gift of Thine, to our race so freely given, graces human and divine, flowers of earth and buds of heaven. Lord of all, to thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise. 𝄞"For The Beauty Of The Earth" by Rebecca Hincke • Available for Purchase [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NTPV36S/ref=dm_ws_tlw_trk12] • Musical Score [https://divineoffice.org/wp-content/uploads/For-the-Beauty-of-the-Earth.pdf] • Title: For the Beauty of the Earth; Text: Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835–1917; Music: Conrad Kocher, 1786–1872; Tune: DIX; Artist: Rebecca Hincke; (c) 2017 Surgeworks, Inc. • Albums that contain this Hymn: Hymns and Chants of Divine Office, Vol. 3 PSALMODY Ant. 1 Our God will be made manifest; he will not come in silence. Psalm 50 Genuine love of God I have come not to abolish the law but to bring it to perfection (see Matthew 5:17) I The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken and summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion’s perfect beauty he shines. Our God comes, he keeps silence no longer. Before him fire devours, around him tempest rages. He calls on the heavens and the earth to witness his judgment of his people. “Summon before me my people who made covenant with me by sacrifice.” The heavens proclaim his justice, for God himself is the judge. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. 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; Israel, I will testify against you, for I am God, your God. I accuse you, lay the charge before you. I find no fault with your sacrifices, your offerings are always before me. I do not ask more bullocks from your farms, nor goats from among your herds. For I own all the beasts of the forest, beasts in their thousands on my hills. I know all the birds in the sky, all that moves in the field belongs to me. Were I hungry, I would not tell you, for I own the world and all it holds. Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God and render him your votive offerings. Call on me in the day of distress. I will free you and you shall honor me.” Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. 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 and take my covenant on your lips, you who despise my law and throw my words to the winds, you who see a thief and go with him; who throw in your lot with adulterers, who unbridle your mouth for evil and whose tongue is plotting crime, you who sit and malign your brother and slander your own mother’s son. You do this, and should I keep silence? Do you think that I am like you? Mark this, you who never think of God, lest I seize you and you cannot escape; a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me and I will show God’s salvation to the upright.” Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. 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. — I am the Lord, your God. READINGS First reading From the book of Deuteronomy 24:1-25:4 Commandments regarding one’s neighbors Moses spoke to the people, saying: “When a man, after marrying a woman and having relations with her, is later displeased with her because he finds in her something indecent, and therefore he writes out a bill of divorce and hands it to her, thus dismissing her from his house: if on leaving his house she goes and becomes the wife of another man, and the second husband, too, comes to dislike her and dismisses her from his house by handing her a written bill of divorce; or if this second man who has married her, dies; then her former husband, who dismissed her, may not again take her as his wife after she has become defiled. That would be an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring such guilt upon the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you as a heritage.” “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him. He shall be exempt for one year for the sake of his family, to bring joy to the wife he has married.” “No one shall take a hand mill or even its upper stone as a pledge for debt, for he would be taking the debtor’s sustenance as a pledge.” “If any man is caught kidnaping a fellow Israelite in order to enslave him and sell him, the kidnaper shall be put to death. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.” “In an attack of leprosy you shall be careful to observe exactly and to carry out all the directions of the levitical priests. Take care to act in accordance with the instructions I have given them. Remember what the Lord, your God, did to Miriam on the journey after you left Egypt.” “When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, you shall not enter his house to receive a pledge from him, but shall wait outside until the man to whom you are making the loan brings his pledge outside to you. If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in the mantle he gives as a pledge, but shall return it to him at sunset that he himself may sleep in it. Then he will bless you, and it will be a good deed of yours before the Lord, your God.” “You shall not defraud a poor and needy hired servant, whether he be one of your own countrymen or one of the aliens who live in your communities. You shall pay him each day’s wages before sundown on the day itself, since he is poor and looks forward to them. Otherwise he will cry to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty.” “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; only for his own guilt shall a man be put to death.” “You shall not violate the rights of the alien or of the orphan, nor take the clothing of a widow as a pledge. For, remember, you were once slaves in Egypt, and the Lord, your God, ransomed you from there; that is why I command you to observe this rule.” “When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf there, you shall not go back to get it; let it be for the alien, the orphan or the widow, that the Lord, your God, may bless you in all your