Mass Readings

First reading	Deuteronomy 30:15-20 ©

Moses said to the people: ‘See, today I set before you life and prosperity, death and disaster. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I enjoin on you today, if you love the Lord your God and follow his ways, if you keep his commandments, his laws, his customs, you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to make your own. But if your heart strays, if you refuse to listen, if you let yourself be drawn into worshipping other gods and serving them, I tell you today, you will most certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today: I set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live, in the love of the Lord your God, obeying his voice, clinging to him; for in this your life consists, and on this depends your long stay in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob he would give them.’

Psalm	Psalm 1:1-4,6

Gospel	Luke 9:22-25 ©

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’

Then to all he said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it. What gain, then, is it for a man to have won the whole world and to have lost or ruined his very self?’

The responsorial psalms at Mass cannot be displayed on the Web, for copyright reasons. The downloadable versions of Universalis do contain these psalms.

The readings on this page are from the Jerusalem Bible, which is used at Mass in most of the English-speaking world. The New American Bible readings, which are used at Mass in the United States, cannot be shown here for copyright reasons, but the downloadable versions of Universalis do contain them.

Liturgy

Morning Prayer (Lauds)

If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.

Introduction

O God, come to my aid.

O Lord, make haste to help me.

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.

Hymn

Creator of the earth and skies,

To whom the words of life belong,

Grant us thy truth to make us wise;

Grant us thy power to make us strong.

Like theirs of old, our life is death,

Our light is darkness, till we see

The eternal Word made flesh and breath,

The God who walked by Galilee.

We have not known thee: to the skies

Our monuments of folly soar,

And all our self-wrought miseries

Have made us trust ourselves the more.

We have not loved thee: far and wide

The wreckage of our hatred spreads,

And evils wrought by human pride

Recoil on unrepentant heads.

For this, our foolish confidence,

Our pride of knowledge and our sin,

We come to thee in penitence;

In us the work of grace begin.

Psalm 142 (143) A prayer in time of trouble

In the morning let me know your love, O Lord.

Lord, listen to my prayer:

in your faithfulness turn your ear to my pleading;

in your justice, hear me.

Do not judge your servant:

nothing that lives can justify itself before you.

The enemy has hounded my spirit,

he has crushed my life to the ground,

he has shut me in darkness, like the dead of long ago.

So my spirit trembles within me,

my heart turns to stone.

I remind myself of the days of old,

I reflect on all your works,

I meditate once more on the work of your hands.

I stretch out my arms to you,

I stretch out my soul, like a land without water.

Come quickly and hear me, O Lord,

for my spirit is weakening.

Do not hide your face from me,

do not let me be like the dead,

who go down to the underworld.

Show me your mercy at daybreak,

because of my trust in you.

Tell me the way I should follow,

for I lift up my soul towards you.

Rescue me from my enemies:

Lord, I flee to you for refuge.

Teach me to do your will,

for you are my God.

Your good spirit will lead me to the land of justice;

for your name’s sake, Lord, you will give me life.

In your righteousness you will lead my soul

away from all tribulation.

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.

In the morning let me know your love, O Lord.

Canticle	(Isaiah 66)

Comfort and joy in the holy city

The Lord will send peace flowing like a river upon Jerusalem.

Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all you who love her;

rejoice with her, rejoice, all you who mourned for her.

Suck and be filled at the breast of her consolation;

draw on the nipples of her glory, and overflow with delights.

For the Lord says this:

Behold, I will bring her peace as if it were a river;

like an overflowing torrent, the glory of the Gentiles.

You will suck, be borne on her hips,

and they will caress you as you lie in her lap.

As a mother comforts its child, so shall I comfort you:

you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

You will see, and your heart will rejoice,

and your bones will flourish like living grass.

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.

The Lord will send peace flowing like a river upon Jerusalem.

Psalm 146 (147A) The Lord's goodness and power

To our God be joyful praise.

Praise the Lord!

It is good to sing praise to our God;

it is a joy to sing his praises.

The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem:

he will call back Israel from exile.

He heals broken hearts

and binds up their wounds.

He counts all the stars;

he calls each of them by name.

Our God is great and great is his strength,

his wisdom is not to be measured.

The Lord supports the needy,

but crushes the wicked to the ground.

Sing out to the Lord in thanksgiving,

sing praise to our God on the harp.

He covers the sky with his clouds,

he makes rain to refresh the earth.

He makes grass grow on the hills,

and plants for the service of man.

He gives food to grazing animals,

and feeds the young ravens that call on him.

He takes no delight in the strength of the horse,

no pleasure in the strength of a man.

The Lord is pleased by those who honour him,

by those who trust in his kindness.

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.

To our God be joyful praise.

Short reading	(1 Kings 8:51-53) ©

Lord, we are your people and your heritage. Be always watchful for the entreaty of your servant and of your people Israel, and listen to us whenever we call to you. For it was you who set us apart from all the peoples of the earth to be your own heritage.

Short Responsory

He himself will free me from the hunter’s snare.

– He himself will free me from the hunter’s snare.

And from evil slander.

– He himself will free me from the hunter’s snare.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

– He himself will free me from the hunter’s snare.

Canticle	Benedictus

The Messiah and his forerunner

If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption.

He has raised up the sign of salvation

in the house of his servant David,

as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones,

his prophets through the ages:

to rescue us from our enemies

and all who hate us,

to take pity on our fathers,

to remember his holy covenant

and the oath he swore to Abraham our father,

that he would give himself to us,

that we could serve him without fear

– freed from the hands of our enemies –

in uprightness and holiness before him,

for all of our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High:

for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path,

to let his people know their salvation,

so that their sins may be forgiven.

Through the bottomless mercy of our God,

one born on high will visit us

to give light to those who walk in darkness,

who live in the shadow of death;

to lead our feet in the path of peace.

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.

If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Prayers and Intercessions

Let us give praise and reverence to God, who revealed himself in Christ. From the depths of our hearts we pray: