Isaiah 35:4-7a
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
The Psalm
Psalm 146
Lauda, anima mea
1 Hallelujah!
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.
2 Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
for there is no help in them.
3 When they breathe their last, they return to earth, *
and in that day their thoughts perish.
4 Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! *
whose hope is in the LORD their God;
5 Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who keeps his promise for ever;
6 Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
and food to those who hunger.
7 The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind; *
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
8 The LORD loves the righteous;
the LORD cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.
9 The LORD shall reign for ever, *
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Hallelujah!
The Epistle
James 2:1-10, [11-13], 14-17
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious
Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your
assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the
one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is
poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among
yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.
Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom
that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the
rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme
the excellent name that was invoked over you?
You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love
your neighbor as yourself.” But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by
the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become
accountable for all of it.[ For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said,
“You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have
become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the
law of liberty. For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy;
mercy triumphs over judgment.]
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?
Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says
to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily
needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
The Gospel
Mark 7:24-37
Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want
anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little
daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed
down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him
to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is
not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir,
even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying
that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child
lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of
Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an
impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside
in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched
his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be
opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke
plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more
zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done
everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
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