First Readings –Readings from the Old Testament |
1) A Reading from the Book of Lamentations (3,17-26)
My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “Gone is my glory, and all that I hoped for from the Lord”. The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is gall to me! My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him”. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
This is the Word of the Lord
2) A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah (25,6-9)
On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food. On this mountain he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples, and the shroud enwrapping all nations. He will destroy death for ever. The Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek; he will take away his people’s shame everywhere on earth, for the Lord has said so. That day, it will be said: See, this is our God in whom we hoped for salvation; the Lord is the one in whom we hoped. We exult and rejoice that he has saved us.
This is the Word of the Lord
3) A reading from the second book of Samuel (19,1-5)
King David went up to the room over the gate and burst into tears, and weeping said, “My son Absalom! My son! My son Absalom! Would I had died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!” Word was brought to Joab, “The King is now weeping and mourning for Absalom”. And the day’s victory was turned to mourning for all troops, because they learned that the king was grieving for his son. And the troops returned stealthily that day to the town, as troops creep back ashamed when routed in battle. The king has veiled his face and was crying aloud, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!”
This is the Word of the Lord
Second Readings –Readings from the New Testament |
4) A Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians (4,13-18)
We want you to be quite certain, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them like the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him. We can tell you this from the Lord’s own teaching that any of us who are left alive until the Lord’s coming will not have any advantage over those who have died. At the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel will call out the command and the first to rise, and those of us who are still alive, will be taken up in the clouds, together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. So we shall stay with the lord forever. With such thoughts as these you should comfort one another.
This is the Word of the Lord