A map dividing the world into 804 roughly equal areas of population with 10 million people each (Map created by reddit user minecraftian48)
Patrick Comerford
At some point today, this blog reached a new peak, with 10 million hits since I first began blogging. It is both a humbling statistic and a sobering figure, and leaves me not with a sense of achievement but a feeling of gratitude to all who read and support this blog and my writing.
After I began blogging, it took until July 2012 to reach half a million hits. This figure rose to 1 million by September 2013; 2 million in June 2015; 3 million by October 2016; 4 million on 19 November 2019; 5 million on 27 March 2021; 6 million on 1 July 2022; 7 million on 13 August 2023; 8 million by 30 April 2024; 9 million on 21 October 2024; 9.5 million earlier this month, on 4 January 2025; and 10 million today (12 January 2025).
This means that this blog continues to reach a million readers in a three-to-four month period, somewhere over 300,000 a month, and an average of over 9,500 hits for each post.
In recent months, these figures have been exceeded on occasions, and three of the 20 days of busiest traffic have been in the past three days alone, and 11 more in last year (2024):
• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)
• 100,291 hits (10 January 2025)
• 35,452 hits (28 May 2024)
• 27,616 (11 May 2024)
• 26,974 (27 May 2024)
• 23,234 (3 September 2023)
• 22,436 (19 June 2024)
• 21,999 (4 September 2023)
• 16,250 (21 August 2024)
• 15,936 (18 June 2024)
• 15,211 (7 September 2023)
• 15,193 (6 September 2023)
• 14, 676 (26 November 2024)
• 14,411 (20 June 2024)
• 14,282 (4 August 2024)
• 13,566 (1 December 2024)
• 13,362 (17 June 2024)
• 13,301 (11 December 2023)
• 12,605 (29 November 2024)
At times in recent months, there have been 8,000 to 10,000 hits a day. This has been exceeded over these past three days, with 289,076 hits yesterday (11 January alone), 134,254 hits by noon today (10 January 2025) and 100,291 hits on Friday (10 January 2025). There were 214,970 hits last month, or an average of almost 7,000 a day (December 2024).
With this latest landmark figure of 10 million hits by today, I find myself asking:
• What do 10 million people look like?
• What are 10 million people when it comes to wating lists and refugees?
• What would £10 million, €10 million or $10 billion buy?
Minarets on the skyline in Cairo … the UN defines a megacity as an urban agglomeration with over 10 million inhabitants (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
A megacity is a very large city, typically with a population of more than 10 million people. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) in its report World Urbanization Prospects (2018) defines megacities as urban agglomerations with over 10 million inhabitants. A University of Bonn report defines megacities as metropolitan areas with a total population of 10 million or more people’.
At the last count, the world had 34 ‘megacities’ or cities with populations of more than 10 million. By 2035, the UN estimates there will be 48 megacities; by 2050, it is expected that two out of every three people will live in cities as populations grow, rural areas are absorbed by urban sprawl, and people continue to move in search of work, education and opportunity.
Understanding what it is like to live in these intense urban environments was the theme of the National Gallery of Victoria’s Megacities exhibition, an immersive multimedia exhibition in 2023 featuring about 500 images by 10 photographers in 10 megacities: Cairo, Dhaka, Jakarta, Delhi, São Paulo, Shanghai, Seoul, Lagos, Tokyo and Mexico City.
Some sources identify the Greater Tokyo Area as the largest megacity in the world, while others give the title to the Pearl River Delta or Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in China. Six countries have more than one megacity: China, India, Brazil, Japan, Pakistan and the United States. And there are megacities in Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Angola, the DRC; Russia, France, the UK, Turkey, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Argentina.
Megacities with a population of about 10 million include Bogotá in Colombia, Luanda in Angola, Nagoya in Japan, Taipei in Taiwan, and Zhengzhou in China.
In the world today there are more than 7,000 human languages, and of those, 83 different languages are each spoken by more than 10 million people worldwide. Greek, Hebrew and Swedish are among the languages spoken by 10 million people.
