Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 105, Friday 21 August 2026

‘Hang all the law and the prophets …’

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and this week began with the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XI, 16 August 2026).

In my prayers this morning I am also remembering my friend and colleague, Father Kieran O’Mahony, who died earlier this week (Tuesdy 18 August 2026). His Funeral Mass takes place in the Augustinian Church of Saint Augustine and Saint John (John’s Lane Church), Thomas Street, Dublin, at 11 am this morning (21 August).

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, 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.

‘Hang all the law and the prophets’ … all the wire hangers fall to the floor in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 22: 34-40 (NRSVA):

34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ 37 He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

A statue of Bishop Charles Gore outside Saint Philip’s Cathedral, Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

Charles Gore (1853-1932) was one of the great – almost formidable – Anglican theologians at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. He was the editor of Lux Mundi (1881), an influential collection of essays; the founder of the Community of the Resurrection (1892); and the first Bishop of Birmingham (1905). He was also from a well-known Irish family: his brother was born in Dublin Castle, his father, Charles Alexander Gore, was brought up in the Vice-Regal Lodge, now Arás an Uachtaráin, and his mother was from Bessborough, Co Kilkenny.

But formidable theologians are also allowed to have a sense of humour and to play pranks on the unsuspecting. And it is told that Charles Gore loved to play a particular prank on his friends and acquaintances when he was a canon of Westminster Abbey.

He would enjoy showing visitors the tomb of one of his collateral ancestors, the 3rd Earl of Kerry, who was descended from the Fitzmaurice family, once famous throughout Limerick and North Kerry.

He would point to an inscription that ends with the words, highlighted in black letters and in double quotation marks: ‘hang all the law and the prophets.’

But when you look closer at this monument, those words are preceded by ‘… ever studious to fulfil those two great commandments on which he had been taught by his divine Master …’ ‘… hang all the law and the prophets.’

A more recent Irish-born theologian of international standing, Professor David Ford, sees these two commandments as the key, foundational Scripture passage for all our hermeneutical exercises.

He was born in Dublin and is the Regius Professor of Divinity Emeritus in the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge and was the founding Director of the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme (2002-2015). Speaking at the Dublin and Glendalough Clergy Conference in Kilkenny 14 years ago [2012], he was asked about some of the hermeneutical approaches he outlines in his book, The Future of Christian Theology (2011). He said that if the two great commandments are about love, and God is love, then no interpretation is to be trusted that goes against love.

And he reminded us of Augustine’s great regula caritatis, the rule of love: if love is the rule, then the ‘how’ of reading scripture together is as important as the ‘what.’

In The Future of Christian Theology, he says: ‘Anything that goes against love of God and love of neighbour is, for Christian theology, unsound biblical interpretation.’

In other words, this passage, and its parallels in the other synoptic Gospels, provides for David Ford the hermeneutical key to understanding all Biblical passages.

Some years ago, I was preaching on this morning's Gospel reading (Matthew 22: 34-40) in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, Co Limerick. I asked the children (and adults) playfully how we might hang all the law and the prophets.

I began by hanging up two inter-linked wire hangers. One wire hanger carried a card saying, ‘Love God’, the other a card saying, ‘Love one another.’ They were held onto a line by string against the pulpit.

The children were then invited to bring wire hangers to hang from these first two wire hangers. This second group of hangers carried cards with markings such as ‘Remember God’s goodness,’ ‘Don’t make a god of money,’ ‘Tell the truth,’ ‘Listen to Mom and Dad,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Be faithful,’ ‘Don’t rob,’ ‘Don’t tell lies,’ ‘Don’t envy others,’ ‘Don’t be jealous’ …

Then the string holding the first two wire hangers was cut. All the wire hangers fell to the floor.

The lesson, of course, was: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22: 37-40).

