20 August 2023
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
Genesis 45:1-15
A reading from the book of Genesis.
Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him,
and he cried out, ‘Send everyone away from me.’
So no one stayed with him
when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it,
and the household of Pharaoh heard it.
Joseph said to his brothers,
‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’
But his brothers could not answer him,
so dismayed were they at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers,
‘Come closer to me.’
And they came closer.
He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
And now do not be distressed,
or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here;
for God sent me before you to preserve life.
For the famine has been in the land these two years;
and there are five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest.
God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth,
and to keep alive for you many survivors.
So it was not you who sent me here, but God;
he has made me a father to Pharaoh,
and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Hurry and go up to my father and say to him,
“Thus says your son Joseph,
God has made me lord of all Egypt;
come down to me, do not delay.
You shall settle in the land of Goshen, a
nd you shall be near me,
you and your children and your children’s children,
as well as your flocks, your herds,
and all that you have.
I will provide for you there—s
ince there are five more years of famine to come—
so that you and your household, and all that you have,
will not come to poverty.”
And now your eyes
and the eyes of my brother Benjamin s
ee that it is my own mouth that speaks to you.
You must tell my father how greatly I am honoured in Egypt,
and all that you have seen.
Hurry and bring my father down here.’
Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept,
while Benjamin wept upon his neck.
And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them;
and after that his brothers talked with him.
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 (8am only)
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.
I ask, then, has God rejected his people?
By no means!
I myself am an Israelite,
a descendant of Abraham,
a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Just as you were once disobedient to God
but have now received mercy because of their disobedience,
so they have now been disobedient
in order that, by the mercy shown to you,
they too may now receive mercy.
For God has imprisoned all in disobedience
so that he may be merciful to all.
Matthew 15:10-28
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Then Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them,
‘Listen and understand:
it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person,
but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’
Then the disciples approached and said to him,
‘Do you know
that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?’
He answered,
‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
Let them alone;
they are blind guides of the blind.
And if one blind person guides another,
both will fall into a pit.’
But Peter said to him,
‘Explain this parable to us.’
Then he said,
‘Are you also still without understanding?
Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, a
nd goes out into the sewer?
But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart,
and this is what defiles.
For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery,
fornication, theft, false witness, slander.
These are what defile a person,
but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out
and started shouting,
‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David;
my daughter is tormented by a demon.’
But he did not answer her at all.
And his disciples came and urged him, saying,
‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’
He answered,
‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’
But she came and knelt before him, saying,
‘Lord, help me.’
He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food
and throw it to the dogs.’
She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs t
hat fall from their masters’ table.’
Then Jesus answered her,
‘Woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.’
And her daughter was healed instantly.
