Ninth Sunday after Pentecost July 26, 2026 Emancipation Sunday Emancipation Sunday commemorates the coming into effect of the Slavery Abolition Act on August 1, 1834—Emancipation Day—freeing approximately 800,000 enslaved people in British colonies, including Canada.

For more than 180 years, Black communities across Canada have celebrated Emancipation Day with church services, parades, outdoor festivities, protests, speeches, entertainment and more, taking the opportunity for reflection on the struggle for freedom and justice, past and present. By designating an Emancipation Sunday, the General Synod invites Anglicans (and the ELCIC) in Canada to join in that celebration and to support initiatives that address anti-Black racism within our ecclesial structures and in society at large. (courtesy of the Anglican Church in Canada)

Prayer of the Day (From the Anglican Church of Canada)
God of justice and compassion, you created all people in your image and call us to live in freedom and truth: break every yoke that diminishes human dignity, restore what has been wounded by sin and injustice, and make us ministers of reconciliation in the new creation you bring in Christ and enable us to do the work that pleases you, to repair what has been broken, and to walk in the freedom that no power can take away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Gospel: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
31 [Jesus] put before [the crowds] another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field;32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” 33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls;46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.