Kerry Crescent in Calne, Wiltshire, recalls a FitzMaurice family title and a story told by Charles Gore (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Friday 21 August 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 16 to 22 August 2026 (pp 30-31), is ‘Hope in the Making’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by Grace Murray, a USPG volunteer. The prayers this week come courtesy of passersby at Greenbelt Festival 2025.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 21 August 2026) invites us to pray:

Lord, bring your creation the flourishing it was made to show. Give us the courage to imagine our world differently, and give us the strength to change it for the better.

The Collect of the Day:

O God, you declare your almighty power
most chiefly in showing mercy and pity:
mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace,
that we, running the way of your commandments,
may receive your gracious promises,
and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure;
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:

Lord of all mercy,
we your faithful people have celebrated that one true sacrifice
which takes away our sins and brings pardon and peace:
by our communion
keep us firm on the foundation of the gospel
and preserve us from all sin;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

God of glory,
the end of our searching,
help us to lay aside
all that prevents us from seeking your kingdom,
and to give all that we have
to gain the pearl beyond all price,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

Cambridge Divinity School … David Ford was Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge (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

60 years later, this has been a very different World Cup to the one I rejoiced in as a teenager in summer 1966

The former Saint Michael’s Convent above the beach in Ballinskelligs … the preferred venue for discerning teenagers for the 1966 World Cup final (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

At the outset, as my own personal protest against the state of politics in Trump’s USA and the ways he and it are infecting, devouring and destabilising the world, I decided not to watch any 2026 FIFA World Cup matches broadcast from the US, although I was watching games played in the two other co-host nations, Canada and Mexico.

Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino, a pair of presidents, have come to embody everything that is wrong about this year’s competition. From the beginning, right up to its end this evening, this World Cup has been a complete disaster, one shambles after another. There has been nothing but one litany after another of controversies, from FIFA’s ticket pricing, to entertaining Trump’s political meddling, along with logistical and environmental problems, cost over-runs, disgraceful abuses of human rights and displays of ugly and unchecked racism.

Harsh US immigration and visa restrictions have targetted players, officials, journalists, referees and fans from several nations. A travel ban blocked fans from Haiti, Iran, Ivory Coast, and Senegal attending matches in the US, the Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was detained for seven hours on his arrival, and the Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry to the US.

Trump wanted FIFA to give Iran’s place to Italy, and threatened that the safety of the Iranian team could not be guaranteed. That failed to stop Iran, but Iran’s team was forced to relocate its training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, they constantly bullied and harassed each time they played in the US, the team’s ticket allocation was revoked, and many of the coaching and administrative staff were denied visas.

It was clear Infantino was never going to make good on his pledge that ‘any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup.’ But then this is the same man who presented a newly-invented ‘FIFA Peace Prize’ to Trump last December – whoever thought he would want signs of peace and goodwill at this World Cup?

The national teams from Senegal and Uzbekistan faced unusually strict security checks when they arrived in the US, including individual body searches, the Uruguay national team complained if excessive security checks, and security personnel in Atlanta searched Egyptian fans but not Argentinian fans. In Arlington, Texas, ahead of Egypt’s match against Australia, a Dallas police officer pushed Egypt’s assistant coach and other members of the Egyptian delegation.

Spanish-speaking reporters have been asked by FIFA moderators to use English and their questions have often been turned away, even though Spanish is one of FIFA’s seven official languages, Mexico, one of the three co-hosts, is the world's most populous Spanish-speaking country, and two countries in the final this evening are Spanish-speaking.

FIFA officials have been accused of making racist and white supremacy gestures. At the match between Paraguay and France, a former Paraguay goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert referred to France as ‘a squad from Africa’, Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla made widely condemned racist comments in which she mocked Kylian Mbappé’s background and education.

Folarin Balogun’s red card and automatic one-match suspension ought to have ruled him out of the US match against Belgium. But Trumpphoned a friend, intervened directly with Infantino and then rejoiced that due to his special pleading FIFA had ‘made the right decision’. Belgium and UEFA condemned FIFA’s decision. That alone put an end to my personal boycott. I joined the world in watching and rejoicing when Belgium defeated the US.

