The 3rd Sunday after Pentecost
This Sunday’s readings draw us into the heart of God’s covenant love and the call to live as a people shaped by mercy.
Exodus brings us to Sinai, where God claims Israel as a treasured people—not for privilege, but for vocation: a kingdom of priests, a community meant to reflect God’s character in the world.
Psalm 100 responds with joyful praise, reminding us that we belong to God, who shepherds us with steadfast love across generations.
In Romans, Paul proclaims that through Christ we stand in grace—held, reconciled, and given hope even in suffering, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Spirit.
And in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus looks upon the crowds with compassion, sending the disciples to heal, restore, and proclaim good news. Their mission is rooted not in fear or scarcity, but in the generous mercy they themselves have received.
Together, these readings invite us to remember who—and whose—we are: a people formed by God’s steadfast love and sent into the world as bearers of healing, compassion, and hope.
Readings
Collect
Tender shepherd to the helpless and lost; we praise you for sharing your power with a motley band of stumbling friends: may we who have received without payment give without charge and so bring your kingdom near; through Jesus Christ, the Lord of the harvest. Amen.
Photo attribution: Crowds gather as Christ heals the sick. Lithograph after Benjamin West.