undertakings. When you knock down the fruit of your olive trees, you shall not go over the branches a second time; let what remains be for the alien, the orphan and the widow. When you pick your grapes, you shall not go over the vineyard a second time; let what remains be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. For remember that you were once slaves in Egypt; that is why I command you to observe this rule.” “When men have a dispute and bring it to court, and a decision is handed down to them acquitting the innocent party and condemning the guilty party, if the latter deserves stripes, the judge shall have him lie down and in his presence receive the number of stripes his guilt deserves. Forty stripes may be given him, but no more; lest, if he were beaten with more stripes than these, your kinsman should be looked upon as disgraced because of the severity of the beating.” “You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out grain.” RESPONSORY See Mark 12:32-33; Sirach 35:4-5 Master, you have told us the truth: there is one God, and we must love him with all our heart; — to love our neighbor as ourselves is more than any holocaust or sacrifice. To return a kindness is like an offering of fine flour. The Lord God delights to see us turn away from evil. — To love our neighbor as ourselves is more than any holocaust or sacrifice. Second reading From the constitution on the Church in the modern world of The Second Vatican Council The sanctity of marriage and the family Husband and wife, by the covenant of marriage, are no longer… two, but one flesh. By their intimate union of persons and of actions they give mutual help and service to each other, experience the meaning of their unity, and gain an ever deeper understanding of it day by day. This intimate union in the mutual self-giving of two persons, as well as the good of the children, demands full fidelity from both, and an indissoluble unity between them. Christ the Lord has abundantly blessed this richly complex love which springs from the divine source of love and is founded on the model of his union with the Church. In earlier times God met his people in a covenant of love and fidelity. So now the Savior of mankind, the Bridegroom of the Church, meets Christian husbands and wives in the sacrament of matrimony. Further, he remains with them in order that, as he loved the Church and gave himself up for her, so husband and wife may, in mutual self-giving, love each other with perpetual fidelity. True married love is caught up into God’s love; it is guided and enriched by the redeeming power of Christ and the saving action of the Church, in order that the partners may be effectively led to God and receive help and strength in the sublime responsibility of parenthood. Christian partners are therefore strengthened, and as it were consecrated, by a special sacrament for the duties and the dignity of their state. By the power of this sacrament they fulfill their obligations to each other and to their family and are filled with the spirit of Christ. This spirit pervades their whole lives with faith, hope and love. Thus they promote their own perfection and each other’s sanctification, and so contribute together to the greater glory of God. Hence, with parents leading the way by example and family prayer, their children – indeed, all within the family circle – will find it easier to make progress in natural virtues, in salvation and in holiness. Husband and wife, raised to the dignity and the responsibility of parenthood, will be zealous in fulfilling their task as educators, especially in the sphere of religious education, a task that is primarily their own. Children, as active members of the family, contribute in their own way to the holiness of their parents. With the love of grateful hearts, with loving respect and trust, they will return the generosity of their parents and will stand by them as true sons and daughters when they meet with hardship and the loneliness of old age. RESPONSORY Ephesians 5:32,25,33 This is a great mystery, but I am saying it of Christ and of his Church. — Christ loved the Church, and gave himself up for her. A man must love his wife as he loves himself, and a woman must respect her husband. — Christ loved the Church, and gave himself up for her. CONCLUDING PRAYER Almighty ever-living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. 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. Acclamation (at least in the communal celebration) Let us praise the Lord. — And give him thanks.

Jan 28, Invitatory for Wednesday of the 3rd week of Ordinary Time

Lord, open my lips. — And my mouth will proclaim your praise. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. Psalm 95 Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us. Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving and sing joyful songs to the Lord. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. The Lord is God, the mighty God, the great king over all the gods. He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the highest mountains as well He made the sea; it belongs to him, the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. Come, then, let us bow down and worship, bending the knee before the Lord, our maker, For he is our God and we are his people, the flock he shepherds. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. Today, listen to the voice of the Lord: Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did in the wilderness, when at Meriba and Massah they challenged me and provoked me, Although they had seen all of my works. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. Forty years I endured that generation. I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray and they do not know my ways.” So I swore in my anger, “They shall not enter into my rest.” Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. Come, let us worship before the Lord, our maker.