PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (TUESDAY, AUGUST 4)
Saint John Vianney
Prayer for the Morning
How great is God’s name through all the earth!
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
Firmly I believe and truly
God is Three, and God is One;
And I next acknowledge duly
Manhood taken by the Son.
And I trust and hope most fully
In that Manhood crucified;
And each thought and deed unruly
Do to death, as he has died.
Simply to his grace and wholly
Light and life and strength belong,
And I love supremely, solely,
Him the holy, him the strong.
CANTICLE (John 1:1-3ab, 10-12, 14)
Unless you become like little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of God. (cf. Mt 18:3)
Saint John Vianney exemplifies the holy simplicity of those who are not learned in the sense of learning the world honors but who are immensely learned in the ways of God. Theirs is the true childlikeness that dares to praise God by their lives as well as by their words.
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to those who believe in his name.
And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
Word of God (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)
Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.
He has looked upon his lowly servant! (cf. Lk 1:48)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth,/ who have observed his law;/ Seek justice, seek humility. (Zep 2:3)
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
Christ’s love for the Church is mirrored in the life of Saint John Vianney, the Curé of Ars. Through his intercession, let us pray:
R/Make us true followers, O Lord.
You emptied yourself, that you might fill others with life:
– deepen in all pastors a self-sacrificing love for their people. R/
You came not to be served but to serve:
– strengthen those who do works of service against all temptation to pursue personal gain. R/
You gave your life as a ransom for many:
– grant courage to those who are called to spend their lives in tireless dedication to pastoral ministry
of every kind. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
God of power and of love, you made the humble Curé of Ars powerful in holiness, in prayer, and in self-forgetful service of your people. Through his intercession and example, fill all your people with that love which wins devoted followers for your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
