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Image: "Healing of the Possessed at Gadarene," Frank Wesley, 1923-2002.

Theme of the Day

This Sunday’s texts paint startling pictures of the horrific nature of sin. The church’s repeated celebration of holy communion counters that tragic reality in a continued showing forth of the death of Jesus until he comes again. It is a dramatic declaration of “how much God has done for you.”

The Collect for Sunday

Lord, you step upon on our guarded shore and confront our chaos: may we who are divided and overwhelmed by the forces of death learn from you to speak our own name and proclaim your works of life; through Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High God. Amen.

Prayer Intentions

The prayers of the church are offered especially:

  • for the renewal of creation;
  • for peace in the world and especially for an end to the war in Ukraine;
  • for all refugees who flee war and violence;
  • for the needs of the world, especially at this time global pandemic;
  • for those who are particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus;
  • for those who are sick and those awaiting surgeries postponed;
  • for those who are isolated and anxious;
  • for the healing of racial inequality, prejudice, bigotry, systemic racism, injustice, and hatred;
  • for all who grieve for lost children, for the survivors of Indian Residential Schools, and for generational healing;
  • for those who are homeless;
  • for all those who mourn, who are lonely, or suffer from depression;
  • for all those who work for reconciliation and the common good;
  • for Elizabeth our Queen and all those set in authority under her, for Justin, the Prime Minister of Canada and all members of parliament; Doug, the Premier of Ontario and all member of the legistlature; Fred, the mayor of Hamilton and those who serve on city council;
  • for the whole church: for Susan, our Diocesan Bishop; for David and Brian, our priests; for all bish­ops, priests and dea­cons; and for all the bap­tized: that God may accomplish God's work in and through us for the sake of the world;
  • for all for whom we have been asked to pray, especially Olga, Jane, Stephanie, Barb;
  • for those who are dying and all those who have departed from this life and are at rest. 

In our cycles of prayer:

  • With the worldwide Anglican Communion, we pray for Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.
  • In our diocese, we pray for The Right Reverend Susan Bell, Diocesan Bishop and the staff of Cathedral Place.
  • In our neighbourhood we pray for Holy Trinity Ethiopian Orthodox Church, The Rev’d Aba Gebreeyesus Ayalew, head priest, and people of that parish.
  • In our parish cycle of prayer we pray for Roberta, Edie, Patricia, Alex, Brianna, Joan, Adrienne, and Craig. 
  • We pray also for all members of the parish who care for those with special needs through such ministries as: St Matthew’s House; Out of the Cold; The Rector’s Discretionary Fund.

Prayer requests to be included on the following Sunday can be submitted here by the Thursday morning before.

The Readings for Sunday

First Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-4 [5-7] 8-15a

Elijah has defeated the prophets of Baal through the power of God. Now, fleeing from Queen Jezebel, Elijah comes to Mount Horeb (another name for Sinai). God appears to him there not in power but in “the sound of sheer silence” and reassures him that he is not alone.

1Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.
 4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” [5Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” ] 8He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
  Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
 11He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15aThen the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.”

Psalm: Psalm 42--43

Send out your light and truth, that they may lead me. (Ps. 43:3)

 1As the deer longs | for the water-brooks,
  so longs my soul for | you, O God.
 2I thirst for God, for the | living God;
  when shall I come to appear before the pres- | ence of God?
 3My tears have been my food | day and night,
  while all day long they say to me, “Where now | is your God?”
 4I pour out my soul when I think | on these things;
  how I went with the multitude and led them into the house of God, with shouts of thanksgiving, among those | keeping festival. R
 5Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, and why are you so disquiet- | ed within me?
  Put your trust in God, for I will yet give thanks to the one who is my help | and my God.
 6My soul is heav- | y within me;
  therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan, and from the peak of Mizar among the | heights of Hermon. R
 7One deep calls to another in the roar of | your cascades;
  all your rapids and floods have gone | over me.
 8The Lord grants lovingkindness | in the daytime;
  in the night season the Lord’s song is with me, a prayer to the God | of my life. R
 9I will say to the God of my strength, “Why have you re- | jected me,
  and why do I wander in such gloom while the enemy op- | presses me?”
 10While my bones are being broken, my enemies mock me | to my face;
  all day long they mock me and say to me, “Where now | is your God?”
 11Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, and why are you so disquiet- | ed within me?
  Put your trust in God, for I will yet give thanks to the one who is my help | and my God.
 43: 1Give judgment for me, O God, and defend my cause against an un- | godly people;
  deliver me from the deceitful | and the wicked. R
 2For you are the God of my strength; why have you re- | jected me,
  and why do I wander in such gloom while the enemy op- | presses me?
 3Send out your light and your truth, that | they may lead me,
  and bring me to your holy hill and to your | sanctuary;
 4that I may go to the altar of God, to the God of my | joy and gladness;
  and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O | God my God.
 5Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, and why are you so disquiet- | ed within me?
  Put your trust in God, for I will yet give thanks to the one who is my help | and my God. R

Second Reading: Galatians 3:23-29

For Paul, baptism is a powerful bond that unites people not only with God but with other believers. Those who call themselves children of God experience a transformation that removes prejudices of race, social class, or gender in favor of true unity in Christ.

23Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Gospel: Luke 8:26-39

Jesus’ mission includes foreigners and his authority extends to the casting out of demons. Some who witness Jesus’ work are seized with confusion and fear, but the man who was healed is commissioned to give testimony to God’s mercy and power.

26Then [Jesus and his disciples] arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”—29for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) 30Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. 31They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
 32Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
 34When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. 35Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. 37Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

This Week in Holy Time

  • Sunday (19): Second Sunday after Pentecost, The Lord's Day.
  • Monday (20): Feria.
  • Tuesday (21): National Indigenous Day of Prayer (Holy Day).
  • Wednesday (22): Alban, First Martyr of Britain, c. 209, (Memorial).
  • Thursday (23): Feria. Eve of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist.
  • Friday (24): The Birth of Saint John the Baptist (Holy Day).
  • Saturday (25): Feria, Eve of Pentecost III.
  • Sunday (26): Third Sunday, after Pentecost, The Lord's Day.

For readings appropriate to the day visit here.

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