Joseph Kenny OP: Readings Friday after 1 January

READINGS: FRIDAY AFTER 1 JANUARY (or 6 Jan)

Invitatory Psalm & BACK

Week 1

Psalm 35: Hebrew English Then BACK If Week 2

Psalm 38: Hebrew English Then BACK

שִׁירוּ לַיהוָה בָּרֲכוּ שְׁמוֹ — בַּשְּׂרוּ מִיָּם־לְיָם יְשׁוּעָתוֹ

Even & Odd Years: Isaiah 42:1-8
1 הֵן עַבְדִּי אֶתְמָךְ־בּוֹ * בְּחִירִי רָצְתָה נַפְשִׁי
נָתַתִּי רוּחִי עָלָיו * מִשְׁפָּט לַגּוֹיִם יוֹצִיא׃
2 לֹא יִצְעַק וְלֹא יִשָּׂא * וְלֹא־יַשְׁמִיעַ בַּחוּץ קוֹלוֹ׃
3 קָנֶה רָצוּץ לֹא יִשְׁבּוֹר * וּפִשְׁתָּה כֵהָה לֹא יְכַבֶּנָּה * לֶאֱמֶת יוֹצִיא מִשְׁפָּט׃
4 לֹא יִכְהֶה וְלֹא יָרוּץ * עַד־יָשִׂים בָּאָרֶץ מִשְׁפָּט * וּלְתוֹרָתוֹ אִיִּים יְיַחֵילוּ׃
5 כֹּה־אָמַר הָאֵל יְהוָה
בּוֹרֵא הַשָּׁמַיִם וְנוֹטֵיהֶם * רֹקַע הָאָרֶץ וְצֶאֱצָאֶיהָ
נֹתֵן נְשָׁמָה לָעָם עָלֶיהָ * וְרוּחַ לַהֹלְכִים בָּהּ׃
6 אֲנִי יְהוָה קְרָאתִיךָ בְצֶדֶק * וְאַחְזֵק בְּיָדֶךָ וְאֶצָּרְךָ
וְאֶתֶּנְךָ לִבְרִית עָם * לְאוֹר גּוֹיִם׃
7 לִפְקֹחַ עֵינַיִם עִוְרוֹת * לְהוֹצִיא מִמַּסְגֵּר אַסִּיר * מִבֵּית כֶּלֶא יֹשְׁבֵי חֹשֶׁךְ׃
8 אֲנִי יְהוָה הוּא שְׁמִי * וּכְבוֹדִי לְאַחֵר לֹא־אֶתֵּן * וּתְהִלָּתִי לַפְּסִילִים׃

