Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our Fathers. For Thou art just in all Thou hast done to us.
– THE EPISTLE (For the Third Sunday after Pentecost)-
The Lord is my strength and my song. With chastisement hath the Lord chastened me.
The Reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. (5:1-10)
Brethren, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him also we have obtained our access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we also boast in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces patience; and patience produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. For while we were still weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, though perhaps for a good man one would even dare to die. But God shows his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, through him shall we be saved from the wrath. For if we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, while we were enemies, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life.
-THE GOSPEL (For the Third Sunday of Matthew)-
The Reading of the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew. (6:22-33)
The Lord said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of heaven: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon himself in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”
Bulletin June 25, 2023