July 27, 2025
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 111
Reading 1
In those days, the LORD said: "The outcry against Sodom
and Gomorrah is so great,
and their sin so grave,
that I must go down and see whether or not their actions
fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me.
I mean to find out."
While Abraham's visitors walked on farther toward Sodom,
the LORD remained standing before Abraham.
Then Abraham drew nearer and said:
"Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?
Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city;
would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it
for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it?
Far be it from you to do such a thing,
to make the innocent die with the guilty
so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike!
Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?"
The LORD replied,
"If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom,
I will spare the whole place for their sake."
Abraham spoke up again:
"See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord,
though I am but dust and ashes!
What if there are five less than fifty innocent people?
Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?"
He answered, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there."
But Abraham persisted, saying "What if only forty are found there?"
He replied, "I will forbear doing it for the sake of the forty."
Then Abraham said, "Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on.
What if only thirty are found there?"
He replied, "I will forbear doing it if I can find but thirty there."
Still Abraham went on,
"Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord,
what if there are no more than twenty?"
The LORD answered, "I will not destroy it, for the sake of the
twenty."
But he still persisted:
"Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time.
What if there are at least ten there?"
He replied, "For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it."
Responsorial Psalm
R.(3a) Lord, on the day I called for help, you
answered me.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
The LORD is exalted, yet the lowly he sees,
and the proud he knows from afar.
Though I walk amid distress, you preserve me;
against the anger of my enemies you raise your hand.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him
through faith in the power of God,
who raised him from the dead.
And even when you were dead
in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
he brought you to life along with him,
having forgiven us all our transgressions;
obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims,
which was opposed to us,
he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have received a Spirit of adoption,
through which we cry, Abba, Father.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had
finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."
He said to them, "When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test."
And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,'
and he says in reply from within,
'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.'
I tell you,
if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
"And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072725.cfm
Commentary on
Genesis 18:20-32; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13
It was the custom for a Jewish rabbi or teacher to teach his
followers a simple prayer they could regularly use. The disciples of Jesus make
a similar request of their rabbi. And they use as an argument that John the
Baptist had done so for his disciples. It would indeed be interesting to know
what kind of prayer John the Baptist did teach, but it will have to remain
something that is forever hidden from us.
In response, Jesus does more than they ask, for he teaches
them what to pray for, how to pray and what
results they can expect from their prayer.
It might be worth noting that Jesus’ disciples asked him to
teach them how to pray and not a prayer to say. In response
Jesus says to them:
When you pray, say…
There then follows what we know as the “Lord’s Prayer”. The
version in today’s Gospel passage is from Luke and is shorter than the version
we have in Matthew. As such it may indeed be the earlier version and closer to
what Jesus actually said. (We know that many parts of Matthew’s and Luke’s
Gospels come from a common source which each adapted to their own particular
needs.)
For centuries now we have been reciting the Lord’s Prayer
(Matthew’s version). We do so before Communion at every Eucharist and, for
instance, when we say the Rosary. Yet as it is presented here by Jesus, it is
less a prayer to be recited than a list of things around which our prayer
should be centred. In a way, each phrase can stand on its own and be a topic
for prayer in its own right. Let us have a look at the contents of this prayer.
Father
It begins by addressing God as “Father.” We do not address him as Lord, or
Master, or Judge. We do not even call him the Source of all being, Creator, but
by the much more personal term, Father. And St Paul reminds us that this title
is meant to be understood on the warmest and most intimate level. He tells us
to call God Abba (‘Papa’)—a title used affectionately by young
children all over the world. And thus, we too are to address him in this way.
But by each one of us together calling him “Father” there is
a further implication, namely, that we are all his children and thus also
brothers and sisters of each other—members of one great family. And this is no
pious imagining, but a fact. Unless we accept this as fact, it will be
difficult for us to call God “Father.” He is always “our Father”, never ‘my’
Father alone. And that ‘our’ is totally inclusive, not allowing of even one
exception.