Countries with a population of about 10 million people include Greece and Hungary. The Russian invasion sent the Ukraine population plummeting by 10 million people.
The number of people living in England and Wales who were born outside the UK is put at 10 million people – and 10.7 million throughout the whole UK. So I could say I am one in 10 million. India, Poland, Pakistan, Romania and Ireland are the most common countries of birth among migrants now living in the UK.
Almost 10 million people in England are on NHS waiting lists for hospital appointments or treatment. Official figures in the UK show around 10 million people gave up on getting a GP appointment in a one-month period despite needing one. This could lead to countless missed or delayed diagnoses as people go without the care they need.
A recent report estimates that about 10 million people – 8.5 million adults and 1.5 million children – in England need support for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorders and other mental health difficulties. That is the equivalent of 20% of all adults and 15% of all children.
The Centre for Better Living reports 10 million people in England are classed as living in conditions that may create or worsen health conditions and reduce their quality of life.
Over 10 million people have been now displaced by conflicts in Sudan, nine million inside the country, according to figures from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
During the fires in Los Angeles in January 2025, a mistaken evacuation alert was sent to nearly 10 million, causing panic in Los Angeles county.
‘10 Million People’ is a song by British recording artist Example, released by Epic Records in 2014. The song was written and produced by Example, Fraser T Smith and Alf Bamford.
Example has said that ‘10 Million People’ was written ‘after watching a documentary on early ’90s rave culture. I found this video online where they were interviewing people at an illegal rave. The guy with the microphone said to one of the revellers, ‘Surely this whole rave thing is just a fad’. And the raver replied, ‘Well 10 million people can’t be wrong’.’
Well, of course they can be wrong. Think of the additional 10 million people who voted for Trump this time round than in 2016. After Trump completely mishandled a national pandemic, spewed out daily lies on Twitter and caged children, 10 million new voters opted to vote for the convict.
During the US election campaign last August, there were rumours that the Egyptian regime had donated $10 million in cash to Trump’s 2016 campaign. Could $10 million dollars buy 10 million votes? A dollar a vote? Surely not.
It just goes to show that, yes, 10 million people can be wrong.
Still, I am still very grateful to all 10 million readers and viewers of this blog to date.
Ten million people live in Greece, and Greek is spoken by 10 million people (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Updated: 13 January 2025, with total figures for 12 January 2025.
12 January 2025
Daily prayer in Christmas 2024-2025:
19, Sunday 12 January 2025,
the First Sunday of Epiphany
The Baptism of Christ … a stained glass window in Saint Mary’s Church, St Neots, Cambridgeshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Patrick Comerford
The 40-day season of Christmas continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February). Today is the First Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany I, 12 January 2025), and the readings focus on the Baptism of Christ.
Later this morning, I hope to take part in the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, singing with the choir, reading one of the readings and leading the intercessions. But, 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, 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.
The Baptism of Christ by Saint John the Baptist … the centre panel in a three-light window in Saint John the Baptist Church in Blisworth, Northamptonshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22 (NRSVA):
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
The Baptism of Christ … an icon in the Lady Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Today’s Reflection:
Traditionally, the Church associates Epiphany-tide with three public, epiphany moments, before beginning to look at Christ’s public ministry:
• The visit by the wise men, who, on behalf of the nations of the world, acknowledge him as king, priest, prophet and king with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2: 1-12, 6 January 2025).
• Christ’s baptism by Saint John the Baptist in the River Jordan, when he is acknowledged in a Trinitarian movement by both the Father and the Holy Spirit as the Son of God (Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22, today, 12 January 2025).
• The Wedding at Cana, the first of the seven signs in the Fourth Gospel, which sees Christ reveal his glory so that his disciples believe in him (John 2: 1-11, next Sunday, 19 January 2025).
The Gospel reading this morning (Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22) tells us of the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan by Saint John the Baptist. It marks the beginning of Christ’s public ministry, but it also presents Christ as the fulfilment of the Law and the prophets and presents this Epiphany event as a new creation.
Saint John the Baptist is at the River Jordan, calling the people to repentance, to turn back to God’s ways, to return the way of life to which the people committed themselves in the Covenant with God.
