SUNDAY, AUGUST 16TH, 2026
12TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
INTRODUCTION
In Isaiah we hear that God’s house shall be a house of prayer for all people and
that God will gather the outcasts of Israel. The Canaanite woman in today’s
gospel is a Gentile, an outsider, who is unflinching in her request that Jesus heal
her daughter. As Jesus commends her bold faith, how might our church extend
its mission to those on the margins of society? In our gathering around word and
meal we receive strength to be signs of comfort, healing, and justice for those in need.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of all peoples, your arms reach out to embrace all those who call upon you.
Teach us as disciples of your Son to love the world with compassion and
constancy, that your name may be known throughout the earth, through Jesus
Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
FIRST READING
ISAIAH 56:1, 6-8
The prophet calls upon Israel to do justice in view of God’s imminent intervention
to save. Righteousness and obedience define who belongs to the Israelite
community—not race, nationality, or any other category.
1 Thus says the Lord:
Maintain justice, and do what is right,
for soon my salvation will come
and my deliverance be revealed.
6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it
and hold fast my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar,
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
8 Thus says the Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel:
I will gather others to them
besides those already gathered.
PSALM
PSALM 67
(Response) Let all the peoples praise you, O God. (Ps. 67:3)
1 May God be merciful to us and bless us;
may the light of God’s face shine upon us.
2 Let your way be known upon earth,
your saving health among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the nations on earth.
(Response) Let all the peoples praise you, O God. (Ps. 67:3)
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has brought forth its increase;
God, our own God, has blessed us.
7 May God give us blessing,
and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe.
(Response) Let all the peoples praise you, O God. (Ps. 67:3)
SECOND READING
ROMANS 11:1-2a, 29-32
God has not rejected Israel. Rather, the call and gifts of God are irrevocable so
that, while all have been disobedient, God has mercy upon all.
[Paul writes:] 1 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.
2a God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you were once
disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience,
31 so also they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to
you, they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in
disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Alleluia. Jesus preached the good news of the kingdom and cured every
sickness among the people. Alleluia. (Matt. 4:23)
GOSPEL READING
MATTHEW 15:[10-20], 21-28
Jesus teaches his disciples that true purity is a matter of the heart rather than
outward religious observances. Almost immediately, this teaching is tested when
a woman considered to be a religious outsider approaches him for help.
[10 [Jesus] called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand:11 it
is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of
the mouth that defiles.” 12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do
you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” 13 He
answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person
guides another, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain this
parable to us.” 16 Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do
you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out
into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and
this is what defiles. 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery,
sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a
person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”]
21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 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.” 23 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.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him,
saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food
and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the
crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman,
great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was
healed from that moment.
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BULLETIN FOR SUNDAY, AUGUST 16TH, 2026