Daily prayer in Lent 2026: 12, Sunday 1 March 2026, Second Sunday in Lent (Lent II)

Reflections from above on Stowe Pool in Lichfield in Lent … what would Nicodemus have understood by being born from above, or being born again? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We have come to the beginning of March and today is the Second Sunday in Lent (Lent II, 1 March 2026).

I am attending the early morning Eucharist in the Lady Chapel in Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching this morning before we head off to visit some more family member in the Kuching area. Meanwhile this morning, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time 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.

‘God so loved man (humanity)’ … Guizhou Theological Training Centre in Guiyang Province in central China (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 3: 1-17 (NRSVA):

1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ 3 Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ 4 Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ 5 Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ 9 Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ 10 Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

11 ‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17 ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’

‘Christ Instructing Nicodemus,’ attributed to Crijn Hendricksz Volmarijn (ca 1604-1645), oil on panel, 87.5 x 111.4 cm, sold by Sotheby’s, London, 1994

Today’s Reflections:

In the Sunday Gospel readings in Lent this year, we meet some interesting if unusual characters, including:

1, The Devil, who appears as the serpent (Genesis 2: 15-17, 3: 1-7) and the Tempter (Matthew 4: 1-11) in last Sunday’s readings (Lent 1, 22 February 2026)

2, Nicodemus, who comes to meet Jesus in the night (John 3: 1-17) this week (Lent II, 1 March 2026)

3, The unnamed Samaritan woman at the well (John 4: 5-42) next week (Lent III, 8 March 2026)

4, The women at the Cross (John 19: 25b-27) on Mothering Sunday (Lent IV, 15 March 2026)

5, Lazarus who is raised from the dead (John 11: 1-45, Lent IV, 22 March 2026)

All these characters, as we meet them on our journey through Lent, challenge us to prepare to meet Christ in Jerusalem at his Passion, Death and Resurrection.

All are marginalised people in the Gospel. But they challenge us to abandon our old ways of thinking, to ask what holds us back, what keeps us rooted in old ways, those old places in our minds or hearts that hinder us from taking up this challenge. Where do we refresh and renew our faith and find new life?

Today, we meet Nicodemus, a prominent Pharisee, a rabbi, a teacher and a member of the Sanhedrin. He has a Greek name – Νικοδημος (Nikodemos) means ‘victory of the people’ – and this Greek name probably indicates he is an urbane and sophisticated man.

Nicodemus appears three times in Saint John’s Gospel:

1, He visits Christ at night to discuss Christ’s teachings (John 3: 1-21)
2, He reminds his colleagues in the Sanhedrin that the law requires that a person should be heard before being judged (John 7: 50-51)
3, At the Crucifixion, he provides the embalming spices and helps Joseph of Arimathea to prepare the body of Christ for burial (John 19: 39-42)

In this first encounter, in today’s Gospel reading, Nicodemus comes to Christ by night. Perhaps he did not want to be seen consulting Jesus, who is newly-arrived in Jerusalem and is already causing a stir. But we should remember too that Saint John’s Gospel uses poetic and dramatic contrasts: heaven and earth, water and wine, seeing and believing, faith and doubt, truth and falseness. Here too we have the contrast between darkness and light, the world that is in darkness is being brought into the light of Christ.

Nicodemus is a good and pious Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish religious court. But, despite his positive attitudes to the Mosaic Law, what is the foundation of his faith?

Nicodemus acknowledges Christ is a teacher sent by God. But is this enough – is it simply an understanding of Christ without faith? At this point, Nicodemus sees but does not believe; he has insight but does not have faith.

Christ’s reply puts the emphasis back on faith rather than on law, on believing more than seeing. But does Nicodemus understand this?

Nicodemus seems to misunderstand what he hears. He thinks Christ is speaking about a second physical, natural birth from a mother’s womb.

The dialogue that follows includes two of the most quoted passages in Saint John’s Gospel:

‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above’ or ‘born again’ (verse 5)

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life’ (verse 16)

For many people, this second phrase is a summary of the whole Gospel: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.’ Martin Luther said this verse is ‘the Gospel in miniature.’ But the original version does not say that God so loved the world, but that God so loved the cosmos (κόσμος), the whole created order, that he gave, or rather sent (ἔδωκεν, from δίδωμι) his only-begotten Son.

God so loved the cosmos (κόσμος) that he actively sent his only-begotten Son on a mission. And this love is the beginning of missio Dei, God’s mission.

Nicodemus finds it difficult to understand what Christ is saying. But what about the first saying, the phrase, ‘being born from above’ or ‘being born again’?

