Patrick Comerford
We are in the Kingdom Season, the time between All Saints’ Day and Advent, and this week began with the Second Sunday before Advent.
The long odyssey back from Kuching was completed yesterday when we arrived back in in Stony Stratford, having travelled through Singapore, Paris and Birmingham.
Before the day begins, before we begin to sort out matters at home that have been left unattended since mid-October, I am taking some quiet time early 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.
Luke 19: 41-44 (NRSVA):
41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’
Today’s reflection:
The Gospel reading at the Eucharist this morning (Luke 19: 41-44) continues the apocalyptic themes found in our readings as we prepare for the coming of Christ as Christ the King and as the Word made Flesh.
In the Gospel reading on Sunday (Mark 13: 1-8), as Jesus was coming out of the Temple in Jerusalem, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’
From there, Jesus and the disciples moved on to the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, where, in another apocalyptic saying, Jesus told the disciples, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.’
Now, in the Gospel reading at the Eucharist this morning (Luke 19: 41-44), as Jesus looks over Jerusalem, he weeps over the city, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’
Like Sunday’s readings, we seem to be living in days when, in the wake of Trump’s election, we ‘hear of wars and rumours of wars’. It is so very easy to alarmed, worrying about the days are to come, and the potential for nation to rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Doubtless, in the months to come, there will be the equivalent of earthquakes in many places, and the equivalent of famines: a dearth or famine of public compassion, political decency, honesty and morality and diplomatic sense and wisdom.
It is even more disheartening that whole segments of American society that call themselves evangelical Christians have voted for the apocalyptic gloom that is facing the world in the four years to come.
The former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Very Revd Dr Trevor Morrow, recently reposted on Facebook a response to thinking of Evangelical Christians, particularly in the US, by his Palestinian friend, the Revd Dr Munther Isaac of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and the Lutheran Church in Beit Sahour, the Academic Dean of Bethlehem Bible College:
‘The irony for us Palestinian Christians is that evangelicals, with their emphasis on prophecy, have lost the capacity being prophetic. You want to prove that the Bible is right? You don’t do this by pointing to self-fulfilling or by pointing to world events as prophecy fulfilment. That is not how you prove that the Bible is right.
‘We prove that the Bible is right by radical obedience to the teachings of Jesus – by proving that Jesus’ teachings actually work and that they can make the world a better place. Let us love our enemies. Forgive those who sin against us. Let us feed the poor. Care for the oppressed. Walk the extra mile. Be inclusive, not exclusive. Turn the other cheek. And maybe, and only maybe then, the world will start to take us seriously and believing in the Bible.’
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 21 November 2024):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Coming Together for Climate Justice’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections by Linet Musasa, HIV Stigma and Discrimination Officer, Anglican Council of Zimbabwe.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 21 November 2024) invites us to pray:
Lord, we pray for the seven provinces in the region of Africa as they carry out the (PCC Provincial Climate Change Campaign) campaign in 47 dioceses Provincial Climate Change Campaign.
The Collect:
Heavenly Father,
whose blessed Son was revealed
to destroy the works of the devil
and to make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life:
grant that we, having this hope,
may purify ourselves even as he is pure;
that when he shall appear in power and great glory
we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom;
where he is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion Prayer:
Gracious Lord,
in this holy sacrament
you give substance to our hope:
bring us at the last
to that fullness of life for which we long;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Additional Collect:
Heavenly Lord,
you long for the world’s salvation:
stir us from apathy,
restrain us from excess
and revive in us new hope
that all creation will one day be healed
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
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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