Patrick Comerford
Easter is a 50-day season, beginning on Easter Day (4 April 2026) and continuing until the Day of Pentecost (24 May 2026), or Whit Sunday. This is the Sixth Sunday of Easter (Easter VI, 10 May 2026).
Later this morning, I hope to sing with the choir at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, and to read one of the lessons. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, reading 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 14: 23-29 (NRSVA):
23 Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
25 ‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.’
Today’s Reflections:
The Gospel reading provided in the Lectionary today (John 14: 23-29) continues our readings from the ‘Farewell Discourse’ at the Last Supper in Saint John’s Gospel.
Christ continues to prepare his followers for his departure. Judas, son of James, who is one of the Twelve in Saint Luke’s list of disciples, has asked Jesus how he will reveal himself to them but not to the world (verse 22).
Christ answers, but not directly. In the era to come, when the Father and Son come, separation between God and those who love him will no longer exist (verse 23). Loving Christ implies obeying him. The message Christ brings is ‘from the Father,’ who has sent Christ (verse 24).
Christ’s words will be complemented by the actions of the Holy Spirit (verse 26), who will be the Advocate, or helper and counsellor, to believers. He will cause the disciples to remember what Christ has said, and help them to understand the true significance of Christ’s words and deeds.
Christ gives his followers peace (verse 27), but how is this gift of peace a challenge to the world today?
Pope Leo XIV said recently (16 April 2026): ‘Jesus told us: Blessed are the peacemakers! But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth … We must make a decisive change of course — a true conversion — that will lead us in the opposite direction, onto a sustainable path rich in human fraternity. The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters!’
The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams, spoke out directly about the existence of evil in the world. He was pushed by Freddie Sayers in an interview on UnHerd about what he meant by calling American political culture ‘demonic’.
Rowan Williams had given as an example Pete Hegseth invoking the will of God in the US military campaign against Iran. Sayers asked him whether using the word ‘demonic’, rather than ‘misguided’, ‘not very intelligent’ or ‘making a grave mistake’ was making the former archbishop guilty of demonising his political opponents or suggesting that he is animated by a malign spirit.
‘Animated by a malign spirit,’ Lord Williams confirmed, ‘which is not necessarily Pete Hegseth. I’m rather old fashioned in believing in the Devil. I actually do believe there are malign forces in the universe and that people who may not consciously have malign or diabolical designs can be manipulated and destroyed by those destructive forces.’
Does he believe then, Sayers asked, that the Devil is at work in the Trump administration?
‘The Devil is at work in you and me. The Devil is at work in every institution. Sometimes it comes to the fore more clearly. And at the moment, I worry that something is being normalised, licensed and allowed into the room which ought to be regarded (to put it with Anglican politeness) with considerable suspicion.’
In his Viewpoint column in the Church Times (1 May 2026), Andrew Brown commented: ‘If an archbishop can’t speak intelligently about how evil works in the world, who can? It’s not as if the subject is going to go away.’
As the Collect prays today:
God our redeemer,
you have delivered us from the power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your Son:
grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life,
so by his continual presence in us he may raise us
to eternal joy;
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.
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 10 May 2026, Easter VI):
The theme this week (10-17 May 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Parenting with Purpose’ (pp 54-55). This theme is introduced today with a Programme Update from Ella Sibley, former Regional Manager for Europe and Oceania:
Introduced to the Anglican Church of Melanesia in 2011 and supported by USPG, the Positive Parenting programme equips communities across the Solomon Islands with skills in relationship-building, communication, and positive discipline. It addresses domestic violence, child abuse, substance abuse, and broken families - issues affecting over two-thirds of women and girls in the Pacific.
Recently, a training course at Good Shepherd, North Guadalcanal, brought together facilitators from local parishes in Temotu to explore family cycles, behaviour change, child development, and protection. Through participatory exercises such as the Trust Walk, participants experienced firsthand the importance of trust and mutual support between parents and children.
For Sandra Rollands, the goal is clear: to build safer, stronger, and more nurturing families by equipping local leaders to support parents in their communities. Rooted in the Church’s mission of demonstrating God’s love in action, the Positive Parenting Programme is both practical and deeply spiritual. With 54 trained facilitators ready to take these lessons back to their parishes, Sandra hopes the seeds sown will grow into resilient families, thriving communities, and, as she says, ‘Happy families form a happy community and consequently, a happy nation.’
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 10 May 2026, Easter VI, International Mother’s Day) invites us to pray:
Heavenly Father, we give thanks for mothers and maternal figures everywhere. Bless each one with wisdom, patience, and love as they nurture children and strengthen family units.
The Collect:
God our redeemer,
you have delivered us from the power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your Son:
grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life,
so by his continual presence in us he may raise us
to eternal joy;
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 our Father,
whose Son Jesus Christ gives the water of eternal life:
may we thirst for you,
the spring of life and source of goodness,
through him who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.
Additional Collect:
Risen Christ,
by the lakeside you renewed your call to your disciples:
help your Church to obey your command
and draw the nations to the fire of your love,
to the glory of God the Father.
Yesterday’s Reflections
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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