Patrick Comerford
We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and this week began with the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVII). Later this morning I plan to meet a long-standing friend in London, and tomorrow is Michaelmas, the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels (29 September).
Before today begins and before I set off for London, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
Luke 9: 46-50 (NRSVA):
46 An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. 47 But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, 48 and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’
49 John answered, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.’ 50 But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.’
Today’s Reflections:
Today’s lectionary reading for the Eucharist is Saint Luke’s account of a story we also hear in two other Gospels (see Mark 9: 30-37; Matthew 18: 1-14).
In Saint Matthew’s version of this story, Christ tells us: ‘Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven … it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost’ (verses 10-14).
The disciples are arguing with one another about who is the greatest. Christ tells them not to seek position or prestige.
Then, one of the Twelve, John, complains that someone who is not part of their inner circle has been casting out demons in Christ’s name. But did the disciples welcome him? Did they praise him for bringing comfort to distressed people and for restoring them to a good quality of life?
Christ now rebukes the disciples for attempting to stop this exorcist who is curing in his name, a reminder that that God can work through those who are not followers of Christ.
Instead of being smug among themselves, arguing about who among them was the greatest, the disciples should have been like this man, bringing comfort to those who were in trouble, looking after those who were thirsty both physically and spiritually.
I worked for almost 30 years as a journalist with The Irish Times. The Revd Stephen Hilliard, a former colleague there who was ordained a priest in the Church of Ireland a few years before me, was visiting me one evening, when I asked him what the difference was between the two – being a journalist and being a priest. With a wry grin, he told me: ‘Not much. I continue to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.’
Perhaps not in so many words, but in this Gospel reading Christ tells the disciples that they should be afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted.
At the end of last year (2025), an estimated 45 million children under the age of 18 were forcibly displaced globally due to conflict, violence, persecution, and human rights violations, according to UN data. They include 32.7 million internally displaced children and over 19 million refugee and asylum-seeking children.
In the year to June 2026, 4,275 applications for asylum were received in the UK from unaccompanied children, making up 6% of total asylum applications. The UNHCR estimates that 2.4 million children were born into refugee life between 2018 and 2025, equivalent to some 338,000 children per year, meaning that their parents fled and became refugees before they were born.
All children in these situations and these dilemmas are innocent. There is no such thing as a child being the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time. All children should feel safe, in all places, at all times.
But we need to move from Victorian Sunday School images of the children being brought to Jesus, and ask how he would hear the voices of children today and how he would respond to those who plot to do them harm.
Would Christ challenge us to hear the cries of children in the refugee camps, the children needing humanitarian assistance, the children in the slums, in the sweat shops and in the brothels, to hear the cries of children suffering behind the bedroom doors of respectability?
Today’s Prayers (Monday 28 September 2026):
In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 27 September to 3 October 2026 (pp 42-43), is ‘Power of Language’. This theme was introduced yesterday with a reflection by Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 28 September 2026) invites us to pray in these words:
Lord God, help us listen carefully and speak with care, so our words build understanding and bring life.
The Collect of the Day:
Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
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.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Lord, we pray that your grace
may always precede and follow us,
and make us continually to be given to all good works;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Gracious God,
you call us to fullness of life:
deliver us from unbelief
and banish our anxieties
with the liberating love of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Collect on the Eve of Michael and All Angels:
Everlasting God,
you have ordained and constituted
the ministries of angels and mortals in a wonderful order:
grant that as your holy angels always serve you in heaven,
so, at your command,
they may help and defend us on earth;
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
