The Texts for Sunday October 4th 2015

First Reading: Genesis 2:18-24

18The Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” 19So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said, 

 “This at last is bone of my bones

  and flesh of my flesh;

 this one shall be called Woman,

  for out of Man this one was taken.”

24Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

The Word of the Lord

Psalm: Psalm 8

1 O LORD our Governor, 

    how exalted is your Name in all the world!

2 Out of the mouths of infants and children 

    your majesty is praised above the heavens.

3 You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries, 

    to quell the enemy and the avenger.

4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, 

    the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,

5 What is man that you should be mindful of him? 

    the son of man that you should seek him out?

6 You have made him but little lower than the angels; 

    you adorn him with glory and honor;

7 You give him mastery over the works of your hands; 

    you put all things under his feet:

8 All sheep and oxen, 

    even the wild beasts of the field,

9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, 

    and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.

10 O LORD our Governor, 

    how exalted is your Name in all the world!

Second Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

1Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

  5Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6But someone has testified somewhere, 

 “What are human beings that you are mindful of them,

  or mortals, that you care for them?

 7You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;

  you have crowned them with glory and honor,

  8subjecting all things under their feet.”

Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them,9but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

  10It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12saying, 

 “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,

  in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

The Word of the Lord

Gospel: Mark 10:2-16

2Some Pharisees came, and to test [Jesus] they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

  10Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

  13People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.