Year B
Proper
18
Sunday 9 September 2012
Eucharistic Preface
Let
us lift up our hearts.
........We
lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our
God.
........It is right to
give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give
you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you embrace your people now
and forever
and promise the Kingdom to all who love you.
The
universe came into existence at your command
and rich and poor
alike have you as their maker.
Through Moses you taught your
people
to provide for the welfare of those in need,
and through
the prophets you thundered against our injustice
and called for
repentance in word and deed.
In your son, Jesus Christ,
your
love and healing mercy
reached beyond the bounds of our
prejudice
and demonstrated your compassion
for all who are
needy, afflicted or vulnerable.
Though he was killed by those who
sow injustice,
you raised him to new life
that he might sow in
us the seeds of faith,
filling our communities with love and
justice
and bringing forth a rich harvest of good
works.
Therefore with .....
©2003
Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net
Short
Preface
(for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with
fixed prefaces)
We give thanks for your son, Jesus Christ,
through whom your love and healing mercy
reached beyond the
bounds of our prejudice,
and who is now sowing in us the seeds of
faith,
that we might bring forth a rich harvest of good
works.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton
www.laughingbird.net
General
Prayer of Thanksgiving
(Preface reformatted for use
apart from communion)
We give you all
thanks and praise, O God,
for you embrace your people now and
forever
and promise the Kingdom to all who love you.
The
universe came into existence at your command
and rich and poor
alike have you as their maker.
Through Moses you taught your
people
to provide for the welfare of those in need,
and through
the prophets you thundered against our injustice
and called for
repentance in word and deed.
In your son, Jesus Christ,
your
love and healing mercy
reached beyond the bounds of our
prejudice
and demonstrated your compassion
for all who are
needy, afflicted or vulnerable.
Though he was killed by those who
sow injustice,
you raised him to new life
that he might sow in
us the seeds of faith,
filling our communities with love and
justice
and bringing forth a rich harvest of good
works.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you
thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever
and ever.
Amen.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton
www.laughingbird.net
Declaration
of Grace / Absolution
When we fail to keep even one
point of God’s law,
we become accountable for all of it,
but
God’s mercy triumphs over judgment,
setting us free and giving
us a faith that is active for good.
Sisters and Brothers,
........your sins are
forgiven;
................be at
peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton
www.laughingbird.net
Commission
& Benediction
Go now, and invest your
lives in the works of faith.
Make a name for yourselves for
generosity and compassion.
Fulfil God’s holy law
by putting
love into action as eagerly for others
as you would for
yourselves.
And may God be your defender and provider;
May
Christ Jesus dispel all that disturbs or disables you;
and may the
Holy Spirit make you rich in faith
........and
loving and merciful in action.
We go in peace to love and
serve the Lord,
........In the
name of Christ. Amen.
©2003 Nathan
Nettleton www.laughingbird.net
Paraphrases of the
Scripture Lections
for Proper
18 - Year B - Sunday 9 September 2012
Lections
from The Revised Common Lectionary.
Copyright 1992 by the
Consultation on Common Texts (CCT)
P. O. Box 340003, Room 381,
Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.
* Proverbs 22: 1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Given the
choice between a good reputation and triple-A credit
rating,
........take the good
reputation.
Respect will earn you what money can’t buy.
God
created everybody equal;
........and
at the end of the day,
................the
rich and the poor answer to the same God.
Anyone who invests
in injustice
........will reap
dividends of disaster,
................and
angrily throwing their weight around
........................won’t
get them out of trouble.
If you really want to maximise your
returns,
........open your hands,
open your table,
................share
what you have with those in need.
Don’t rip off the poor
just because they’re easy targets,
........and
don’t use the law to take advantage of them
................just
because you can afford better lawyers.
If you do, you’ll find
God rising to their defence,
........and
if you’ve stomped them into the mud,
................the
LORD will stomp you into the mud.
©2000
Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net
* Psalm
125
Those who put their trust in you, O
LORD,
........are
like Mount Dandenong:
................solid,
calm and dependable.
Like the mountain watching over the
city,
........so you, LORD,
watch over you people,
................offering
protection, now and forever.
Where people are committed to
playing straight,
........you will
not let injustice dominate.
................If
it did, even trustworthy people
........................might
let evil through their guard.
O LORD, may
good things come
........to those who
have stayed true,
........to those
who have integrity
................and
goodness in their hearts.
But as for those who have embraced
the ways of corruption,
........be it
on their own heads if they are swept away
................when
you bring evil to its final end.
May all your people enjoy
peace, O LORD.
©2000
Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net
* James
2: 1-10, (11-13),
14-17
........Sisters and
brothers, if you really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ,
how come you still play favourites? If people walk into one of your
meetings and you make a fuss of the ones dressed up to the nines and
looking a million dollars, ushering them to the best seats in the
house, while at the same time turning up your nose at those dressed
like battlers, down on their luck, telling them to stand out in the
foyer, aren’t you practising apartheid, segregating God’s
children? You’re as crooked as a judge who bases your sentence on
the length of your skirt!
........Get
this straight in your minds, dear friends. God has turned the world’s
opinion polls upside down. Those who have been deprived of what the
world values have a huge head-start in the faith stakes. Their names
are at the top of the list of those who God has chosen to inherit the
riches of the kingdom. All who love God have an equal share in God’s
promises, but you’re insulting some of them by means-testing your
welcome. And just think about it — it’s the fat-cats who cut your
wages and increase your hours, isn’t it? It’s the silvertails who
use their fancy lawyers to bleed you dry. Aren’t they the ones who
even make a mockery of Christ by invoking his name to baptise their
positions of privilege?
