Saint Alphonsus Liguori; First Saturday of the Month
Prayer for the Morning
Jesus Christ is our Lord and Redeemer:
come, let us adore him!
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
’Tis thy good pleasure, not mine own
In thee, my God, I love alone;
And nothing I desire of thee,
But what thy goodness wills for me.
In love no rival canst thou bear,
But thou art full of tenderest care;
And fire and sweetness all divine
To hearts which once are wholly thine.
In thee all pure affections live,
To love, thou dost perfection give;
While ever burning with desires,
The loving soul to thee aspires.
Thou makest crosses soft and light,
And death itself seems sweet and bright;
No cross nor fear that soul dismays,
Whose will to thee united stays.
To thee I consecrate, I give
My heart and being while I live,
Jesus, thy heart alone shall be
My love for all eternity.
CANTICLE OF ISAIAH 33:13-16
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (Jn 14:15)
Saint Alphonsus was a servant and teacher of the love of Jesus Christ. As he wrote in this morning’s hymn, this love requires that we take seriously the call to abandon sin and embrace the life of the Gospel without moral compromise.
Hear, you who are far off,
what I have done;
you who are near,
acknowledge my might.
On Zion sinners are in dread,
trembling grips the impious:
“Who of us can live with the consuming fire?
Who of us can live with the everlasting flames?”
He who practices virtue and speaks honestly,
who spurns what is gained by oppression,
brushing his hands
free of contact with a bribe,
stopping his ears lest he hear of bloodshed,
closing his eyes lest he look on evil.
He shall dwell on the heights,
his stronghold shall be the rocky fastness,
his food and drink
in steady supply.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (Matthew 6:22-24)
The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.
No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Let love be sincere; hate what is evil,
hold on to what is good. (Rom 12:9)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (1 Tm 1:15)
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet
of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father…
INTERCESSIONS
Let us pray for the wisdom and courage to live the Gospel in love.
R/Open our eyes, O Lord, to the light of your love.
You have called all people to holiness:
– make us holy in your sight. R/
You have sent us teachers to lead us in your way:
– make us wise in following their teaching. R/
You are our way, our truth, our life:
– make us courageous disciples. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
Lord our God, you called Saint Alphonsus to serve your Church by pointing to the ways of holiness and by leading others into your service through the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, which he founded. Send us always wise and holy teachers, and guide us by their light, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
