COLLECT
O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
FIRST READING Genesis 24:34-38,42-49 & 58-end
A reading from the book of Genesis
So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’
“When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
“Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
“She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
“I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’
“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’
“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”
So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”
“I will go,” she said.
So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“Our sister, may you increase
to thousands upon thousands;
may your offspring possess
the cities of their enemies.”
Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. He went out to the field one evening to meditate,[a] and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.
Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
SECOND READING Romans 7.15–25a
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I knowthat nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right,but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want iswhat I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin thatdwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good,evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I seein my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captiveto the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who willrescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ ourLord!
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
GOSPEL Matthew 11.16–19, 25–30
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
You are the Christ everlasting born for us all of a Virgin,
You have conquered death, opened heaven to all believers.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
Glory be to you, O Lord
At that time Jesus said, ‘To what will I compare this generation? It is like childrensitting in the market-places and calling to one another, “We played the flute foryou, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.” For John cameneither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Mancame eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friendof tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. I thankyou, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these thingsfrom the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father,for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by myFather; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows theFather except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I willgive you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle andhumble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, andmy burden is light.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord Praise be to you, O Christ
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
POST COMMUNION
Eternal God,
comfort of the afflicted and healer of the broken,
you have fed us at the table of life and hope:
teach us the ways of gentleness and peace,
that all the world may acknowledge
the kingdom of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.