Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 150, Thursday 9 October 2025

‘Knock, and the door will be opened for you’ (Luke 11: 9) … a variety of door knockers seen in Rethymnon in Crete (Photographs: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, with the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVI, 5 October).

The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Denys (ca 250), Bishop of Paris, and his Companions, Martyrs; and Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253), Bishop of Lincoln, Philosopher, Scientist.

Before today begins, 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.

‘Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? ’ (Luke 11: 11) … a variety of fish on display in a seafood restaurant at the harbour in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Luke 11: 5-13 (NRSVA):

5 And he said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” 7 And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

9 ‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’

‘If the child asks for an egg, will [you] give a scorpion?’ (Luke 11: 12) … painted eggs at Easter time in Panormos near Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Today’s Reflection:

In this morning’s Gospel reading (Luke 11: 5-13), we continue on from yesterday’s reading (Luke 11: 1-4), with Saint Luke’s account of the Lord’s Prayer. In verses 5 ff, Christ tells two stories: even one who is asleep with his family responds ‘because of ... persistence’ to a neighbour in need; a parent provides for a child. Even these people, separated from God, respond to the needs of others. How much more so will God respond to our prayers for help, through the Holy Spirit.

These following verses develop the themes in the Lord’s Prayer, including the idea of God as a loving Father, meeting our daily needs, and, in a subtle way, the constant need for forgiveness.

Saint Luke’s account of the Lord’s Prayer has made me ask in the past how Jewish is the Lord’s Prayer.

As a rabbi and religious leader, Christ was responsible for teaching his followers how to fulfil Jewish religious commandments, including the obligation to pray at certain times and in certain forms.

The most important Jewish prayer, the Shema, is the basic Jewish affirmation of faith and is based on Deuteronomy 6: 7. Other basic prayers include the Grace after Meals, derived from Deuteronomy 8: 10.

But the central prayer of Jewish public worship is the Amidah (‘the Standing Prayer’) or the Shemoneh Esreh, which means 18, referring to 18 petitions, although the number of petitions is now 19. Observant Jews recite the Amidah at each of the three weekday prayer services: morning, afternoon, and evening. Praying three times a day is a long-established Jewish tradition (see Daniel 6: 11, Psalm 55: 18).

By the time of Christ, daily prayer was an integral part of Jewish religious life, and the basic structure of the Amidah was well established. Its form was regularised soon after, so that the prayer had taken its present form in the early first century CE.

The schools of Hillel and Shammai both accepted as the proper form nine petitions for Rosh Ha-Shanah (New Year) and seven petitions for the Sabbath. By the first century CE, the Amidah was one of the most important series of petitions. By then, there were probably 12 to 14 petitions, and more were added after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 CE to reflect changes in Jewish life.

There are many discussions in the Talmud about the minimum number of petitions, but consensus was not reached until the sixth century CE.

The rabbis recognised that not everyone in every circumstance could find time to pray the entire Amidah. Even as early as the third century CE, shortened versions were being prayed. So, is the Lord’s Prayer an early version of the Amidahthat Christ taught his disciples so they could fulfil their minimum obligations of prayer?

But, just how Jewish is the Lord’s Prayer?

Perhaps when the disciples are asking Jesus to teach them to pray, they are also asking him the minimum number of petitions needed to fulfil the obligation to pray.

1, ‘Father’ or ‘Our Father, who art in heaven’: The Lord’s Prayer opens with the acknowledgment of the fatherhood of God and his place in heaven. While the opening verses of the Amidah talk of God as the God of our fathers in, the fatherhood of God is a common phrase throughout Jewish liturgy.

Avinu, meaning ‘Our Father,’ is a word repeated constantly throughout the prayers that make up the Jewish services (see also Deuteronomy 32: 6; Isaiah 63: 16).

In the Amidah, the title occurs twice: ‘Cause us to return, O our Father, unto thy Torah; draw us near, O our King, unto they service …’ (fifth benediction); ‘Forgive us, O our Father, for we have sinned; pardon us, O our King, for we have transgressed’ (sixth benediction). It is also found in the second benediction before the Shema: ‘O our Father, our King, for our fathers’ sake, who trusted in thee, and whom thou didst teach the statutes of life, be also gracious unto us and teach us. O our Father, ever compassionate, have mercy on us.’

The name ‘Father’ is also widely used in the liturgy of the celebrations of the new year and of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement which, this year, was last Wednesday evening and Thursday (1-2 October 2025), where the phrases ‘Father of mercy’ and ‘O our Father’ occur frequently.

2, ‘Hallowed be thy name,’ or ‘may your name be sanctified’: The Hebrew word kadosh can be translated as either holy or sanctified. The third petition in the Amidah prays: ‘Thou art holy and thy name is holy and the holy praise thee daily. Blessed art thou O Lord, the holy God.’

3, ‘Your kingdom come’ or ‘Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’: In the Amidah, the words pray: ‘Reign thou over us O Lord, thou alone in loving kindness and tender mercy and clear us in judgment. Blessed art thou O Lord the King who lovest righteousness and judgment.’

The words ‘thy will be done’ also occur in I Maccabees: ‘It is better for us to die in battle than to see the misfortunes of our nation and of the sanctuary. But as his will in heaven may be, so he will do’ (I Maccabees 3: 59-60). The same attitude of abandonment to God’s will finds expression in the prayer Jews utter as they feel death drawing near: ‘May it be thy will to send me a perfect healing. Yet if my death be fully determined by thee, I will in love to accept it at thy hand.’

4, ‘Give us each day our daily bread’ or ‘Give us this day our daily bread’: The ninth Amidah blessing prays: ‘Bless this year unto us O Lord our God together with every kind of the produce thereof for our welfare.’ A short prayer ascribed to the rabbis prays: ‘O God, the needs of thy people are many, their knowledge slender. Give every one of thy creatures his daily bread and grant him his urgent needs.’

There is an interesting thought in the Book of Proverbs: ‘Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need,’ or, ‘Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread’ (Proverbs 30: 8).

5, ‘Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us’ or ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’: The sixth Amidah blessing prays: ‘Forgive us, O our Father, for we have sinned, pardon us, O our King, for we have transgressed, for thou dost pardon and forgive. Blessed art thou O Lord who art gracious and dost abundantly forgive.’

It is an important Jewish concept that one cannot ask for forgiveness from God until first making amends with others I may have wronged or I have been wronged by. Before going to sleep at night, pious Jews pray, ‘Master of the universe, I hereby forgive anyone who angered or antagonised me or who sinned against me.’

The majority of the rabbis taught, ‘if you forgive your neighbour, the One will forgive you; but if you do not forgive your neighbour, no one will have mercy on you’ (Midrash Tanhuma Genesi).

