Patrick Comerford
Easter is a 50-day season, beginning on Easter Day (4 April 2026) and continuing until the Day of Pentecost (24 May 2026), or Whit Sunday. This week began with the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Easter IV, 26 May 2026), and we have now passed the half-way point in the Season of Easter.
The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Pandita Mary Ramabai (1858-1922), Translator of the Scriptures. Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, reading today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
John 13: 16-20 (NRSVA):
[Jesus said:] 16 ‘Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfil the scripture, “The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.” 19 I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he. 20 Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.’
Today’s Reflection:
I had an unhappy relationship with my father that was never resolved by the time he died. But I still have some good memories of him, including him teaching me to row on Lough Ramor in Virginia, Co Cavan, when I was in my teens, encouraging my interests in rugby and art, his childhood tales of ‘Little Jerusalem’, Rathmines and Portrane, or sharing his trade union activism and his memories of World War II.
He enjoyed dinners in his golf club in Rathfarnham, with the Cavalry Club in the officers’ mess in McKee Barracks, and his club on Saint Stephen’s Club. I was hardly ever with him on those evenings, but I remember him giving me solid advice: ‘The test of a true gentleman is in how he treats waiters.’
Ever since, the way people treat waiters and staff in restaurants has continued to be a way of telling me lot about someone’s character. A man or woman who is rude to waiters or, conversely, patronises them, is probably best avoided.
Perhaps good manners in general are in decline. But I cannot count the number of times I have heard demanding and rude people in restaurant bawl, bellow, question why the couple who came in after them have served already, or click their fingers at waiters, pretend to know something about wine only to send back what they ordered, change their minds and blame waiters for getting things wrong, or at the end of the evening quibble about small details on the bill and walk out without saying thank you or leaving an appropriate tip.
Waiters are not my friends, nor are they doing me a favour. But they do work that brings me joy and pleasure, they work hard, they have long hours, they are knowledgeable, fluent in more languages than I am, and often are underpaid for their long hours.
On the other hand, it brings me great pleasure when someone in a restaurant remembers me or my face when I go back, or, even more pleasantly, remembers my name.
Waiters are the messengers most of the time, from the tables to the kitchen staff and the kitchen staff to the tables, and sometimes between the kitchen staff and the proprietor. As I realise so often in Greece, waiters may be part of the family that owns a restaurant, and the same could said too about the people in the kitchens.
Messengers are not ‘greater than the one who sent them’ – neither the table, the kitchen nor the proprietors. Nor, for that matter, are they lesser beings either. The one who receives them well receives those who send them well too. How they treat me tells me a lot about the kitchen and the proprietor. But how I treat them says a lot about what I think of people in general.
Saying thanks is never optional. The word Eucharist comes from the Greek ευχαριστία eukharistia), thanksgiving or gratitude, and ( ευχάριστος), grateful or pleasant. The Eucharist (Εὐχαριστία) and Ευχαριστούμε (efcharistoúme), ‘Thank You’, are inseparable.
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 30 April 2026):
Before my day begins, I am remebering in my prayers Richard Harries, the former Bishop of Oxford, who died yesterday. We differed on many issues when we are part of a teleivsion planel debate during my active CND days in the 1980s, but he was a thoughtful, considerate and kind debater, with a great intellect. We bumped into each other when I was visiting the House of Lords with a friend in 2012, but little did I know then that I was going to move to the Diocese of Oxford. We sat together at lunch at a USPG Bray Day event he spoke at in London in 2024. He was a fount of knwledge on TS Eliot and was a critical thinker and engaing writer. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
‘Prayer and Action in Pakistan’ provides the theme this week (26 April to 2 May 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), pp 50-51. This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections from the Revd Davidson Solanki, Senior Regional Manager for Asia and the Middle East.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 30 April 2026) invites us to pray:
Loving God, we pray too for The Most Revd Dr Azad Marshall, Moderator/President Bishop of the Church of Pakistan and Bishop of Raiwind and for all Bishops and members of other dioceses of the Church of Pakistan. Be their hope and strength, ever present by your Spirit.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life:
raise us, who trust in him,
from the death of sin to the life of righteousness,
that we may seek those things which are above,
where he reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Merciful Father,
you gave your Son Jesus Christ to be the good shepherd,
and in his love for us to lay down his life and rise again:
keep us always under his protection,
and give us grace to follow in his steps;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Risen Christ,
faithful shepherd of your Father’s sheep:
teach us to hear your voice
and to follow your command,
that all your people may be gathered into one flock,
to the glory of God the Father.
Collect on the Eve of Saint Philip and Saint James:
Almighty Father,
whom truly to know is eternal life:
teach us to know your Son Jesus Christ
as the way, the truth, and the life;
that we may follow the steps
of your holy apostles Philip and James,
and walk steadfastly in the way that leads to your glory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Yesterday’s Reflections
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
