Daily prayer in the Kingdom Season: 17, Sunday 17 November 2024, Second Sunday before Advent

‘Look, Teacher, what large stone and what large buildings!’ (Mark 13: 1) … the ruins of the Roman Temple in Córdoba (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the Kingdom Season, the time between All Saints and Advent, and today is the Second Sunday before Advent. This visit to Kuching is coming to an end, and this is our last full day here.

Later this morning, I hope to attend the Cathedral Eucharist in Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching. This is also Diocesan Children’s Sunday in the Diocese of Kuching. The celebrant at the Cathedral Eucharist this morning is the Revd Dato’ Bong Ah Loi, one of the cathedral priests, and the preacher is the Bishop of Kuching, the Right Revd Datuk Danald Jute.

But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time early this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, 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.

‘Beware that no one leads you astray’ (Mark 13: 5) … confusing signs leading into the sea at the beach at Bettystown, Co Meath (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 13: 1-8 (NRSVA):

1 As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ 2 Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’

3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4 ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?’ 5 Then Jesus began to say to them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and they will lead many astray. 7 When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.’

How do we respond when prayers do not seem to be answered? … climbing steps in the dark at Ferrycarrig in Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s reflection:

We are coming towards the end of the Year B cycle of Lectionary readings and the readings from Saint Mark’s Gospel; on Sunday next, the last in Year B, we are reading from Saint John’s Gospel.

This Sunday’s readings raise a number of questions and pose a number of challenges:

• What can we pray for?

• Who can we ask to pray for us?

• Do we only pray for people and causes we regard as worthy and deserving?

• Are there some things we should not ask for in prayer?

• How do we respond when prayers are answered?

• How do we respond when prayers do not seem to be answered?

• How do we respond to those who seem to pray against us?

• Should prayer be accompanied by an offering or a promise of an offering?

• How does prayer relate to our hopes for the future … for ourselves, our families, our communities, our future?

• How do we pray in times of doubt, in times of fear?

• How do we respond if others seem to have led us astray in our prayers and in our religious hopes?

• What if the way they have led us astray is related in negative or destructive ways not only to our futures, but to the future of the world?

As the Collect of the Day reminds us, prayer is about shaping us in Christ’s image rather than bringing a shopping list to God.

But, on the other hand, if we cannot bring everything to Christ in prayer, how can we possibly be prepared to celebrate him next Sunday as Christ the King?

Christ has indicated to the disciples that the poor widow who gave all that she has in the Temple is a good example of discipleship. Now, in verses 1-2, he predicts the destruction of the Temple, as the prophets Micah and Jeremiah had done earlier. His words were later used against him.

Did he mean it literally or figuratively? We do not know. (Both the Temple and the religious system were destroyed in 70 AD.)

Then Christ and his first four disciples, Peter, James, John and Andrew (verse 3) visit the Mount of Olives – a place already mentioned (see Zechariah 14: 4) in connection with events at the end of the era. They ask him when will the Temple be destroyed (verse 4).

How will we know that the end of the era is near? Christ gives them three indicators:

• Many will come in Chris’s name claiming, ‘I am he!’ (verse 6) – the Christological ἐγώ εἰμι (ego eimi we associate with the ‘I AM’ sayings in Saint John’s Gospel).

• major international political conflicts will erupt (verse 8).

• natural disasters and famines will erupt (verse 8).

• And there shall be other signs too (see verse 14-25 later).

The figure of a woman in labour (‘birth pangs,’ verse 8) also appears in Jeremiah, Hosea and Micah.

The main theme in this passage, known as the Marcan Apocalypse, are that many apocalyptic messengers are deceitful and that those who are discerning will wait for the real end. We are to resist false prophets of doom, yet to be ready for the true events that are to unfold.

In the meantime, we are charged to continue the mission of the Church: ‘And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations’ (verse 10).

‘When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed’ (Mark 13: 7) … the ‘Triumph of Achilles’ by the Franz Matsch in the Achilleion Palace in Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 17 November 2024, Second Sunday before Advent):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Coming Together for Climate Justice’. This theme is introduced today with Reflections by Linet Musasa, HIV Stigma and Discrimination Officer, Anglican Council of Zimbabwe:

‘Climate change has significantly impacted countries within the region of Africa. Over the past years, we have witnessed drastic changes in weather patterns and droughts and cyclones in Sub-Saharan African countries that experience extreme poverty.

‘To combat the impact of climate change, three provinces, the Church of the Province of Central Africa (Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe), the Anglican Church of Tanzania, and the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean (Seychelles, Madagascar and Mauritius) started a four-year programme called Provincial Climate Change Campaign (PCC Campaign 2023-2027).

‘Over the past six months, the activities that have been carried out include: supporting government officials to formulate policies on waste management; church members using plastic waste to make innovative products i.e. mats, handbags, and hats; training of youth leaders, priests and Mothers’ Union to lead the awareness campaigns; conducting various awareness events; and producing information, education and communication materials for community members.

‘The number of people reached by the campaign is over 100,000.’

