Proper 6
Week of the Sunday closest to June 15

Collect
Keep, O Lord, we beseech thee, thy household the Church in thy steadfast faith and love, that through thy grace we may proclaim thy truth with boldness, and minister thy justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Ezekiel 31:1-6,10-14
In the eleventh year, in the third month on the first day, the word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:

'Who can be compared with you in majesty?
Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.
The waters nourished it, deep springs made it grow tall; their streams flowed all around its base and sent their channels to all the trees of the field.
So it towered higher than all the trees of the field; its boughs increased and its branches grew long, spreading because of abundant waters.
All the birds of the air nested in its boughs, all the beasts of the field gave birth under its branches; all the great nations lived in its shade.

10'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because it towered on high, lifting its top above the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height, I handed it over to the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside, and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys; its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it. All the birds of the air settled on the fallen tree, and all the beasts of the field were among its branches. Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined for death, for the earth below, among mortal men, with those who go down to the pit."

Second Lesson: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Psalm: 92

  1. It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD, *
    and to sing praises to your Name, O Most High;
  2. To tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning *
    and of your faithfulness in the night season;
  3. On the psaltery, and on the lyre, *
    and to the melody of the harp.
  4. For you have made me glad by your acts, O LORD; *
    and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
  5. LORD, how great are your works! *
    your thoughts are very deep.
  6. The dullard does not know,
    nor does the fool understand, *
    that though the wicked grow like weeds,
    and all the workers of iniquity flourish,
  7. They flourish only to be destroyed for ever; *
    but you, O LORD, are exalted for evermore.
  8. For lo, your enemies, O LORD,
    lo, your enemies shall perish, *
    and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
  9. But my horn you have exalted like the horns of wild bulls; *
    I am anointed with fresh oil.
  10. My eyes also gloat over my enemies, *
    and my ears rejoice to hear the doom of the wicked who
    rise up against me.
  11. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, *
    and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
  12. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD *
    shall flourish in the courts of our God;
  13. They shall still bear fruit in old age; *
    they shall be green and succulent;
  14. That they may show how upright the LORD is, *
    my Rock, in whom there is no fault.

Gospel: Mark 4:26-34
He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

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

Sts. Vidicon & Isidore