Opening
Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Hymn
Not bread alone, but every word That comes from you, O living God. Feed the hunger we cannot name In this still hour before the work. Then send us, nourished, into day — Not full of ourselves, but of you. Let what we heard become our food When thinner comforts fail.
Original – Prayer on Fire
Psalm I
Antiphon
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Psalm 100 (99):1–3
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth. Serve the Lord with rejoicing. Enter into his sight in exultation. Know that the Lord himself is God. He made us, and we ourselves did not. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Glory Be
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Psalm II
Antiphon
I wait for your voice more than watchmen for the dawn.
Psalm 143 (142):8–10
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
Make me hear your mercy in the morning. For I have hoped in you. Make known to me the way that I should walk. For I have lifted up my soul to you. Free me from my enemies, O Lord, to you I have fled. Teach me to do your will. For you are my God. Your good Spirit will lead me into the right land.
Glory Be
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon
I wait for your voice more than watchmen for the dawn.
Silence
A moment of silence
First Reading
Zechariah 8:1–8
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have been zealous for Zion with a great zeal, and with a great indignation have I been zealous for her. Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have been turned back towards Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem will be called: “The City of Truth,” and “The Mountain of the Lord of Hosts, the Sanctified Mountain.” Thus says the Lord of hosts: Then elderly men and elderly women will dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man will be with his walking stick in his hand, because of the multitude of days. And the streets of the city will be filled with toddlers and children, playing in its streets. Thus says the Lord of hosts: If it seems difficult in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, could it indeed be difficult in my eyes, says the Lord of hosts? Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the land of the East, and from the land of the setting of the sun. And I will lead them, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in justice.
Responsory
Send forth your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Second Reading
From a homily of St. John Chrysostom on Matthew
public domain
Would you do honor to Christ’s body? Neglect Him not when naked. Do not while here you honor Him with silken garments, neglect Him perishing without of cold and nakedness. For He that said, “This is my body,” and by His word confirmed the fact, this same said, “You saw me an hungered, and fed me not,” and “Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.” For this indeed needs not coverings, but a pure soul; but that requires much attention. Let us learn therefore to be strict in life, and to honor Christ as He Himself desires. For with regard to that which belongs to Himself, He gives no account of it, as needing it not; but as for that which belongs to the poor, He even stands begging, and is not ashamed to say, Give Me to eat. Let us therefore give Him that honor which He has commanded, and let us be as earnest in clothing and feeding Christ in the poor as we are in adorning His temple. Then the altar will be truly honorable, when it is not the gold that makes it so, but the brother who is fed.
Intercessions
Teach us to keep the Word we have heard.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
For the Church, that she may ponder before she publishes.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
For the unborn, the elderly, and all whose lives are hidden.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
For our lips, that they may bless and not hurry.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Closing prayer
Holy Spirit, keep a quiet flame in us when the noise starts. Teach us to work without abandoning prayer. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.