but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love
for God is perfected.
By this we may be sure that we are in him:
1 John 2:5 RSV-CE
Ætérne lucis cónditor,
lux ipse totus et dies,
noctem nec ullam séntiens
natúra lucis pérpeti,
Iam cedit pallens próximo
diéi nox advéntui,
obtúndens lumen síderum
adest et clarus lúcifer.
Iam stratis læti súrgimus
grates canéntes et tuas,
quod cæcam noctem vícerit
revéctans rursus sol diem.
Te nunc, ne carnis gáudia
blandis subrépant ǽstibus,
dolis ne cedat sǽculi
mens nostra, sancte, quǽsumus.
Ira ne rixas próvocet,
gulam ne venter íncitet,
opum pervértat ne famis,
turpis ne luxus óccupet,
Sed firma mente sóbrii,
casto manéntes córpore
totum fidéli spíritu
Christo ducámus hunc diem.
Præsta, Pater piíssime,
Patríque compar Unice,
cum Spíritu Paráclito
regnans per omne sǽculum. Amen.
O eternal Founder of light,
Yourself light and all daylight,
And experiencing no night
In the unchanging nature of light,
Already the fading night gives way
To the now near arrival of day;
And, dulling the light of the stars,
The clear morning star is at hand.
We rise now joyful from [our] beds,
Celebrating too in song your gifts,
That once again the sun, bringing back the day,
Has conquered the impenetrable night.
We ask, now, O holy One,
That the joys of the flesh
Not creep over us with their enticing heat
And that our soul not give way to the deceits of the world.
Let anger not provoke quarrelling,
Let gluttony not arouse our appetite,
Let hunger not undermine our work,
Let shameful excess not seize us.
But, prudent with a steady soul,
Secure with a chaste body
Let us spend this whole day
Faithful in spirit to Christ.
Grant this, O most merciful Father,
And O One equal to the Father,
With the Spirit Paraclete,
Reigning for ever and ever. Amen.
14 A wooden beam firmly bonded into a building
will not be torn loose by an earthquake;
so the mind firmly fixed on a reasonable counsel
will not be afraid in a crisis.
15 A mind settled on an intelligent thought
is like the stucco decoration on the wall of a colonnade.
Sirach 22:14-15 RSV-CE
13 Therefore gird up your minds, be sober, set your hope
fully upon the grace that is coming to you at the revelation
of Jesus Christ.
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions
of your former ignorance,
15 but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves
in all your conduct;
1 Peter 1:13-15 RSV-CE
13 Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard
from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus;
14 guard the truth that has been entrusted to you
by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
2 Timothy 1:13-14 RSV-CE
they themselves shall be like watered gardens,
never again shall they languish.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
I will lavish choice portions upon the priests,
and my people shall be filled with my blessings,
says the 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.
My people, says the Lord, will be filled with my blessings.
________
Psalm 47 (48)
Thanksgiving for the safety of the people
“He took me to the top of a great mountain,
and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem” (Rev 21:10).
The Lord is great and worthy to be praised
pin the city of our God.
The Lord is great and worthy to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain rises in beauty,
the joy of all the earth.
Mount Sion, true pole of the earth,
the Great King’s city!
God, in the midst of its citadels,
has shown himself its stronghold.
For the kings assembled together,
together they advanced.
They saw; at once they were astounded;
dismayed, they fled in fear.
A trembling seized them there,
like the pangs of birth.
By the east wind you have destroyed
the ships of Tharsis.
As we have heard, so we have seen
in the city of our God,
in the city of the Lord of hosts
which God upholds for ever.
O God, we ponder your love
within your temple.
Your praise, O God, like your name
reaches the ends of the earth.
With justice your right hand is filled.
Mount Sion rejoices;
the people of Judah rejoice
at the sight of your judgements.
Walk through Sion, walk all round it;
count the number of its towers.
Review all its ramparts,
examine its castles,
that you may tell the next generation
that such is our God,
our God for ever and always.
It is he who leads us.
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.
The Lord is great and worthy to be praised
in the city of our God.
Psalm-Prayer
"Father, the body of your risen Son is the temple not made
by human hands and the defending wall of the new Jerusalem.
May this holy city, built of living stones, shine with
spiritual radiance and witness to your greatness in the sight
of all nations." _Daily Office
"Sinless Virgin, let us follow joyfully in your footsteps;
draw us after you in the fragrance of your holiness."
_Daily Office
“Love is the only way to grasp another human being
in the innermost core of his personality.
No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being
unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled
to see the essential traits and features in the beloved
person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him,
which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized.
Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the
beloved person to actualize these potentialities.
By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should
become, he makes these potentialities come true.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
Sirach 14
20 Blessed is the man who meditates on wisdom
and who reasons intelligently.
21 He who reflects in his mind on her ways
will also ponder her secrets.
22 Pursue wisdom like a hunter,
and lie in wait on her paths.