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 17 November 2024, Second Sunday before Advent) invites us to pray:

God of creation, who loves all he has made and all that has evolved, open the eyes of your people, that your love might be reflected in our care for the planet. Through Jesus Christ, who walked this earth and calls us by name. Amen. (the Right Revd Nicholas Baines)

The Collect:

Heavenly Father,
whose blessed Son was revealed
to destroy the works of the devil
and to make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life:
grant that we, having this hope,
may purify ourselves even as he is pure;
that when he shall appear in power and great glory
we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom;
where he is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Collect (Diocesan Children’s Sunday, Kuching):

O Lord our God,
you who welcomes children into your Kingdom,
help us to grow and nurture these children of yours
to be a godly generation who fear and love you.
Grant us also a child-like faith whose trust in you is unwavering;
that by having it we may taste and see your goodness in this world,
and in the world to come.
Grant this prayer, O Lord, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
who reigns together with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

Gracious Lord,
in this holy sacrament
you give substance to our hope:
bring us at the last
to that fullness of life for which we long;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Additional Collect:

Heavenly Lord,
you long for the world’s salvation:
stir us from apathy,
restrain us from excess
and revive in us new hope
that all creation will one day be healed
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down’ (Mark 13: 2) … classical remains in the Forum in Rome (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

I have just put a big X through my Twitter account and said farewell to Fascism

Patrick Comerford

I have never been able to get my head around the idea of referring to Lansdowne Road as ‘the Aviva’. Perhaps I’ve been behaving like some sort of ‘Rugby Luddite’ but to be honest it’s simply because I’m an old sentimentalist, with fond memories of the Wanderers and Lansdowne ends, and weekends in the pavilions in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

For very different reasons, I refused to keep up with Elon Musk’s puerile rebranding of Twitter.

At the bottom of my blog postings I have long had five logos that allowed readers to share my postings across four platforms, Blogger, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, or to forward them by email. Following Musk’s takeover, I decided not to change that Twitter logo to his teen-like ‘X’ logo.

Initially, I simply could not be bothered. I can’t remember when I signed up to Twitter, but I was using it less and less, to the point that in recent months I have only been using Twitter to draw attention to my own daily blog postings.

In recent weeks, I have stopped even looking at other people’s postings on X or Twitter. But it’s no longer because I couldn’t be bothered.

In fact, I am bothered, and for too long I have been bothered by Elon Musk’s rabid views on just about everything.

Now I have had enough, far too much.

By continuing to use Twitter just twice a day, I was another statistic in and Musk executives calculating advertising revenue and raising advertising charges. Even if my paltry contributions were only worth $1 in advertising charges each time, that was $2 a day, or $730 a year. And that’s $730 a year too much for Musk to have had to donate to Donald Trump’s election campaign.

I have had too much of their racism.

I have had too much of their xenophobia.

I have had too much of their antisemitism.

I have had too much of conspirace theories, climate change deniers, and the denial of science, medicine and fact.

I have had too much of people telling me lies are the truth and the truth is a lie.

I have had too much of their hatred, misogyny, violence, vitriol and vulgarity.

I’m out.

Earlier this week, the Guardian announced that it will no longer post on any official Guardian editorial accounts on the social media site X (formerly Twitter).

In its statement, the Guardian said: ‘We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our content elsewhere.

They have been considering this for a while given the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform. The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what they have been thinking about: that X is a toxic media platform and that Elon Musk, is unwilling or unable to use its influence to shape political discourse.

The Guardian has joined a growing list of companies distancing themselves from the platform. It cited ‘long-standing concerns’ about far-right conspiracy theories and racist content on the platform.

Major brands, media brands, government departments and law enforcement agencies are rushing to abandon their presence on the platform. From luxury fashion house Balenciaga to American retailer Best Buy, companies across industries are rethinking their association with the site.

Those who are walking away include Austrian Airlines, the Berlin Film Festival, Devon County Council, Eli Lilly and North Wales Police. Several have echoed similar concerns over brand safety, content moderation, and the platform’s increasingly polarising environment, or daily abuse, disinformation and high costs.

Musk has endorsed antisemitic conspiracy theories, has attacked the BBC and the Labour Government in Britain, given voice to Nazis, tried to silence anti-racism campaigns and human rights groups, and defamed and traduced mainstream journalists.

Brands such as Disney, Apple, IBM, Paramount, and Comcast have paused the running of ads on the service after they were found running alongside extremist content, including pro-Nazi posts.

It is heartening to learn that X's advertising revenue has plummeted, with at least 50 of the top 100 US advertisers ceasing their ad spending on the platform since Musk's acquisition in 2022.

Social media is important for news organisations, journalists and bloggers, helping us to reach new audiences. But I no longer want Musk, X or Trump to have their toxic names with anything I wrote about.

I have decided to deactivate my Twitter account this weekend. It is an easy decision to take today. I care more about my integrity and my credibility than about the ever-diminishing and ever-dwindling reach X offers.

Twitter has never been the only social media platform around. Here’s where you can find me and where we can keep in touch:

My website or blog: I am continuing to blog regularly at www.patrickcomerford.com.

Facebook: this is my primary platform for reaching out to people: https://www.facebook.com/revpatrickcomerford. I repost my blog postings and my YouTube videos there on a daily visit. It’s irritating at times, but it’s also fun, entertaining, educational, and it’s my main way of keeping up with family members, friends, former colleagues, people I like – and even people who don’t like me. Friend me there, even if you don’t like me or my opinions.

YouTube: I have a personal channel that you might like to subscribe to or like: https://www.youtube.com/@patrickcomerford.

Instagram is also a part of my social media life, and is linked to my Facebook account.

Pinterest: my Pinterest postings are chaotic and disorganised. But I think my photographs are quite good.

LinkedIn: I find LinkedIn difficult to use, and less relevant now that I am retired from academic life. But I am still there, and occasionally – very occasionally – I try to catch up on things that are shared there.

Bluesky: I've just opened a profile on Blue Sky within the last day or two. You can find me at: @patrickcomerford.bsky.social.

We’re all going to have too much of Trump and Musk over the next four years. Like Austrian Airlines, I recommend you locate your nearest ‘X-It’.

Goodbye, Twitter. I may miss some friends and be a little late in catching up on some news. But I am not going to miss the violence, the vitriol and the vulgairity.