Psalmody
Psalm 85
Ant. I join you in prayer that the good Lord may bless our families and our works. (1858 letter to Abbé Noailles at Bordeaux)
O LORD, you have favoured your land,
and brought back the captives of Jacob.
You forgave the guilt of your people,
and covered all their sins.
You averted all your rage;
you turned back the heat of your anger.
Bring us back, O God, our saviour!
Put an end to your grievance against us.
Will you be angry with us forever?
Will your anger last from age to age?
Will you not restore again our life,
that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us, O LORD, your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
I will hear what the LORD God speaks,
who speaks of peace to his faithful people,
and those who turn to God in their hearts.
For those who fear God, salvation is near,
and the Lord’s glory will dwell in our land.
Merciful love and faithfulness have met;
righteousness and peace have kissed.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth,
and righteousness look down from heaven.
Also the LORD will bestow a great bounty,
and our earth shall yield its increase.
Righteousness will march as a vanguard,
and guide God’s steps on the way.
Glory to the Father…
Ant. I join you in prayer that the good Lord may bless our families and our works.
Canticle (Isa 26:1-4, 7-9, 12)
Ant. It is your turn to show yourself as generous and enterprising. One must never recoil from work, never be intimidated. The good God is there to inspire us. (1852 letter to Fr. Amoux)
A strong city have we, O God;
You set up salvation like walls and ramparts.
Open the gates that the nation
which keeps faith may enter in.
You keep those in perfect peace,
whose minds are fixed on you,
because they trust in you,
trust in you forever.
For you are our God,
an everlasting Rock.
The way of the just is level;
you make smooth the path of the just.
In the path of your judgments,
we wait for you;
your name remembered from of old,
is the desire of our souls.
My soul yearns for you in the night,
my spirit within me keeps vigil;
when your judgments abide in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn justice.
Glory to the Father…
Ant. It is your turn to show yourself as generous and enterprising. One must never recoil from work, never be intimidated. The good God is there to inspire us.
Psalm 67
Ant. I prayed to God to supply all your needs, to help you and to preserve you. (1857 letter to Fr. Faraud)
May God be gracious and bless us.
Let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
and all nations learn your salvation.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and shout for joy,
with uprightness you rule the peoples;
you guide the nations on earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has yielded its fruit
for God, our God, has blessed us.
May God still give us his blessing,
and be revered to all the ends of the earth.
Glory to the Father…
Ant. I prayed to God to supply all your needs, to help you and to preserve you.
Reading
Jesus Christ is the centre of our life and mission to bring the Good News to the poor. In facing the challenges of today from our diverse contexts, including globalization, secularization, inculturation and information technology, we are called to participate in ‘crossing borders’ and being ‘inter-cultural’ within an Oblate apostolic community.
(Conversion 2010 General Chapter, p. 24)
Responsory
Whoever wishes to be one of us must have an ardent desire for his own perfection and be enflamed with love
-Whoever wishes to be one of us must have an ardent desire for his own perfection and be enflamed with love
for our Lord Jesus Christ and his Church and a burning zeal for the salvation of souls
-and be enflamed with love
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
-Whoever wishes to be one of us must have an ardent desire for his own perfection and be enflamed with love
Canticle of Zachariah
Ant. We will let our lives be enriched by the poor and marginalized as we work with them, for they can make us hear in new ways the Gospel we proclaim. (Rule 8a)
O God, you have come and freed your people;
from David’s house you have sent a Saviour.
Through ages the prophets have told us
that we would be saved from hatred.
You have shown to us your great mercy
by the promise to Sarah and Abraham
that we should be freed from all fear
to serve you in justice and holiness.
And you, John, are called prophet of God,
for you will prepare the way
to lead people to salvation
through the awareness and knowledge of God.
Praise to you, God of Israel.
The bright dawn will break upon us.
You give light to those in darkness.
You guide us to ways of peace.
Glory to the Father…
Ant. We will let our lives be enriched by the poor and marginalized as we work with them, for they can make us hear in new ways the Gospel we proclaim.
Intercessions
For all who are misjudged and suffer rejection, that the Lord will reveal his love to them, comfort them in their suffering and enrich their faith.
You are our hope and our strength, in you we trust, give us courage in times of despair.
Remember the poor and the afflicted, do not let us, this day, be a burden to them, but a consolation and a joy.
Lord’s Prayer
Concluding Prayer
God of life, you bring us to this day and we are grateful for your gift. Enable us to be and to work for one another in order that justice may reign, that the needs of the poor be met, and that the oppressed may be liberated. We pray this in the name of Jesus who came that we may be free. Amen.
Novitiate Liturgy of the Hours 