The Passion of Saint John the Baptist
Prayer for the Morning
Let us praise the Lord for John the Baptist,
herald and prophet of the Christ!
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
Once to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth and falsehood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision,
Offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever
’Twixt that darkness and that light.
Then to side with truth is noble,
When we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit,
And ’tis prosp’rous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses
While the coward stands aside.
Till the multitude make virtue
Of the faith they had denied.
Though the cause of evil prosper,
Yet the truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold,
And upon the throne be wrong;
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above his own.
PSALM 118:2-15
Reprimand publicly those who do sin, so that the rest also will be afraid. (1 Tm 5:20)
John put his trust in the Word of God he had been sent to preach, and not in the princes, whom he offended by his commitment to the truth. He defeated the power of evil not by violence but by his self-surrender to God’s will.
Let the sons of Israel say:
“His love endures for ever.”
Let the sons of Aaron say:
“His love endures for ever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say:
“His love endures for ever.”
I called to the Lord in my distress;
he answered and freed me.
The Lord is at my side; I do not fear.
What can man do against me?
The Lord is at my side as my helper:
I shall look down on my foes.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in men:
it is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
The nations all encompassed me;
in the Lord’s name I crushed them.
They compassed me, compassed me about;
in the Lord’s name I crushed them.
They compassed me about like bees;
they blazed like a fire among thorns.
In the Lord’s name I crushed them.
I was hard pressed and was falling
but the Lord came to help me.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he is my savior.
There are shouts of joy and victory
in the tents of the just.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (2 Timothy 4:1-2)
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.
Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness;
rather expose them.
(Eph 5:11)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
It is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil. (1 Pt 3:17)
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 to the Lord whom John the Baptist served:
R/You are our Savior!
For those you have called to preach and teach the truth:
– grant them perseverance to the end. R/
For those whose lives are endangered by their ministry of evangelization:
– grant them courage and joy. R/
For those tempted to abandon the Gospel when it is inconvenient:
– grant them strength in their faith. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
O God of hope and glory, you sent John the Baptist to preach the Good News of salvation to those who received it with joy and to those who rejected its demands. By his example and intercession, grant your Church courage in proclaiming and living the Gospel, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
