The Word of the Lord - 12

The Lord had arranged that a great fish should be there to swallow Jonah; and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. From the belly of the fish he prayed to the Lord. (Jonah 2:1-2)



The Lord will come and not be slow,
His footsteps cannot err;
Before him righteousness shall go,
His royal harbinger.

Truth from the earth, like to a flower,
Shall bud and blossom then;
And justice, from her heavenly bower,
Look down on mortal man.

Rise, God, judge thou the earth in might,
This wicked earth redress;
For thou art he who shalt by right
The nations all possess.

The nations all whom thou hast made
Shall come, and all shall frame
To bow them low before thee, Lord,
And glorify thy name.

For great thou art, and wonders great
By thy strong hand are done:
Thou in thy everlasting seat
Remainest God alone.

The Word of the Lord - 11

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding in his hand a live coal which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. With this he touched my mouth and said; 'See now, this has touched your lips, your sin is taken away, your iniquity is purged'. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: 'Whom shall I send? who will be our messenger?' I answered, 'Here I am, send me'. (Isaiah 6:6-8)



Bright the vision that delighted
Once the sight of Judah's seer;
Sweet the countless tongues united
To entrance the prophet's ear.

Round the Lord in glory seated
Cherubim and Seraphim
Filled his temple, and repeated
Each to each the alternate hymn:

Lord, thy glory fills the heaven;
Earth is with its fulness stored;
Unto thee be glory given,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord.'

The Word of the Lord - 10

The fame of Solomon having reached the queen of Sheba... she came to test him with difficult questions. She brought immense riches to Jerusalem with her, camels laden with spices, great quantities of gold, and precious stones. On coming to Solomon, she opened her mind freely to him; and Solomon had an answer for all her questions, not one of them was too obscure for the king to expound. When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built, the food at his table, the accommodation for his officials, the organisation of his staff and the way they were dressed, his cup-bearers, and the holocausts he offered in the Temple of the Lord, it left her breathless, and she said to the king, 'What I heard in my own country about you and your wisdom was true, then!'



Light's abode, celestial Salem,
Vision dear when peace doth spring,
Brighter than the heart can fancy,
Mansion of the highest King;
O, how glorious are the praises
Which of thee the prophets sing!

There for ever and for ever
Alleluia is outpoured;
For unending, for unbroken
Is the feast-day of the Lord;
All is pure and all is holy
That within thy walls is stored.

The Word of the Lord - 9

The Lord said to Samuel, 'How long will you go on mourning over Saul when I have rejected him as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go, I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king from among his sons.' Samuel replied, 'How can I go? When Saul hears of this he will kill me.' Then the Lord said, 'Take an heifer with you and say, "I have come to sacrifice to the Lord'. Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and then I myself will tell you what you must do; you must anoint to me the one I point out to you.' (1 Samuel 16:1-3)

He then said to Jesse, 'Are these all the sons you have? He answered , 'There is still one left, the youngest; he is out looking after the sheep'. Then Samuel said to Jesse, 'Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he comes'. Jesse had him sent for, a boy of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. The Lord said, 'Come, anoint him, for this is the one'. At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed with him from that day on. (1 Samuel 16:11-13)



The King of love my shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his
And he is mine for ever.

Where streams of living water flow
My ransomed soul he leadeth,
And where the verdant pastures grow
With food celestial feedeth.

Thou spread'st a table in my sight;
Thy unction grace bestoweth:
And O what transport of delight
From thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
Within thy house for ever.

The Word of the Lord - 8

Samuel was in the service of the Lord; the boy wore a linen loin-cloth round him. His mother used to make him a little tunic which she brought him each year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Alkanah and his wife and say, 'May the Lord grant you an heir by this woman in place of the one she has made over to the Lord.' And then they would go home. The Lord visited Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. (1 Samuel 2:18-21)



Heavenly Father, send thy blessing
On thy children gathered here,
May they all, thy name confessing,
Be to thee for ever dear;
May they be, like Joseph, loving,
Dutiful, and chaste, and pure;
And their faith, like David proving,
Steadfast unto death endure.

Spread thy golden pinions o'er them,
Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
Guide them, lead them, go before them,
Give them peace, and joy, and love;
Temples of the Holy Spirit,
May they with thy glory shine,
And immortal bliss inherit,
And for evermore be thine!

The Word of the Lord - 7

So Ruth stayed with the servants of Boaz and gleaned until the barley and wheat harvests were done. And she went on living with her mother-in-law. (Ruth 2:23)

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And when they came together, the Lord made her conceive and she bore a son. And the women said to Naomi, 'Blessed be the Lord who has not left the dead man without next of kin this day to perpetuate his name in Israel. The child will be a comfort to you and the prop of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you and is more to you than seven sons has given him birth.' And Naomi took the child to her own bosom, and she became his nurse.

And the women of the neighbourhood gave him a name. 'A son has been born for Naomi' they said; and they named him Obed. This was the father of David's father, Jesse. (Ruth 4:13-17)



O come, thou Branch of Jesse! draw
The quarry from the lion's claw:
From the dread caverns of the grave,
From nether hell, thy people save.
Rejoive! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Have a Happy Sunday!

The Word of the Lord - 6

The Israelites pitched their camp at Gilgal and kept the Passover there on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening in the plain of Jericho. On the morrow of the Passover they tasted the produce of that country, unleavened bread and roasted ears of corn that same day. From that time, from their first eating of the produce of that country, the manna stopped falling. And having manna no longer, the Israelites fed from that year onwards on what the land of Canaan yielded. (Joshua 5:10-12)



We too have Manna from above,
The bread that came from heaven;
To us the same kind hand of love
Hath living waters given.
A Rock we have, from whence the spring
In rich abundance flows;
That Rock is Christ, our Priest, our King,
Who life and health bestows.

O let us prize this blessed food,
And trust our heavenly Guide;
So shall we find death's fearful flood
Serene as Jordan's tide,
And safely reach that happy shore,
The land of peace and rest,
Where Angels worship and adore,
In God's own presence blest.

[Please note - I am fully aware that today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (indeed I was deacon at the Vigil Mass celebrated in Westminster Cathedral last night), but I am going through important stories in Scripture in a definite order - and Our Lady will appear later on in Advent. Happy Feast!]