I watched England’s defeat by Argentina on Wednesday night in the Old George in Stony Stratford, and I stayed up late last night at home to watch England’s 6-4 win over France in the third place play-off, a truly memorable match.

But my memories of this year’s World Cup are going to be distinctively different from my memories of the World Cup final 60 years ago in 1966.

It was a weekend in July, I was in my teens, it was summer, and it was 30 July 1966. It was the year Ireland had gone over the top in marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1916.

My parents had a real fear that I might fail Irish in the ‘Inter Cert’ the following year. Failing Irish at the time meant failing the full exam outright, and the consequences for families were dire: repeat the full year, which still provided no guarantee of success a second time; leave school and find an apprenticeship, which was never considered in a family such as mine; or being sent to England to a school such as Downside or Ampleforth.

Three of us were packed off to Ballinskelligs for a month to learn Irish. I boarded with cousins from Co Cork and learned much from them too; and when I returned home and was asked whether I had learned much Irish I answered smartly, ‘No, but I learned a lot about French, eh, French kissing.’

During that month in Coláiste Mhichíl, I also remember learning Irish dancing, boring evenings listening to the old seanachaí, reading Anne Frank’s Diaries and JD Sallinger’s Catcher in the Rye, having my first smoke, being challenged to go ‘skinny dipping’, and my first kiss.

I was the butt of some slight humour – but all in good taste – because of what must have been a tinge of an English accent at the time. On the other hand, I remember feeling negative about that year’s commemorations of the Easter Rising in 1916. If Irish colleges were about shaping national identity then, despite my age, I realised already some people wanted to classify me as an outsider.

There was no doubt on Saturday afternoon, 30 July 1966, who I was going to support in the World Cup Final. The main adventure that weekend was finding a place to watch it. Ballinskelligs was then a remote part of Kerry, it was not only part of the Gaeltacht, but it was ‘single-channel land’ and – even then – there were few homes there with a television, and we were never going to risk being caught in a pub at that age.

Two first cousins, Dick and Tom Barrett from Millstreet, Co Cork, came up with a cunning plan. They knew some nuns from the Presentation convent in Millstreet who were staying in Saint Michael’s Convent, the nuns’ summer house above the beach in Ballinskelligs. There we would be hidden safely from anyone listening out for any teenagers at the summer college risking to speak English, to say nothing about cheering on the English football team.

Not only did the nuns welcome us, and allow us to monopolise the one television in their best room, but they even brought in biscuits, cake and soft drinks to keep us fuelled for the afternoon. For us, that alone was almost more memorable than Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick and England’s controversial third goal – did it go over the line fully?

England had a 4-2 win over West Germany after extra time. It was the first and only time that England hosted or won the World Cup and it remains England’s last final in a major international football tournament, and still is England’s only World Cup final to date.

We stayed right through to see Bobby Moore receiving the cup and the team receiving their medals.

We were not watching alone. The British television audience peaked at 32.3 million viewers, making it Britain’s most-watched television event ever.

When I returned in August after a month in Ballinskelligs, my parents never showed any evidence they had received any reports of my independent behaviour. And, yes, I passed Irish in the ‘Inter Cert’ the following year – albeit a pass on a pass paper – and went on to finish the ‘Leaving Cert’ in 1969 at Gormanston College, Co Meath.

I can still remember with joy, delight and glee, England’s first, and so far only, World Cup title back in 1966. As I wait for this evening’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, I know which team I am disappointed is not playing tonight.

I do not particularly want to see tonight’s half-time show, which is nothing less that the Americanisation and commercialisation of the game. But I going to be eager to see how uncomfortable Trump is as he finds himself sitting beside the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, the western politician he seems to dislike most, and hopefully to see Trump squirm as he presents the World Cup to Spain too.

