Invitatory
Lord, open my lips.
— And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Antiphon: Alleluia. The Lord is truly risen. Alleluia.
Psalm 94 (95) — Invitatory Psalm
Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:
As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.
And these men have not known my ways:
So I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.
Hymn (Week I — Easter Cycle)
At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing
At the Lamb’s high feast we sing
Praise to our victorious King,
Who hath washed us in the tide
Flowing from His pierced side;
Praise we Him, whose love divine
Gives His sacred Blood for wine,
Gives His Body for the feast,
Christ the victim, Christ the priest.
Where the Paschal blood is poured,
Death’s dark angel sheathes his sword;
Israel’s hosts triumphant go
Through the wave that drowns the foe.
Psalmody
Psalm 62 (63):2–9
Antiphon: My soul thirsts for thee, my God. Alleluia.
O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day.
For thee my soul hath thirsted; for thee my flesh, O how many ways!
In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water:
So in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory.
For thy mercy is better than lives: thee my lips will praise.
Thus will I bless thee all my life long: and in thy name I will lift up my hands.
Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness:
and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning:
Because thou hast been my helper.
And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings:
My soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me.
Canticle — Daniel 3:57–88, 56
Antiphon: All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord. Alleluia.
All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye heavens, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord…
O sun and moon, bless the Lord…
O stars of heaven, bless the Lord…
O every shower and dew, bless the Lord…
O all ye spirits of God, bless the Lord…
O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord…
O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord…
O ye dew and frost, bless the Lord…
O ye frost and cold, bless the Lord…
O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord…
O ye nights and days, bless the Lord…
O ye light and darkness, bless the Lord…
O ye lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord…
Let the earth bless the Lord: let it praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye mountains and hills, bless the Lord…
O all ye things that spring up in the earth, bless the Lord…
O ye fountains, bless the Lord…
O ye seas and rivers, bless the Lord…
O ye whales, and all that move in the waters, bless the Lord…
O all ye fowls of the air, bless the Lord…
O all ye beasts and cattle, bless the Lord…
O ye sons of men, bless the Lord…
O let Israel bless the Lord: let them praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye priests of the Lord, bless the Lord…
O ye servants of the Lord, bless the Lord…
O ye spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord…
O ye holy and humble of heart, bless the Lord…
O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless the Lord…
Let us bless the Father, and the Son, with the Holy Ghost:
Let us praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven:
and worthy of praise, and glorious, and exalted above all for ever.
Psalm 149
Antiphon: The Lord taketh delight in his people. Alleluia.
Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: let his praise be in the church of the saints.
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: and let the children of Sion be joyful in their king.
Let them praise his name in choir: let them sing to him with timbrel and psaltery.
For the Lord is well pleased with his people: and he will exalt the meek unto salvation.
The saints shall rejoice in glory: they shall be joyful in their beds.
The high praises of God shall be in their mouth: and two-edged swords in their hands:
To execute vengeance upon the nations, chastisements among the people:
To bind their kings with fetters, and their nobles with manacles of iron.
To execute upon them the judgment that is written: this glory is to all his saints.
Short Reading
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people: that you may declare his virtues, who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
Benedictus (Canticle of Zechariah)
Antiphon: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me. Alleluia.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us,
in the house of David his servant:
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets,
who are from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that hate us:
To perform mercy to our fathers,
and to remember his holy testament,
The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father,
that he would grant to us,
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
we may serve him without fear,
In holiness and justice before him,
all our days.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest:
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways:
To give knowledge of salvation to his people,
unto the remission of their sins:
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God,
in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death:
to direct our feet into the way of peace.
Intercessions
Christ is risen and has opened for us the way to the Father. Let us call upon Him with confidence:
Lord, hear our prayer.
You are the way that leads to the Father,
— guide Your Church in fidelity and courage.
You are the truth that frees us from illusion,
— purify our minds and strengthen our witness.
You are the life that conquers death,
— raise all who are weary, doubtful, or burdened.
You have prepared a place for us in the Father’s house,
— give us perseverance in faith and hope.
You dwell among Your people even now,
— make our homes reflections of Your peace.
Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven…
Concluding Prayer
O God, who dost restore us to eternal life in the resurrection of Christ, grant to thy people constancy in faith and hope, that we may never doubt the promises of which we have learned from thee. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Paradox of the Day
The only way forward is to follow Someone who has already gone ahead.
G.K. Chesterton Quote
“It is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength.”
Reflection
“Let not your heart be troubled.” It is a strange command, because it does not remove the trouble. It removes the illusion that trouble is master.
The apostles stood on the edge of collapse. Their world—visible, tangible, human—was about to be torn apart. And Christ does not give them a plan. He gives them Himself. This is either the most impractical answer in history, or the only one that has ever worked.
We are very modern in our anxieties. We want systems, forecasts, redundancies. We want to know the next ten steps before taking the first. Thomas asks for precisely that—and Christ refuses him with divine politeness. “I am the way.”
This is not mysticism in the vague sense. It is mysticism in the most concrete sense imaginable. The road is not an idea. It is a Person who walked, stumbled, bled, died, and rose again. To follow Him is not to understand everything. It is to trust Someone.
Chesterton delighted in this reversal: that Christianity is not complicated—it is demanding. It does not ask for cleverness; it asks for courage. It does not give us a map of the future; it gives us a companion who has conquered it.
So when the heart begins to trouble itself—as it always will—answer it not with optimism, but with allegiance. The house is real. The promise is real. And the One who made it has already opened the door.
Chesterton Radio
Keeping the signal alive from Atchison, Kansas.