The Collect

Lord, you have taught us that all our doings without love are nothing worth: send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love, the true bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whoever lives is counted dead before you. Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ’s sake, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

¶ The Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: 1 Kings 17.8-16(17-24)

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.  Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

Psalm 146

Refrain: The Lord shall reign for ever.

Alleluia. Praise the Lord, O my soul: while I live will I praise the Lord; * as long as I have any being, I will sing praises to my God.
Put not your trust in princes, nor in any human power, *for there is no help in them.
When their breath goes forth, they return to the earth; *on that day all their thoughts perish. R
Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help, *whose hope is in the Lord their God;
Who made heaven and earth,the sea and all that is in them; *who keeps his promise for ever;
Who gives justice to those that suffer wrong *and bread to those who hunger. R
The Lord looses those that are bound; *the Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; *the Lord loves the righteous;
The Lord watches over the stranger in the land; he upholds the orphan and widow; * but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.
The Lord shall reign for ever, * your God, O Zion, throughout all generations. Alleluia.

Refrain: The Lord shall reign for ever.

Second Reading: Galatians 1.11-24

I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus. Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen days; but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother. In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, ‘The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.’ And they glorified God because of me.

Gospel Reading: Luke 7.11-17

Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

Prayers of Intercession

Do you know the 1979 prayer book of The Episcopal Church? If not, may I recommend it highly as a source of prayers, particularly public prayers rather than for private worship. You can download it in various formats here.  (I have it in Word and keep a link on my Desktop). Today’s intercessions are based on prayers from it.

The most helpful commentary on the readings today I found in Jane Williams (you can read it on pp 80-81 here).

¶The Church of Christ

Gracious Lord, we pray for your holy  Church and ask you to flood it with the truth and peace of your Holy Spirit. Where the Church is right, strengthen it; where it is in error, re-direct it. Where the Church is corrupt, purify it;  where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it. Where it is faltering, stiffen its resolve so that it may fulfil its role as a shining beacon on a hill to all who surround it. 

Lord, look with compassion on your faithful people in all their frailty: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority

Lord, who made the universe with all its marvellous order, its atoms, worlds, and galaxies, and the infinite complexity of living creatures: in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us fellow-workers in your creation.  Give us wisdom and reverence so to use the resources of nature that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty. Grant that, as we probe the mysteries of your creation, we may come to know you more truly, and more surely fulfill our role in your eternal purpose;

Lord, look with compassion on your faithful people in all their frailty: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶The local community

Lord, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne.

Lord, look with compassion on your faithful people in all their frailty: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶Those who suffer

Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us, in the name of your Son, to sit beside them as we attempt to offer comfort to those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy through the knowledge of your presence.

Lord, look with compassion on your faithful people in all their frailty: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶The communion of saints

Lord, we give thanks to you for all your servants and witnesses of time past: for the apostles and all the martyrs and saints in every age and in every land. Lord of all,  our breath and being come from you, yet our earthly end is dust; as you loose the bound and feed the hungry, so bring us in your mercy through the grave and gate of death to the feast of eternal life,
where you reign for evermore.

Lord, look with compassion on your faithful people in all their frailty: in your mercy, hear our prayer