And I shall be smiling too as I recall teenage memories of that summer afternoon in July 60 years ago.

A summer stroll on the beach in Ballinskelligs (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 49, Thursday 25 June 2026

‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock’ (Matthew 7: 24) … a monastery built on a rock top in Meteora, Greece (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The week began with the Third Sunday after Trinity (Trinity III, 21 June 2026). I was in Lichfield yesterday marking the silver jubilee of my ordination as priest 25 years ago, on the Feast of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist [24 June 2001], and today marks the 26th anniversary of my ordination as deacon [25 June 2000].

Because of the heat warnings against travel yesterday, I cancelled my plans to be in Lichfield to mark the 25th anniversary of my ordination as priest. I was invited to speak this afternoon at the Stony Last Thursday History Society event in the library in Stony Stratford, looking at the stained-glass windows in Saint Mary and Saint Giles, and telling a story that has links with some of the famous films and film stars of Hollywood. However, all of England is sweltering in this heatwave, and that talk has been postponed until October.

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, 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.

The Acropolis at night, standing on a large rocky outcrop above Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on image for full-screen view)

Matthew 7: 21-29 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 21 ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?” 23 Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.”

24 ‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!’

28 Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, 29 for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.’

‘Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand’ (Matthew 7: 26) … a sandcastle on the beach at Playa de la Carihuela in Torremolinos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

This morning’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist (Matthew 7: 21-29) brings to a conclusion to our series of readings from the Sermon on the Mount in Saint Matthew’s Gospel. In the reading we missed yesterday because of the Feast of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist, Christ warns of the dangers posed by ‘false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.’ We are to ‘know them by their fruits.’

Today he warns about what awaits those false prophets and wolves in sheep’s clothing, and talks about a foolish man who built his house on sand. On the other hand, we are told, those who both hear Christ’s words and act on them will show that their faith is built on firm foundation, ‘like a wise man who built his house on rock’.

I have, on many occasions times, stood at the top of Acropolis (Ἀκρόπολις) in Athens, taking in the breathtaking views in every direction across the city and out to the port of Piraeus.

The Acropolis is the highest point in Athens. It stands on an extremely rocky outcrop and on it the ancient Greeks built several significant buildings. The most famous of these is the Parthenon. This flat-topped rock rises 150 metres (490 ft) above sea level and has a surface area of about 3 ha (7.4 acres).

Below, immediately north-west of the Acropolis, is the Areopagus, another prominent, but relatively smaller, rocky outcrop. Its English name comes from its Greek name, Ἄρειος Πάγος (Areios Págos), the ‘Rock of Ares,’ known to the Romans as the Hill of Mars.

In classical Athens, this functioned as the court for trying deliberate homicide. It was said Ares was put on trial there for deicide, the murder of the son of the god Poseidon. In the play The Eumenides (458 BCE) by Aeschylus, the Areopagus is the site of the trial of Orestes for killing his mother.

Later, murderers would seek shelter there in the hope of a fair hearing.

There too the Athenians had an altar to the unknown god, and it was there that the Apostle Paul delivered his most famous speech and sermon, in which he identified the ‘unknown god’ with ‘the God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth’ (Acts 17: 24), for ‘in him we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17: 28).

This is the most dramatic and fullest reported sermon or speech by the Apostle Paul. He quotes the Greek philosopher Epimenides, and he must have known that the location of his speech had important cultural contexts, including associations with justice, deicide and the hidden God.

The origin of the name of the Areopagus is found in the ancient Greek, πάγος (pagos), meaning a ‘big piece of rock.’

Another word, λιθος (lithos) was used for a small rock, a stone, or even a pebble – it is the Greek word that gives us words like lithograph and megalithic, meaning Great Stone Age.

When you see breathtaking sights like these, you understand how culturally relevant it was for Christ to talk in today’s Gospel reading about the wise man building his house on a rock rather than on sand (Matthew 7: 24-26).

