Prayers

Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Anglican Cycle of Prayer

The Most Rev. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

The Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma)

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

African Descent Ministries

Dioceses of Arkansas, Dallas

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

Annie Wright School, Tacoma
Charles Wright Academy, Tacoma
The Table: University of Washington Episcopal Campus Ministry

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).

Isaiah 35:4-7a (NRSV)

Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.

Psalm 146 (BCP)

Lauda, anima mea

1 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, O my soul! *
     I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
2 Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
     for there is no help in them.
3 When they breathe their last, they return to earth, *
     and in that day their thoughts perish.
4 Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! *
     whose hope is in the Lord their God;
5 Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
     who keeps his promise for ever;
6 Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
     and food to those who hunger.
7 The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; *
     the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
8 The Lord loves the righteous; the Lord cares for the stranger; *
     he sustains the orphan and widow, but frustrates the way of the wicked.
9 The Lord shall reign for ever, *
     your God, O Zion, throughout all generations. Hallelujah!

James 2:1-10(11-13)14-17 (NRSV)

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

[For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.]

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Mark 7:24-37 (NRSV)

Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

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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.