Prayers

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Anglican Cycle of Prayer

The Most Rev. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola

Episcopal Church

The Most Rev. Michael Curry, XXVII Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church
The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe, XXVIII Presiding Bishop-elect of the Episcopal Church

The Archives of the Episcopal Church

Dioceses of North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming

Diocese of Olympia

The Most Rev. Melissa Skelton, Bishop Provisional of the Diocese of Olympia
The Rev. Philip N. LaBelle, Diocesan Bishop-elect of the Diocese of Olympia

Underhill House, Seattle
Center for Spiritual Development
St. James Family Center, Cathlamet

Those in authority

Joseph R. Biden, Jr, President of the United States
Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States

Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington

Teri Gobin, Chair of the Tulalip
Cecile Hanson, Chair of the Duwamish

Lessons

Lessons appointed for use for this day from the Revised Common Lectionary (Episcopal version).

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 (NRSV)

So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God with which I am charging you. You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!” For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today? But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.

Psalm 15 (BCP)

Domine, quis habitabit?

1 Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? *
     who may abide upon your holy hill?
2 Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, *
     who speaks the truth from his heart.
3 There is no guile upon his tongue; he does no evil to his friend; *
     he does not heap contempt upon his neighbor.
4 In his sight the wicked is rejected, *
     but he honors those who fear the Lord.
5 He has sworn to do no wrong *
     and does not take back his word.
6 He does not give his money in hope of gain, *
     nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
7 Whoever does these things *
     shall never be overthrown.

James 1:17-27 (NRSV)

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (NRSV)

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

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The Old Testament, New Testament and Gospel readings are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Psalm is from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.