6, ‘And do not bring us to the time of trial’ or ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’: The seventh blessing in the Amidah is a prayer for deliverance from afflictions of all kinds. A modern version says, ‘Look with compassion on all afflicted among us; be thou our guardian and our advocate, and redeem us speedily from all evil, for in thee do we trust as our mighty Redeemer.’

7, ‘For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever’: the doxology is not included in the Lord’s Prayer in Saint Luke’s Gospel, but is added in some manuscript versions of Saint Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 6: 13). It is similar to David’s benediction (see I Chronicles 29: 10-13), which is part of the daily prayer service and an essential component of the section called Pesukei D’zimrah (‘Verses of Praise’) that comes immediately before reciting the Shema. Whether or not the doxology is included in the Lord’s Prayer, it is rooted firmly in Jewish tradition.

‘Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish?’ (Luke 11: 11) … a variety of fish advertised at a fish shop in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 9 October 2025):

The theme this week (5 to 11 October) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Disability inclusion in Zimbabwe’ (pp 44-45). This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections from Makomborero Bowa, Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy Religion and Ethics in the University of Zimbabwe.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 9 October 2025) invites us to pray:

Lord, strengthen Bowa in his efforts to promote disability inclusion. May his voice be heard and his work inspire others to take action in their communities.

The Collect:

O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers
of your people who call upon you;
and grant that they may both perceive and know
what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them;
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:

Almighty God,
you have taught us through your Son
that love is the fulfilling of the law:
grant that we may love you with our whole heart
and our neighbours as ourselves;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Lord of creation,
whose glory is around and within us:
open our eyes to your wonders,
that we may serve you with reverence
and know your peace at our lives’ end,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued tomorrow

‘If the child asks for an egg, will [you] give a scorpion?’ (Luke 11: 12) … painted eggs at Easter time on a table in Panormos, near Rethymnon (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

‘Our grudges are no longer our grudges, Our silent resentments are no longer silent,Our eternal vows of vengeance are no more’

‘And we pray for those children whose nightmares occur in the daytime’ (Ina J Hughes) … street art seen in Buckingham this week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

Thursday was a horrific day for the Jewish community in Britain, Britain at large, and the Jewish community throughout the world, with the frightening attack on Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester. May the memories of those who were killed be a blessing and may those who were injured recover quickly and fully.

Feelings of safety within the Jewish community in the UK have declined sharply in the last couple of years, according to the largest survey of British Jews since 7 October 2023. The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said this morning that antisemitism has been rising in the UK.

The local synagogue in Milton Keynes has had several telephone calls and messages since the attack from local people wanting to express solidarity with the Jewish community, trying to reassure Jewish people that they are not alone. It was reassuring that the police were at the synagogue in Milton Keynes yesterday morning even before anyone there had heard of the attack in Manchester, and they continued to do regular patrols by the synagogue throughout the day.

Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement is the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar, the climax of the Ten Days of Awe or the High Holy Days. I spent some of these days, including Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year Day, and Kol Nidrei, the beginning of Yom Kippur, in my local synagogue in Milton Keynes, where the services were led by Rabbi Roberta Harris-Eckstein, who used the new Reform Judaism High Holy Days Machzor.

The revised and modernised prayer book has been 10 years in the making. It was produced by an editorial group of clergy – including Rabbi Mark Goldsmit, who chaired the group, and the joint editors Rabbi Paul Freedman and Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet – along with inputs from rabbinic and cantorial colleagues and local congregations.

As a companion to the renewed Reform Siddur for daily and Shabbat use, the High Holy Days Machzor incorporates changes and improvements that were needed to reflect today’s Progressive Jewish society and those of the next 30 to 40 years. These changes and improvement include gender neutral language, reflected in the introduction of the Matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah were missing on the High Holy Day. One key aim was to demystify the principles, customs and practices of the Yamim Noraim or Days of Awe.

In many places in this two-volume resource, the usual liturgy on the right-hand page is creatively complemented by readings and poetry in a blue typeface on the facing page, either for congregational use or to give permission to the individual to ‘wander’ and find new meaning during a service.

The hope is that the new Machzor allows everyone to take part in Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in a way that addresses their personal needs and reflects today’s Reform and Progressive values and place in Jewish tradition.

The Torah scrolls in Milton Keynes and District Reform Synagogue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The services for Rosh haShanah, Kol Nidrei and Yom Kippur in Milton Keynes this week and last were led by Rabbi Roberta Harris-Eckstein. She has been part-time rabbi of Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community and has taught the Hebrew Bible, History of the Ancient Near East and Biblical History, as well as courses in Judaism for non-Jews.

The Torah readings for Rosh haShanah are a tapestry of stories about children – the rescue of Ishmael, the birth of Isaac, and the birth of Samuel. One engaging reading introduced by Rabbi Roberta is an adaptation of the poem ‘A Prayer for the Children’ by Ina J Hughes:

We pray for the children who put chocolate fingers on everything,
who love to be tickled,
who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
who eat candy before supper,
and who can never find their shoes in the morning.

And we also pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who never bound down the street in a new pair of shoes,
who never played ‘one potato, two potatoes’,
and who are born in places where we would not be caught dead in and they will be.

We pray for the children who give us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who sleep with their dog and bury their goldfish,
who hug us so tightly and who forget their lunch money,
who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
who watch their fathers shave,
and who slurp their soup.

And we also pray for those who will never get dessert,
who have no favourite blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their fathers suffer,
who cannot find any bread to steal,
who do not have rooms to clean up,
whose pictures are always on milk cartons instead of dressers,
and whose monsters are real.

We pray for the children who spend their allowance before Tuesday,
who pick at their food,
who love ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed,
who never rinse out the bathtub,
who love visits from the Tooth Fairy, even when they find out who it really is,
who do not like to be kissed or hugged in front of the school bus,
and who squirm during services.

And we pray for those children
whose nightmares occur in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who are not spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and wake up hungry,
who live and move and have no address.

We pray for the children who like to be carried
and for those children who have to be carried,
for those who give up on and for those who never give up;
for those who will grab the hand of anyone kind enough to offer it
and for those who will find no hand to grab.

For all these children, Adonai, we pray today,
for they are all so precious. Amen.

