Readings, Friday, November 28, 2008

Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Entrance Antiphon
The Lord speaks of peace to his people, to those who turn to him with all their heart. (Ps 84:9)
Opening Prayers
Let us pray [that the Spirit of God will renew our lives]
Lord, increase our eagerness to do your will and help us to know the saving power of your love. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Reading 1, (Rv 20:1-4, 11—21:2)
I, John, saw an angel come down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a heavy chain. He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, which is the Devil or Satan, and tied it up for a thousand years and threw it into the abyss, which he locked over it and sealed, so that it could no longer lead the nations astray until the thousand years are completed. After this, it is to be released for a short time.
Then I saw thrones; those who sat on them were entrusted with judgment. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image nor had accepted its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Next I saw a large white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence and there was no place for them. I saw the dead, the great and the lowly, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. Then another scroll was opened, the book of life. The dead were judged according to their deeds, by what was written in the scrolls. The sea gave up its dead; then Death and Hades gave up their dead. All the dead were judged according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the pool of fire. (This pool of fire is the second death.) Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the pool of fire.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Responsorial Psalm
R. Here God lives among his people. (Rev. 21:3b)
My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
R. Here God lives among his people.
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest in which she puts her young–Your altars, O LORD of hosts, my king and my God!
R. Here God lives among his people.
Blessed they who dwell in your house! continually they praise you. Blessed the men whose strength you are! They go from strength to strength.
R. Here God lives among his people.
(Ps 84:3, 4, 5-6a and 8a)
Alleluia, alleluia (Lk 21:28)
Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.
Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel (Lk 21:29-33) (When you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near.)
Jesus told his disciples a parable. “Consider the fig tree and all the other trees. When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
Prayer over the Gifts
Pray, brethren...
God of love, may the sacrifice we offer in obedience to your command renew our resolution to be faithful to your word. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon
All you nations, praise the Lord, for steadfast is his kindly mercy to us. (Ps 116:1-2)
or
I, the Lord, am with you always, until the end of the world. (Mt 28:20)
Prayer after Communion
Let us pray
Almighty God, in this eucharist you give us the joy of sharing your life. Keep us in your presence. Let us never be separated from you. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Amen.