23 He who peers through her windows
will also listen at her doors;
24 he who encamps near her house
will also fasten his tent peg to her walls;
25 he will pitch his tent near her,
and will lodge in an excellent lodging place;
26 he will place his children under her shelter,
and will camp under her boughs;
27 he will be sheltered by her from the heat,
and will dwell in the midst of her glory. Proverbs 13:20
He who walks with wise men becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm. Ephesians4:11-13
11 And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipment of the saints, for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God,
to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ;
Jeremiah 22:13-17
13 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice;
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing,
and does not give him his wages;
14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
and cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar,
and painting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
says the Lord.
17 But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”
Proverbs 9:6
6 Lay aside immaturity, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.’
I Corinthians 13:11-13
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child,
I thought like a child,I reasoned like a child;
when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
Now I know in part;then I shall understand fully,
even as I have been fully understood.
13 So faith, hope, love abide, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;
5 it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice at wrong,
but rejoices in the right.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.
2 COR 4:7-15
Brothers and sisters:
We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
For we who live are constantly being given up to death
for the sake of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since, then, we have the same spirit of faith,
according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke,
we too believe and therefore speak,
knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus
and place us with you in his presence.
Everything indeed is for you,
so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people
may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.
The Man Who Thinks He Can
by Walter D. Wintle
If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you're outclassed, you are:
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.
Numbers 13
30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said,
“Let us go up at once,and occupy it; for we are well
able to overcome it.”
31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are
not able to go up against the people;
for they are stronger than we.”
32 So they brought to the people of Israel an evil report
of the land which they had spied out,
saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out,
is a land that devours its inhabitants;
and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.
2Corinthians 1:17-22
17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness?
or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh,
that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?
18 But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us,
even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay,
but in him was yea.
20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen,
unto the glory of God by us.
21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us,
is God;
22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit
in our hearts.
2Corinthians 2:14-15
14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph,
and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him
everywhere.
15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being
saved and among those who are perishing,
Luke 10:41-42
41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and
troubled about many things;
42 one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which
shall not be taken away from her.”
2 Peter 1:2-11
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3 His divine power has granted to us all things
that pertain to life and godliness, through
the knowledge of him who called us to his own
glory and excellence,
4 by which he has granted to us his precious
and very great promises,
that through these you may escape from the
corruption that is in the world
because of passion, and become
partakers of the divine nature.
5 For this very reason make every effort
to supplement your faith with virtue,
and virtue with knowledge,
6 and knowledge with self-control,
and self-control with steadfastness,
and steadfastness with godliness,
7 and godliness with brotherly affection,
and brotherly affection with love.
8 For if these things are yours and
abound, they keep you from being
ineffective or unfruitful in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For whoever lacks these things is
blind and shortsighted and has
forgotten that he was cleansed
from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be the more
zealous to confirm your call and
election, for if you do this you
will never fall;
11 so there will be richly provided
for you an entrance into the eternal
kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
RSV-CE
Romans 8
37 ...we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our
Psalm 117 (118)
A cry of rejoicing and triumph
“This is the stone which was rejected by you builders,
but which has become the cornerstone” (Acts 4:11).
Praise the Lord, for his loving kindness will never
fail, alleluia.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love endures for ever.
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 saviour.
There are shouts of joy and victory
in the tents of the just.
The Lord’s right hand has triumphed; it
his right hand raised me.
The Lord’s right hand has triumphed;
I shall not die, I shall live
and recount his deeds.
I was punished, I was punished by the Lord,
but not doomed to die.
Open to me the gates of holiness:
I will enter and give thanks.
This is the Lord’s own gate
where the just may enter.
I will thank you for you have answered
and you are my saviour.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the corner stone.
This is the work of the Lord,
a marvel in our eyes.
This day was made by the Lord;
we rejoice and are glad.
O Lord, grant us salvation;
O Lord, grant success.
Blessed in the name of the Lord
is he who comes.
We bless you from the house of the Lord;
the Lord God is our light.
Go forward in procession with branches
even to the altar.
You are my God, I thank you.
My God, I praise you.
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.
Praise the Lord,
for his loving kindness will never fail,
alleluia.
Conformed to Christ
Romans 8
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through
the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;
but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin;
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you,he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh,
to live after the flesh.
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die:
but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body,
ye shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God,
and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compare with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth
for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth
in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the
firstfruits of the Spirit,even we ourselves groan within
ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope:
for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not,
then do we with patience wait for it.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:
but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind
of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the
saints according
to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called:
and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he
justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us,
who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for
us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
lrather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the
day long;
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 NO,in all these things
we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor
angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jeremiah 15
16 Thy words were found, and I ate them, and thy words
became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I
am called by thy name, O LORD, God of hosts.
17 I did not sit in the company of merrymakers, nor did
I rejoice; I sat alone, because thy hand was upon me, for
thou hadst filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing
to be healed? Wilt thou be to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus says the LORD: "If you return,
I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you
utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
20 And I will make you to this people a fortified wall
of bronze; they will fight
against you, but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you to save you
and deliver you, says the LORD.
21 I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless."
Jeremiah 15:16-21 RSV-CE