Patrick Comerford
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me … ‘nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree’.
I recently heard these days after Christmas as ‘Betwixtmas’. We are still in the season of Christmas, New Year’s Day was yesterday, and today is the last day of Hanukkah, which comes to an end today.
Today, the Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship remembers Saint Basil the Great (379) and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (389), Bishops and Teachers of the Faith; Saint Seraphim (1833), Monk of Sarov and Spiritual Guide; and Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (1945), Bishop in South India and Evangelist.
Later this afternoon, I am in Milton Keynes University Hospital for lung and breathing tests as monitoring of my pulmonory sarcoidosis continues. 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.
John 1: 19-28 (NRSVA):
19 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ 20 He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ 21 And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ 22 Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ 23 He said,
‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
“Make straight the way of the Lord”,’
as the prophet Isaiah said.
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, ‘Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?’ 26 John answered them, ‘I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27 the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ 28 This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
Today’s Reflection:
The Christian interpretation of the song ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’ often sees the nine ladies dancing as figurative representations of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit:
• Love,
• Joy,
• Peace,
• Patience,
• Kindness,
• Goodness,
• Faithfulness,
• Gentleness,
• Self-control
(see Galatians 5: 19-23).
In a sermon at the Cathedral Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, many years ago, the late Revd Robert Lawson listed the ten most popular New Year’s resolutions as:
1, Stop smoking.
2, Get fit.
3, Lose weight.
4, Enjoy life more.
5, Quit drinking.
6, Organise myself.
7, Learn something new.
8, Get out of debt.
9, Spend more time with family.
10, Help people.
Which of these gifts of the Holy Spirit do you value most?
Which of these gifts of the Holy Spirit do I feel most lacking in me at this stage in my life
Which of these New Year’s resolutions did you make this year?
And how many of these New Year’s resolutions have I made in the past and never managed to keep – even beyond the first week of January?
If you were a speech writer for Saint John the Baptist, what words would you like to hear from ‘the voice of one crying out in the wilderness’ in the face of the many, complex problems the world faces in the coming year?
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 2 January 2025):
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 ‘We Believe, We Belong: Nicene Creed’. This theme was introduced on Sunday by Dr Paulo Ueti, Theological Advisor and Regional Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, USPG.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 2 January 2025) invites us to pray:
God of justice, help us reflect on how power shapes our faith and lead us toward justice and peace. Guide us to follow Jesus’ example of humble service and self-giving love, becoming a Church that seeks reconciliation in all corners of the world.
The Collect:
Lord God, whose servants Basil and Gregory
proclaimed the mystery of your Word made flesh,
to build up your Church in wisdom and strength:
grant that we may rejoice in his presence among us,
and so be brought with them to know the power
of your unending love;
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:
God of truth,
whose Wisdom set her table
and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine
of the kingdom:
help us to lay aside all foolishness
and to live and walk in the way of insight,
that we may come with Basil and Gregory to the eternal feast of heaven;
through 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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