Weekly Bulletin for Sunday, August 08, 2010

The Tenth Sunday after Trinity

Divine Office

Order of service for Morning and Evening Prayer.

Services and Events

Opening Prayer

Let your merciful ears, O Lord,
be open to the prayers of your humble servants;
and that they may obtain their petitions
make them to ask such things as shall please you;
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

Genesis 15.1-6
A reading from the book of Genesis.

1 The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision,
‘Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield;
your reward shall be very great.’
2 But Abram said,
‘O Lord GOD, what will you give me,
for I continue childless,
and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’
3 And Abram said,
‘You have given me no offspring,
and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.’
4 But the word of the LORD came to him,
‘This man shall not be your heir;
no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.’
5 The Lord brought Abraham outside and said,
‘Look toward heaven and count the stars,
if you are able to count them.’
Then he said to him,
‘So shall your descendants be.’
6 And he believed the LORD;
and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 33.12-22
R Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own!

12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord!
happy the people he has chosen to be his own!
13 The Lord looks down from heaven,
and beholds all the people in the world.
14 From where he sits enthroned he turns his gaze
on all who dwell on the earth. R
15 He fashions all the hearts of them
and understands all their works.
16 There is no king that can be saved by a mighty army;
the strong are not delivered by great strength.
17 The horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
for all its strength it cannot save. R
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord
is upon those who fear him,
on those who wait upon his love,
19 To pluck their lives from death,
and to feed them in time of famine. R
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 Indeed, our heart rejoices in him,
for in his holy name we put our trust.
22 Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us,
as we have put our trust in you. R

Second Reading

Hebrews 11.1-3,8-16
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews.

1 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.
2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God,
so that what is seen
was made from things that are not visible.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed
when he was called to set out for a place
that he was to receive as an inheritance;
and he set out,
not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he stayed for a time
in the land he had been promised,
as in a foreign land, living in tents,
as did Isaac and Jacob,
who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations,
whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith he received power of procreation,
even though he was too old –
and Sarah herself was barren –
because he considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one person,
and this one as good as dead,
descendants were born,
‘as many as the stars of heaven
and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.’
13 All of these died in faith
without having received the promises,
but from a distance they saw and greeted them.
They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,
14 for people who speak in this way
make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind,
they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country,
that is, a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God;
indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

Acclamation

Alleluia! Who is greater, says the Lord, the one who is at table or the one who serves? But I am among you as one who serves. Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 12.32-40
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.

Jesus said to his disciples,
32 ‘Do not be afraid, little flock,
for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
33 Sell your possessions, and give alms.
Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out,
an unfailing treasure in heaven,
where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
35 Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;
36 be like those who are waiting for their master
to return from the wedding banquet,
so that they may open the door for him
as soon as he comes and knocks.
37 Blessed are those slaves
whom the master finds alert when he comes;
truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt
and have them sit down to eat,
and he will come and serve them.
38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn,
and finds them so,
blessed are those slaves.
39 But know this:
if the owner of the house
had known at what hour the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
40 You also must be ready,
for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’

Closing Prayer

God of our pilgrimage,
you have willed that the gate of mercy
should stand open for those who trust in you:
look upon us with your favour
that we who follow the path of your will
may never wander from the way of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.