As we will see, the Lord’s Prayer is much more than just a
prayer of petition; it is also a statement of who we are and what we are—to God
and to each other. And we confirm or condemn ourselves every time we pray it.
May your name be revered as holy
For the Jews, a name was not simply a label indicating identity; it denoted the
whole person. When Moses spoke to God in the burning bush, he needed to know
God’s name in order to know who he was. So here we are praying that God himself
and not just his name be revered by all. It is not just a prayer for people to
avoid irreverent language. In a sense, too, who can make God’s name or God
himself “holy?” His holiness in no way depends on us. What we are rather asking
for is that God’s holiness be acknowledged by us, not only by our words, but by
the way we live. In other words, it is a prayer that God’s holiness be
reflected in our own lives and in the lives of every single person.
May your kingdom come
We should understand the Kingdom of God as a world in which everything that God
stands for becomes a reality in the lives of people everywhere—a world that is
built on truth, love, compassion, justice, freedom, human dignity and peace. We
know it is God’s will that such a world should be the shared experience of all,
but it depends a great deal on our response and co-operation. Some elements of
the Kingdom can be found in many places and in many communities, but we are
only too aware that, for the world at large, the Kingdom is still far from
being a reality and much of the blame lies with us. So in saying this
invocation we are not only calling on God’s help, but reminding ourselves to be
working with God to make the Kingdom a reality.
Give us each day our daily bread
In the second half of the prayer we pray more directly for our own needs. And
we begin with present needs. Notice that we ask for today’s bread, food—today’s
material needs. Is that what we normally pray for? Or are our anxieties
reaching far out into the future? Yet in praying this way we express our trust
in a caring God. It is also the acceptance of a challenge by all of us to see
that every person has their needs for today supplied. There is no need for
worry and anxiety about the future.
Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone
indebted to us
Here we pray in repentance for our past sinful actions, but our prayer is
conditional, linking us once again to all those around us. We pray that God
will forgive us all that we have done wrong, because we
already have forgiven all those who we think have done wrong to us. Again it is
a prayer that throws us back on ourselves. We are praying to share God’s most
beautiful quality—his readiness to forgive not just “seventy time seven times”,
but indefinitely.
Do not bring us to the time of trial.
Finally, we pray for protection from future trials that might overwhelm
us—trials where we might fail and betray our following of him.
We probably will have to admit that we seldom do justice to
this prayer. It not only puts us in touch with God, but also in touch with
ourselves. While we can, of course, continue to recite the Lord’s Prayer, it
would be useful sometimes to take it very slowly, one petition at a time, even
stopping altogether when a petition is particularly meaningful to us.
Two more points
Jesus, however, does not stop with teaching his disciples how to pray. He makes
two points. First, he tells a parable about a man wanting some bread in the
middle of the night. Naturally, his neighbour is reluctant to get up and give
him some. But the man keeps badgering. Jesus says:
I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him
anything out of friendship, at least because of his persistence he [the
neighbour] will get up and give him whatever he needs.
The message is clear enough. When we really want something
from God, we must keep asking:
Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will
find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks
receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the
door will be opened. (Matt 7:7)
Second, he reminds them that they are dealing with a loving
and compassionate Father. Even human fathers will not give stones when asked
for bread or scorpions when asked for eggs. Jesus concludes:
…how much more will your Father in heaven give good
things to those who ask him!
A contradiction?
At first sight, there seems to be a slight contradiction here. If our Father
cares for us so much, why do we have to ask so insistently? We continue to
pray not because God has to be reminded of our wants. Jesus
said on another occasion:
When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the
gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many
words. (Matt 6:7)
God does not need to be persuaded or to have his arm twisted
to give us what we need. But he certainly does not always give us
what we want, for our wants are often short-sighted and
self-centred. The way we pray and what we ask for can be extremely revealing of
where we are in our relationship with God, with people and with the world
around us. Persevering prayer can help us become more aware of what we should
really be asking for. It helps to purify our prayer, make clear our values and
hopes, and lead us to ask for what is really in our very best interests. And
those things we can be absolutely sure God wants us to have.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/oc171/
Sunday,
July 27, 2025
17th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father of all mercies,
in
the Name of Christ your Son, we implore you, send us the Gift, pour into us
your Spirit! Spirit, Paraclete, teach us to pray in truth in the new Temple who
is the Christ.