The key word (ἄνωθεν) here has the double meaning of ‘from above’ and ‘again.’ A new birth, a second birth, getting a whole new take on life, a new beginning, a fresh, refreshing start … what does it mean here?

The way we hear the phrase ‘born-again’ being used today may be derived from this event in Saint John’s Gospel. But that understanding is not available to Nicodemus, because it can only be traced to American evangelicalism in the second half of the 20th century.

Until the 20th century, most discussions about this phrase focussed on questions about baptismal regeneration. The key references are in Article 15 and Article 27 in in the 39 Articles. Article 15 seems to imply that all who are baptised are ‘born again in Christ’ – which is not the phrase used in this reading. Article 27 says, ‘Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference … but it is also a sign of Regeneration or new Birth …’

Despite its present-day use, the term ‘born again’ has been widely associated with evangelical Christians only since the late 1960s, beginning in the US. The phrase ‘born again’ now refers to a particular type of individual conversion experience – although the plural is used grammatically in verse 7 in this Gospel story.

The phrase gained popularity after 1976, when the Watergate conspirator Chuck Colson published his book Born Again. The term was so prevalent within a few years that in an interview during his presidential campaign Jimmy Carter described himself as ‘born again.’

But Nicodemus could not have anticipated late 20th century, evangelical, American uses of this phrase, let alone decide to answer the words of Jesus in an individual way that is promoted by the modern self-styled ‘born again’ movement.

So, what could a pious Jew and rabbi like Nicodemus have understood Jesus to mean in his own time?

According to the Mishnah, the duty of loving God ‘with all your soul’ (see Deuteronomy 6: 5) means ‘even if he takes your soul.’ Love of God is a total commitment – unto death. In commenting on this insight in the Mishnah, the rabbis quoted the psalms, ‘Because of you we are being killed all day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter’ (Psalm 44: 22, NRSVA).

One rabbi (Rabbi Simeon ben Menasya) asked what it could possibly mean for a righteous person to die many times throughout the day. He answered: ‘It is not possible for one to be killed every day; but God reckons the life of the pious as though they died a martyr’s death daily’ (Sifre Deuteronomy, 32).

Tradition said that when the people in the wilderness heard the words of the Ten Commandments revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, the revelation struck death into their hearts. But [Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said], they were brought back to new life ‘by God’s power’ [Rabbi Joshua ben Levi here quotes Songs 5: 6 and Psalm 68: 10].

In this way, the Ten Commandments were given to the people through a succession of deaths and rebirths. In other versions, death and rebirth come with direct encounters with God’s glory, with the miraculous rebirth of each of the 600,000 people present as they continuously encounter God face-to-face.

In this way, an encounter with the living God brings death and rebirth, a rabbinic tradition that a pious rabbi like Nicodemus would be familiar with.

It was believed that longing for spiritual transcendence is expressed through overcoming material desire. In this way, a life imprisoned by desire is a living death, but dying into God by total self-giving brings true life.

This tradition of interpretation continued into the Middle Ages. Rabbi Yehuda Halevi (1075/1086-1141), in his poems, says he would gladly die, for life without God ‘is death’.

In other words, in the rabbinic tradition, life without God is like death, but life committed to loving God with the whole heart is lived as though I had died and had been given back my life as a new life by God.

What happened to Nicodemus after this reading? And what makes this an appropriate Gospel reading at an early stage in Lent?

In line with this rabbinic tradition, Nicodemus would have left Jesus that night challenged to ask whether he needed to move beyond the Law to an encounter with the living God, an encounter that brings death and rebirth.

This is his first of three appearances in this Gospel. We meet him again when he states the law concerning the arrest of Jesus during the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7: 45-51).

The third time follows the Crucifixion, when he helps Joseph of Arimathea in taking the body of Christ down from the cross before dark, and preparing the body for burial (John 19: 39-42).

Compare the unfolding faith of Nicodemus in these three encounters with the way Saint Peter is going to deny Christ three times.

So, in today’s Gospel reading, in the story of Nicodemus, birth is linked with death, new birth is linked with new life, and before darkness falls Nicodemus really comes to possess the Body of Christ, to hold the Body of Christ in his hands.

It is an appropriate Gospel reading for an early stage of Lent, as we prepare to recall the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ; he becomes a full communicant member of the Church.

This Lent, we are invited to join me on this journey, this pilgrimage, that leads to Good Friday, and that leads, of course, to the joys of Easter Day.

