Proper 7
week of the Sunday closest to June 22

Collect
O Lord, we beseech thee, make us have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name, for thou never failest to help and govern those whom thou hast set upon the sure foundation of thy loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Zechariah 12:8-10; 13-1
On that day the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the LORD going before them. On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.

"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

131"On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

Second Lesson: Galatians 3:23-29
Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Psalm: 63:1-8

1. O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; *
   my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,
   as in a barren and dry land where there is no water.
2. Therefore I have gazed upon you in your holy place, *
   that I might behold your power and your glory.
3. For your loving-kindness is better than life itself; *
   my lips shall give you praise.
4. So will I bless you as long as I live *
   and lift up my hands in your Name.
5. My soul is content, as with marrow and fatness, *
   and my mouth praises you with joyful lips,
6. When I remember you upon my bed, *
   and meditate on you in the night watches.
7. For you have been my helper, *
   and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.
8. My soul clings to you; *
   your right hand holds me fast.

Gospel: Luke 9:18-24
Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life."

"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

Peter answered, "The Christ of God."

Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

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

Sts. Vidicon & Isidore