On the feast of St. Theodore of Tarsus, it seems appropriate to reflect on those people and places we add to our prayers each week. Theodore strove to bring about unity amidst a church that was severely divided in his time as the Archbishop of Canterbury, and in our own way, we continue the efforts towards unity and solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ by lifting them up in prayer.

There is an Anglican Cycle of Prayer that is put out by the Anglican Communion office whereby we pray for each province and diocese of the Communion once each year. While we typically hear of the larger provinces on Sundays, during the week individual dioceses usually fill the daily prayers. For example, we in the Diocese of Springfield were prayed for on January 18 of this year.

On top of these shared intercessions for our fellow Anglicans in general, we also have an intentional set of prayers that we maintain in our Diocesan Cycle of Prayer. These include prayers for an individual congregation on each Sunday within the diocese, including the clergy that serve them. It also includes the ministry partners we have in the Diocese of Peru and the Diocese of Tabora. Like our own churches, we lift up the clergy and people of one congregation in each diocese each week.

It is easy for us to pray for the people we know who are on our individual prayer lists. And yet, it is equally important for us to look outwards beyond ourselves as a part of our regular prayer life. Let us never think of ourselves or act as if we are a church out on our own, but rather may we always remember that we are part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church lived out in Mt. Vernon, the Diocese of Springfield, and to the very ends of the earth.
 

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The Collect:  Proper 20

Grant us, O Lord, not to mind earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to cleave to those that shall abide; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


The Lesson:  Amos 8:4-12

Hear this, you who trample upon the needy, and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great, and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the refuse of the wheat?” The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:  “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. Shall not the land tremble on this account, and every one mourn who dwells in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?” “And on that day,” says the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day. “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.


The Psalm:  138

1   I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with my whole heart; * before the gods I will sing your praise.
2   I will bow down toward your holy temple and praise your Name, * because of your love and faithfulness;
3   For you have glorified your Name * and your word above all things.
4   When I called, you answered me; * you increased my strength within me.
5   All the kings of the earth will praise you, O LORD, * when they have heard the words of your mouth.
6   They will sing of the ways of the LORD, * that great is the glory of the LORD.
7   Though the LORD be high, he cares for the lowly; * he perceives the haughty from afar.
8   Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe; * you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your right hand shall save me.
9   The LORD will make good his purpose for me; * O LORD, your love endures for ever; do not abandon the works of your hands.


The Epistle:  1 Timothy 2:1-8

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.


The Gospel:  Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ And the steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations. He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant 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.”