‘We pray for the children … who live and move and have no address’ (Ina J Hughes) … street art in Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

As I pored over the new Machzor in moments of silence and reflection, I was taken by many of the resources it offers ‘All Our Grudges’ by Trisha Arlin is described as an ‘Alternative Kol Nidrei’:

All grudges, resentments, and vows of vengeance and bitterness,
All undying hatreds or annoyances that we may hold onto
Or talk endlessly about, boring our friends,
Or lose sleep obsessing over
Or write bad poetry about
Or bring up at family dinners to the consternation of all present;

From the previous Day of Atonement until this Day of Atonement
For the benefit of our mental health
And the peace of mind of all who surround us;
Regarding all of this that we have refused to let go,
Despite the fact that they are long past
Or pointless
Or one-sided
Or ridiculous
Or destructive of the innocent
Or hurting ourselves more than anyone else;

Regarding all of them, these intrusions on the Holy Wholeness,
we repudiate them.
All of them, we let them go,
Give up
Wave away
Acknowledge as stupid
Declare null and void
Because we are done.

Our grudges are no longer our grudges,
Our silent resentments are no longer silent,
Our eternal vows of vengeance are no more.

The entire community acknowledges and takes action
So that everyone we have been angry at is forgiven,
Every hurt we did not speak about will be dealt with,
Every relative will be loved for who they are rather than who they are not,
Every change in the world that needs to be made will be made rather than contemplated.

Holy Wholeness!
We need help to step back into connection with the One.
We look for the compassion and mercy
That is always there
If we but pay attention.

‘Anyone who puts on a tallit when young will never forget’ (Yehuda Amichai)

Wearing a tallit at the evening service is a tradition associated with Kol Nidrei. Normally, a tallitis worn at services during daylight hours, and tradition says the tallitis not worn at night. The exception to this rule is the night of Yom Kippur or Kol Nidre, and it is customary for those who wear the tallitto wear it throughout Yom Kippur, for all prayer services, including Kol Nidrei.

‘A Tallit Poem’ by the late Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai depicts some of the symbolism, feelings and emotions captured by memories of the tallit:

Anyone who puts on a tallit when young
will never forget:
taking it out of the soft velvet bag,
opening the folded shawl,
spreading it out,
kissing the length of the neckband
(embroidered
or trimmed in gold).
Then
swinging it in a great swoop
overhead
like a sky,
a wedding canopy,
a parachute.
And then winding it
around your head
as in hide-and-seek,
then wrapping
your whole body in it, close and slow,
snuggling into it like the cocoon
of a butterfly,
then opening would-be wings to fly.

And why is the tallit striped
and not checkered black and white
like a chessboard?
Because squares are finite
and hopeless.
Stripes come from infinity
and to infinity they go
like
airport runways
where angels land and take off.

Whoever has put on a tallit
will never forget.
When stepping out of a swimming pool
or the sea,
wrapping yourself in a large towel,
and spreading it out again
over your head,
then you snuggle back into it
close and slow,
still shivering a little,
then you laugh
then you say a blessing.

The prayer Vidui Zuta, also known as the Short Confession or the Ashamnu, is recited during the High Holy Days, particularly on Yom Kippur, when it is recited ten times. It is a familiar acrostic in which the first letter of each sin named corresponds to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, with the final letter of the alphabet repeated, for a total of 23 sins. Many people, as they confess these sins, beat their chests with their hands to signify the admission of their misdeeds.

But the new Machzor includes an interpretation of Vidui Zuta, with an English-language acrostic from A to Z:

We have abused and betrayed. We were cruel.
We have destroyed and embittered other people’s lives.
We were false to ourselves.
We have gossiped about others and hated them.
We have insulted and jeered. We have killed. We have lied.
We have misled others and neglected them.
We were obstinate. We have perverted and quarrelled.
We have robbed and stolen.
We have transgressed through unkindness.
We have been both violent and weak.
We have been xenophobic.
We have yielded to wrong desires, our zeal was misplaced.

Shabbat Shalom, שבת שלום‎

A selection of tallitot or prayer shawls in the Synagogue Kadoorie Mekor Haim in Porto (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 143, Thursday 2 October 2025

‘After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs’ (Luke 10: 1) … 70 on a front door in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We began a new month yesterday (1 October) and we are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar. The week began with the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XV, 28 September).

These are the Days of Awe, or the High Holy Days in the Jewish calendar. The Kol Nidre service was last night and today is Yom Kippur, the last of the Ten Days of Awe or High Holy Days, the Day of Atonement and the holiest and most solemn day for Jews. The fast of Yom Kippur, which began with Kol Nidre last night, continues today and concludes this evening (Thursday 2 October).

I am involved with an amateur dramatic group in Stony Stratford later this evening. But, before today begins, 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.

Tradition says the degrees of Jacob’s Ladder were 72 in number

Luke 10: 1-12 (NRSVA):

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” 12 I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.’

The Number 72 on a garden fence in the Coffee Hall estate in Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Luke 10: 1-12) tells of the sending out of the 72, or the 70, depending on which translation we are reading and which manuscripts the translations give greater weight to. In the Eastern Christian traditions, they are known as the 70 or 72 apostles, while in Western Christianity they are usually described as disciples.

The number 70 may derive from the 70 nations in Genesis 10, but the number 72 may represent the 12 tribes, as in the significance of the number of translators of the Septuagint, the symbolism of three days (24 x 3), and understanding the meaning of 144 (12 x 12), to appear again in the 144,000 in the Book of Revelation.

In translating the Vulgate, Jerome selected the reading of 72. In modern translations, the number 72 is preferred in the NRSV, NIV, ESV and the New Catholic Bible, for example, but 70 figures in the NRSV Anglicised (NRSVA) and the Authorised or King James Version.

In number theory, 72 is the natural number after 71 and before 73, prime numbers. It is a pronic number, as it is the product of 8 and 9, it is the smallest Achilles number, as it is a powerful number that is not itself a power.

The number 72 is an abundant number. With exactly 12 positive divisors, including 12 (one of only two sublime numbers), 72 is also the twelfth member in the sequence of refactorable numbers. It has a Euler totient of 24, which makes it a highly totient number, as there are 17 solutions to the equation φ(x) = 72, more than any integer below 72. It is equal to the sum of its preceding smaller highly totient numbers, 24 and 48, and contains the first six highly totient numbers 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 as a subset of its proper divisors.

The number 144, or twice 72, is also highly totient, as is 576, the square of 24. While 17 different integers have a totient value of 72, the sum of Euler’s totient function φ(x) over the first 15 integers is 72. It also is a perfect indexed Harshad number in decimal (28th), as it is divisible by the sum of its digits (9).

In addition, 72 is the second multiple of 12, after 48, that is not a sum of twin primes. It is, however, the sum of four consecutive primes (13 + 17 + 19 + 23), as well as the sum of six consecutive primes (5 + 7 + 11 + 13 + 17 + 19). Also, 72 is the first number that can be expressed as the difference of the squares of primes in just two distinct ways: 112 − 72 = 192 − 172.

In science, 72 is the atomic number of hafnium, and in degrees Fahrenheit 72 is 22.22 Celsius and is considered to be room temperature.