‘Entombed’ … Christ is laid in the tomb by Nicodemus, Station XIV in the Stations of the Cross in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 1 March 2026):

The theme this week (1-7 March 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is: ‘Saint David’s Day’ (ppp 34-35). This theme is introduced today with Reflections by the Revd Sarah Rosser, Team Vicar in the Netherwent Ministry Area, Diocese of Monmouth, Church in Wales:

‘On 1 March every year Wales celebrates Saint David’s Day, through the abundance of Welsh cakes, daffodils, leeks, and traditional Welsh dress. Saint David is the patron saint of Wales and was a bishop who lived in Wales in the 6th century AD.

‘It is said that on his deathbed on 1 March, 587 AD, David shared these last words to his monks: “Be joyful, brothers and sisters. Keep your faith and do the little things that you have seen and heard with me.”

‘This very much echoes Jesus’ words in Matthew 5: 13-16 which encourages us to “shine our light before others” and do “good works” so that we reflect our faith and the glory of God. As Christians, every moment is an opportunity to serve God and reflect his love in the world. Whether our “little things” happen in our workplaces, our homes, or the local shop- God is present in our lives at all times. We do the “little things” or “good works” not because it gets us a better seat in heaven but because we know God’s deep love for us and, firm in that knowledge, that love overflows out of us to others.’

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 1 March 2026, Lent II, Saint David’s Day) invites us to pray by reading Matthew 5: 13-16 from Revd Sarah’s reflection and to consider the words of Saint David, ‘Be joyful, brothers and sisters. Keep your faith and do the little things that you have seen and heard with me.’

The Collect:

Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth,
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ’s religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord 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:

Almighty God,
you see that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves:
keep us both outwardly in our bodies,
and inwardly in our souls;
that we may be defended from all adversities
which may happen to the body,
and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Almighty God,
by the prayer and discipline of Lent
may we enter into the mystery of Christ’s sufferings,
and by following in his Way
come to share in his glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Andor Borúth (1873-1955), ‘Portrait of a Blind Rabbi,’ the Museum of Jewish Culture, Bratislava (Photograph: 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

A balcony view at night in Kuching gives insights into Chinese religious and cultural traditions

The Hin Ho Bio temple, seen from our kitchen window in Kuching, has been lit up throughout the night each night during the Chinese New Year celebrations (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

The Chinese New Year celebrations in Kuching began last week (18 February), and this is the Year of the Horse. The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, marks the new year and the arrival of spring, and is the most important festival for Chinese communities everywhere.

While most Chinese-owned businesses reopened this week, the celebrations of the 15-day lunar festival continue, with lion dancers visiting restaurants and shops as they reopen, people exchanging traditional gifts or red-wrapped packets and mandarin oranges and visiting homes and temples. The celebrations here focus on family reunions, and there are red decorations everywhere and fireworks and firecrackers late into the night to welcome prosperity,and it all comes to a dramatic finale with Chap Goh Mei next week (Tuesday 3 March), when the Lunar New Year celebrations end with spectacular Lion Dances, fireworks and firecrackers, and colourful performances on the streets and in the temples.

This year, the celebrations of Chinese New Year coincide with Muslim observances of Ramadan and Christian observances of Lent, all part of the religious, cultural and ethnic diversity found throughout Kuching. From our flat we hear the bells of Saint Thomas’s Anglican Cathedral, the call to prayer from the neighbouring mosques, and the drumbeats from a variety of pageants and rituals in the four Chinese temples nearby.

The Hin Ho Bio temple is easy to miss on Carpenter Street, with its hidden rooftop location (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

From our kitchen area, we look out onto the Tien Hou Temple, also known as the Hin Ho Bio temple, which has been lit up throughout the night each night during the Chinese New Year celebrations. The other three Chinese temples in the neighbourhood are the Hiang Thian Siang Ti Temple, a 19th century temple around the corner in Carpenter Street, the Hong San Si Temple on the corner of Ewe Hai Street and Wayang Street, and Tua Pek Kong Temple on a small mound overlooking the Kuching Waterfront and the Sarawak River.

Kuching in the 1800s had two major Chinese dialect groups: the Hokkien from southern Fujian and the Teochew from Guandong province. Both are mostly merchants and tradesmen compared to the rural-based Hakka who are mostly farmers and miners.

The Teochews built the Hiang Thian Siang Ti Temple in 1863 on Carpenter Street, sandwiched between commercial shophouses, and the Hin Ho Bio temple is the main Hainan temple in Kuching.

A rooftop view from the Hin Ho Bio temple, looking down on Carpenter Street below (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Although we see it from our kitchen window, it is probably unknown to visitors and tourists because it is tucked away far above the street, sitting on the top floor of the Kuching Hainan Association building.

