Patrick Comerford
We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and the week began with the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XIX, 15 October 2023). The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, and Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, Reformation Martyrs (1555).
Before today begins, I am taking some time early this morning for prayer and reflection.
The Week of Prayer for World Peace began yesterday, and so my reflections each morning this week are gathered around this theme in these ways:
1, A reflection on the Week of Prayer for World Peace ;
2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
A Week of Prayer for World Peace:
The Week of Prayer for World Peace is a global initiative created by the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship in 1974. It soon became an interfaith activity, and now welcomes everyone, of all faith traditions or none.
The first chair, the Very Revd Dr Edward Carpenter, was Dean of Westminster Abbey, and he established the guiding principle of the Week in the words: ‘The peace of the world must be prayed for by the faiths of the world.’ This continues to be the basis of that work today.
Those proposing the Week of Prayer for World Peace in 1974 said ‘Patience will need to be an essential feature of this united act of prayer so that we may all not only learn from the past errors but also be open to fresh insights which the unprecedented modern situation demands.’
Sadly, these words are still pertinent today, in the third decade of the 21st century.
The organisers of the Week of Prayer for World Peace say they are convinced that there is only one humanity praying to one supreme Creator, with whatever different opinions we may have on what that may be. They recognise that interfaith partnership does not in itself imply agreement.
The Week of Prayer for World Peace invites all people to join in praying for peace on our shared earth under one sky. ‘The things we agree on are many and precious. What we disagree on is precious too. We stand alongside all who pray for peace with us as partners and friends.’
Luke 11: 29-32 (NRSVA):
29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, ‘This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise at the judgement with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! 32 The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!’
The International Prayer For Peace:
Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth
Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust
Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace
Let peace fill our hearts, our world, our universe
Today’s Prayers: A Week of Prayer for World Peace:
Day 2, Families: For those in areas of conflict and those who are displaced:
God, please protect those who have fled their homes, especially children, the elderly, and people who are disabled, as they are among the most vulnerable. We ask in Your name to restore communities, re-unite families and repair this country. – Venezuelan refugee (World Vision)
O Allah, the Source of Peace and Comfort, we pray for families in conflict and hurt, in the midst of turmoil, their spirits bruised.
Grant them solace, O Lord, and help them through.
O Allah, unite their families once more; with love and harmony, their hearts restore.
Grant them stability, security, and ease, and bless them with a future filled with peace. Amen – Islamic
Love One Another
Of one heart and one mind I make you, devoid of hate.
Love one another, as a cow loves the calf she has borne.
Let the son be courteous to his father, of one mind with his mother.
Let the wife speak words that are gentle and sweet to her husband.
Never may brother hate brother or sister hurt sister.
United in heart and in purpose, commune sweetly together.
I will utter a prayer for such concord among family members
as binds together the gods,
among whom is no hatred.
Be courteous, planning and working in harness together.
Approach, conversing pleasantly, like-minded, united.
Have your eating and drinking in common.
I bind you together.
Assemble for worship of the Lord, like spokes around a hub.
Of one mind and one purpose I make you, following one leader.
Be like the gods, ever deathless! Never stop loving!
This hymn is a meditation on the truth that all people are bound together like spokes around a hub. To be like the gods and never to see death means one thing – never stop loving. – Atharva Veda, Hindu
Today’s Prayers: USPG Prayer Diary:
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 ‘Helpline to women in need.’ This theme was introduced yesterday.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (16 October 2023) invites us to pray in these words:
As yesterday was International Day of Rural Women, let us pray for programmes run by USPG’s partner churches in various parts of the world, aimed at empowering women and girls living in rural areas.
The Collect:
O God, forasmuch as without you
we are not able to please you;
mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
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:
Holy and blessed God,
you have fed us with the body and blood of your Son
and filled us with your Holy Spirit:
may we honour you,
not only with our lips
but in lives dedicated to the service
of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