Ordinary domestic buildings might have been built to last a generation or two, at most. But building on rock, building into rock, building into massive rock formations like the Acropolis, was laying the foundations for major works of cultural, political and religious significance that would last long after those who had built them had been forgotten.

And so, the Church is to be built on a rock, with the foundations a movement, an institution, an organisation, a community that is going to have lasting, everlasting significance, and survive the crass abuse of the Gospel message by political opportunists.

The Acropolis in Athens seen from the new Acropolis Museum, standing on a large rocky outcrop (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 25 June 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 21 to 27 June 2026 (pp 12-13), is ‘Land Taken, Land Remembered’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by the Venerable Rosalyn Kantlaht’ant Elm, Director of Indigenous Ministries, Anglican Church of Canada.

The USPG prayer diary today (Thursday 25 June 2026) invites us to pray:

Gracious God, we pray for the Most Revd Shane Parker, Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. Grant him wisdom, humility, and courage as he leads your Church in the work of healing and reconciliation.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
you have broken the tyranny of sin
and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts
whereby we call you Father:
give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that we and all creation may be brought
to the glorious liberty of the children of God;
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:

O God, whose beauty is beyond our imagining
and whose power we cannot comprehend:
show us your glory as far as we can grasp it,
and shield us from knowing more than we can bear
until we may look upon you without fear;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Additional Collect:

God our saviour,
look on this wounded world
in pity and in power;
hold us fast to your promises of peace
won for us by your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Built on rock or built on sand? The ruins of Ballybunion Castle, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Edition copyright © 2021, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 71, Saturday 19 July 2025

The Prophet Isaiah depicted in the iconostasis in Arkadi Monastery in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and tomorrow is the Fifth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity V, 20 July 2025). The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Gregory (ca 394), Bishop of Nyssa, and his sister, Saint Macrina (ca 379), Deaconess, Teachers of the Faith.

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, 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.

‘He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break’ (Isaiah 42: 2-3; see Matthew 12: 19) … reeds at the small lake by the North Beach in Arklow, Co Wicklow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 12: 14-21 (NRSVA):

14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

15 When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, 16 and he ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18 ‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not wrangle or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a bruised reed
or quench a smouldering wick
until he brings justice to victory.
21 And in his name the Gentiles will hope.’

The Prophet Isaiah (right) and Saint John the Baptist … a window in Saint John’s Church, Wall, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

As we continue our daily readings in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, we see how Jesus is becoming a figure of controversy. We saw yesterday how he was accused by Pharisees of condoning the disciples breaking the Sabbath on the part of his disciples (Matthew 12: 1-8). Immediately afterwards he went to a synagogue and, in spite of a challenge about healing on the Sabbath, he went ahead and cured a man with a ‘withered hand’ (Matthew 12: 9-13).

Following this, Matthew tells us that ‘the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him’ (Matthew 12: 14), because his is a severe threat to their authority.

Jesus, aware of this plotting, disappears from sight for a while. He does not go out of his way to confront people or to create trouble for himself and does not deliberately engineer his own suffering and death.

At this point, Saint Matthew compares Jesus’ behaviour with a Biblical and quotes a passage in Isaiah (42: 1-4) to portray Jesus as fulfilling of the Spirit of God campaigning for justice for peoples everywhere.

Second Isaiah, or Isaiah 40-55), often referred to as ‘Deutero-Isaiah’ or the Book of Consolation, was probably written during the Babylonian exile, between 540 and 515 BCE, offering comfort and hope to the exiled people. This section contains beautiful poetic passages, emphasising God’s mercy, faithfulness, and the promise of salvation. It foretells the coming of a ‘Suffering Servant’, the Messiah, who will bring salvation not only to Israel but to all nations.

This is the longest Old Testament citation in this gospel (verses 18-21), although it does not correspond exactly to either the Hebrew or the Septuagint reading of that passage.

