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: Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.

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.


Lord, show me your ways,
- Teach me to walk in your footsteps.


FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Hosea           6:1-7:2

The emptiness of an insincere conversion

     Thus says the Lord:
In their affliction, they shall look for me:
  "Come, let us return to the Lord,
For it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;
  he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.
He will revive us after two days;
  on the third day he will raise us up,
  to live in his presence.
Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord;
  as certain as the dawn is his coming,
  and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!
He will come to us like the rain,
  like spring rain that waters the earth."

What can I do with you, Ephraim?
  What can I do with you, Judah?
Your piety is like a morning cloud,
  like the dew that early passes away.
For this reason I smote them through the prophets,
  I slew them by the words of my mouth;
For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
  and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.
But they, in their land,
  violated the covenant; there they were untrue to me.

Gilead is a city of evildoers,
  tracked with blood.
As brigands ambush a man,
  a band of priests slay on the way to Shechem,
  committing monstrous crime.
In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing:
  there harlotry is found in Ephraim,
  Israel is defiled.
For you also, O Judah,
  a harvest has been appointed.

When I would bring about the restoration of my people,
  when I would heal Israel,
The guilt of Ephraim stands out,
  the wickedness of Samaria;
They practice falsehood,
  thieves break in, bandits plunder abroad.
Yet they do not remind themselves
  that I remember all their wickedness.
Even now their crimes surround them,
  present to my sight.


RESPONSORY          Matthew 9:13; Hosea 6:6,4
Go and learn the meaning of these words:
- I want a loving heart more than sacrifice,
knowledge of my ways more than holocausts.

Your love is like the morning cloud,
the dew that swiftly fades away.
- I want a loving heart more than sacrifice,
knowledge of my ways more than holocausts.


SECOND READING

From the treatise Against Heresies by Saint Irenaeus, bishop
(Lib 4, 17, 4-6: SC 100, 590-594)

It is mercy that I want, not sacrifice

That they might be saved God demanded of these men of old not sacrifices and holocausts, but faith, obedience and righteousness. God expressed his will when he taught them in the words of Hosea: I desire mercy more than sacrifices, the knowledge of God more than holocausts. Our Lord's warning to them was the same: If you had known what was meant by the words "I desire mercy and not sacrifice," you would never have condemned the guiltless. He bore witness that the prophets had spoken the truth; he also brought home to his listeners the folly of their own sin.

Moreover, he instructed his disciples to offer to God the first fruits of creation, not because God had any need, but so that they themselves should not be unproductive and ungrateful. This is why he took bread, a part of his creation, gave thanks and said: This is my body. In the same way he declared that the cup, an element of the same creation as ourselves, was his blood; he taught them that this was the new sacrifice of the new covenant. The Church has received this sacrifice from the apostles; throughout the world she offers to God, who feeds us, the first fruits of his own gifts, under the new covenant. It was foretold by Malachi, one of the twelve prophets, in the words: I take no pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty, and no sacrifice will I accept from your hands. For, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the Gentiles glorify my name, and in every place incense and a spotless sacrifice are offered to my name; my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord Almighty.

But what name is glorified among the Gentiles if not that of our Lord, through whom glory is given both to the Father and to man. And since this name belongs to his own Son, who became man by the Fathers' will, the Father calls this name his own. If a king were to paint a picture of his son, he could claim it as his own on two counts: because it is his son's picture, and because he himself made it. In the same way, the Father declares that the name of Jesus Christ, which is glorified in the Church throughout the world, is his own, because it is his Son's name and because he wrote it to save mankind.

And so, since the Son's name belongs to the Father and since the Church makes its offerings through Jesus Christ to almighty God, for these two reasons the prophet is right when he says: In every place incense and a pure sacrifice are offered to my name.


RESPONSORY          See Luke 22:19,20; Proverbs 9:5
This is my body which will be given up for you;
this is the blood of the new covenant
which will be shed for you, says the Lord.
- Whenever you receive them,
do this in memory of me.

Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed for you.
- Whenever you receive them,
do this in memory of me.


COLLECT
Draw near to your servants, O Lord,
and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness,
that, for those who glory in you as their Creator and guide,
you may restore what you have created
and keep safe what you have restored.
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.


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



The English translation of Psalm Responses, Alleluia Verses, Gospel Verses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); the English translation of Antiphons, Invitatories, Responsories, Intercessions, Psalm 95, the Canticle of the Lamb, Psalm Prayers, Non-Biblical Readings from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1973, 1974, 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.