Trinity Cathedral
Episcopal Diocese of Arizona
Phoenix, AZ

The Collect

Confirm our minds, O Lord, in the mysteries of the true faith, set forth with power by your servant John of Damascus; that we, with him, confessing Jesus to be true God and true Man, and singing the praises of the risen Lord, may, by the power of the resurrection, attain to eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Old Testament

Ecclesiastes 3:9–14

What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. 

The Response

Psalm 29

Afferte Domino

1 Ascribe to the Lord, you gods, *
 ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his Name; *
 worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
 the God of glory thunders; *
 the Lord is upon the mighty waters.

4 The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice; *
 the voice of the Lord is a voice of splendor.

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees; *
 the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon; 

6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, *
 and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire;
 the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; *
 the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

8 The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe *
 and strips the forests bare.

9 And in the temple of the Lord *
 all are crying, "Glory!"

10 The Lord sits enthroned above the flood; *
 the Lord sits enthroned as King for evermore.

11 The Lord shall give strength to his people; *
 the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.

The Epistle

1 Corinthians 15:12–20

If Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ-- whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.

The Gospel

John 5:24–27

Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

“Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of