Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost	September 8, 2024
Prayer of the Day
O Lord, always lead and follow us with your grace, that we may be still more intent on doing good. Grant this, we pray, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
First Reading: Isaiah 35:4-7a
4Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” 5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7athe burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water ... .
Psalm 146 (LBW)
1Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, | O my soul!*
	I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I | have my being.
2Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any | child of earth,*
	for there is no | help in them.
3When they breathe their last, they re- | turn to earth,*
	and in that day | their thoughts perish.
4Happy are they who have the God of Jacob | for their help!*
	whose hope is in the | Lord their God;
5Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that | is in them;*
	who keeps his prom- | ise forever;
6Who gives justice to those who | are oppressed,*
	and food to | those who hunger.
7The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes | of the blind;*
	the Lord lifts up those who | are bowed down;
8The Lord loves the righteous; the Lord cares | for the stranger;*
	he sustains the orphan and widow, but frustrates the way | of the wicked.
9The Lord shall | reign forever,*
	your God, O Zion, throughout all generations. | Hallelujah!
Psalm 146 (ESV)
1Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
5Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;
7who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
9The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!
Second Reading: James 2:1-10, 14-18
1My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? 8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Gospel: Mark 7:[24-30] 31-37
[24{Jesus} arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.] 31Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Next Week’s Readings:
Isaiah 50:4-10; Psalm 116:1-9; James 3:1-12; Mark 9:14-29