Sunday 31 July, 2022

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings are laid out as for the continuous form of the lectionary. Alternative related readings (OT and psalm only) are below. Hymns marked with an asterisk (*) are suggested for more than one reading

Looking ahead, the Feast of the Transfiguration (Luke 9: 28-36 (37-43a)) is marked traditionally  on 6 August (next Saturday). The lectionary this year included this event on 27 February (Sunday before Lent / Transfiguration). If you are reflecting on the Transfiguration this Sunday or next, three helpful hymns are:

Jesus on the mountain peak (StF 259)
Lead us God to the mountain (website only)
Who is this, whose face shines brighter (website only), which draws upon St Mark's account of the event

Hiroshima Day also falls on 6 August. We explore the themes raised by Hiroshima Day in Hiroshima Hymns.

For those with access to the Church of Scotland’s hymn book, Church Hymnary 4, also see Carl Daw’s hymn “Bright the cloud and bright the glory” (CH4 353). It places the Transfiguration and Hiroshima side by side, with the observation that “All has changed, all has changed, and we [like Jesus’ close disciples] shall never be the same.” (See also Hymnary.org)

In addition, members of the Iona Community have produced liturgical materials that draw comparisons/contrasts between the Transfiguration and the Hiroshima event:

• Liturgy for the Feast of the Transfiguration by the Revd Norman Shanks
• Materials by Kathy Galloway and Cally Booker in Acorns and Archangels comp. Ruth Burgess pub. Wild Goose Publications (pp. 20 – 23 & 24) on the Transfiguration and Hiroshima.

General

Help us, O Lord, to learn the truths your word imparts (StF 501)
Let love be real, in giving and receiving (StF 615)

Hosea 11: 1-11

God of forgiveness, your people you freed (StF 425)
God is Love: let heaven adore him  (StF 103)
Hark, my soul! It is the Lord (StF 426)
O love that wilt not let me go (StF 636)
We gladly celebrate and praise (StF 120)

Psalm 107: 1-9, 43

Hymns echoing the psalmist’s theme

Captain of Israel's host (StF 459)
My soul rejoices in God my Saviour (StF 60)
Now thank we all our God (StF 81)
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases (StF 66)
The trumpets sound, the angels sing (StF 35)
When I needed a neighbour, were you there? (StF 256)
Your ceaseless, unexhausted love (StF 438)

Colossians 3: 1-11

In Christ there is no east or west (StF 685)
Lord, we come to ask your healing (StF 652)
The silent stars shine down on us (StF 231)

Luke 12: 13-21

All I once held dear, built my life upon (StF 489)
As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you (StF 544)
*Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart (StF 545) esp. v4
Heaven shall not wait for the poor to lose their patience (StF 701)
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (StF 34)
We lay our broken world in sorrow at your feet (StF 718) esp. v2
We turn to you, O God of every nation (StF 720)

Alternative related readings

Ecclesiastes 1: 2, 12-14, 2: 18-23

Deep in the darkness a starlight is gleaming (StF 625)
God of my faith, I offer you my doubt (StF 629)
How long, O Lord, will you forget an answer to my prayer? (StF 630)
Out of the depths I cry to thee (StF 433)
When circumstances make my life too hard to understand (StF 641)

Psalm 49: 1-12

Hymns echoing the psalmist’s theme

*Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart (StF 545)
God of grace and God of glory (StF 682)
Happy are they who find the grace (StF 500)