THEOLOGICAL CLUE

The eschatological framework of the church year is strengthened on this Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, not by the character or content of the church year, but by the Gospel for the Day. With its parable of the wheat and the weeds, plus exegetically subtle support in the first reading (Isaiah 44 - "Let them tell us what is yet to be" and the second reading, Romans 8:27 - "... the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God"), the Gospel for the Day points to the end of time when the judgment of God will be meted out upon the human race. Without the eschatological focus of the readings, the theological clue of the church year would be almost indistinct.

The Prayer of the Day (LBW)
Two prayers have been prepared and appointed to the propers for this Sunday.…