Sunday, August 29th Proper 17

The Collect 

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.

 Old Testament Song of Solomon 2:8-13 

The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice. My beloved speaks and says to me: "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." 

 Psalm 45:1-2, 7-10 

 1 My heart is stirring with a noble song;

 let me recite what I 

have fashioned for the king; * 

 my tongue shall be the pen of a skilled writer. 

2 You are the fairest of men; * 

 grace flows from your lips, because God

 has blessed you for ever. 

7 Your throne, O God, endures

 for ever and ever, * 

 a scepter of righteousness is the scepter 

of your kingdom; you love righteousness 

and hate iniquity. 

8 Therefore God, your God, has anointed you *

 with the oil of gladness above your fellows. 

9 All your garments are fragrant

 with myrrh, aloes, and cassia, * 

 and the music of strings from 

ivory palaces makes you glad. 

10 Kings' daughters stand among

 the ladies of the court; *

 on your right hand is the queen,

 adorned with the gold of Ophir. 

 The Epistle James 1:17-27 

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. 

The Gospel Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 

When the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 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.”

A Sunday Litany

Wondrous Creator who hung the stars

and made the mountains soar above us

you have taught us how to care for all

and we have turned from your direction.

Lord, remake us with hearts for love alone.

We often make rules and judge others harshly

while you put us in tribes to teach us well

the ways of your generosity and compassion

the connection we have with every being.

Lord, remake us with hearts for love alone.

In every season you show us abundant beauty

we are blessed and full yet we want even more

our greed and selfish ways have brought us low

and we are weak because we are disconnected.

Lord, remake us with heart for love alone.

Take the fear and anger from our hearts

Lord, remake us with hearts for love alone.

Give us the strength to confess our faults

Lord, remake us with hearts for love alone.

The need is great and the suffering is all around

Lord, remake us with hearts for love alone. Amen.