Patrick Comerford
We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and today is the Fifth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity V, 5 July 2026).
I hope to sing with the choir at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, this morning. This, later in the day, I hope to enjoy the annual Greek Festival, Paniyiri, taking place this afternoon, from 12:30 to 5 in the grounds of the Greek Orthodox Church, with live music, dance, barbeque food, traditional Greek cakes, and stalls with Greek products.
Before today begins, however, 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.
Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30 (NRSVA):
[Jesus said:] 16 ‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,
17 “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.”
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’
25 At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
Today’s Reflections:
Have you ever stayed up late, far too late, too late into the night, watching your favourite sport late at night on the television?
I have taken a personal decision not to watch any of this year’s World Cup fixtures in the US, as my own personal protest at the way FIFA has allowed Trump to hijack or abuse the World Cup for his own personal aggrandisement and for personal political opportunism. But I have been watching fixtures in Canada and Mexico, the co-host nations, and I am probably going to stay up late tonight and into the early hours of tomorrow morning to watch the match between England and Mexico in Mexico.
The World Cup matches that I have seen so far this summer, and those I have not watched but followed carefully, all offer gripping entertainment. And even when the team we support or the player we identify with does not get through, we keep on watching, waiting and hoping.
If this is you, if you sit on the edge of your chair rather than resting back on a comfortable cushion, then you know the difference between being a spectator and being a participant.
You don’t have to fly any flags from your window, or have your face painted to still enter into the spirit of great sporting events.
And if England gets through late tonight, early tomorrow morning, then the drama and excitement continue.
Entering into the spirit of a game moves us from being mere spectators to feeling we truly are participants … that every shout and every roar is a passionate response, is true encouragement, is wish fulfilment … the more passion the more we not only hope but believe that our team is going to win.
When we go to baptisms, weddings and funerals, the attitude we go with makes a world of difference: do I go as a spectator or as a participant?
Imagine going to a funeral and failing to offer sympathy to those who are grieving and mourning.
Imagine going to a wedding reception, but not taking your place at the table, not cheering the bride and groom, not getting onto the floor and dancing.
Sometimes we can get a little too precious, a little too worried about sending out the wrong signals. If we stand back, then like John the Baptist in this morning’s Gospel reading are we in danger of being reproached for being aloof from others (see Matthew 11: 18)?
If we enjoy ourselves, then, like Jesus in this morning’s Gospel reading, are we going to be seen as too interested in eating and drinking (verse 19; cf Romans 7: 15-16)?
When we go to church on Sundays, we have to ask ourselves whether we are here as spectators or as participants.
When we join in waves and chants at a football match, when we join in the dance at weddings, when we sing the hymns and enter into the prayers in church on a Sunday, we are moving from being observers and spectators to being participants.
The great opportunity for this transformation is provided Sunday after Sunday, in the invitation to move from being at the Liturgy to being in the Liturgy.
There is very little detail about the actual wedding of Rebekah in the first reading this morning (Genesis 24: 34-38, 42-49, 58-67). But if you have been to the Middle East, or you have seen Fiddler on the Roof, you know that dancing at Jewish weddings is traditionally a male celebration.
At funerals in many Mediterranean countries, open mourning and weeping is a sign not just of individual grief, but of public grief, and of the esteem the community holds for the person who has died.
These traditions were passed on through the generations – by children learning from adults, and by children teaching each other.
In this morning’s Gospel reading, we see how Christ has noticed this in the streets and the back alleys as he moves through the towns and cities.
He sees the children playing, the boys playing wedding dances, and the girls playing funeral wailing and mourning.
He notices the ways in which children can reproach each other for not joining in their playfulness:
We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn. (verse 17)
Even as he speaks, there is playfulness in the way Jesus phrases his observation, there is humour in the way he uses words that rhyme for dance and mourn at the end of each line of the children’s taunts.
Perhaps he is repeating an everyday rebuke at the time for people who stand back from what others are doing.
The boys playing tin whistles and tin drums are learning to become adult men. The girls wailing and beating their breasts in mock weeping are learning to become adult women. Each group is growing into the roles and rituals that will be expected of them when they mature.
Like all good children’s games, the point is the game, not who wins.
When we refuse to take part in the game, in the ritual, we refuse to take part in the shaping of society, we are in danger of denying our shared culture, denying our shared humanity.
If I stand back, detached, and remain a mere observer of the joys and sorrow in the lives of others, I am not sharing in their humanity.
And in not sharing in your humanity, I am failing to acknowledge that you too are made in the image and likeness of God.
But when we rejoice with people in their joys, and when we mourn with people in their sorrows, we are putting into practice what the doctrine of the Trinity teaches us about us being not only made in the image and likeness of God individually but communally and collectively too as humanity.
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 5 July 2026, Trinity V):
In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 5 to 11 July 2026 (pp 16-17), is ‘Faith in the Midst of Fractures’. This theme is introduced today with a reflection by the Revd Godfrey Owino Adera, Anglican priest, theologian, and lecturer at Saint Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya:
Kenya, like many parts of the world, faces a tangle of urgent challenges that call for a bold and compassionate response from the Church. Gender-based violence, rising teenage pregnancies, and the ongoing burden of HIV remain pressing concerns, intensified by economic inequality, youth unemployment, political division, and corruption. Climate change adds further strain, with droughts, floods, and environmental damage hitting the most vulnerable hardest. Questions of dignity and belonging also persist, particularly for women, young people, and minorities often pushed to the margins of both church and society.
Against this backdrop, the FeAST Conference in Limuru, close to my home, proved to be a deeply formative experience. FeAST brings Anglican theologians together to reflect on faith rooted in both tradition and lived experience. In Limuru, we explored the Nicene Creed from fresh perspectives, drawing on insights from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, showing how theology is richest when shaped by lived experience and global solidarity.
Alongside the formal sessions, I had the privilege of leading Anglican worship using Kenyan liturgy. The service included singing, dancing, and a joyful rendition of ‘Nimetembea kote na hakuna kama Mungu,’ capturing the beauty and energy of African worship. These shared moments of joy and cultural expression made the conference not only intellectually engaging but also deeply human and spiritually uplifting.
Overall, FeAST strengthened my work on social justice in Kenya, offering fresh insights from new friends and practical tools to engage in difficult conversations with honesty, hope, and care.
The USPG prayer diary today (Sunday 5 July 2026, Trinity V) invites us to pray by reading and meditating on today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30).
The Collect of the Day:
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:
Grant, O Lord, we beseech you,
that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered
by your governance,
that your Church may joyfully serve you in all godly quietness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Almighty God,
send down upon your Church
the riches of your Spirit,
and kindle in all who minister the gospel
your countless gifts of grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflections
Continued tomorrow
‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn’ (Matthew 11: 19) … music at the Hiroshima Day commemorations at the Peace Pagoda in Milton Keynes (Patrick Comerford)
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