And this leads us to the Baptism of Christ, which is an Epiphany or Theophany moment, and it is a Trinitarian moment.
At first, Saint John tries to dissuade Christ from being baptised. But Christ insists, he wishes to fulfil the Father’s will; this Baptism shows Christ’s continuity with God’s will that has been revealed through the Law and the Prophets.
The words spoken by the voice from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’ (verse 22), echo the words of Isaiah: ‘Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights’ (Isaiah 42: 1).
In this Gospel story, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit come together, acting as one, with distinctive personal roles: when Christ is baptised, heaven opens, the Holy Spirit descends upon Christ ‘in bodily form like a dove.’ And the voice of the Father comes from heaven declaring: ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’ (Luke 3: 22).
This Gospel reading is also the story of a new beginning in every sense of the meaning.
After the waters are parted, and Christ emerges, just as the waters are separated, earth and water are separated, and then human life emerges as in the Creation story in Genesis (see Genesis 1: 1 to 2: 3).
Here too the Holy Spirit appears over the waters (see Genesis 1: 2), and God says ‘I am well pleased,’ just as God sees that every moment of creation is good (see Genesis 1: 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25) and with the creation of humanity it becomes ‘very good.’
John the Baptist tells the people that the Kingdom of God is near, that the time has come for the fulfilment of God’s promises to people. A new era is arriving, when God rules.
This morning’s Gospel story is also a reminder of our own Baptisms, and it is the story of a new creation. This Sunday is an appropriate opportunity, at the beginning of a new year, to think about the meaning of our own Baptismal promises.
The Baptism of Christ is about new beginnings for each of us individually and for us collectively as members of the Body of Christ, the Church.
But this Gospel reading also poses two sets of questions for me.
My first set of questions begins by asking:
• What would a parting of the waters and the promise of a new beginning, a new creation, mean for us today?
• Do we believe that what God has made is ‘very good’?
• Are we responsible when it comes to the care of the creation that has been entrusted to us?
And my second set of questions begins:
• What would a parting of the waters and the promise of a new beginning mean for people caught as refugees in the cold waters of the Mediterranean or in the English Channel between France and England in this winter weather?
• Would they be able to believe in the hope that is offered at Epiphany?
It is at the very end of the creation cycle, after the creation and separation of the waters, when God has created us in human form, that God pronounces not just that it is good, but that it is very good.
This morning, while we are still at the beginning of a New Year, we are it is appropriate to remind ourselves of the promises made on our behalf at our own Baptism.
In our Baptism promises, we affirm our faith in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and also promise to be faithful in our prayer life, in our sacramental life, as members of the Church and the Body of Christ, to resist evil, to show our faith in word and deed, to serve all people, to love our neighbours as ourselves, to pray for the world and its leaders, to defend the weak and to seek peace and justice.
In responding to our promises at Baptism, we take responsibility for creation and for humanity. Those responsibilities are inseparable. They are at the heart of the Epiphany stories if we show that we truly believe that the best is yet to come.
The Baptism of Christ … a window in the Chapel of Westminster College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 12 January 2025, Epiphany I):
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 Bag of Flour’. This theme is introduced today with a Programme Update by Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG:
Yusuf* was inside his tent when he learnt that trucks were distributing flour in a nearby town. Getting food had quickly become a great concern for every Palestinian. Leaving his tent, Yusuf joined crowds making the one-hour journey by foot in search of the distribution spot. Some flour would help him bake some bread, perhaps.
Upon arriving, all was not as it seemed. Whirring noises overhead indicated an air strike. Before long, Yusuf had been hit and was unable to walk. In a place where he should have received help, instead he found harm. Miraculously, a stranger passing by carried him onto a cart. The driver mentioned that only Al-Ahli Hospital was still operational in Gaza City. He was losing a lot of blood but maybe they could help.
Arriving at the emergency room, Yusuf was quickly admitted to orthopaedics and rushed into urgent surgery. The doctor, aware of the seriousness of the situation, relied on God for the operation. The hospital medical staff provided Yusuf with all necessary treatment, free of charge. After some time, his condition improved. He thanked the medical staff for the successful surgery as well as the specialist who had attended to him with particular care.