Spirit, faithful to the
Father and to us, as the dove has its nest,
plead within us incessantly
with the Father, because we do not know how to pray.
Spirit of
Christ, first gift to us believers, pray within us tirelessly to the Father, as
the Son taught us. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Luke 11: 1-13
To Help Understand the Passage:
The Gospel passage is
divided into three sections:
•
vv. 1-4: the prayer that Jesus taught
•
vv. 5-8: the parable of the insistent friend
•
vv. 9-13: the teaching on the efficacy of prayer. The Text:
1
He was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples
said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."
2 And he said to them, "When you pray, say:
"Father, hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread; 4 and forgive
us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us; and lead
us not into temptation."
5 And he
said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight
and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has
arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7 and he will
answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children
are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything? 8 I tell you, though
he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because
of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell
you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will
be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds,
and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son
asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks
for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to
give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
A Moment of Prayerful Silence
•
Like the disciples, we too come together around Jesus
who prays alone. We gather around Him and in Him all our energies, every
thought, every commitment and preoccupation, our hopes, and pains …
•
Today it is we who are those disciples who see the
Master praying and allow themselves to be involved in his prayer, which,
evidently, was quite special.
•
Today his words are addressed to us, the invitation to
trust in the love of the Father is addressed to us, We are so taken up with
material things, so much seeking “all and immediately,” so spellbound by a
thousand things, that then (and only “then,” after some event that shakes us)
we discover that they are all really superfluous …
•
Today it is up to us to give voice to the prayer of
the Master:Father, hallowed be your name…
Some Questions
Let us use this occasion to
examine our way of praying:
•
What does praying mean for me: An obligation? A pause
in the search of myself? Presenting God with a list of requests? A pause in the
company of the Father? A simple and trusting dialogue with the One who loves
me?
•
How much time do I give to prayer: some every day? Or
once a week or once a month? Occasionally? Systematically? Do I wait until I
“feel the need” to pray?
•
What is the starting point of my prayer: is it the
Word of God? Is it the saint or the liturgical feast of the day? Is it devotion
to our Lady? Is it an illustration or icon? Is it the events of my life or
those of the history of the world?
•
Whom do I meet when I pray: looking deep into myself,
when I pray do I speak to one whom I feel to be a judge or to a friend? Do I
feel Him to be an “equal” or someone who is “holy,” infinite or unattainable?
Is He near to me or far and indifferent? Is He my Father or my master? Does He
care for me or “is He busy with His own affairs”?
•
How do I pray: do I pray a little mechanically, using
set formulae? Do I pray using passages from the Psalms or other Biblical texts?
Liturgical texts? Do I choose to pray spontaneously? Do I look for texts using
beautiful words or
do I prefer
to repeat a short phrase? How do I use “the Lord’s prayer”? Do I more often
find myself invoking God for some need or to praise Him in the liturgy or to
contemplate Him in silence? Am I able to pray while I am working or in any
place or only when I am in church? Am I able to make liturgical prayer my own?
What place does the Mother of God have in my prayer?
A Key to the Reading
This passage presents prayer
as one of the fundamental requirements and a key point in the life of a
disciple of Jesus and of the community of disciples.
vv. 1-4: Jesus, like
other great religious masters of his time, teaches his followers a prayer that
will define them: the “Our Father.”