Even Years: Aelred of Rievaulx, Epiphany Sermon 3 (PL 195, 228-229)
Surge, illuminare, Ierusalem, quia uenit lumen tuum. Arise, Jerusalem, and be enlightened, for your light has come.
Haec est Ierusalem quam Dominus Iesus, qui pax uera et summa est, aedificat de uiuis lapidibus, quae ad eius uisionem tendit, in eius uisione beatam se futuram certissime credens. Ipsa est sancta Ecclesia, ipsa unaquaeque congregatio sancta, ipsa unaquaeque anima sancta. Non est hoc nouum uobis. Surge, inquit, illuminare, Ierusalem. Merito ei dicitur: Surge, quae iacebat. Merito ei dicitur: Illuminare, quae caeca erat. The Jerusalem addressed in this text is the city whose true and supreme peace is the Lord Jesus, the city he is building out of stones, the Jerusalem on the march toward that blessed vision of her Lord which she firmly believes will one day be hers. This Jerusalem is holy Church; it is also any religious community, any soul in a state of grace. Arise, Jerusalem, and be enlightened, Scripture urges her. Such an exhortation is indeed appropriate for one who was blind.
Iacebat caeca in tenebris, in erroribus, in iniquitatibus. Dicitur ergo ei: Surge, quia iam se inclinauerat qui eam erigeret. Dicitur: Illuminare quia iam aderat qui eam illuminaret. Quid aliud clamat hodie stella noua de caelo, nisi: Surge, illuminare? Signum Dominicae natiuitatis ideo in caelo apparuit, ut a terrenarum rerum amore surgamus ad caelum. Et hoc signum ideo in stella, ut per eius natiuitatem nos illuminandos sciamus. She lay prostrate and blind in darkness, error, and depravity. Arise, she is told; he who would lift you up is stooping down to you. Be enlightened; he who would shine upon you is already here. Today's new star reiterates the heavenly message: Arise and be enlightened! A sign of the Lord's birth has appeared in the sky to invite us to detach ourselves from the love of earthly things and raise ourselves heavenward; and this sign consists of a star, so that we may understand that through Christ's birth we shall be flooded with new light.
Sed cui hoc clamabat illa stella? Non utique Iudaeis, qui caeci erant, non Ierusalem sanguinariae, quae mox pacis audita praesentia turbata est et ipsam pacem occidere quaerebat pace perdita; sed sine dubio illi reginae austri quae festinauit a finibus terrae audire sapientiam Salomonis, qui pacificus interpretatur. Et ideo illa est Ierusalem, quae uisio pacis interpretatur, quia ad uidendum pacificum ueniebat. But to whom was the star's invitation originally made? Unquestionably it was to that Jerusalem represented by the queen who hastened from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Solomon's name means Peacemaker; consequently the queen who came to see him stands for Jerusalem whose name means Vision of Peace. [Therefore she was called Jerusalem, meaningvision of peace, because she came to see the Peacemaker.]
Regina haec Ecclesiam significat de paganis; nam et ipsa regina pagana erat. Et Ecclesia sine dubio regina est quae tot gentes et populos regit, de qua dicit Dauid: Astitit regina a dextris tuis in uestitu deaurato. Ista Ecclesia hodie coepit nasci in illis paganis qui uiderunt stellam istam et eius significationem intelligebant. Ergo ista regina hodie uenit a finibus terrae uidere faciem illius de quo dicitur: Ecce plus quam Salomon hic. This queen is a type of the Church formed from the pagans, for she was a pagan queen. When we see how many nations and peoples the Church rules over, we easily recognize her as the queen of whom David says: On your right stands the queen in robes of gold. Today is the birthday of the Church among those pagans who saw the star and understood its message; it is therefore the day on which this queen comes from the ends of the earth to see the face of the one described in the words: Behold a greater than Solomon here.
Vere plus quam Salomon, quia ille tantum Salomon, id est pacificus, iste ita est pacificus ut sit etiam ipsa pax, sicut dicit Apostolus: Ipse est pax nostra, qui fecit utraque unum. Et ideo illa nostra regina bene dicitur Ierusalem, id est uisio pacis, quia ad ipsam properabat. Et haec regina nostra pulchre etiam dicitur regina Saba. Saba quippe captiuitas interpretatur. Greater indeed is he than Solomon, for Solomon was a peacemaker only, whereas the Lord Jesus makes peace by being peace incarnate. As the Apostle says: He is our peace; he has made both Jew and pagan one. This queen of ours, then, is well named Jerusalem, Vision of Peace, since she hastens to see the King who is himself peace in person.
Ecclesia plane regina est Saba, quia componit et regit bene istam captiuitatem in qua peregrinatur ab illo regno in quo nulla est captiuitas, nulla miseria; quod regnum ipsa percipiet in die iudicii, dicente Domino: Venite, benedicti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod uobis paratum est, et cetera. Haec regina, id est Ecclesia sancta de gentibus, ante istum diem iacuit, ante istum diem caeca fuit. Sed ei hodie dicitur: Surge, illuminare. She is also called Queen of Sheba; a felicitous title, for Sheba means 'captivity'. The Queen of Sheba is evidently the Church who disposes and governs all things well during her time of captivity in exile from that kingdom which knows neither captivity nor distress, the kingdom she herself will receive on the Day of Judgment when the Lord says to her: Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. Until today our queen, the holy Church of the Gentiles, has lain prostrate in the dust without sight, but now the summons comes to her: Arise, and be enlightened!

