Opening Hymn for Today
Hymn: When morning gilds the skies
When morning gilds the skies,
My heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer
To Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
To Thee, my God above,
I cry with glowing love,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The fairest graces spring
In hearts that ever sing,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When sleep her balm denies,
My silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When evil thoughts molest,
With this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day,
When from the heart we say,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear,
When this sweet chant they hear,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Words: From the
Katholisches Gesangbuch
, translated by Edward Caswall
Music:
Laudes Domini
, Joseph Barnby
The Psalm 55 Exaudi, Deus
1
Give ear to my prayer, O God;
do not hide yourself from my supplication.
2
Attend to me, and answer me;
I am troubled in my complaint.
I am distraught
3
by the noise of the enemy,
because of the clamor of the wicked.
For they bring
trouble upon me,
and in anger they cherish enmity against me.
4
My heart is in anguish within me,
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5
Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6
And I say, “O that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7
truly, I would flee far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness;
Selah
8
I would hurry to find a shelter for myself
from the raging wind and tempest.”
9
Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10
Day and night they go around it on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11
ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.
12
It is not enemies who taunt me—
I could bear that;
it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me—
I could hide from them.
13
But it is you, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend,
14
with whom I kept pleasant company;
we walked in the house of God with the throng.
15
Let death come upon them;
let them go down alive to Sheol;
for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.
16
But I call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.
17
Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan, and he will hear my voice.
18
He will redeem me unharmed
from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.
19
God, who is enthroned from of old,
Selah
will hear, and will humble them— because they do not change,
and do not fear God.
20
My companion laid hands on a friend
and violated a covenant with me
21
with speech smoother than butter,
but with a heart set on war; with words that were softer than oil,
but in fact were drawn swords.
22
Cast your burden
on the Lord,
and he will sustain you; he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
23
But you, O God, will cast them down
into the lowest pit; the bloodthirsty and treacherous
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.
Matthew 5:38-48
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;
and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.
Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