•
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had
finished one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray”: Jesus goes aside
to pray. In Luke’s Gospel he does this often (5: 16), above all just before
important events: before choosing the Twelve (6: 12-13), before soliciting
Peter’s confession of faith (9: 18-20), before the transfiguration (9: 28-29)
and, finally, before the passion (22: 40-45).
•
As Jesus prays, he arouses in his disciples the desire
to pray like him. Clearly, it is a prayer that shows itself externally in a
very special way and that certainly affects his preaching. The disciples
understand that such a prayer is quite different from that taught by other
spiritual masters in Israel or even by the precursor of Jesus. That is why they
ask him to teach them to pray. Thus, the prayer that Jesus passes on to his
disciples becomes the characteristic expression of their ideal and identity, of
their way of relating to God and among themselves.
•
Father: The first thing that Jesus teaches on prayer
is to call God “Father.” Matthew, unlike Luke, does not add the adjective
“our,” stressing less the community aspect of the Christian prayer. On the
other hand, the fact of invoking the Father, constitutes the best adhesive
element of the community of disciples.
•
For a Jew of the first century, relationship with
one’s father was one of intimacy, but also a recognition of the father’s
authority over every member of the family. This is reflected in the Christian
custom of calling God “Father,” whereas there is no certain evidence that the
Jews of the time used to call God with the intimate term of “abba.” This term
is none other than the emphatic form of the Aramaic “ ’ab,” the familiar and respectful term used for earthly fathers.
•
The fact that Jesus used to turn to God and called him
abba, shows the new kind of relationship that He, and therefore his disciples,
establish with God: a relationship of closeness, familiarity, and trust.
•
In the classical scheme of Biblical prayer, the first
part of the “Our Father” deals directly with God, whereas the second part
refers to the needs of humankind in its earthly existence.
•
Father, hallowed be your name: in the message of the
prophets of Israel, it is God who “sanctifies His own Name” (that is, himself:
“the name is the person”) intervening with power in human history,
notwithstanding that Israel and the other peoples have dishonored Him.. In
Ezekiel we read: “But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they
profaned my holy name, in that men said of them, 'These are the people of the
Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.' But I had concern for my holy
name, which the house of Israel caused to be profaned among the nations to
which they came. "Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus says the
Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act,
but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to
which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has
been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and
the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I
vindicate my holiness before their eyes. For I will take you from the nations,
and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land.” (36:
20- 24). On the same subject we may also read: Dt 32: 51; Is 29: 22; Ez 28:
22. 25).
•
The subject of the verb “to hallow,” in Lk 11: 2, is
God Himself: we are faced with a “theological passive.” This means that the
first petition of this prayer does not concern human beings and their
unquestionable duty to honor and respect God, but God the Father Himself who
must make Himself known as such to all. Thus, we petition God to reveal Himself
in His sovereign greatness: this is an invocation with eschatological
connotations, closely connected with the following petition.
•
Your Kingdom come: the great event proclaimed by Jesus
is the definitive coming of the Kingdom of God among us: “Be sure of this: the
kingdom of God is very near” (Lk 10: 11; cfr also Mt 10: 7). The prayer of
Jesus and of the Christian, then, is in close harmony with this proclamation.
Asking in this prayer that this Kingdom be ever more visibly present, has, in
fact, two effects: the person praying must come face to face with the
eschatological design of God, but also with the obligation of a radical
willingness to serve His will of salvation. Thus, if it is true that we may and
must present our needs to God the Father, it is also true that Christian prayer
never has man and woman for its end, it is never a selfish petition, but its
ultimate end is to glorify God, implore his full closeness, his complete
manifestation: “Set your hearts on his kingdom, and these other things will be
given you as well” (Lk
12: 31).
•
Give us this day our daily bread: we have come to the
second part of the Lord’s prayer. The person praying has now put into place the
correct and intimate relationship with God and now lives in the logic of
closeness to God who is Father and his/her petitions flow from this way of
life.
•
In Jesus’ time as in ours (almost!), bread is the most
necessary food, the primary nourishment. In this case, however, “bread” stands
for food in general and, more, all kinds of material needs of the disciples.
