PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING (TUESDAY, AUGUST 18)

Prayer for the Evening

You guide us by your counsel and so you lead us

to glory: we praise you, O Lord!

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 the way is hard to find,

Seeking first the Father’s will,

Lord, your promise call to mind,

All your purposes fulfill:

When the way is hard to find

Lead your pilgrim people still.

Faith be strong and doubt depart,

Fear and unbelief be gone;

Peace possess the anxious heart

Where the light of Christ has shone:

Faith be strong and doubt depart,

Lead your pilgrim people on.

PSALM 73:1-15, 28

Had you walked in the way of God,/ you would have dwelt in enduring peace. (Bar 3:13)

Some among the rich, famous, and powerful seem to be spared all ordinary human ills despite their apparent disregard of God and of human decency. Even their problems seem unreal in the glare of the spotlight and camera flash. The public idolizes and imitates them. Why not? The Psalmist wrestles with a problem as old as ancient Israel and as modern as today’s tabloids.

How good God is to Israel,

to those who are pure of heart.

Yet my feet came close to stumbling,

my steps had almost slipped

for I was filled with envy of the proud

when I saw how the wicked prosper.

For them there are no pains;

their bodies are sound and sleek.

They have no share in men’s sorrows;

they are not stricken like others.

So they wear their pride like a necklace,

they clothe themselves with violence.

Their hearts overflow with malice,

their minds seethe with plots.

They scoff; they speak with malice;

from on high they plan oppression.

They have set their mouths in the heavens

and their tongues dictate to the earth.

So the people turn to follow them

and drink in all their words.

They say: “How can God know?

Does the Most High take any notice?”

Look at them, such are the wicked,

but untroubled, they grow in wealth.

How useless to keep my heart pure

and wash my hands in innocence,

when I was stricken all day long,

suffered punishment day after day.

Then I said: “If I should speak like that,

I should abandon the faith of your people.”

To be near God is my happiness.

I have made the Lord God my refuge.

I will tell of all your works

at the gates of the city of Zion.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (Matthew 18:6-7)

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

Show us the way to life!

CANTICLE OF MARY

Set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. (1 Tm 4:12)

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 

The Lord has made us responsible for choosing wisely whose example we will follow and for leading one another in the right way. Let us pray:

R/Lead us in your ways, O Lord.

For those whom fame and fortune have made influential in our culture,

– that they may use their influence for good: R/

For those who follow destructive paths and lead others in their wake,

– that they may turn to the road set out by Christ: R/

For those who are swayed by the example of celebrities,

– that they may choose to imitate the good rather than the heedless: R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever! Amen.

MARIAN ANTIPHON

Antiphon for the Solemnity

of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

August 15

Virgin most prudent, where do you go forth,

shining exceedingly as the dawn?

Daughter of Zion, you are all beautiful and gracious,

fair as the moon, bright as the sun.

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.