Patrick Comerford
We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar. This week began with the Second Sunday before Lent (23 February 2025), and Lent begins this day next week, on Ash Wednesday (5 March 2025).
Before this day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read 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.
Mark 9: 38-40 (NRSVA):
38 John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ 39 But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. 40 Whoever is not against us is for us.’
Today’s Reflection:
In the ahort Gospel reading at the Eucharist tody (Mark 9: 38-40), one of the Twelve, John, complains that someone who is not part of their inner circle has been casting out evil in Christ’s name.
To put the story in its context or setting, Christ and the disciples are in Capernaum. But on the way there, as we heard in yesterday’s reading (Mark 9: 30-37), the disciples were arguing with one another about who is the greatest. Christ has told them not to seek position or prestige.
John now complains that someone who is not part of the 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 rebukes the disciples for attempting to stop this exorcist who is curing in his name. It is a reminder that God can work through those who are not followers of Christ.
On the other hand, Christ warns us against putting an obstacle or stumbling block in the way of ‘little ones.’ He reprimands the disciples for being smug and jealous and unwelcoming (verses 42-50).
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 once worked as a journalist in The Irish Times. A former colleague there, who was ordained a priest in the Church of Ireland a few years before me, was visiting me at home one evening. I asked him what the difference was between the two – being a journalist and being a priest. And with a grin he told me: ‘Not much. I continue to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.’
Perhaps not in so many words, but in today’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist Christ tells the disciples that they should be afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted.
Christ the Pantocrator in the dome of a Romanian Orthodox church in Bucharest … the reflections in the USPG prayer this week are from the Church of the Resurrection, Bucharest (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 26 February 2025):
This week marks the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 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 ‘A Grain of Wheat.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by the Revd Dr Nevsky Everett, chaplain of the Church of the Resurrection, Bucharest, Romania.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Wednesday 26 February 2025) invites us to pray:
Heavenly Father, inspire us to act with generosity and compassion where we are. May our hearts be moved to help those affected by war, whether through giving, prayers, or practical assistance.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
you have created the heavens and the earth
and made us in your own image:
teach us to discern your hand in all your works
and your likeness in all your children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who with you and the Holy Spirit reigns supreme over all things,
now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
God our creator,
by your gift
the tree of life was set at the heart of the earthly paradise,
and the bread of life at the heart of your Church:
may we who have been nourished at your table on earth
be transformed by the glory of the Saviour’s cross
and enjoy the delights of eternity;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Almighty God,
give us reverence for all creation
and respect for every person,
that we may mirror your likeness
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflection
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
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