Every day, we will post a few brief prayers inspired by the Liturgy of the Hours.
O Lord, open my lips. And my mouth shall declare your praise.
Psalm 42:2-6
Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God. My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life; when can I enter and see the face of God? My tears have become my bread, by night, by day, as I hear it said all the day long: “Where is your God?” These things will I remember as I pour out my soul: how I would lead the rejoicing crowd into the house of God, amid cries of gladness and thanksgiving, the throng wild with joy. Why are you cast down, my soul, why groan within me? Hope in God; I will praise him still, my savior and my God.
Reading: From a sermon by St. Alphonsus Ligouri
God made this abundance of things out of love for man, so that all creation might serve man, and man in turn might love God out of gratitude for so many gifts. But he did not wish to give us only beautiful creatures; the truth is that to win for himself our love, he went so far as to bestow upon us the fullness of himself. The eternal Father went so far as to give us his only Son. When he saw that we were all dead through sin and deprived of his grace, what did he do? Compelled, as the Apostle says, by the superabundance of his love for us, he sent his beloved Son to make reparation for us and to call us back to a sinless life. By giving us his Son, whom he did not spare precisely so that he might spare us, he bestowed on us at once every good: grace, love and heaven; for all these goods are certainly inferior to the Son: He who did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for all of us: how could he fail to give us along with his Son all good things?
The Canticle of Mary
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
Intercessions
Fill the hungry with good things. Come Lord Jesus! Give us a deeper love for you in the Eucharist. Come Lord Jesus! Gather your scattered people into one. Come Lord Jesus!
Dear Jesus, You provided food for the hungry crowd when there was not enough. Increase our desire for you that we may always strive to do what pleases you. We ask the Father for this in your name in union with the Holy Spirit. Amen.
