Proper 5
week of the Sunday closest to June 8

Collect
O God, from whom all good doth come: Grant that by thy inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by thy merciful guiding may perform the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Hosea 5:15--6:6
Then I will go back to my place
until they admit their guilt.
And they will seek my face;
in their misery they will earnestly seek me.

Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.

"What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.
Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth;
my judgments flashed like lightning upon you.
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."

Second Lesson: Romans 4:13-18
It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Psalm: 50

1. The LORD, the God of gods, has spoken; *
   he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to
   its setting.
2. Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, *
   God reveals himself in glory.
3. Our God will come and will not keep silence; *
   before him there is a consuming flame,
   and round about him a raging storm.
4. He calls the heavens and the earth from above *
   to witness the judgment of his people.
5. "Gather before me my loyal followers, *
   those who have made a covenant with me
   and sealed it with sacrifice."
6. Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause; *
   for God himself is judge.
7. Hear, O my people, and I will speak: "O Israel, I will bear witness against you; *
   for I am God, your God.
8. I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices; *
   your offerings are always before me.
9. I will take no bull-calf from your stalls, *
   nor he-goats out of your pens;
10. For all the beasts of the forest are mine, *
    the herds in their thousands upon the hills.
11. I know every bird in the sky, *
    and the creatures of the fields are in my sight.
12. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, *
    for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.
13. Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, *
    or drink the blood of goats?
14. Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving *
    and make good your vows to the Most High.
15. Call upon me in the day of trouble; *
    I will deliver you, and you shall honor me."
16. But to the wicked God says: *
    "Why do you recite my statutes,
    and take my covenant upon your lips;
17. Since you refuse discipline, *
    and toss my words behind your back?
18. When you see a thief, you make him your friend, *
    and you cast in your lot with adulterers.
19. You have loosed your lips for evil, *
    and harnessed your tongue to a lie.
20. You are always speaking evil of your brother *
    and slandering your own mother's son.
21. These things you have done, and I kept still, *
    and you thought that I am like you."
22. "I have made my accusation; *
    I have put my case in order before your eyes.
23. Consider this well, you who forget God, *
    lest I rend you and there be none to deliver you.
24. Whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    honors me; *
    but to those who keep in my way will I show
    the salvation of God."

Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Collect & Psalm from the Book of Common Prayer
Other excerpts from the New International Bible

Sts. Vidicon & Isidore