The ground floor has a hair salon and a traditional Chinese restaurant, and I had to climb the stairs to the top floor to see this small Chinese shrine with its rooftop views of Carpenter Street below.

The temple is dedicated to Mazu, the goddess of the sea or ‘Heavenly Sage Mother’, recalling the maritime traditions of the Hainan community.

There was a small number of Hainanese people in the area that is now Carpenter Street and China Street from ca 1840, and the first Hin Ho Bio Temple was on Carpenter Street by 1878. The temple was renovated following the Kuching Great Fire in 1884. In the early years, new Hainanese migrants lived in the temple while looking for permanent places and jobs. The temple also served as a martial art hall and a social gathering place for the Hainanese, and was used as a school too.

The temple had a major uplift in 1987-1991, and the Kuching Kheng Chew Association changed its name to the Kuching Hainan Association in 1992.

Inside the Hin Ho Bio temple in its hidden rooftop location (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Kuching Hainan Association marked its 140th anniversary last year (2025) with major events, including a visit from a grand Mazu statue from Meizhou Island in Fujian in China in November. A 14-member delegation from the Kuching Hainan Association travelled to the Mazu Temple on Meizhou Island to formally receive the statue.

The statue was escorted from Kuching Airport in a vibrant procession with a lion dance troupe through several key cultural sites, including Wisma Kuching Hing Ann Thien Hoe Kong, Tua Pek Kong Temple, Hong San Si Temple and Hiang Thian Siang Ti Temple, before arriving at the Tien Hou Temple on Carpenter Street, where a special enshrinement ceremony was attended by the Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian and community leaders.

The association chair, Teo Kwang Hock, said the initiative for the visit of the statue came from the Fujian Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, which is presenting 100 Mazu statues to Tien Hou temples worldwide.

There are plans for a Mazu Park in the grounds behind the temple. The project is waiting for official approval and will provide easier access to the temple, marking a significant new chapter in Kuching’s cultural and religious heritage. It may even may make for a more colourful view from our kitchen window.

Catching a glimpse of the Hin Ho Bio temple from below on Carpenter Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

This blog reaches another landmark with 25.5 million readers by today

25.5 million litres of water and 25.5 million readers on this blog by today

Patrick Comerford

This month of February and this year so far have seen a phenomenal amount of traffic on this blog, reaching a volume of readers that I could never have expected in the past. Earlier today (28 February), this blog passed a new milepost of 25.5 million, and has passed the half-million mark seven times in all this month: 25 million two days ago (26 February) 24.5 million hits earlier this week (22/23 February Sarawak or Irish time), 24 million last week (20 February 2026), 23.5 million (17 February 2026), 23 million (12 February 2026), and 22.5 million (4 February).

At the end of 2025, this blog had 21 million hits by New Year’s Eve (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 4.5 million hits or visitors for 2026, and February 2026 has been the busiest month ever, with over 3.1 million hits.

I first began blogging in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers – a number reached six times this month alone. Half of the 25 million hit – 12.5 million – have been within the nine months since 6 June 2025.

Throughout last year and into this year, the daily figures were overwhelming on many occasions. Eight of the 12 days of busiest traffic on this blog have been in this month alone, one was last month, one was in December last and two were in January 2025:

• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)
• 280,802 (26 February 2026)
• 273,022 (27 February 2026
• 261,422 (13 January 2026)
• 195,391 (20 February 2026)

• 190,630 (23 February 2026)
• 190,467 (21 February 2026)
• 188,376 (19 February 2026)
• 183,317 (22 February 2026)
• 166,155 (15 December 2025)
• 156,311 (18 February 2026)

The rise in the number of readers seems to have been phenomenal throughout last year, and the daily figures are overwhelming at times, currently running at over 110,000 a day this month, and almost 170,000 a day this week. Ten years ago, the daily average was around 1,000.

To put the figure of 25.5 million in context:

A 1 MW data centre can use up to 25.5 million litres of water a year -- that’s how much water 300,000 people use in a day.

About 25.5 million people, including 2.5 million children, die in agony every year around the world, for want of morphine or other palliative care.

More than 25.5 million people live below the poverty line in Yemen, due to the impact of the war in the country.

25.5 million minutes is 48 years, 6 months, and 5 days, or more than 17,708 days, or almost 425,000 hours. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take more than 48½ years to reach today’s 25.5 million mark.

It is almost four years now since I retired from active parish ministry. These days, though, about 100 people on average are reading my daily prayer blog posted on this blog each morning. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 700 people or more each week.

Today, I am very grateful to all the 25.5 million readers of this blog to date, and in particular I remain grateful for the faithful core group among you who join me in prayer, reading and reflection each morning.