Hymn, readings and prayers for Sunday

THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

St. Mark’s, Cairo

The collect for the Eigtth Sunday after Trinity

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 of your great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

First Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”                                                                                                          

Jeremiah preached his message to Judah from 626 until about 589-587 B.C, raising awareness of the way the kings, entrusted with the safekeeping of their people, were little by little selling out to the powers of the Babylonian Empire. This would inevitably lead to exile in a foreign land: it was the lawless and corrupt leaders who would be responsible. Jeremiah prophesies the coming of a new king who will restore justice and righteousness and who will shepherd his flock with compassion and gentleness.  The qualities of this Shepherd are summed up in Psalm 23.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.                                                                                            

He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters.                                                    

He revives my soul and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.                         

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.                                                                                              

You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over.                                                                                                                                

Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,  and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.  

3^rd or 4^th Century Roman catacombs.

Second Reading: Ephesians 2: 11-end                                                                                        

Remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” —a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

Paul spent two years in Ephesus, shepherding the flock and spreading the Gospel in a city inhabited by people of very different cultural, social and religious backgrounds.  His message was one of peace and reconciliation as through Christ’s love and sacrifice all have been brought together as citizens and members of God's household.

Gospel Reading: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognised them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognised him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed. 

The Good Shepherd: Cranach

"He saw a great crowd; and He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd." The disciples and Jesus were exhausted after days of frantic activity and were in need of rest but Jesus saw the need and responded with compassion. He would find time, however hard pressed he was,  to teach and care for the people.

We pray for our Church leaders that, despite the challenges of current times, they may shepherd their flock with compassion and understanding, inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit.

We pray for our political leaders that they may always have as their priority the welfare of those in their care.

We pray for those who work on the land with livestock and poultry that they may never lose sight of the wonders of Creation.

We pray for those whose professional calling is to care for others.

Loving Father, we ask you to heal the sick, thinking of ...................................................................... We ask you to be with them and strengthen them.

We pray for those who have departed this life and are now in the fullness of God's presence. We pray too that the bereaved may be comforted.