Civil Rights pioneer Rosa Parks has died. Please remember her and her family in your prayers, and give thanks for her courage.

An open letter from our bishop:

Dear clergy and people of the Diocese of Chicago,

Many of you are concerned about how we can best and most effectively respond to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. There are unlimited needs and many groups are mobilizing to bring aid. While numbers of churches have been totally destroyed and others badly damaged, existing churches and congregations are being used to feed and house refugees from the storm.

Most needed at this time are prayers and cash. I would encourage each congregation to raise a special offering for the U.S. Hurricane Fund of Episcopal Relief and Development. Also, please print the following and publicize it as widely as you can.

To make a contribution to help people affected by Hurricane Katrina, please donate to the US Hurricane Fund by credit card at http://www.er-d.org/ or by calling 1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to: Episcopal Relief and Development, c/o US Hurricane Fund, PO Box 12043, Newark, NJ 07101.

As is so often the case, long after the TV cameras leave, the needs will continue. Also, persons who are poor, who lack resources and insurance, will continue to suffer greatly. As part of the Episcopal Church, we have a special responsibility to care for our brothers and sisters whose lives have been so shaken. Of course, our love and care extend from them to all who need our prayers and support. I am confident that the people of our diocese will be generous in responding to this disaster.

Thank you and God bless you as you help to focus our response.

Faithfully,

William D. Persell Bishop of Chicago

From Forward Movement/Day by Day:

God of goodness and love,
In whom we can trust in every hour of need;
Have mercy on all who are faced with fear and distress.
We ask that help may be given to them speedily,
And that this emergency may be turned into an opportunity
To strengthen the bonds of love and service
Which bind men and nations together;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and beyond who are forced to flee home and property from the raging aftermath and continuing peril of Hurricane Katrina.

Episcopal Relief and Development, an official agency of the Episcopal Church, has been working to mobilize help and aid for those affected by the hurricane, and donations can be made via their website at Episcopal Relief & Development. Also, a list of needed supplies is available on the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi website. And further news and resources are available from The Episcopal News Service.

Additional information about help and support can be found at the websites for the Diocese of Louisiana, the Diocese of Western Louisiana, the Diocese of Central Florida, and the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast.

Proper 26, the Sunday Closest to Nov 2

The Collect

Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Old Testament

Micah 3:5-12

Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets
who lead my people astray,
who cry “Peace”
when they have something to eat,
but declare war against those
who put nothing into their mouths.
Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without revelation.
The sun shall go down upon the prophets,
and the day shall be black over them;
the seers shall be disgraced,
and the diviners put to shame;
they shall all cover their lips,
for there is no answer from God.
But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the spirit of the LORD,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob
and chiefs of the house of Israel,
who abhor justice
and pervert all equity,
who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with wrong!
Its rulers give judgment for a bribe,
its priests teach for a price,
its prophets give oracles for money;
yet they lean upon the LORD and say,
“Surely the LORD is with us!
No harm shall come upon us.”
Therefore because of you
Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

The Psalm

Psalm 43 Page 644, BCP
Judica me, Deus

1
Give judgment for me, O God,
and defend my cause against an ungodly people; *
deliver me from the deceitful and the wicked.

2
For you are the God of my strength;
why have you put me from you? *
and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me?

3
Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, *
and bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling;

4
That I may go to the altar of God,
to the God of my joy and gladness; *
and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God.

5
Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me?

6
Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to him,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

The Epistle

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13,17-20

You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers. As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.

As for us, brothers and sisters, when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being separated from you– in person, not in heart– we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face. For we wanted to come to you– certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again– but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? Yes, you are our glory and joy!

The Gospel

Matthew 23:1-12

Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father– the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”