Isaiah 42:1-4 describes God’s servant, chosen and empowered by God’s Spirit, who will bring justice to the nations. This servant will be gentle, not resorting to loud public displays, and will not extinguish even the smallest hope. He is going to establish justice on earth and be a light to the nations, guiding those in darkness:

1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

For Saint Matthew, Jesus is the servant whom God has chosen, ‘in whom my soul delights’. He is no demagogue and ‘will not cry out or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street’. Instead, he goes about quietly, tolerant and understanding of the weak, so gentle and kind in his behaviour that ‘a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.’

This reading, then, emphasises the meekness of Jesus, the Servant of the Lord, and foretells the extension of his mission to the Gentiles. His message, demanding thought it may be, does not crush people. Justice comes through compassion – like care for the bruised reed – not through the exercise of power and violence.

Christ will always intervene on behalf of the weak, and in a way that is sensitive to them, and that takes the limelight away from himself. His concern for justice will bring hope to all people.

In these days, we are so in need of this assurance that Christ will patiently bring justice to victory.

The Prophet Isaiah (left) and the Prophet Jeremiah (right) in a window in Saint Michael’s Church, Pery Square, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 19 July 2025):

The theme this week (13 to 19 July) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘Shaping the Future: Africa Six.’ This theme was introduced last Sunday with a programme update from Fran Mate, Senior Regional Manager: Africa, USPG.

The USPG prayer diary today (Saturday 19 July 2025) invites us to pray

Lord God, we pray for Bishop Vicentia and Bishop Dalcy within the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. Thank you for their passionate leadership and trust in you. May many be blessed by their ministry.

The Collect:

Lord of eternity, creator of all things,
in your Son Jesus Christ you open for us the way to resurrection
that we may enjoy your bountiful goodness:
may we who celebrate your servants Gregory and Macrina
press onwards in faith to your boundless love
and ever wonder at the miracle of your presence among us;
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 of truth,
whose Wisdom set her table
and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine
of the kingdom:
help us to lay aside all foolishness
and to live and walk in the way of insight,
that we may come with Gregory and Macrina to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Trinity V:

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.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

‘He will not break a bruised reed’ (Matthew 12: 20), ‘a bruised reed he will not break’ (Isaiah 42: 3) … reeds in the breeze in Killarney, Co Kerry (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

Ten photographs from Clare and Kerry in new visitor guides for tourists

The Cascades at Ennistymon … one of my photographs in the new ‘Co Clare Visitor Guide’ edited by Sally Davies (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The site SmartTraveller365 is an online tourist service in Ireland providing tourists and visitors to Ireland with free online services and information on what to see and do in Ireland.

The SmartTraveller365 website and service include smart phone coupons that offer shopping and entrance discounts at many of Ireland’s top attractions, shops and experiences.

Sally Davies, Senior Manager of Irish County Visitor Guides with SmartTraveller365, is producing a new series of colourgul, slimeline, ocket-size and user-friendly visitor guides that now include: the Co. Clare Visitor Guide, the County Kerry Visitor Guide, the West Cork Visitor Guide and the West Cork Visitor Guide.

Nine of my photographs have been published as part of the Co. Clare Visitor Guide, and one more also appears in the County Kerry Visitor Guide.

The Harbour at Ballyvaughan … one of my photographs in the ‘Co Clare Visitor Guide’ edited by Sally Davies (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Initially, Sally Davies asked to use just one or two of my photographs from my blog. But eventually, she decided to use nine of my photographs in the 64-page Co. Clare Visitor Guide she has edited and one in her guide to Co Kerry.

I am reluctant to allow my photographs to be used commercially. Businesses need to be realistic about their costings and margins, and professional photographers need to be paid for their work, without being undercut by amateurs who use their phones for images on social media. I am also anxious to retain the copyright of my own creative work, and certainly do not want my work being used to promote religious, social, political or business values I would not otherwise endorse.

