16 October 2022

Praying for World Peace and with USPG:
Sunday 16 October 2022

The week of Prayer for World Peace takes place this year from Sunday 16 October 2022 to Sunday 23 October 2022

Patrick Comerford

Today is the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVIII). Later this morning (16 October 2022), I hope to be present at the Parish Eucharist in the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles in Stony Stratford.

Before today gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for reading, prayer and reflection.

This year, the Week of Prayer for World Peace is from 16 to 23 October. In my prayer diary from this Sunday until next Sunday, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, One of the readings for the morning;

2, A reflection from the programme for the Week of Prayer for World Peace (16 to 23 October);

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’

‘Because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice’ (Luke 18: 5) … the sign at the Wig and Pen near the courthouse in Truro, Cornwall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 18: 1-8 (NRSVA):

18 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” 4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming”.’ 6 And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’

The Week of Prayer for World Peace takes place this year from Sunday 16 October 2022 to Sunday 23 October 2022

Week of Prayer for World Peace 2022, Day 1:

The week of Prayer for World Peace takes place from the second to third Sunday in October each year, which this year is from today (Sunday 16 October 2022) to next Sunday (23 October 2022).

The Week of Prayer for World Peace Annual Gathering this year again is only be on line. This allows as many as possible to participate. It will be held at 3:30 London Time this afternoon.

Day 1: Refugees:

We pray for all those who have had to flee their homes, including those internally displaced.

‘Those who spread anger and oppression with wrong words and deeds, and obstruct creative and right-minded people in their work, and take the side of oppression, are the corruptors that push the soul and Conscience of the people to malfeasance.’ – Zoroastrian Gathas

‘Our God and God of our fathers and mothers, help those who flee persecution as our ancestors did some 3,000 year ago. Show loving kindness and compassion to those hemmed in by misery and captivity, to those who take to the open ocean or treacherous landscape, seeking freedom and liberty. Rescue and recover them – delivering them from gorge to meadow, from darkness to light.

‘Inspire us to act on behalf of those we don’t know, on behalf of those we may never meet, because we know the heart of the stranger. We too ate the bread of affliction whose taste still lingers.

‘And so, dear God, inspire us to be pursuers of righteousness for those who seek the same freedoms we enjoy tonight. Do it speedily and in our days, and let us all say, Amen.’ – Rabbi Daniel Gropper, Community Synagogue of Rye, New York, USA

‘I was a stranger and you invited me in.’ – Matthew 25: 33 NIV Bible

‘Children of the Kindertransport’, Frank Meisler’s bronze sculpture at Liverpool Street Station in London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Today’s Prayer (Sunday 16 October 2022, Trinity XVIII):

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
increase in us your gift of faith
that, forsaking what lies behind
and reaching out to that which is before,
we may run the way of your commandments
and win the crown of everlasting joy;
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:

We praise and thank you, O Christ, for this sacred feast:
for here we receive you,
here the memory of your passion is renewed,
here our minds are filled with grace,
and here a pledge of future glory is given,
when we shall feast at that table where you reign
with all your saints for ever.

The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is ‘World Food Day.’ This theme is introduced this morning:

This World Food Day, we pray for nutritionally vulnerable children in Malawi and their families.

Year after year, the rising costs of fertilisers and the changing climate means that many families are struggling to grow enough food to eat and sell.

Some days, children are going to school on an empty stomach.

Going without food can have a serious impact on whether children will finish school. If they are well-fed, they could have the chance to make the best of their education, setting them up for real success in the future.

That’s why USPG’s Growing Futures Harvest appeal is raising money for the life-changing ‘Food and Nutrition’ programme run by the Anglican Council of Malawi.

The programme provides training in sustainable farming skills and environmental management to local families. Smallholders can join groups where they can access loans, farming equipment and resources to help them to provide fresh food for their children.

Thanks to kind donations, this programme can continue running.

Please join the Anglican Council of Malawi in creating bright futures for vulnerable children. Donate to the Growing Futures campaign today at www.uspg.org.uk/harvest.

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:

Holy Father,
teach us to practise justice and equality.
Let us share with each other,
making sure all are fed.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

‘Refugees Welcome’ … a recent protest outside Leinster House in Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

‘We Welcome Refugees’ … a banner on a recent protest in Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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