60 million tourists in Greek airports, ‘60 million and more’ slave deaths, $60 million for Trump but not for Gaza, 60 million readers of this blog to date

Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport in Iraklion … more than 60 million passengers travelled through Greece’s 39 commercial airports from January to August 2026 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

This blog reached a new record, with a total of 60 million readers or hits by about 9 pm last night (4 October 2026). Already, September has been an exceptionally busy time on this blog, with a steady, overwhelming rise in viewing and reading figures, having passed the million mark on 10 occasions last month alone.

These viewing and readership figures continue to be overpowering as this blog continues to reach volumes of readers I never expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 39 million hits or visitors in 2026 alone, and more than 10. 4 million last month (September), the highest total in any single month since I began blogging.

Half of all hits or reader figures have been within a little more than six months or so, with 30 million hits since 29 March 2026. I first began blogging in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year, the daily figures have often been overwhelming.

Of the 10 days of busiest traffic on this blog, seven were last month alone, two were in May and one was in April. Although traffic has slowed down in the past few weeks, the daily averages remain high, with an average of almost 350,000 hits a day last month, and about 130,000-140,000 a day so far this month. Yet, I recall how 10 years ago, back in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000, or 30,000 a month.

The dozen most popular posting on this blog over the years, in rounded figures, have been:

1, About me (1 May 2007), 95,000 hits
2, All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well (5 September 2008), 43,000 hits
3, ‘When all that’s left of me is love, give me away’ … a poem before Kaddish has gone viral (15 January 2020), 37,000 hits
4, What is a degree from Cambridge Theological Seminary worth? (29 July 2010), 35,000 hits
5, The Transfiguration: finding meaning in icons and Orthodox spirituality (7 April 2010) 33,000 hits
6, Poems for Lent (3): ‘Indifference,’ by GA Studdert Kennedy (27 February 2012), 25,000 hits

7, Poems for Lent (39): ‘All in an April Evening,’ by Katharine Tynan (3 April 2012), 23,000 hits
8, Talking about history, memories, war and vision in the chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (13 February 2015), 22,000 hits
9, Poems for Easter (2): ‘Easter Wings’ by George Herbert (9 April 2012), 19,000 hits
10, A year later, I get to find and visit Castle Matrix (19 February 2018), 19,000 hits
11, A visit to ‘Howth Castle and Environs’ (19 March 2012), 18,000 hits
12, Readings in Spirituality: the novelist as a writer in spirituality and theology (26 November 2009), 17,000 hits

Geologists at Trinity College Dublin have found that oxygen-producing life forms were present on Earth 60 million years earlier than previously thought (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Some curious though random statistics help to put this new figure of 60 million into perspective:

Around 50 to 60 million people lived in the combined eastern and western Roman Empire in the 4th century AD. The population of the United Kingdom had passed 60 million by 2001, according to a report in the Guardian on 25 August 2001.

About 60 million people worldwide are living with an amputation.

Beloved, the 1987 novel by the American writer Toni Morrison set after the American Civil War, tells the story of formerly enslaved people in Cincinnati. The epigraph to Beloved, ‘60 million and more’, is drawn from a number of studies on the African slave trade, which estimate that about half of each ship’s ‘cargo’ died in transit to America.

The children’s author and comedian David Walliams has sold more 60 million copies of his works worldwide. Hachette UK Distribution ships more than 60 million books globally each year.

Donald Trump spent $60 million of taxpayer dollars on his birthday UFC fight on the White House lawn in June.

When Trump claimed last year that the US gave $60 million in aid to Gaza, Federal officials could not answer questions about which agency or group received the funding and when. The State Department had previously said the US had approved a $30 million grant for aid but that by then the funds had not been distributed. Eventually, it turned out that the US gave $3 million in Gaza food aid, contradicting Trump’s lies about $60 million.

The centre:mk in Milton Keynes had a £60 million investment programme in recent years, with a multi-year transformation involved a significant modernisation of the space, a new multi-storey car park, and a 75,000 sq ft Primark letting.

More than 60 million passengers travelled through Greece’s 39 commercial airports from January to August 2026, with a record-breaking 4.5% increase in traffic compared to the same eight-month period in 2025.