The Shuja’iyya neighbourhood in Gaza has suffered some of the worst destruction from occupying forces due to its proximity to the border. For many like Yusuf, this is home.
*name changed to protect privacy
USPG’s Lent Appeal 2025 will focus on the Diocese of Jerusalem. www.uspg.org.uk
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 12 January 2025, Epiphany I) invites us to pray reflecting on these words:
Together we lament with the Psalmist David: ‘How long, O Lord? … How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?’ (extracts from Psalm 13: 1-2). The suffering in the Middle East is heartbreaking, and we mourn the injustice committed against innocent people.
The Baptism of Christ … a window in the North Transept in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton, Buckinghamshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)
The Collect:
Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
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 of all time and eternity,
you opened the heavens and revealed yourself as Father
in the baptism of Jesus your beloved Son:
by the power of your Spirit
complete the heavenly work of our rebirth
through the waters of the new creation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Heavenly Father,
at the Jordan you revealed Jesus as your Son:
may we recognize him as our Lord
and know ourselves to be your beloved children;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
The Baptism of Christ … a window in the Baptistry in Saint Joseph’s Church, Singapore (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
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
Patrick Comerford
The 40-day season of Christmas continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February). Today is the First Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany I, 12 January 2025), and the readings focus on the Baptism of Christ.
Later this morning, I hope to take part in the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, singing with the choir, reading one of the readings and leading the intercessions. But, 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, 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.
The Baptism of Christ by Saint John the Baptist … the centre panel in a three-light window in Saint John the Baptist Church in Blisworth, Northamptonshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22 (NRSVA):
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
The Baptism of Christ … an icon in the Lady Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Today’s Reflection:
Traditionally, the Church associates Epiphany-tide with three public, epiphany moments, before beginning to look at Christ’s public ministry:
• The visit by the wise men, who, on behalf of the nations of the world, acknowledge him as king, priest, prophet and king with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2: 1-12, 6 January 2025).
• Christ’s baptism by Saint John the Baptist in the River Jordan, when he is acknowledged in a Trinitarian movement by both the Father and the Holy Spirit as the Son of God (Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22, today, 12 January 2025).
• The Wedding at Cana, the first of the seven signs in the Fourth Gospel, which sees Christ reveal his glory so that his disciples believe in him (John 2: 1-11, next Sunday, 19 January 2025).
The Gospel reading this morning (Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22) tells us of the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan by Saint John the Baptist. It marks the beginning of Christ’s public ministry, but it also presents Christ as the fulfilment of the Law and the prophets and presents this Epiphany event as a new creation.
Saint John the Baptist is at the River Jordan, calling the people to repentance, to turn back to God’s ways, to return the way of life to which the people committed themselves in the Covenant with God.
And this leads us to the Baptism of Christ, which is an Epiphany or Theophany moment, and it is a Trinitarian moment.
At first, Saint John tries to dissuade Christ from being baptised. But Christ insists, he wishes to fulfil the Father’s will; this Baptism shows Christ’s continuity with God’s will that has been revealed through the Law and the Prophets.
The words spoken by the voice from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’ (verse 22), echo the words of Isaiah: ‘Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights’ (Isaiah 42: 1).
In this Gospel story, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit come together, acting as one, with distinctive personal roles: when Christ is baptised, heaven opens, the Holy Spirit descends upon Christ ‘in bodily form like a dove.’ And the voice of the Father comes from heaven declaring: ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’ (Luke 3: 22).
This Gospel reading is also the story of a new beginning in every sense of the meaning.
After the waters are parted, and Christ emerges, just as the waters are separated, earth and water are separated, and then human life emerges as in the Creation story in Genesis (see Genesis 1: 1 to 2: 3).
Here too the Holy Spirit appears over the waters (see Genesis 1: 2), and God says ‘I am well pleased,’ just as God sees that every moment of creation is good (see Genesis 1: 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25) and with the creation of humanity it becomes ‘very good.’
