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<Proper 9> =The Sunday closest to July 6=

PRAYER (traditional language) O God, who hast taught us to keep all thy commandments by loving thee and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to thee with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language) O God, who have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to your with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

FOR YEAR A

FIRST READING: Zechariah 9:9-12 (Rejoice, Jerusalem, for your king comes, meek and lowly, riding on an ass. His kingdom shall extend from sea to sea.)

PSALM 145 (or 145:8-14) (Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.... The LORD upholds the falling, and raises up the low.)

EPISTLE: Romans 7:21--8:6 (The Law, and my inability to carry it out, condemn me to inner turmoil and death; but Christ has given me life and peace.)

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 11:25-30 (Jesus said: "All things have been given to me by my Father. No one knows the Father but the Son and those to whom the Son reveals him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavily burdened. I will refresh you. Take my yoke and learn of me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.")

FOR YEAR B

FIRST READING: Ezekiel 2:1-7 (Ezekiel is commissioned to speak to the people, who are stubborn and may or may not heed him.)

PSALM 123 (In our humiliation, we look to the LORD in utter dependence.)

EPISTLE: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 (Paul has received an extraordinary vision, but has been given an affliction to keep him humble.)

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Mark 6:1-6 (Jesus visits His home town of Nazareth, and is rejected.)

FOR YEAR C

FIRST READING: Isaiah 66:10-16 (The LORD will comfort and restore his people Israel.)

PSALM 66 (Praise to God, who rules in majesty and delivers his people.)

EPISTLE: Galatians 6:1-18 (Paul reminds his converts that neither circumcision nor anything else counts in comparison with the glory of Christ's saving cross.)

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 10:1-12,16-20 (Jesus chooses seventy disciples to go before him and preach. The number suggests the elders appointed to assist Moses (Numbers 11:16ff), and may also symbolize the nations of the earth, considered in Jewish tradition to be seventy in number.)

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<Proper 10> =The Sunday closest to July 13=

PRAYER (traditional language) O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee, and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language) O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

FOR YEAR A

FIRST READING: Isaiah 55:1-5,10-13 (Let everyone who thirsts come and drink freely. For as the rain falls from heaven and makes the earth productive, so my word shall go forth and accomplish its purpose. The mountains shall sing, and in place of briar and thorn there shall be cypress and myrtle.)

PSALM 65 (or 65:9-14) (Thou visitest the earth and enrichest it, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.)

EPISTLE: Romans 8:9-17 (The Spirit of Christ dwells in us, and makes us the children of God.)

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 13:1-9,18-23 (A farmer sowed seed, and some fell on bad ground and did not produce a lasting crop, but some fell on good ground and did. So the Good News is preached to many kinds of hearers, and some do not profit, but some do.)

FOR YEAR B

FIRST READING: Amos 7:7-15 (Amos spoke of judgement upon the land. The Royal Chaplain said, "You must not speak that way in the king's own city." Amos said, "I speak as the LORD commands me.")

PSALM 85 (or 85:7-13) ("Mercy and truth are met together.... The LORD will grant prosperity.... Righteousness shall go before him, and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.)

EPISTLE: Ephesians 1:1-14 (Blessed be God, who has destined us to receive abundant graces, and who intends to unite all things in Christ.)

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Mark 6:7-13 (Jesus gives the Twelve authority over unclean spirits, and sends them out to preach and to heal.)

FOR YEAR C

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 30:9-14 (Moses commends the Law to the Israelites as neither burdensome nor obscure, and promises abundant blessing to those who keep it.)

PSALM 25 (A prayer of penitence and trust)

EPISTLE: Colossians 1:1-14 (Paul greets the Christians at Colossae, and praises God for their redemption and renewal in Christ.)

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 10:25-37 (A lawyer asks Jesus, "What is the chief commandment?" and, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus replies with the story of the Good Samaritan.)

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<Proper 11> =The Sunday closest to July 20=

PRAYER (traditional language) Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, who knowest our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion, we beseech thee, upon our infirmities, and those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask, mercifully give us for the worthiness of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language) Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, who know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

FOR YEAR A

FIRST READING: Wisdom 12:13,16-19 (Apocrypha) (For there is no other god but you; all the world is your concern, and there is none to whom you must prove the justice of your sentence. For your strength is the source of justice, and it is because you are Master of all that you are lenient to all. You show your strength when people doubt whether your power is absolute; it is when they know it and yet are insolent that you punish them. But you, with strength at your command, judge in mercy and rule us in great forbearance; for the power is yours to exercise whenever you like.)