The Greek government is offering a financial support package worth nearly €60 million to help ferry operators cope with rising marine fuel costs while preventing additional fare increases for passengers. The initiative comes as the price of marine gas oil (MGO), one of the sector’s main operating expenses, continues to fluctuate. Although fuel costs have increased significantly, ferry companies had avoided introducing another round of ticket price rises.

Geologists from Trinity College Dublin have found that oxygen-producing life forms were present on Earth three billion years ago – a full 60 million years earlier than previously thought. These life forms were responsible for adding oxygen to the atmosphere, which laid the foundations for more complex life to evolve and proliferate.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean basin on Earth, covering more than 155 million sq km or 60 million sq miles or more than 30% of the Earth’s surface.

60 million minutes is equal to 114 years, 0 months, 29 days and 16 hours, which means that if this blog was receiving just one hit a minute, I would need to have started blogging back in September 1912, weeks before Thessaloniki was incorporated in the modern Greek state.

I retired from active parish ministry 4½ years ago, on 31 March 2022. These days, though, about 150 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning, or more than 1,000 people each week. As this blog moves beyond 60 million hits, I am truly grateful today to the real readers among that 60 million. In particular, I am thankful for the faithful core group of people who join me in prayer, scripture reading and reflections each day.


A walk on the beach at Damai in Sarawak … the Pacific Ocean covers more than 60 million sq miles (Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 150, Monday 5 October 2026

An Orthodox icon of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, interpreting the parable according to Patristic and Orthodox traditions (Click on image for full-screen viewing)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and this week began with the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVIII, 4 October).

Before today begins, however, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

The Good Samaritan … a stained glass window by Charles Eamer Kempe in Saint Andrew’s Church, Great Linford, Buckinghamshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 10: 25-37 (NRSVA):

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 26 He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ 27 He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ 28 And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ 30 Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ 37 He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

The Good Samaritan … a modern icon

Today’s Reflection:

We are all very familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan, so familiar and so used to it that we are probably comfortable with the explanations and sermons we have heard over the years about this episode in today’s Gospel reading (Luke 10: 25-37), leaving very little to our own imaginations.

But the Early Fathers offered another interpretation of this parable.

The man who goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho is Adam, or humanity, or each and every one of us.

What does it mean that he goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho?

Jerusalem is the holy city of God, the place where God is served in worship and in public prayer. It is an impregnable stronghold, but it is located in a hill country, where the soil is stony and barren.

On the other hand, Jericho lies below the sea level in the Jordan Valley, in an area that is very fertile and rich in vegetation.

Jerusalem signifies the Divine Commandments. These commandments, like the walls of a city, limit us and our desires, but also create a safe living space where we can live unharmed by sin.

A man being seduced by earthly pleasures, represented by Jericho, goes out from Jerusalem, the stronghold of Divine Commandments. Here, we might think of Adam and Eve, leaving the Garden and going out into the world.

But the robbers control this way. Who are the robbers?

When people abandon God and seek pleasures in other places, the way of bodily desires first appears to be full of joy. But as time passes, indulging in passions becomes a heavy burden on the soul; in place of pleasure it becomes endless slavery. A man realises that he has lost his freedom and has become a captive of his passions. A soul blinded by passions and wounded by sin becomes incapable of any spiritual activity.

Before God, such a man is half-dead. On the way, the man has been stripped of his raiment, deprived of the raiment of virtues and of the cover of God’s grace and protection.

In this patristic approach to reading the parable, the robbers are demons who act through our own passions. The man wounded by robbers represents fallen humanity before the coming of Christ.

Who then were the Priest and Levite who saw the wounded man and passed by without providing him any help?

The Priest and the Levite are ministers of God. They represent the saints and prophets sent by God from the beginning of time.

Why then is it said that they passed by without helping that man?

Did they not fulfil the ministry of preaching?

Yes, they did. They came to that place, they stopped, they saw the man and they passed by. But wounded humanity remained lying on the road. Moses came and passed away, Elijah came and passed away, other prophets came and passed away, but the illness of humanity remained without being healed.