Biblically, tradition says 72 is the number of languages spoken at the Tower of Babylon. The degrees of Jacob’s Ladder (Genesis 28:10-19) were 72 in number, according to the Zohar, a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature.

The conventional number of scholars involved in translating the Septuagint was 72, not 70, with six Hebrew scholars drawn from each of the 12 tribes. According to tradition, Ptolemy II Philadelphus sent 72 Hebrew scholars and translators from Jerusalem to Alexandria to translate the Tanakh from Biblical Hebrew into Koine Greek, for inclusion in his library.

According to Kabbalah, 72 is the number of names of God. In Kaballah, the Shem HaMephorash (שֵׁם הַמְּפֹרָשׁ) or ‘the explicit name’ of God is composed of 72 letters. The 72-fold name is derived from a reading of Exodus 14:19-21. Kabbalist legend says the 72-fold name was used by Moses to cross the Red Sea, and that it could grant later holy men the power to cast out demons, heal the sick, prevent natural disasters, and even kill enemies. This, of course, relates directly to the commission of the 72 in Saint Luke’s Gospel.

So, when I turned 72 last year, I wondered whether I had arrived at my prime – or, at least, between two prime numbers – perhaps I am best served at room temperature. I was then a powerful number, suited to translation, ready to be sent out.

I once stayed at the Tamworth Arms at 71-72 Lichfield Street, almost directly across the street from the Moat House, the former Comberford family home. where The choir of Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, which resumes its rehearsals tomorrow evening, regularly adjourns after rehearsals to the Cock Hotel, which is at 72 High Street.

But what is there to look forward to after 70 or even 72?

When the long-serving Labour MP for Rochdale Sir Tony Lloyd died last year, the Guardian reported him as saying some years ago: ‘There’s this recognition that you only have a certain time left … I’m 70, and as such you think, “Well, I’m probably not going to be around in X years’ time, so use these years wisely. Use these days wisely.” That’s good advice for us all.’

Of course that’s good advice for us all. But surely, whether we are counting beyond 70 or 72, no matter how we translate or count numbers, there is more to look forward to than merely counting the X number of years ahead, to something that has more meaning than what is left of my mere temporal existence.

‘After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs’ (Luke10: 1) … No 70 Bridge Street, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 2 October 2025):

The theme this week (28 September to 4 October) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘One Faith: Many Voices’ (pp 42-43). This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections from Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 2 October 2025) invites us to pray:

Gracious God, thank you for the presence of Christians in the Middle East who trust in the powerful work of your Holy Spirit.

The Collect:

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
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:

Keep, O Lord, your Church, with your perpetual mercy;
and, because without you our human frailty cannot but fall,
keep us ever by your help from all things hurtful,
and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Lord God,
defend your Church from all false teaching
and give to your people knowledge of your truth,
that we may enjoy eternal life
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

The Cock Hotel at 72 High Street, Stony Stratford … the choir of Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church regularly adjourns there after rehearsals (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

Releasing the vows of the past and praying for a year of happiness and redemption

‘Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur,’ Maurycy Gottlieb (1856-1879), Vienna, 1878, Tel Aviv Museum of Art

Patrick Comerford

During these High Holy Days, the most solemn and sacred time of the year in the Jewish calendar, I have been drawing inspiration from a study guide produced by Voices for Prophetic Judaism, which is providing a platform for prophetic voices and prophetic action, and is championing justice, peace, equality, human rights and the planet.

The group published 10 readings for the 10 days, a booklet with 10 readings for the Aseret Y’mei T’shuvah, the Ten Days of Return, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur 5786/2025.

In their introduction to this new booklet, published last month, Rabbi Gabriel Kanter-Webber and Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah explain that Voices for Prophetic Judaism is an initiative led by Progressive Jewish clergy in Britain and aims to reclaim the Jewish legacy of ethical teachings by establishing a platform for prophetic voices and prophetic action, championing justice, peace, equality, human rights, and tikkun olam (repair of the world).

The new booklet offers prophetic perspectives rooted in the themes and teachings of the yamim nora’im, the ‘awed days’. It has offers a day-by-day guide for a journey through the ten days, and could also be used to focus on particular readings. It offers spiritual nourishment and inspiration while grappling with the ethical challenges of our age.

Rabbi Dr Michael Hilton is Emeritus Rabbi of Kol Chai Reform Synagogue, Harrow, and scholar-in-residence at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue. He writes the concluding reflection, ‘Turning repentance into action’ (pp 43-45), and offers this prayer for Yom Kippur:

For the fear of change and renewal, and our unbelief.
For saying prayers aloud, but refusing to listen.
For being our own worst enemy.
For keeping the poor in the chains of poverty;
and turning a deaf ear to the cry of the oppressed ...
and for the sin of silence and indifference.
For all these, O God of mercy, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement.

This evening marks the end of the High Holy Days or the Days of Awe (יָמִים נוֹרָאִים‎, Yamim Noraim), a 10-day period in Judaism that began with Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה‎) and ends tonight and tomorrow ing with Kold Nidre (כָּל נִדְרֵי‎) and Yom Kippur (יום כפור‎).

These ten days are a solemn time of self-reflection, introspection, repentance and seeking forgiveness from others and for God. These days are opportunities to admit to wrongdoings, make amends, and commit to a better future before the fate for the coming year is sealed.

Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish year, begins at sundown this evening [1 October 2025] and ends at sunset tomorrow [2 October 2025]. This is the holiest and most solemn of the High Holy Days in the Jewish year.

The central themes of this holy day are atonement and repentance, and it is observed with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, and many Jews spend most of the day at synagogue services.

According to Jewish tradition, God writes each person’s fate for the coming year into the Book of Life on Rosh Hashanah or New Year and waits until Yom Kippur to seal the verdict. During the intervening Days of Awe, Jews seek to amend personal behaviour and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God and against other people.

The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private prayer and confessions of guilt.

Tonight is known as Kol Nidrei night because of this evening’s Kol Nidre prayer which is charged with so many emotions and so many memories for Jews everywhere. The words are in Aramaic, not Hebrew, and it is sung to a haunting, traditional melody that has inspired many composers and singers.

There is a tradition that during the Spanish Inquisition, when the conversos or Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity under the threat of death, they remained faithful to Judaism at heart, and tried to observe Jewish practices in their homes.

These conversos would gather in the evening shortly before Yom Kippur began in their secret synagogues. Before beginning the Yom Kippur services, they would tearfully and emotionally pray to God, asking for forgiveness for all the public statements they made in the previous year which were contrary to Jewish doctrine.

This is supposedly also the reason why Kol Nidre is prefaced with the statement: ‘… by the authority of the heavenly tribunal and by the authority of the earthly tribunal, we hereby grant permission to pray with those who have transgressed.’

