Patrick Comerford
This is the last week in the 40-day season of Christmas, which continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation on 2 February 2026. This week began with the Third Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany III, 25 January 2026).
Later this evening, I am with the Stony Playreaders in our second presentation of three new short plays by group members exploring the themes of communication and miscommunication, all Upstairs at the Library on Church Street.
It’s Good To Talk is a new play by Emma Luckhurst in which I have the role of Richard III – without the hunchback. Talking may be good for you, but it is also a risky game, loaded with approximations, misunderstandings and pitfalls for the unwary. The two shorter plays are Stony Magic by Peter Stone, in which I have the part of ‘The Widower’, and Marmalade at the Palace by Claire Kemp, a slightly longer short play for grown-ups with a fondness for dry wit, diplomatic disasters – and small talking bears – when I became a footman of impeccable behaviour.
Our first presentation was on Sunday, and this evening’s performance is at 7 pm. Admission is free, but donations will be welcome, and light refreshments are being offered.
Meanwhile, 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.
Mark 4: 21-25 (NRSVA):
21 He said to them, ‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23 Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ 24 And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. 25 For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’
Today’s Reflections:
Chapter 4 in Saint Mark’s Gospel is the ‘parables chapter,’ recalling parables that make this chapter the central teaching section of this Gospel. Christ is in a boat beside the sea teaching a very large crowd who are listening on the shore (see Mark 4: 1-2). In this morning’s reading (Mark 4: 21-25), he compares speaking out with ensuring a light is used to its best purpose (verses 21-22) .
When I was back in Piskopianó in Crete the Easter before last, I was disappointed to see that one of my favourite tavernas, Lichnos, had been closed for some time.
The name Lichnos comes from the Greek word λύχνος (lychnos), meaning a lamp or a light. The restaurant stood on a precipice on the north side of the village, close to Mika Villas, where I stayed regularly in the 1990s. Lichnos was perched on the edge of the hill, and from its balcony and roof garden there were panoramic views across Hersonissos below and out to the Mediterranean. At night, Lichnos stood out as a light on a hill, visible for miles below and out to sea.
The parable of the lamp under a bushel is told in all three Synoptic Gospels (see Matthew 5: 14-15; Mark 4: 21-25; Luke 8: 16-18). In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, this parable continues the discourse on salt and light in the Sermon on the Mount. But Saint Mark and Saint Luke connect it with Jesus’s explanation of the Parable of the Sower.
The word λύχνος (lychnos) means a light, lamp or candle. But it is also used figuratively for a distinguished teacher, as when Jesus describes Saint John the Baptist as ‘a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light’ (John 5: 35).
This parable is also the source of the aphorism about hiding one’s light under a bushel.
The original Greek in Matthew (5: 15) and Mark (4: 21) is μόδιος (modios), usually translated as ‘basket.’ A modius was a Roman measure for dry things such as grain and equivalent to about a peck or 8.75 litres.
However, Saint Luke uses the word σκεῦος (skeuos), meaning a vessel or utensil for containing anything. Saint Paul uses the same word when he refers to σκεύη ὀργῆς and σκεύη ἐλέους, vessels of wrath or vessels of mercy, when referring to individuals visited by punishment or visited by divine favour (see Romans 9: 22-23). This word is also used to describe the vessel or frame of the human individual (I Thessalonians 4: 4; I Peter 3: 7). Saint Luke also uses the word κλίνη (klinē) for a couch or bed.
The word bushel , meaning a bowl, was used in William Tyndale’s translation: ‘Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it lighteth all them which are in the house.’
The key idea in this morning’s parable is that light or truth is not to be hidden or concealed. This light has been understood as Jesus, as his message, and as the believer’s response to him and to his message. In their writings, Hilary, Ambrose, and Bede understood that the light of the Gospel was not to be confined to Judaea, but to illuminate all nations.
But to hide one’s light under a bushel has come to mean saying little about one’s own skills and abilities, one’s own core values and beliefs, instead of being confident and telling others about them.
When do we hide our lights under bushels, or under a bowl?
When are we reluctant to be beacons in the darkness, shining out for true values when light is needed?
Do I speak up often enough about injustice, oppression and violence and racism, war and prejudice?
Or do I keep my views to myself at those crucial moments, hiding my light under a bushel?
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 29 January 2026):
The theme this week (25-31 January 2026) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Connections That Last’ (pp 22-23). This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections from Paula de Mello Alves, a Brazilian lawyer and theologian, Executive Secretary of the Southern Diocese, and former co-leader of the Anglican Communion Youth Network (ACYN).
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 29 January 2026) invites us to pray:
Lord, we give thanks for young people. Help us to celebrate all ages in our churches, learning from one another and growing together in faith.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
whose Son revealed in signs and miracles
the wonder of your saving presence:
renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your mighty power;
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:
Almighty Father,
whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ is the light of the world:
may your people,
illumined by your word and sacraments,
shine with the radiance of his glory,
that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed
to the ends of the earth;
for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.
Additional Collect:
God of all mercy,
your Son proclaimed good news to the poor,
release to the captives,
and freedom to the oppressed:
anoint us with your Holy Spirit
and set all your people free
to praise you in Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflections
Continued Tomorrow
‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?’ (Mark 4: 21) … lit candles in a church in Rethymnon, Crete, at Easter (Patrick Comerford)
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