•
The English term ”bread” is a translation of the Greek
“epiousion,” found also in Matthew
but not in any other Greek biblical or profane text. This makes it difficult to
give a really reliable version, so much so that we are constrained to translate
it according to the context.
•
What is clear, however, is that the disciple who is
praying in this way, is aware of not having much material security for the
future, not even for his/her daily food: he/she has really “left everything
behind” to follow Christ (cfr Lk 5: 11). Here we are dealing with a situation
characteristic of the early generations of Christians. This is not to say that
the prayer for “bread” may not be very useful for Christians of today: we are
all called to receive all things from Providence, as a free gift from God, even
if these things come from the labor of our hands. The Eucharistic offertory
reminds us of this all the time: we offer to God that which we know well we
have received from Him so that we may receive it back from His hands. This also
means that the Christian of every age must not be preoccupied with his/her
material situation, because the Father will take care of him/: “That is why I
am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about
your body and how you are to clothe it. For life means more than food, and the
body more than clothing” (Lk 12: 22-23).
•
Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one
who is in debt to us: The Christian, immersed in the salvation given by the
Father with the coming of His kingdom, know that all his/her sins are already
forgiven. This places him/her in the condition and obligation of having to
forgive others, thus allowing God to render definitive the pardon of the
Christian capable of pardoning (cfr Mt 18: 23-35).
•
We are always hovering between the kingdom “already”
present and kingdom “not yet” attained. A Christian who behaved contrary to the
salvation already received from God in Christ, renders useless the forgiveness
he/she has already received. That is why Luke says: “for we ourselves forgive”:
Luke does not wish to place us humans on the same level as God, but only to
make us aware that we can frustrate the saving work of God, within which the
Father has willed to include us as an active element, to extend His every free
pardon to all.
vv. 5-8: more than a
parable, this is a similitude, because it illustrates a typical behavior that
arouses in listeners a univocal and spontaneous reply. In this case, it would
be difficult to find anyone who would spontaneously reply “no one!” to the
question “Which of you… ?” (v. 5)
Thus, this passage wishes to show us how God acts through the filter of human
behavior, which is a poor copy of the behavior of the Father.
•
The scene takes place in a Palestinian situation.
Usually, anyone going on a journey would start at sunset in order to avoid the
very high temperatures of daytime. In Palestinian houses at that time, there
was only one room and the whole family used it for all the activities during
the day as well as for sleeping at night by just spreading straw mats on the
floor.
•
The request of the man who suddenly has to receive an
unexpected guest in the middle of the night, reflects a typical sense of
hospitality in ancient peoples, and the explanation of the request for “three
loaves” (v. 5) is that this was the normal meal for an adult.
•
The man who has recourse to his friend at night is the
image of a disciple of Christ, called to pray to God always and everywhere,
full of trust that he/she will be heard, not because he/she has worn Him out,
but because He is a merciful Father who is faithful to His promises. Thus the
parable shows us how a disciple should pray the “our Father”: with complete
trust in God, loving and just Father, a trust that goes even to cheekiness,
that is to “disturbing Him” at any time and to insist with Him in every way,
certain of being answered.
•
Prayer, as a basic attitude of every Christian who
wishes to really be a disciple of Jesus, is well expressed by the apostle Paul:
«Pray always, in all things give thanks; this indeed is the will of God in
Christ Jesus for you» (1Ts 5: 17-18) ; «Pray all the time, asking for what you
need, praying in the Spirit on every possible occasion. Never get tired of
staying awake to pray for all the saints» (Ef 6: 18).
vv. 9-13: the last
part of our Gospel is that properly called didactic. It resumes the theme of
the previous verses, emphasizing the trust that must characterize Christian
prayer, founded on the solid rock of faith. It is the faith of the praying
person that opens wide the doors of the Father’s heart, and it is the very
identity of the Father who loves to carry
in his arms his
children and to console
them with the tenderness
of a mother (cfr Is 66: 12-13) that which must nourish the faith of
Christians.