Only God who has created us can recreate us.

This is how Isaiah speaks on the incurable disease of the humanity:

Why do you seek further beatings?
Why do you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
From the sole of the foot even to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
and bleeding wounds;
they have not been drained, or bound up,
or softened with oil. (Isaiah 1: 5-6)

Who then is the Samaritan who goes down on the same road?

The Samaritans were the descendants of Israelites and the nations who migrated to Palestine under Assyrian rule after the destruction of Jerusalem. They lived to the south of Judea, between Judea and Galilee. Samaritans believed in the One God of Israel and kept the Law of Moses, but they developed their own traditions. For the Jews, they were heretics, and so Jews kept their distance from Samaritans.

Why then does Christ represent himself as a Samaritan?

The Pharisees mockingly labelled Christ a Samaritan, saying, ‘Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?’ (John 8: 48).

Christ humbly attributes to himself the name given to him by his detractors.

In addition, Greek Orthodox hymns note a similarity between the phrases ‘from Samaria’ and ‘from Mary,’ for in Greek these phrases sound similar. (For example, the Samarian Gorge in Crete takes its name not from Samaria but from the abandoned village and church of Óssia María or Saint Mary).

The Samaritan, moved with compassion, approaches the wounded man. He binds his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. The oil symbolises mercy and the wine the true teaching of God. Then he brings the man to an inn where he can be taken care of.

This Gospel readings says that the Good Samaritan ‘put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.’ However, in traditional icons, Christ carries the man on his back. Christ in the incarnation takes on our human nature, our soul and body. That is why in the parable he ‘set him on his own beast,’ interpreted by the Early Fathers that Christ makes us members of his own body.

There is a similar image in the parable of the Lost Sheep (see Luke 15). The Good Shepherd left 99 sheep in the desert and went after the lost sheep, representing humanity. When he found the lost sheep, he put it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

The inn in this parable represents the Church. The innkeeper represents bishops and priests. Christ establishes his Church which, like an inn, accepts and provides shelter for all. The wounded man should stay here to be taken care of. The Samaritan has to leave, however. He takes out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying: ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’

Christ indicates his second coming when he will come not to heal our infirmities, but to judge the living and the dead, and to reward each one according to his works.

The silver the Samaritan gives to the innkeeper is the divine grace Christ gives to the Church; it heals and saves souls through the sacraments. Bishops and priests, the ministers of the sacraments of the Church, are the distributors of God’s gifts. They offer to others what they have received: the sacraments and the teaching of Christ. Are they able to spend more? What can they add from themselves to the gift of the Divine Grace? Their labour, their cares, their zeal, which Christ shall recompense them on the day of the Last Judgment.

In this interpretation of the parable of the Good Samaritan, Christ offers himself as the prime example of mercy and compassion. Through his compassion, he takes on our sufferings and becomes the true neighbour of all fallen humanity.

This is a reading of this parable that connects with the assertion in the New Testament reading that God through Christ ‘has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom.

The Good Samaritan window in Saint George’s Church, Belfast (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 5 October 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 27 September to 4-10 October 2026 (pp 44-45), is ‘The Gun, The Sword, and The Bible’. This theme was introduced yesterday with a reflection by the Revd Les Isaac OBE, founder and President of Ascension Trust and co-founder of Street Pastors.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 5 October 2026) invites us to pray:

Lord, give us courage to face the complexities of your Church’s history with honesty and humility. Help us to seek truth without fear and to grow in understanding and grace.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God,
increase in us your gift of faith
that, forsaking what lies behind
and reaching out to that which is before,
we may run the way of your commandments
and win the crown of everlasting 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:

We praise and thank you, O Christ, for this sacred feast:
for here we receive you,
here the memory of your passion is renewed,
here our minds are filled with grace,
and here a pledge of future glory is given,
when we shall feast at that table where you reign
with all your saints for ever.

Additional Collect:

God, our judge and saviour,
teach us to be open to your truth
and to trust in your love,
that we may live each day
with confidence in the salvation which is given
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

The Good Samaritan … a stained glass window in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick (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