However, the Kol Nidre prayer predates the Inquisition by at least 500 years. It is said with great devotion as the opening prayer of the holiest day of the year and not because of its content.

Kol Nidre is an Aramaic declaration recited in the synagogue before the beginning of the evening service on every Yom Kippur. Although, strictly speaking, Kol Nidre is not a prayer, it has many emotional undertones and creates a dramatic introduction to Yom Kippur. The term Kol Nidrei refers not only to the actual declaration but is also used as the name for the entire Yom Kippur service on this evening.

The name ‘Kol Nidre’ comes from the opening words, meaning ‘all vows.’ It is a pledge that annuls any personal or religious oaths or prohibitions made to God by the person for the next year, so as to avoid the sin of breaking vows made to God that cannot be or are not upheld.

Kol Nidrei was introduced into the synagogue liturgy despite the opposition of some rabbis, although it was expunged from the prayer book by many communities in western Europe in the 19th century.



Before sunset on the eve of Yom Kippur, the congregation gathers in the synagogue, the Ark is opened and two people take out two or three Torah scrolls. They then take their places, one on each side of the cantor, and the three, forming a symbolic beth din or rabbinical court, recite:

By the authority of the Court on High
and by authority of the court down here,
by the permission of One Who Is Everywhere
and by the permission of this congregation,
we hold it lawful to pray with sinners.

The last word, usually translated as sinners or transgressors, is used in the Talmud (Niddah 13b; Shabbat 40a) for apostates or renegades and in the Talmud of Jerusalem (Ketubot 7,31c) for someone whose offences are of such magnitude that he is no longer recognised by the Jewish community.

The cantor then chants the passage beginning with the words ‘Kol Nidre’ with its touching melodic phrases, and, in varying intensities, repeats twice, giving a total of three declarations, these words:

All vows we are likely to make,
all oaths and pledges we are likely to take
between this Yom Kippur and the next Yom Kippur,
we publicly renounce.
Let them all be relinquished and abandoned,
null and void,
neither firm nor established.
Let our vows, pledges and oaths
be considered neither vows nor pledges nor oaths.

The leader and the congregation then say together three times:

May all the people of Israel be forgiven,
including all the strangers who live in their midst,
for all the people are in fault. (Numbers 15: 26)

The leader then says:

O pardon the iniquities of this people,
according to thy abundant mercy,
just as thou forgave this people
ever since they left Egypt.

The leader and the congregation say together three times:

The Lord said,
‘I pardon them according to your words.’ (Numbers 14: 20)

The Torah scrolls are then placed back in the Ark, and the customary evening service begins.

Kol Nidrei is not a prayer – indeed, it makes no requests and is not even addressed to God. Instead, it is a declaration before the Yom Kippur prayers begin. It follows the juridical practice of requiring three men as a tribunal, the procedure begins before sundown, and the proclamation is announced three times.

It is believed that Kol Nidrei was added to the liturgy of Yom Kippur 10 days after Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, because that service is much more solemn, because the Day of Atonement is attuned to the theme of repentance and remorse, and because Yom Kippur services are better attended. Kol Nidre also includes an emotional expression of penitence that sets the theme for the Day of Atonement.

Rabbi Meir ben Samuel made an important change to the wording of the Kol Nidre in the early 12th century, changing the original phrase ‘from the last Day of Atonement until this one’ to ‘from this Day of Atonement until the next.’

The older text is usually called the Sephardic version, but the two versions are sometimes found side by side. Because it is traditional to recite Kol Nidrei three times, some Sephardic communities and a small number of Ashkenazic communities recite both versions.

In the Yom Kippur Machzor of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, Western Sephardim, a prayer is said immediately after Kol Nidre, for A todos nossos Irmaos, prezos pela Inquisicao, a prayer ‘for all our brothers and sisters imprisoned by the Inquisition’:

‘May he who blessed our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, bless, preserve, guard and assist all our brothers and sisters imprisoned by the Inquisition. May the King of kings bless and make them worthy of his grace, hearken to the voice of their supplication and bring them forth from darkness to light. May such be the Divine will and let us say, Amen.’

Some may ask why this prayer is said even today, almost 200 years after the end of the Inquisition. It is possible that this prayer is still said because while the Inquisition may not be active today, its effect continues today, with millions of people still cut off from their people.

The suffering under the Inquisition cannot be reversed, nor can those murdered by it be brought back. But we can campaign and work to free all who are still psychologically imprisoned or oppressed because of the experiences of their ancestors.

Kol Nidrei is performed before Yom Kippur begins, and should be recited before sunset, since dispensation from a vow may not be granted on the Sabbath or on a feast-day, unless the vow refers to one of these days. However, Sephardic communities wait until nightfall, when Yom Kippur officially begins, before reciting Kol Nidre.

There is a tradition that makes Kol Nidre more than a technical vow-annulment procedure. Instead, by releasing these vows God is being asked to reciprocate in kind. In the event that he has pledged not to bring the redemption just yet, in the event that he made an oath to bring harsh judgments on his people in the following year, God is asked to release these vows and instead grant a year of happiness and redemption.

Avinu Malkeinu is the traditional prayer considered by many as the pinnacle of the Yom Kippur service. The ark is still open and will soon close. As the service is reaching its end, there is a feeling that the gates of heaven are closing. The emotions that have been built up throughout the day are expressed as the entire congregation sings this traditional tune together.

It is an important reminder of how to cherish the past, and allow it to help shape and focus the days ahead. The old and the new are side by side, blessed by renewed energy year after year.

לְשָׁנָה טוֹבָה תִכָּתֵבוּ וְתֵּחָתֵמוּ‎

May your name be sealed for good in the Book of Life

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 142, Wednesday 1 October 2025

‘Disturb us, Lord … when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore’ … after sunset on the shore below the Fortezza in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

We begin a new month today and we are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar. The week began with the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XV, 28 September), and the calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Remigius (533), Bishop of Rheims, Apostle of the Franks, and Anthony Ashley Cooper (1801-1885), Earl of Shaftesbury, Social Reformer.

These are the Days of Awe, or the High Holy Days in the Jewish calendar. The Kol Nidre service begins at sunset this evening, marking the start of Yom Kippur. This solemn service is a prayer for annulling vows made over the past year, allowing individuals to approach the Day of Atonement with a clean conscience. The fast of Yom Kippur concludes tomorrow evening (Thursday 2 October).

Before today begins, 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.

