First reading
The whole world before you, O Lord,
is like a speck that tips the scales,
and like a drop of morning dew that falls on the ground.
But you are merciful to all,
for you can do all things,
and you overlook people’s sins,
so that they may repent.
Lord, you love all things that exist,
and detest none of the things that you have made,
for you would not have made anything if you had hated it.
How would anything have endured
if you had not willed it?
Or how would anything not called forth by you
have been preserved?
You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord,
you who love the living.
For your immortal spirit is in all things.
Therefore you correct little by little those who trespass,
and you remind and warn them of the things through which they sin,
so that they may be freed from wickedness
and put their trust in you, O Lord.