........It is
quite simple to do the right thing — just fulfil the basic law of
God’s realm, as spelt out in the scriptures: “Love everyone else
as you love yourself.” But if you show favouritism to the young and
beautiful or the wealthy and powerful, then you are violating that
law and you stand convicted by it. It will show you for what you are
— a sinner. You see, you can’t pick and choose when it comes to
the law of God. You can’t claim exemption from one law on the
grounds that you’ve kept the rest. You can’t
pretend that because you’ve never had an affair you should be
regarded as a model of virtue and excused one little murder. God
ruled out both sexual betrayal and murder, and either one puts you
outside the law of love. See to it that everything you say and do is
consistent with the law of love which sets us free, for your living
of it sets the tone for how you’ll be judged by it. If you’ve
been harsh and intolerant in your judgment of others, you can be sure
of copping the same yourself. Mercy and generosity however will
outbid judgment every time.
........Brothers
and sisters, what’s the good of claiming to be a person of faith if
you never put love into action? Do you think a head full of
theoretical faith is enough to save you? You’ve got to be kidding.
Think about this: if someone you know has barely got a stitch to wear
or a scrap to eat, and you walk past saying, “Praise the Lord,
friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and
fail to offer even a coat or a sandwich, what good is that? You’ve
been worse than useless. Faith that doesn’t express itself in
compassionate action is obviously dead — rotting, putrid and no use
to anyone.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton
www.laughingbird.net
* Mark 7:
24-37
........Jesus moved
on to the district around the city of Tyre. He stayed in a house
where he didn’t think anyone would be able to find him. He stuck
out like a sore thumb though, and the word got around in no time.
He’d barely had time to take the weight off his feet when there was
a woman bowing and scraping before him, begging for help. She wasn’t
even Jewish, but came from the part of Syria known as Phoenicia. She
had a daughter who was deeply disturbed by some demonic force, and
she begged Jesus to set her free of it. But Jesus said to her, “First
things first. You can’t snatch food out of the children’s mouths
and throw it to the dogs.”
........But
she didn’t give up: “Sir, even dogs know to sit under the table
when the children are eating because there are always plenty of
scraps for them.”
........Jesus was
won over: “You’re absolutely right! Your words have carried the
day. Go home. The demons are gone. Your daughter is free.”
........So
she hurried home and sure enough, her daughter was relaxing on the
bed and the demonic torment was completely gone.
........Jesus
moved on again, leaving the district of Tyre and heading back towards
Lake Galilee via Sidon. As he passed through the district of the Ten
Towns, some people begged him to stop and lay a healing hand on a man
who was stone deaf and had such a severe speech impediment that he
could hardly make himself understood. Jesus took the man aside, away
from the eyes of the crowd. In the customary way, Jesus put his
fingers in the man’s ears and then spat on his finger and touched
the mans tongue as he prayed for him. Looking heavenward, Jesus gave
a deep groan and said, “Effatha!” which is the Aramaic word for
“Open up.”
........And it
happened, just like that. The man’s ears began to hear perfectly
and his speech became steady and clear.
........Jesus
gave them strict instructions to keep this to themselves, but he was
wasting his breath. The more he tried to hush it up, the more
energetic the grapevine got! Everyone was just so blown away by the
things he did, and they told anyone who would listen: “You should
see the things he can do — wonderful things. He even restores
hearing to the deaf and the power of speech to the dumb!”
©2000
Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net
Alternative
Hebrew Bible Lections themed to the Gospel Lection
*
Isaiah 35: 4-7a
Encourage
those who are fearing the worst;
........tell
them not to give in to their fears but to hang in there.
Assure
them that God is at hand;
........coming
to pay back oppressors what they deserve;
................coming
to rescue you, to set you free!
What a day that will
be!
........Eyes long blind will open
to colour and light!
................Ears
long deaf will hear music and laughter!
........Legs
long paralysed will dance like brolgas!
................Tongues
long tied will sing like lyrebirds!
For reviving rains will
fall on dry dusty land,
........and
rivers will flow in the desert.
Hard-baked salt pans will become
inland lakes,
........and cool water
will gush up between scorching rocks.
©2003
Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net
* Psalm
146
You are the best, LORD!
........With
all my heart I sing your praises.
I will never stop talking you
up;
........I won’t stop spruiking
your goodness till the day I die.
There is no one but you that
we can depend on, LORD;
........not
experts, not leaders, no one.
No human being can give what we most
need;
........no matter what their
plans and schemes promise,
................the
minute they’re gone, their promises die with them.
But we
hit the jackpot when we look to you for help, LORD;
........when
we put all our hopes in you — the God of our ancestors.
You are
the one who made earth and sky,
........who
poured out the seas and filled them with life.
You are true to
your word no matter what;
........when
people are ground into the dirt, you bring about
justice;
................when people
are left to starve, you come with food.
You, LORD,
set the prisoners free.
........You,
LORD, open the eyes of those who can’t
see.
You, LORD, put the downtrodden back on
their feet.
You, LORD, love those who do
the right thing.
........You, LORD,
keep a caring eye on the asylum seekers.
You stick up for those
who have no one else to stick up for them,
........but
you make the schemes of the corrupt backfire on them.
Take
charge forever, LORD,
........rule
from your sacred Mountain for all time.
You’re the best, LORD.
We’re with you all the way!
©2000 Nathan
Nettleton www.laughingbird.net