PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING (PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING)

Prayer for the Evening

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;

for his love endures for ever!

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

When, in his own image,

God made humankind,

he enfolded freedom

in his great design.

For he loved us even

from before our birth;

granting us dominion

of our planet earth.

God entrusted to us

life as gift and aim.

Sin became our prison,

turning hope to shame.

Cain against his brother

lifted hand and sword,

and the Father’s pleading

went unseen, unheard.

Then in time, our Maker

chose to intervene,

set his love in person

in the human scene.

Jesus broke the circle

of repeated sin,

so that our devotion

newly might begin.

Choose we now in freedom

where we should belong,

let us turn to Jesus,

let our choice be strong.

May the great obedience

which in Christ we see

perfect all our service:

then we shall be free!

PSALM 107:1-3, 10-16

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives,/ to let the oppressed go free. (cf. Lk 4:18)

The notion that one gains freedom by rebelling against God has been a popular illusion since Eden. The paradox of the Gospel is that we are set free from the chains of our own making by choosing to yoke ourselves to Christ, who bursts our bonds by his own Death and Resurrection.

“O give thanks to the Lord for he is good;

for his love endures for ever.”

Let them say this, the Lord’s redeemed,

whom he redeemed from the hand of the foe

and gathered from far-off lands,

from east and west, north and south.

Some lay in darkness and in gloom,

prisoners in misery and chains,

having defied the words of God

and spurned the counsels of the Most High.

He crushed their spirit with toil;

they stumbled; there was no one to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their need

and he rescued them from their distress.

He led them forth from darkness and gloom

and broke their chains to pieces.

Let them thank the Lord for his goodness,

for the wonders he does for men:

for he bursts the gates of bronze

and shatters the iron bars.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (Matthew 11:28-30)

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

(2 Cor 3:17)

CANTICLE OF MARY 

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives/ and release to the prisoners. (cf. Is 61:1)

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father…

INTERCESSIONS 

For freedom Christ set us free (Gal 5:1). In grateful trust, let us pray to him:

R/We cry to you, O Lord, in our need.

For those who are in prison,

– that they may learn the way to true freedom. R/

For those who are entrapped in addiction,

– that they may find the road to recovery. R/

For those who live in defiance of your Word,

– that they may discover the freedom of the Gospel. R/

For those who have been sent to minister in your name to all who are captive in body or spirit,

– that they may be rewarded. R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

To the one who is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us unblemished and exultant, in the presence of his glory, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, power, and ­authority from ages past, now, and for ages to come. Amen. (cf. Jude 24-25)

Marian Antiphon

Antiphon for the Feast of the Nativity

of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

8 September

With joy let us celebrate the nativity of blessed Mary,

that she may intercede for us

before the Lord Jesus Christ.

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae;

vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evae.

Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes

in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia ergo, advocata nostra,

illos tuos misericordes oculos

ad nos converte.

Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,

nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy,

our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

To you do we cry,

poor banished children of Eve.

To you do we send up our sighs,

mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, O most gracious advocate,

your eyes of mercy toward us,

and after this our exile

show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

V/ Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,

R/ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.