• God is a
Father who loves to receive requests from his children, because this shows that
they put their trust in Him, for to ask they have to approach Him with open
hearts, for asking urges them to look at His kind and loving face, for by
asking (even indirectly) they show that they believe that He is really the Lord
of history and of the world, and, above all, because their asking allows Him to
show openly His delicate, attentive and free love, solely directed for the good
of His children. What displeases the Father is not the insistence or
indiscretion of His children in asking, but that they do not ask sufficiently,
remaining silent and almost indifferent to Him, that they stay away with a
thousand respectful excuses, such as “He already knows everything,” etc. God is
certainly a Father who provides all thing and takes care of the daily life of
His children, but, at the same time, He also knows what is best for them, even
better than they do. That is why He pours out on Christians so many good things
and, above all, the gift par excellence: the
Spirit, the only truly indispensable gift for their life, the gift who, if
allowed to act, will make them authentic children in the Son.
A Time of Prayer: Psalm 104
To the merciful and provident God, who created the marvelous harmony of
the cosmos and who placed in it humankind as His “vicar,” let us sing the
psalm:
Bless Yahweh, my soul,
Yahweh, my God, how great you are!
Clothed in majesty and
splendor, wearing the light as a robe!
You stretch out the heavens
like a tent, build your palace on the waters above, making the clouds your
chariot, gliding on the wings of the wind, appointing the winds your
messengers, flames of fire your servants.
You
fixed the earth on its foundations, for ever and ever it shall not be shaken;
you covered it with the deep like a garment, the waters overtopping the
mountains.
At your reproof the waters
fled,
at the voice of your thunder
they sped away, flowing over mountains, down valleys,
to
the place you had fixed for them; you made a limit they were not to cross, they
were not to return and cover the earth. In the ravines you opened up springs,
running down between the mountains, supplying water for all the wild beasts;
the wild asses quench their
thirst, on their banks the birds of the air make their nests, they sing among
the leaves. From your high halls you water the mountains, satisfying the earth
with the fruit of your works: for cattle you make the grass grow,
and for
people the plants they need, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to
cheer people's hearts, oil to make their faces glow, food to make them sturdy
of heart. The trees of Yahweh drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon which he
sowed; there the birds build their nests, on the highest branches the stork
makes its home; for the wild goats there are the mountains, in the crags the
coneys find refuge.
He made the moon to mark the
seasons, the sun knows when to set.
You
bring on darkness, and night falls, when all the forest beasts roam around;
young lions roar for their prey, asking God for their food.
The sun
rises and away they steal, back to their lairs to lie down, and man goes out to
work, to labor till evening falls.
How countless are your
works, Yahweh, all of them made so wisely!
The earth is full of your
creatures. Then there is the sea,
with its vast expanses
teeming with countless creatures, creatures both great and small;
there ships pass to and fro,
and
Leviathan whom you made to sport with. They all depend upon you, to feed them
when they need it. You provide the food they gather, your open hand gives them
their fill. Turn away your face and they panic; take back their breath and they
die and revert to dust.
Send out your breath and
life begins; you renew the face of the earth.
Glory to Yahweh forever!
May Yahweh
find joy in his creatures! At his glance the earth trembles, at his touch the
mountains pour forth smoke. I shall sing to Yahweh all my life, make music for
my God as long as I live. May my musings be pleasing to him, for Yahweh gives
me joy.
May sinners
vanish from the earth, and the wicked exist no more! Bless Yahweh, my soul.
Closing Prayer
Good and holy Father, your
love makes us brothers and sisters and urges us to come together in your holy
Church to celebrate with life the mystery of communion. You call us to share
the one bread, living and eternal, given to us from heaven. Help us also to
know how to break, in the love of Christ, our earthly bread, so that our bodily
and spiritual hunger may be satisfied. Amen.
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