‘Disturb us, Lord … when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore’ … sails and boats in the harbour in Rethymnon at sunset (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on image for full-screen viewing)

Luke 9: 57-62 (NRSVA):

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ 58 And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ 59 To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ 60 But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ 61 Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ 62 Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Sir Francis Drake … ‘it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same unto the end, until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory’

Today’s Reflections:

Saint Luke is a great story-teller, and we are all captivated by his stories of healing and his parables: the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the unjust steward, and so on.

So this morning’s Gospel reading comes as a little surprise. The first impression is that there’s no story here, no drama, no healing, no showing how society’s perceived underdog is really a model for our own behaviour, for my behaviour – indeed a model of how God behaves, and behaves towards us.

Instead, what we have what reads like a series of pithy statements from Jesus: like a collection of sayings from the Desert Fathers or even a collection of popular sayings from Zen masters.

Good stories about wayward sons and muggings on the roadside make for good drama, and healing stories are great soap opera. But they only remain stories and they only remain mini-stage-plays if all we want is good entertainment and forget all about what the main storyline is, what the underlying plot in Saint Luke’s Gospel is.

The context of this reading is provided a few verses earlier, when Saint Luke says the days are drawing near and Jesus is setting his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9: 51).

It is a challenge to us all. We are called to live not for the pleasure of a dramatic moment, but to live in the one great drama that is taking place: to set our faces on the heavenly Jerusalem; to live as if we really believe in the New Heaven and the New Earth.

We are called not to be conditional disciples – being a Christian when I look after everything else, sometime in the future. We are called to be committed disciples – to live as Christians in the here-and-now.

There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but only if he can hold on to his wealth and property (Luke 9: 57-58). There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but not until he has looked after burying his father (Luke 9: 59-60). There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but who thinks first he must consider what his friends and those at home would think before he leaves them (Luke 10: 61-62).

Of course, it is good to have a home of my own and not to live in a foxhole. Of course, it is good that each of us should take responsibility for ageing parents and to bury them when they die. Of course, it is good that we should not walk out on our families, our friends and our responsibilities.

Of course, domestic security, filial duty and loyal affection are high ideals. But they are conditional, while the call of the kingdom is compelling, urgent and imperative. And it demands commitment in such a way that it puts all other loyalties in second place.

Christ is not saying that these men had the wrong values. But he sees how we can use values so that we can end up with the wrong priorities.

As GB Caird pointed out in his commentary on Saint Luke’s Gospel, sometimes the most difficult choices in life for most of us are not between good and evil, but between the good and the best. I am sure these three ‘wannabe’ disciples presented good excuses. But discipleship on my own terms is not what Christ asks of me. It can only be on his terms. There is no conditional discipleship, there is only committed discipleship.

As advertisers remind us constantly, there are terms and conditions attached to most things in life. But there can be no terms and conditions attached when it comes to being a disciple, to being a follower of Jesus.

As his ship, the Elizabeth Bonaventure, lay at anchor at Cape Sakar on 17 May 1587 after the sacking of Sagress, Sir Francis Drake wrote to Elizabeth I’s secretary of state, Sir Francis Walsingham: ‘There must be a begynnyng of any great matter, but the contenewing unto the end untyll it be thoroughly ffynyshed yeldes the trew glory.’

These words were later adapted by Eric Milner-White (1884-1963), who is credited with introducing the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols during his time as Dean of King’s College, Cambridge (1918-1941). In a collection of prayers he compiled and published in 1941 as he was moving from King’s to become Dean of York, he adapted Drake’s words in what has become a well-known prayer:

O Lord God,
when thou givest to thy servants
to endeavour any great matter,
grant us also to know that it is not the beginning,
but the continuing of the same unto the end,
until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory;
through him who for the finishing of thy work
laid down his life, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

— after Francis Drake (c. 1540-1596)

But there is another prayer that is also attributed to Francis Drake. After the Golden Hinde sailed from Portsmouth to raid Spanish Gold before sailing on to California, he is said to have written:

Disturb us, Lord,
when we are too well pleased with ourselves;
when our dreams have come true
because we have dreamed too little,
when we arrived safely
because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst
for the waters of life;
having fallen in love with life,
we have ceased to dream of eternity
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision
of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly –
to venture on wider seas
where storms will show your mastery;
where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
the horizons of our hopes;
and to push back the future
in strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
who is Jesus Christ.

This prayer exists in different versions, and many of these versions include lines that sound too modern to be Drake’s own words. Indeed, it is difficult to be certain whether any of this prayer was written or prayed by Drake himself, although, as the first person to circumnavigate the globe, he would certainly have understood its sentiment.

There is a well-known saying: ‘A ship in the harbour is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.’ Food, shelter, and warmth are not enough on their own. In order to flourish, we need a dream – a sense of purpose. A dream come true is, by definition, not a dream any more. And when our dreams come true, we need to dream new dreams, for: ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Proverbs 28.19).

So often, it is true, church life is a tussle between young people who want to try new things and older people who so want to keep things as they are. But young adventurers also need older people with wisdom and perspective who can still retain and nurture a healthy sense of adventure.

Drake’s prayer expresses the excitement of faith. It is so easy for some to dismiss faith as a crutch for the weak and prayer as a sign of weakness. But if all our prayers were prayers for help, then would there be nothing more to life than merely coping with it and whatever it brings us?

‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9: 62) … sculpture in Kanturk, Co Cork, of Thady Kelleher (1935-2004), World and All-Ireland Ploughing Champion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 1 October 2025):

The theme this week (28 September to 4 October) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘One Faith: Many Voices’ (pp 42-43). This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections from Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Wednesday 1 October 2025) invites us to pray:

Lord, we give thanks for those who have passed down the faith and your faithfulness through the generations.

The Collect of the Day:

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
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:

Keep, O Lord, your Church, with your perpetual mercy;
and, because without you our human frailty cannot but fall,
keep us ever by your help from all things hurtful,
and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Lord God,
defend your Church from all false teaching
and give to your people knowledge of your truth,
that we may enjoy eternal life
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘Foxes have holes … but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’ (Luke 9: 57) … a fox in street art in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

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

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 138, Saturday 27 September 2025

A mask for the Carnival in Venice … do we hide our personae behind masks before other people … before God? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and tomorrow is the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XV, 28 September). Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in this week in the Church Calendar have been known as Ember Days.

The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660), founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists).

These are the ‘Ten Days of Awe’ or the High Holy Days in the Jewish calendar, and this Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is known as Shabbat Shuvah (שבת שובה‎), Sabbath of Return, or Shabbat Teshuvah (שבת תשובה‎), Sabbath of Repentance. Its name derives from the special Haftorah reading, from the prophet Hosea, that begins with the words: ‘Shuvah Yisrael’ (‘Return, O Israel’).

Before today begins, 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.

