Ember Friday - Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Paul stakes the entire content of Christian preaching on one historical claim: if Christ has not been raised, our faith is in vain and we are of all people most to be pitied. The Gospel names the women, healed and grateful, who funded Jesus's ministry out of their own resources - support offered quietly, without which the public preaching could not have happened at all. Today pairs proclamation with provision, the two forms of ministry the early Church could not do without.

Paul presses the Corinthians on a logical consequence they had not fully faced: if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ himself has not been raised, their faith is in vain, and those who died in Christ have perished with no hope beyond this life. He states plainly that if their hope in Christ were confined to this life alone, Christians would be the most pitiable of all people - but immediately answers his own argument: Christ has in fact been raised, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Psalm 17 is a prayer of confidence, asking God to hear a just cause and hide the psalmist in the shadow of his wings. In the Gospel, Luke records that Jesus traveled from town to town with the Twelve, accompanied also by women who had been healed - Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others - who provided for the whole group out of their own means.

Lord Jesus, you were raised as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep: Lord, have mercy. Christ Jesus, you were provided for by those who followed you in faith: Christ, have mercy. Lord Jesus, your resurrection is the foundation our faith cannot stand without: Lord, have mercy.

Introduction: Father, you raised your Son as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, and you provide for your Church through the generosity of those who follow him. Trusting in that provision, we bring you our needs:

1. For the Church, that her preaching would rest on the real weight of the resurrection rather than a softened version of it; we pray to the Lord.
2. For our Holy Father, our bishop, and all who proclaim the Gospel, that they would preach it as true rather than merely useful; we pray to the Lord.
3. For all who quietly fund and sustain the work of this parish without recognition, that their hidden generosity would be seen by God if by no one else; we pray to the Lord.
4. For all keeping the Ember fast and Friday abstinence today, that it would open their hands toward almsgiving; we pray to the Lord.
5. For everyone whose hope has quietly narrowed to this life alone, that they would rediscover hope that reaches beyond it; we pray to the Lord.
6. For all who have died, especially [name], that they would know the fullness of what Christ's resurrection promised them; we pray to the Lord.

Concluding prayer: Father, your Son was raised so that our hope would not end at the grave. Receive the prayers of your people, and provide for us as you were provided for by those who followed you in faith. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.