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Preparation
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Praise
Lord of the hosts of heaven,
our salvation and our strength,
without you we are lost:
guard us from all that harms
and raise is when we fall;
though Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Psalm 84.1-10
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My soul has a desire and longing to enter the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young:
at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Blessed are they who dwell in your house:
they will always be praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion,
Who going through the barren valley find there a spring,
and the early rains will clothe it with blessing.
They will go from strength to strength
and appear before God in Zion.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
listen, O God of Jacob.
Behold our defender, O God,
and look upon the face of your anointed.
For one day in your courts
is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of ungodliness.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
Reading
Mark 7.1-13
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 honours 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 said to them, ‘You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, “Honour your father and your mother”; and, “Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.” But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, “Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban” (that is, an offering to God) — then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.’
Prayers of intercession
Let us pray to the Lord, who knows all the secrets of our hearts.
Give grace to the Church to be steadfast in faith, firm in your word, zealous in good work. Keep your people strong when their discipleship is costly and the burden is heavy.
Have mercy on your human creation that does not recognise its true identity. Restore the world to knowledge of the truth and lead it out of the slavery of error into the perfect law of liberty.
Fill us with praise for the good gifts that you have given to us in families and friendships. Give us grace to use them in your service for the good of others.
Visit and relieve all who suffer from cruelty and injustice under evil laws. Through the sufferings of Christ, grant them release and turn the hearts of their persecutors.
We give thanks for the peace of the departed, whose suffering is over and who rest in your care. Grant them a place in the glory of heaven.
We pray that our petitions may be pure and acceptable in the sight of God.
Prayer for the week
Lord Christ,
shine upon all who are in the darkness of suffering or grief;
that in your light they may receive hope and courage,
and in your presence may find their rest and peace;
for your love’s sake.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Grace
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore. Amen.