Souvenir masks from a stall in Venice … do we hide our personae behind masks before other people … before God? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 9: 43b-45 (NRSVA):

43b While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, 44 ‘Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.’ 45 But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Masks made of olive wood in a shop in Rethymnon … do we hide our personae behind masks before other people … before God? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

In today’s Gospel reading (Luke 9: 43b-45), after Saint Peter’s profound confession of faith following the Transfiguration, and the stern order and command to the disciples not to tell anyone what has been seen and said, we hear how the disciples hear Jesus but do understand what he is saying, nor can they perceive what he means, and they are afraid to ask him to explain what he is saying.

When the disciples find that the meaning of what Jesus says is concealed from them, the word that is used, παρακαλύπτω (parakalýptō) is a rare word in the Bible. It does not refer to some sacred or religious mystery but to something that is hidden, covered alongside or front of someone, something that has a veil pulled over it, to cover it up, to cover over, to hide or conceal it, perhaps even to disguise it. In its use in classical Greek literature it can mean to cover by hanging, to disguise, to set aside, to ignore, or it can be used when talking about covering one’s face.

A similar word παρακάλυμμα (parakálymma) is used for anything that is hung up beside or hung up before something to cover it, a covering or curtain.

The Carnival of Venice (Carnevale di Venezia), which takes place in the days before Lent, is known everywhere for its elaborate masks. It grew in prestige and developed in its revelry in the 17th and 18th centuries, to the point that it became a symbol of licence and pleasure.

Mask-makers (mascherari) had a special position in Venetian society, with their own laws and their own guild. But the masks allowed many people to spend a large part of the year in disguise, hiding their secret lifestyles. When the Emperor Francis II occupied Venice, he outlawed the festival in 1797 and masks were strictly forbidden.

It was not until 1979 that the Carnival was revived in Venice. With it came the revival of the tradition of making carnival masks, and one of the most important events at the Carnival is the contest for la maschera più bella (‘the most beautiful mask’).

So often, we all have our own masks. We are afraid that others might see us or get to know us as we really are. We hide behind a persona, which is the Latin word for a theatrical mask. We are worried, ‘What if someone saw me for who I truly am?’ ‘What if they came face-to-face with what I am really like?’

But the Transfiguration invites us to a mutual face-to-face encounter with the living God. The inner circle of disciples, Peter, James and John, have ascended the mountain with Christ, and in the clouds they saw who he truly is: he is the God of Moses and Elijah, and the vision is so dazzling that they are dazzled and overshadowed by the cloud.

When they come back down the mountain, like Moses, there is a great crowd waiting for the healing that restores them to their place in the covenant with God.

The original Greek word for Transfiguration in the Gospels is μεταμόρφωσις (metamorphosis), which means ‘to progress from one state of being to another.’ Consider the metamorphosis of the chrysalis into the butterfly. Saint Paul uses this same word (μεταμόρφωσις) when he describes how the Christian is to be transfigured, transformed, into the image of Christ (II Corinthians 3: 18), he uses the word ‘icon’ of Christ.

The Transfiguration reveals not just who Christ should truly be in our eyes, but who we should be truly in God’s eyes. It is a reminder of our ultimate destiny, the ultimate destiny of all people and all creation – to be transformed and glorified by the majestic splendour of God himself. The Transfiguration points to the fulfilment of the Kingdom of God, when all of creation shall be transfigured and filled with light.

The Transfiguration is not just an Epiphany or Theophany moment for Christ, with Peter, James and John as onlookers. The Transfiguration is a story too of a miracle that reminds us of how God sees us in God’s own image and likeness, and how God sees us for who we are and who we are going to be, no matter how others see us, no matter how others dismiss us, not matter how others fail to understand us.

Throughout life, there is a temptation to accept our human nature as it appears now. But the Transfiguration of Christ offers the opportunity to look at ourselves not only as we are now, but take stock of what happened in the past that made us so, and to grasp the promise of what we can be in the future.

In the present and in the future, can we take ownership of who we have been as a child. Do we remember always that we are made in the image and likeness of God? As Saint Paul reminds us, we are icons of Christ.

We need no masks, no personae, in God’s presence. God sees us as we are: made in his own image and likeness, sees us for who we were, who we are and who we are going to be, no matter how others see us, no matter how others dismiss us.

No matter what others say about you, how others judge you, how others gossip or talk about you, how others treat you, God sees your potential, God sees in you God’s own image and likeness. God sees through all our masks and sees an icon of Christ. God knows you are beautiful inside and loves you, loves you for ever, as though you are God’s only child.

We are his beloved children in whom he is well pleased.

The Transfiguration depicted in the Church of the Transfiguration in Piskopianó, in the hills above Hersonissos in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on image for full-screen viewing)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 27 September 2025):

The theme this week (21 to 27 September) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘Malayiaha Jesus: The Co-Sufferer’ (pp 40-41). This theme was introduced last Sunday with Reflections from the Revd Rajendran Ruben Pradeep, Vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Nuwara Eliya, Diocese of Colombo, Church of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 27 September 2025) invites us to pray:

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving The Revd Ruben a heart for ministry among plantation communities. Grant him strength, wisdom, and compassion as he serves your people.

The Collect:

Merciful God,
whose servant Vincent de Paul,
by his ministry of preaching and pastoral care,
brought your love to the sick and the poor:
give to all your people a heart of compassion
that by word and action they may serve you
in serving others in their need;
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.

Collect (for the ministry of all Christian people):

Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Merciful God,
who gave such grace to your servant Vincent de Paul
that he served you with singleness of heart
and loved you above all things:
help us, whose communion with you
has been renewed in this sacrament,
to forsake all that holds us back from following Christ
and to grow into his likeness from glory to glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Post Communion Prayer (Ember Days):

Heavenly Father,
whose ascended Son gave gifts of leadership and service to the Church:
strengthen us who have received this holy food
to be good stewards of your manifold grace,
through him who came not to be served but to serve,
and give his life as a ransom for many,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Trinity XV:

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
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

Masks in a shop window in Venice … do we hide our personae behind masks before other people … before God? (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

A reminder on the Days of Awe how Repentance, Prayer and Charity avert the ‘severe decree’

‘Who in the sunshine, who in the night time’ (Leonard Cohen) … in the streets of Prague at night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

These are the ‘Ten Days of Awe’ or the High Holy Days in the Jewish calendar. I was in the synagogue in Milton Keynes on Tuesday morning (23 September) for the Rosh Hashanah service, with the traditional blowing of the shofar or liturgical ram’s horn marking New Year’s Day.

Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement begins with the Kol Nidre service on Wednesday night (1 October) and continues on Thursday.

The Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which begins this evening, is called Shabbat Shuvah (שבת שובה‎), Sabbath of Return, or Shabbat Teshuvah (שבת תשובה‎), Sabbath of Repentance. Its name derives from the special Haftorah reading, from the prophet Hosea, that begins with the words ‘Shuvah Yisrael’ (‘Return, O Israel’).

This special Sabbath during Ten Days of Repentance emphasises the themes of teshuvah (תשובה) or returning to God or repenting, as Yom Kippur approaches. Shabbat Shuvah provides a crucial pause to reflect on the past year and to plan for a better future.

Leonard Cphen’s song ‘Who By Fire,’ is deeply connected to the High Holy Days through its reinterpretation of the Jewish liturgical poem, Unetanneh Tokef (וּנְתַנֶּה תּוֹקֶף‎), recited on both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. His inspiration from the Days of Awe is also found in his song ‘You Want It Darker’, which incorporates the Kaddish and the Hineni prayer from the story of the binding of Isaac, and his song ‘If It Be Your Will’.

‘Who by Fire’ by Leonard Cohen was released in 1974 on the B side of the album New Skin for the Old Ceremony, sung as a duet with Janis Ian.

The prayer Unetanneh Tokef (ונתנה תקף‎) on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur describes God reviewing the Book of Life and deciding the fate of each and every soul for the year to come – who will live, and who will die, and how.

Jewish tradition dates this prayer to the 11th century when, it is said, Rabbi Amnon of Mainz was punished for not converting to Christianity by having his hand and feet cut off on Rosh Hashanah.

As he was dying from his wounds, he had a vision of God sitting and writing in a book. In his dying hours, Rabbi Amnon wrote the prayer that begins with ‘Who by fire? And who by water?’ The prayer concludes:

Who will live and who will die;
Who in his due time and who not in his due time;
Who by water and who by fire,
Who by the sword and who by beasts,
Who by famine and who by thirst,
Who by earthquake and who by plague,
Who by strangling and who by stoning.
Who will rest and who will wander,
Who will be tranquil and who will be harassed,
Who will be at ease and who will be troubled,
Who will be rich and who will be poor,
Who will be brought down and who will be raised up?
But Repentance, Prayer and Charity avert the severe decree.

In Jewish tradition, the Book of Life lays open on these days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

In Jewish tradition, the Book of Life lays open on these days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and the greeting among Jews in those days is: ‘May your name be written in the Book of Life’ (Gmar Hatima Tova, וגמר חתימה טובה‎)

Leonard Cohen heard this traditional prayer as a child in the synagogue. In Montreal In his own words, he recalls the tradition: ‘On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die at his predestined time and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst, who by storm, who by plague, who by strangulation, and who by stoning.

‘Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquillity and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted.’

At the age of 39, the poet and singer was famous but unhappy and imagined he had reached a creative dead end. In October 1973, he left his home on the Greek island of Hydra for the chaos and bloodshed of the Sinai desert during the Yom Kippur War.

Cohen travelled around the war front with of local musicians, entertaining the troops. In his book Who by Fire, the journalist Matti Friedman told the story of those weeks Cohen spent in the Sinai, with a kaleidoscopic depiction of a harrowing, formative moment for both a country at war and a singer at a crossroads.

The war transformed Cohen. Instead of abandoning his music career, he returned to Hydra in Greece and to his family, became the father of a second child, and released his album New Skin for the Old Ceremony. References to war can be heard in a number of the songs, including ‘Lover, Lover, Lover,’ written during fighting, and ‘Who by Fire,’ inspired by this prayer about human mortality.

The traditional catalogue or listing includes deaths that are natural, accidental, punishment, by decree, and that are unjust. Like the original, Cohen’s ‘Who by Fire’ tells of a litany of ways and reasons one might meet one’s death. To this list he adds avalanche, greed, hunger, suicide, drugs and the abuse of political power, to the original prayer, and even the cruelty of failures in love: ‘Who by his lady’s command.’

When Cohen introduced the song live in Melbourne, in March 1980, he explained the melody is based on the one he ‘first heard when I was four or five years old, in the synagogue, on the Day of Atonement, standing beside my tall uncles in their black suits.’

He continued: ‘It’s a liturgical prayer that talks about the way in which you can quit this vale of tears. It’s according to a tradition, an ancient tradition that on a certain day of the year, the Book of Life is opened, and in it is inscribed the names of all those who will live and all those who will die, who by fire, who by water.’

The line: ‘And who shall I say is calling?’ can be understood in the context of hearing the Shofar or liturgical horn being blown on Rosh Hashanah. It is a symbolic wake-up call, stirring those who hear it to mend their ways and to repent: ‘Sleepers, wake up from your slumber! Examine your ways and repent and remember your Creator.’ Who is calling? At one level, it is my own heart calling me to Repentance, Prayer and Charity. But, ultimately, it is God who is calling us to Repentance, Prayer and Charity.

It is not surprising that as families in Israel tried to come to terms with the Hamas massacres on two years ago on 7 October 2023, Leonard Cohen’s ‘Who By Fire’ was given new lyrics in memory of the 1,200 people murdered in southern Israel.

Meanwhile, Leonard Cohen’s 1973 visit to the frontlines of the Yom Kippur war was dramatised for a new limited TV series Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai, an adaptation of Matti Friedman’s book.

This year that is shrouded in hatred, war and death – from the increasing hatred here and across Europe towards refugees and migrants, and the wars in Ukraine, Russia, Gaza, Israel and the West Bank, to the hateful pronouncements that come almost daily from Donald Trump and the Oval Office.

This sad and depressing global political ey combine to give an urgency to the words of the Unetanneh Tokef (ונתנה תקף‎) in the liturgy for the Days of Awe, which conclude: ‘Through repentance, prayer, and charity [righteous giving], we can transcend the harshness of the decree.’

Teach us to number our days, O Lord, that we might apply our hearts unto wisdom.

‘And who shall I say is calling?’ (Leonard Cohen) … a shofar or ritual horn in the Casa de Sefarad or Sephardic Museum in Córdoba (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Leonard Cohen, Who By Fire:

And who by fire, who by water
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial
Who in your merry merry month of May
Who by very slow decay
And who shall I say is calling?

And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt
And who by avalanche, who by powder
Who for his greed, who for his hunger
And who shall I say is calling?

And who by brave assent, who by accident
Who in solitude, who in this mirror
Who by his lady’s command, who by his own hand
Who in mortal chains, who in power
And who shall I say is calling?
And who shall I say is calling?

And who by fire who by water
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial
Who in your merry merry month of May
Who by very slow decay
And who shall I say is calling?
And who shall I say is calling?

Shabbat Shalom, Gmar Hatima Tova!

!שבת שלום וגמר חתימה טובה‎

Leonard Cohen, ‘Who by Fire’ (Live in London)