John the Baptist tells the people that the Kingdom of God is near, that the time has come for the fulfilment of God’s promises to people. A new era is arriving, when God rules.
This morning’s Gospel story is also a reminder of our own Baptisms, and it is the story of a new creation. This Sunday is an appropriate opportunity, at the beginning of a new year, to think about the meaning of our own Baptismal promises.
The Baptism of Christ is about new beginnings for each of us individually and for us collectively as members of the Body of Christ, the Church.
But this Gospel reading also poses two sets of questions for me.
My first set of questions begins by asking:
• What would a parting of the waters and the promise of a new beginning, a new creation, mean for us today?
• Do we believe that what God has made is ‘very good’?
• Are we responsible when it comes to the care of the creation that has been entrusted to us?
And my second set of questions begins:
• What would a parting of the waters and the promise of a new beginning mean for people caught as refugees in the cold waters of the Mediterranean or in the English Channel between France and England in this winter weather?
• Would they be able to believe in the hope that is offered at Epiphany?
It is at the very end of the creation cycle, after the creation and separation of the waters, when God has created us in human form, that God pronounces not just that it is good, but that it is very good.
This morning, while we are still at the beginning of a New Year, we are it is appropriate to remind ourselves of the promises made on our behalf at our own Baptism.
In our Baptism promises, we affirm our faith in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and also promise to be faithful in our prayer life, in our sacramental life, as members of the Church and the Body of Christ, to resist evil, to show our faith in word and deed, to serve all people, to love our neighbours as ourselves, to pray for the world and its leaders, to defend the weak and to seek peace and justice.
In responding to our promises at Baptism, we take responsibility for creation and for humanity. Those responsibilities are inseparable. They are at the heart of the Epiphany stories if we show that we truly believe that the best is yet to come.
The Baptism of Christ … a window in the Chapel of Westminster College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 12 January 2025, Epiphany I):
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 Bag of Flour’. This theme is introduced today with a Programme Update by Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG:
Yusuf* was inside his tent when he learnt that trucks were distributing flour in a nearby town. Getting food had quickly become a great concern for every Palestinian. Leaving his tent, Yusuf joined crowds making the one-hour journey by foot in search of the distribution spot. Some flour would help him bake some bread, perhaps.
Upon arriving, all was not as it seemed. Whirring noises overhead indicated an air strike. Before long, Yusuf had been hit and was unable to walk. In a place where he should have received help, instead he found harm. Miraculously, a stranger passing by carried him onto a cart. The driver mentioned that only Al-Ahli Hospital was still operational in Gaza City. He was losing a lot of blood but maybe they could help.
Arriving at the emergency room, Yusuf was quickly admitted to orthopaedics and rushed into urgent surgery. The doctor, aware of the seriousness of the situation, relied on God for the operation. The hospital medical staff provided Yusuf with all necessary treatment, free of charge. After some time, his condition improved. He thanked the medical staff for the successful surgery as well as the specialist who had attended to him with particular care.
The Shuja’iyya neighbourhood in Gaza has suffered some of the worst destruction from occupying forces due to its proximity to the border. For many like Yusuf, this is home.
*name changed to protect privacy
USPG’s Lent Appeal 2025 will focus on the Diocese of Jerusalem. www.uspg.org.uk
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 12 January 2025, Epiphany I) invites us to pray reflecting on these words:
Together we lament with the Psalmist David: ‘How long, O Lord? … How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?’ (extracts from Psalm 13: 1-2). The suffering in the Middle East is heartbreaking, and we mourn the injustice committed against innocent people.
The Baptism of Christ … a window in the North Transept in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton, Buckinghamshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)
The Collect:
Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
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 of all time and eternity,
you opened the heavens and revealed yourself as Father
in the baptism of Jesus your beloved Son:
by the power of your Spirit
complete the heavenly work of our rebirth
through the waters of the new creation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Heavenly Father,
at the Jordan you revealed Jesus as your Son:
may we recognize him as our Lord
and know ourselves to be your beloved children;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
The Baptism of Christ … a window in the Baptistry in Saint Joseph’s Church, Singapore (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
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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