Lord, open my lips.
 - And my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Psalm 95 is the traditional Invitatory Psalm. Psalm 24, 67, or 100 may be substituted.

Antiphon: Christ has appeared to us; Come let us adore him.

Psalm 95

Psalm 24

Psalm 67

Psalm 100

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

Praise the Lord: ye heavens, adore Him;
Praise Him, angels in the height.
Sun and moon, rejoice before Him;
Praise Him, all ye stars of light.
Praise the Lord, for He hath spoken;
Worlds His mighty voice obeyed.
Laws which never shall be broken
For their guidance He hath made.

Praise the Lord, for He is glorious;
Never shall His promise fail.
God hath made His saints victorious;
Sin and death shall not prevail.
Praise the God of our salvation;
Hosts on high, His power proclaim.
Heaven and earth and all creation,
Laud and magnify His Name.

Worship, honor, glory, blessing,
Lord, we offer unto Thee.
Young and old, Thy praise expressing,
In glad homage bend the knee.
All the saints in heaven adore Thee;
We would bow before Thy throne.
As Thine angels serve before Thee,
So on earth Thy will be done.
Text: Foundling Hospital Collection, Stanza 3, Edward Ostler; Melody: Austria 87.87. D Franz Joseph Haydn


PSALMODY

Antiphon 1: None but the Lord has done such marvels; his love endures for ever.

                 I
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love endures for ever
Give thanks to the God of gods
for his love endures for ever
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his love endures for ever;

who alone has wrought marvelous works,
for his love endures for ever;
whose wisdom it was made the skies,
for his love endures for ever;
who fixed the earth firmly on the seas,
for his love endures for ever.

It was he who made the great lights,
for his love endures for ever;
the sun to rule in the day,
for his love endures for ever;
the moon and the stars in the night,
for his love endures for ever. Glory...

Antiphon 1 None but the Lord has done such marvels; his love endures for ever.


Antiphon 2 He brought Israel out of Egypt with powerful hand and arms outstretched.

He divided the Red Sea in two,
for his love endures for ever;
he made Israel pass through the midst,
for his love endures for ever;
he flung Pharaoh and his force in the sea,
for his love endures for ever. Glory...

Antiphon 2 He brought Israel out of Egypt with powerful hand and arms outstretched.


Antiphon 3 Give praise to the God of heaven; he has ransomed us from our enemies.

                    III
Through the desert his people he led,
for his love endures for ever
Nations in their greatness he struck,
for his love endures for ever
Kings in their splendor he slew,
for his love endures for ever.

Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his love endures for ever;
and Og, the king of Bashan,
for his love endures for ever.

He let Israel inherit their land,
for his love endures for ever
On his servant their land he bestowed,
for his love endures for ever
He remembered us in our distress,
for his love endures for ever.

And he snatched us away from our foes,
for his love endures for ever
He gives food to all living things,
for his love endures for ever
To the God of heaven give thanks,
for his love endures for ever. Glory...

Antiphon 3 Give praise to the God of heaven; he has ransomed us from our enemies.


In Christ was life
     - And that life was the light of mankind.


FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Isaiah           66:10-14, 18-23

Salvation for all people

Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her,
  all you who love her;
Exult, exult with her,
  all you who were mourning over her!
Oh, that you may suck fully
  of the milk of her comfort,
That you may nurse with delight
  at her abundant breasts!

    For thus says the Lord:
Lo, I will spread prosperity over her like a river,
  and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.
As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms,
  and fondled in her lap;
As a mother comforts her son,
  so will I comfort you;
  in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.
When you see this, your heart shall rejoice,
  and your bodies flourish like the grass;
The Lord's power shall be known to his servants,
  but to his enemies, his wrath.

  I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them; from them I will send fugitives to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. They shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries, to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their offering to the house of the Lord in clean vessels. Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the Lord. As the new heavens and the new earth which I will make Shall endure before me, says the Lord, so shall your race and your name endure. From one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, All mankind shall come to worship before me, says the Lord.


RESPONSORY          Isaiah 66:18, 19; John 17:6, 18
Behold, I come to bring together all nations and tongues.
- They shall come and see my glory and proclaim it to the far-off lands.

I have revealed your name to those you have given to me out of the world.
As you have sent me, so now I send them.
- They shall come and see my glory and proclaim it to the far-off lands.


SECOND READING

From a sermon by Faustus of Riez, bishop
(Sermo 5, de Epiphania 2: PLS 3, 560-562)

The marriage of Christ and the Church

On the third day there was a wedding. What wedding can this be but the joyful marriage of man’s salvation, a marriage celebrated by confessing the Trinity or by faith in the resurrection. That is why the marriage took place “on the third day,” a reference to the sacred mysteries which this number symbolizes.

Hence, too, we read elsewhere in the Gospel that the return of the younger son, that is, the conversion of the pagans, is marked by song, and music and wedding garments.

Like a bridegroom coming from his marriage chamber our God descended to earth in his incarnation, in order to be united to his Church which was to be formed of the pagan nations. To her he gave a pledge and a dowry: a pledge when God was united to man; a dowry when he was sacrificed for man’s salvation. The pledge is our present redemption; the dowry, eternal life.

To those who see only with the outward eye, all these events at Cana are strange and wonderful; to those who understand, they are also signs. For, if we look closely, the very water tells us of our rebirth in baptism. One thing is turned into another from within, and in a hidden way a lesser creature is changed into a greater. All this points to the hidden reality of our second birth. There water was suddenly changed; later it will cause a change in man.

By Christ’s action in Galilee, then, wine is made, that is, the law withdraws and grace takes its place; the shadows fade and truth becomes present; fleshly realities are coupled with spiritual, and the old covenant with its outward discipline is transformed into the new. For, as the Apostle says: The old order has passed away; now all is new! The water in the jars is not less than it was before, but now begins to be what it had not been; so too the law is not destroyed by Christ’s coming, but is made better than it was.

When the wine fails, new wine is served: the wine of the old covenant was good, but the wine of the new is better. The old covenant, which Jews follow, is exhausted by its letter; the new covenant, which belongs to us, has the savor of life and is filled with grace.

The good wine, that is, good precepts, refers to the law; thus we read: You shall love your neighbor but hate your enemy. But the Gospel is a better and stronger wine: My command to you is: love your enemies, pray for your persecutors.


RESPONSORY          Tobit 13:11, 13-14; Luke 13:29
City of God, you will shine with wondrous light;
all the ends of the earth will see your light and adore the Lord.
The nations will come to you from afar.
- They will come bearing gifts to worship the Lord.

They shall come from the east and the west , from the north and the south.
- They will come bearing gifts to worship the Lord.


COLLECT
Almighty ever-living God,
who were pleased to shine forth with new light
through the coming of your Only Begotten Son,
grant, we pray,
that, just as he was pleased to share our bodily form
through the childbearing of the Virgin Mary,
so we, too, may one day merit
to become companions in his kingdom of grace.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


Let us praise the Lord.
- And give him thanks.