Odd Years: St. Gregory Nazianzan, Sermon 39 on the holy lights
Χριστὸς φωτίζεται, συναναστράψωμεν· Χριστὸς βαπτίζεται, συγκατέλθωμεν, ἵνα καὶ συνανέλθωμεν. Christ is illumined, let us shine forth with him; Christ is baptized, let us descend with him, that we may also ascend with him.
Πλὴν Ἰωάννης βαπτίζει, πρόσεισιν Ἰησοῦς· ἁγιάσων τυχὸν μὲν καὶ τὸν βαπτιστήν· τὸ δὲ πρόδηλον, πάντα τὸν παλαιὸν Ἀδὰμ, ἵν' ἐνθάψῃ τῷ ὕδατι· πρὸ δὲ τούτων καὶ διὰ τούτους, τὸν Ἰορδάνην· ὥσπερ ἦν πνεῦμα καὶ σὰρξ, οὕτω Πνεύματι τελειῶν καὶ ὕδατι. John baptizes, Jesus comes to him; perhaps to sanctify the Baptist himself, but certainly to bury the whole of the old Adam in the water; and before this and for the sake of this, to sanctify Jordan. As he is Spirit and flesh, so he consecrates us by Spirit and water.
Οὐ δέχεται ὁ Βαπτιστής· ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀγωνίζεται· Ἐγὼ χρείαν ἔχω ὑπὸ σοῦ βαπτισθῆναι, ὁ λύχνος τῷ Ἡλίῳ φησὶν, ἡ φωνὴ τῷ Λόγῳ, ὁ φίλος τῷ Νυμφίῳ, ὁ ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν ὑπὲρ ἅπαντας, τῷ Πρωτοτόκῳ πάσης κτίσεως, ὁ προσκιρτήσας ἀπὸ γαστρὸς, τῷ ἐν γαστρὶ προσκυνηθέντι, ὁ προδραμὼν καὶ προδραμούμενος, τῷ φανέντι καὶ φανησομένῳ. Ἐγὼ χρείαν ἔχω ὑπὸ σοῦ βαπτισθῆναι· πρόσθες καὶ τὸ, ὑπὲρ σοῦ. Ἤδει γὰρ τῷ μαρτυρίῳ βαπτισθησόμενος· ἢ, ὡς Πέτρος, μὴ τοὺς πόδας μόνον καθαρθησόμενος John will not receive him: Jesus contends. I have need to be baptized by you, says the lamp to the Sun, the voice to the Word, the friend to the Bridegroom; he that is above all those who are born of women to him who is the First-born of every creature; he that leaped in the womb to him who was adored in the womb; he who was and is the Forerunner to him who was and is to be manifested. I have need to be baptized by you; add to this and for you; for he that he would be baptized by martyrdom, or, like Peter, that he would be cleansed not only as to his feet.
Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνεισιν Ἰησοῦς ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος. Συναναφέρει γὰρ ἑαυτῷ τὸν κόσμον, καὶ ὁρᾷ σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, οὓς ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἔκλεισεν ἑαυτῷ τε καὶ τοῖς μετ' αὐτὸν, ὥσπερ καὶ τῇ φλογίνῃ ῥομφαίᾳ τὸν παράδεισον. Καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα μαρτυρεῖ τὴν θεότητα· τῷ γὰρ ὁμοίῳ προστρέχει· καὶ ἡ ἐξ οὐρανῶν φωνή· ἐκεῖθεν γὰρ ὁ μαρτυρούμενος· καὶ ὡς περιστερὰ, τιμᾷ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτο τῇ θεώσει Θεὸς, σωματικῶς ὁρωμένη But further, Jesus goes up out of the water; for with himself he carries up the world and sees the heaven split open which Adam had shut against himself and all his posterity, as the gates of Paradise by the flaming sword. And the Spirit bears witness to his Godhead, for he descends upon One that is like him, as does the Voice from heaven (for he to whom witness is borne comes from thence) and like a dove seen in bodily form it bestows honour on his body, since this is also God by being deified.
Ἡμεῖς δὲ τιμήσωμεν τὸ Χριστοῦ βάπτισμα σήμερον, καὶ καλῶς ἑορτάσωμεν, μὴ γαστρὶ τρυφῶντες, ἀλλὰ πνευματικῶς εὐφραινόμενοι. Τρυφήσωμεν δὲ πῶς; Λούσασθε, καθαροὶ γίνεσθε. Εἰ μὲν φοινικικοὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐστὲ, καὶ ἧττον αἱματώδεις, λευκάνθητε ὡς χιών· εἰ δὲ κόκκινοι καὶ ἄνδρες αἱμάτων τέλειοι, κἂν εἰς ἐρίου λευκότητα φθάσατε. Πάντως δὲ καθάρθητε καὶ καθαίρεσθε. Ὡς οὐδενὶ τοσοῦτον χαίρει Θεὸς, ὅσον ἀνθρώπου διορθώσει καὶ σωτηρίᾳ, ὑπὲρ οὗ λόγος ἅπας καὶ ἅπαν μυστήριον· ἵνα γένησθε ὡς φωστῆρες ἐν κόσμῳ, ζωτικὴ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις δύναμις, ἵνα φῶτα τέλεια τῷ μεγάλῳ φωτὶ παραστάντες, καὶ τὴν ἐκεῖσε μυηθῆτε φωταγωγίαν, ἐλλαμπόμενοι τῇ Τριάδι καθαρώτερον καὶ τρανότερον, ἧς νῦν μετρίως ὑποδέδεχθε τὴν μίαν αὐγὴν ἐκ μιᾶς τῆς θεότητος, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα, καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. Let us however today venerate the Baptism of Christ, and let us celebrate the feast honourably. Wash yourselves and keep yourselves clean. God rejoices in nothing so much as in the amendment and salvation of men, on whose behalf is every word and all the sacraments. [By all means, wash and be cleansed. God delights in nothing more than the uprightness and salvation of man, which is the purpose of all preaching and sacraments,] so that you may be like lights in the world, a life-giving force to all other men, and stand as perfect lights beside that great Light, and learn the mystery of the illumination of heaven, enlightened by the Trinity more purely and clearly, of which even now you are receiving in a measure the One Ray from the one Godhead in Christ Jesus our Lord; to whom be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer