Patrick Comerford
We are in the Kingdom Season, the time between All Saints and Advent, and this week began with the Third Sunday before Advent, which was also Remembrance Sunday. The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today (13 November) remembers Charles Simeon (1759-1836), Priest and Evangelical Divine.
Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time early this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading 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 17: 26-37 (NRSVA):
[Jesus said:] 26 ‘Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed all of them 30 – it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.’ 37 Then they asked him, ‘Where, Lord?’ He said to them, ‘Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.’
Today’s reflection:
The Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Luke 17: 26-37) is one of the stories about preparing for the kingdom of God and the arrival of the Son of God on earth, not only as the incarnate Christ Child at Christmas in nativity story or in a decorative crib, but also as Christ the King.
As we prepare in this Kingdom Season for the Feast of Christ the King in nine days’ time (Sunday 22 November 2026) and for Advent, beginning a week later, we should expect many of our readings to have apocalyptic themes, looking forward to that Coming of Christ the King at his second coming.
The apocalyptic images in today’s Gospel reading anticipate some of these themes, looking back at unexpected terrors in the past and with apocalyptic warnings about what the future may hold.
TS Eliot’s poem East Coker, the second of his Four Quartets, is set in late November and ends:
In my end is my beginning.
But it opens:
In my beginning is my end.
The radical author, professor, preacher and peace activist, the Revd Robin Meyers, once described by the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu as ‘scholarly, pastoral, prophetic, and eloquent,’ has written: ‘Life itself passes daily judgment on the idea that [God is in control], that good deeds and righteous living exempt us from mindless tragedy, or that the meek will inherit anything other than a crushing debt and a dead planet.’
But in a sermon some years ago in the First [Congregational] Church in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the First Sunday of Advent, his former colleague, the church historian, the Revd Dr J Mary Luti, then a professor at Andover Newton Theological School (now Andover Newton Seminary at Yale), responded: ‘Nonetheless, and hoping against hope, today’s scriptures emphatically encourage us to stand firm, to refuse to throw in the towel. God really is in charge, they assert, and one day you won’t have to take that on faith.’
She says: ‘Advent intends to make a pre-emptive strike on despair as the Church sets out on another year of following Christ from manger to grave, and beyond.’
As we approach Advent, we find ourselves in a unique position, standing both at the beginning and at the end, at the turning-point of the liturgical year. This peculiar experience of living within a paradox is a characteristic of the Christian faith. However, perhaps the greatest paradox of Advent, we shall find, is the tension between the joyous anticipation of the birth of Jesus and the inevitability of the cross.
In a true sense, Advent does not end at Christmas. The nativity, the Incarnation, cannot be separated from the crucifixion, the Atonement and the Resurrection. The purpose of Christ’s coming into the world, of the ‘Word made flesh’ and dwelling among us, is to reveal God and his grace to the world through Jesus’ life and teaching, but also through his suffering, death, and resurrection.
So, at the beginning of things, we think about the end of things. The Gospel reading today reflects this emphasis on Christ’s second coming and include themes of accountability, judgment, but also prompts us to renew our hope of eternal life. In the words of TS Eliot,
What we call the beginning is often the end
and to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. (TS Eliot, Little Gidding)
Today’s Prayers (Friday 13 November 2026):
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 8 to 14 November 2026 (pp 54-55), is ‘Pray for COP31’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by Sophia Jones, Interim Director of Communications, Engagement, and Fundraising, USPG.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 13 November 2026) invites us to pray:
God of peace, still the noise of war. Heal our world. Bring peace where there is conflict, hope where there is fear, unity where there is division. Teach us to live as one.
The Collect of the Day:
Eternal God,
who raised up Charles Simeon
to preach the good news of Jesus Christ
and inspire your people in service and mission:
grant that we with all your Church may worship the Saviour,
turn in sorrow from our sins and walk in the way of holiness;
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, shepherd of your people,
whose servant Charles Simeon revealed the loving service of Christ
in his ministry as a pastor of your people:
by this eucharist in which we share
awaken within us the love of Christ
and keep us faithful to our Christian calling;
through him who laid down his life for us,
but is alive and reigns with you, now and for ever.
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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