Psalm 50
1The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken;
he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to
its setting.
2Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty,
God reveals himself in glory.
3Our God will come and will not keep silence;
before him there is a consuming flame,
and round about him a raging storm.
4He calls the heavens and the earth from above
to witness the judgment of his people.
5“Gather before me my loyal followers,
those who have made a covenant with me
and sealed it with sacrifice.”
6Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause;
for God himself is judge.
7Hear, O my people, and I will speak:
“O Israel, I will bear witness against you; *
for I am God, your God.
8I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices;
your offerings are always before me.
9I will take no bull-calf from your stalls,
nor he-goats out of your pens;
10For all the beasts of the forest are mine,
the herds in their thousands upon the hills.
11I know every bird in the sky,
and the creatures of the fields are in my sight.
12If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.
13Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
14Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and make good your vows to the Most High.
15Call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall honor me.”
16But to the wicked God says:
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and take my covenant upon your lips;
17Since you refuse discipline,
and toss my words behind your back?
18When you see a thief, you make him your friend,
and you cast in your lot with adulterers.
19You have loosed your lips for evil,
and harnessed your tongue to a lie.
20You are always speaking evil of your brother
and slandering your own mother’s son.
21These things you have done, and I kept still,
and you thought that I am like you.”
22“I have made my accusation;
I have put my case in order before your eyes.
23Consider this well, you who forget God,
lest I rend you and there be none to deliver you.
24Whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving
honors me;
but to those who keep in my way will I show
the salvation of God.”
A Prayer Attributed to St. Francis
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