ALTERNATE FIRST READING: Isaiah 44:6-8 (The LORD is eternal, the LORD is one, and there is no other god but He. Can anyone else foretell what is yet to be? Long ago, the LORD declared to us [our present situation?]. Let us therefore trust him and have no fear.)

PSALM 86 (or 86:11-17) (Lord, my enemies seek my life; in your mercy come to my deliverance.)

EPISTLE: Romans 8:18-25 (The whole creation is in bondage, impatiently awaiting its glorious deliverance.)

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 (A man sowed good seed in his field, but an enemy sowed weeds (tares, darnel). Good and bad plants grow side by side, but in the end, when the field is harvested, they will be sorted out.)

FOR YEAR B

FIRST READING: Isaiah 57:14b-21 ("Peace, peace, to the far and to the near, says the LORD.")

PSALM 22:22-30 ("All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD.")

EPISTLE: Ephesians 2:11-22 (Christ, by his death, breaks down the barrier between Jew and Gentile, making them one people, and preaching peace to those who are far off, and to those who are nigh.)

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Mark 6:30-44 (The feeding of the Five Thousand)

FOR YEAR C

FIRST READING: Genesis 18:1-10a(10b-14) (The LORD appears to Abraham and Sarah, and promises Sarah a child within the year.)

PSALM 15 (The LORD demands uprightness of His people.)

EPISTLE: Colossians 1:21-29 ("Christ has reconciled you who were estranged, to present you holy. ... I, Paul, rejoice in my sufferings for you...to present every man mature In Christ.")

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 10:38-42 (Mary of Bethany sits and listens to Jesus while her sister Martha works. Jesus declines to rebuke Mary.)

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<Proper 12> =The Sunday closest to July 27=

PRAYER (traditional language) O God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language) O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

FOR YEAR A

FIRST READING: 1 Kings 3:5-12 (When Solomon became king, God spoke to him in a dream, and asked, "What shall I give you? Riches? Long Life?" Solomon said: "Wisdom to govern aright." God said: "You shall have wisdom, and the other things as well.")

PSALM 119:121-136 (or 119:129-136) ("The unfolding of thy words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.")

EPISTLE: Romans 8:26-34 (When we do not know how to pray, the Spirit prays in us. If God is for us, who is against us? )

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 13:31-33,44-49a (The Kingdom of God is like (a) a mustard seed, which starts small and grows into a large plant, (b) a dab of yeast starter, which is mixed with a large bowl of bread dough, and makes the whole thing spongy, (c) a treasure, for which a man will give all that he has, (d) a fishnet, which brings in fish of all sorts.)

FOR YEAR B

FIRST READING: 2 Kings 2:1-15 (When Elijah reached the end of his ministry, his appointed successor Elisha would not leave him, and when they went together into the wilderness, the Jordan parted to let them pass. As Elijah was taken up by a chariot and horses of fire, he dropped his mantle on Elisha, who received power to carry on his work. As he returned home alone, the Jordan parted to let him pass.)

PSALM 114 (When God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, he showed his might and his favor to his people. The Red Sea parted, the mountains shook, the Jordan parted, all standing in awe at the presence of God.)

EPISTLE: Ephesians 4:1-7,11-16 (We are all one body in Christ. But he has given different gifts to different persons, making some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, etc. for the nurturing of the body, till we mature and grow into proportion with our head, who is Christ, and make a body fitly framed, a finely tuned instrument, working together in concinnity, as is right.)

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Mark 6:45-52 (Jesus walks on the Lake of Galilee.)

FOR YEAR C

FIRST READING: Genesis 18:20-33 (Abraham intercedes for any righteous remnant that may be found in Sodom, and God promises to spare the city if it contains ten good men.)

PSALM 138 ("Though I walk through troubles, thou dost uphold me.")

EPISTLE: Colossians 2:6-15 (Do not be distracted by theories about archangels and "forces." In Jesus Christ there dwells the fulness of God, and by His death and resurrection He has freed you, breaking the power of sin and death.)

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 11:1-13 (Jesus teaches his disciples to pray ("Our Father"), and shows them by earthly examples that their heavenly Father will hear and befriend them.)

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