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Today is July 6th, Trinity 7
First Reading: Zechariah 9.9-12
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding
on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from
Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle-bow shall be cut off,
and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to
sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of
the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless
pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I
will restore to you double.
Psalm 145.8-14
The Lord is / gracious and / merciful:
long-suffering / and of / great /
goodness.
The Lord is / loving to / everyone:
and his mercy is / over / all his /
creatures.
All your works / praise you, O / Lord:
and your / faithful / servants / bless
you.
They tell of the glory / of your / kingdom:
and / speak of your / mighty / power,
To make known to all peoples your / mighty /
acts:
and the glorious / splendour / of your /
kingdom.
Your kingdom is an ever/lasting / kingdom:
your dominion en/dures through/out all /
ages.
The Lord is sure in / all his / words:
and / faithful in / all his / deeds.
Second Reading: Romans 7.15-25a
I do not understand what I do;
for I don't do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate. Since what I do is what I don't want to do,
this shows that I agree that the Law is right. So I am not really the one who does this
thing; rather it is the sin that lives in me.
I know that good does not live in me---that is, in my human nature. For
even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it. I don't do the good I want to do; instead, I
do the evil that I do not want to do. If
I do what I don't want to do, this means that I am no longer the one who does
it; instead, it is the sin that lives in me.
So I find that this law is at work: when I want to do what is good, what
is evil is the only choice I have. My
inner being delights in the law of God.
But I see a different law at work in my body---a law that fights against
the law which my mind approves of. It makes me a prisoner to the law of sin
which is at work in my body. What an
unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to
death? Thanks be to God, who does this
through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Gospel: Matthew 11.16-19,25-30
At that time Jesus said, 'To what will I compare this
generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one
another, "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and
you did not mourn." For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say,
"He has a demon"; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, "Look,
a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!" Yet wisdom
is vindicated by her deeds. I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have
revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All
things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son
except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to
whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you that are weary and are
carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and
learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'
Post Communion Prayer
Lord God, whose Son is the true vine and
the source of life, ever giving himself that the world may live: may we so
receive within ourselves the power of his death and passion that, in his saving
cup, we may share his glory and be made perfect in his love; for he is alive
and reigns, now and for ever. Amen
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