On the other hand, I firmly believe in promoting small, local enterprises of the sort that are facilitated by guides like guidebooks such as these new publications, and it is a pleasure to be involved in areas that I know so well.

During my five years in parish ministry in west Limerick and north Kerry, living in the rectory in Askeaton, my parochial areas included parts of the River Shannon and some of the islands in the estuary – although I was never quite sure which islands, such as Scattery or Canon Island were in my parishes and which were linked with my colleagues.

Tarbert in Co Kerry was at the heart of Kilnaughtin parish, and the ferry across the mouth of the Shannon to Killimer brought me directly to many of the places described in the latest Co. Clare Visitor Guide.

My role as Precentor in the chapters of the Diocesan Cathedrals also made me familiar with the two cathedrals in Co Clare, in Killaloe and Kilfenora. In addition, I was eager during those years to explore Comerford family stories in many parts of Co Clare, including Miltown Malbay, Spanish Point and Ballyvaughan.

So I was delighted that Sally Davies has used nine of my photographs in her Co. Clare Visitor Guide, which arrived a few days ago. These photographs are of:

• the Duck Inn in Sixmilebridge (p 7)

• the Teardrop Memorial, Kilkee (p 26)

• the Cascades at Ennistymon (p 36)

• Quin Abbey (p 38)

• Canon Island Abbey (p 38)

• Canon Island (p 46)

• Scattery Island (p 47)

• and two photographs of the beach and harbour at Ballyvaughan (p 49).

Georgie Comerford is remembered as Miltown Malbay’s greatest-ever footballer … he played for four counties and two provinces

In addition, the pages on Miltown Malbay in this new publication include the story of Georgie Comerford (p 31), a sporting star in the 1930s, drawing on biographical details and images on my blog:

Teenage Years
Underage Success

• In 1929 George captained Clare to win the inaugural All Ireland minor championship

.. In the Munster final Clare defeated Waterford 1-6 to 0-4

.. In the All-Ireland final Clare defeated Longford 5-3 to 3-5, with George scoring 1-2 of the Clare total from full forward

.. This remains Clare’s only All-Ireland title at this grade.

• In 1930 George was on the Clare minor team that retained the Munster title defeating Tipperary 2-1 to 1-3, but Clare were unable to repeat success at All-Ireland level.

Georgie Comerford is remembered as Miltown Malbay’s greatest ever footballer and played for four counties and two provinces …

In addition, Sally Davies has used one of my photographs in another guide to Co Kerry. My photograph of the Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church in Cahersiveen appears on p 42 in the 76-page County Kerry Visitor Guide.

The ‘Duck Inn’ at Sixmilebridge … one of my photographs in the ‘Co Clare Visitor Guide’ edited by Sally Davies (Photograph: Patrick Comerford,)

• The SmartTraveller365 guides are available to read online and to download HERE

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2024: 105, Friday 23 August 2024

‘Hang all the law and the prophets …’

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and this week began with the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XII).

The Requiem Mass for Ian Keatley, who died suddenly earlier this month, takes place later today (23 August) Saint George’s Church, Belfast, where he sang as a boy. Ian was good friend and colleague when he was Director and Music in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and later when he was Organist and Director of Music at Southwark Cathedral. I shall be keeping Ian, his family and his friends and colleagues in my prayers throughout the day.

Later this afternoon, I am involved in a meeting to discuss possibilities for the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship in the Milton Keynes area. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, 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.

‘Hang all the law and the prophets’ … all the wire hangers fall to the floor

Matthew 22: 34-40 (NRSVA):

34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ 37 He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

A statue of Bishop Charles Gore outside Saint Philip’s Cathedral, Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

Charles Gore (1853-1932) was one of the great – almost formidable theologians – at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. He was the editor of Lux Mundi (1881), an influential collection of essays; the founder of the Community of the Resurrection (1892); and the first Bishop of Birmingham (1905). He was also from a well-known Irish family; his brother was born in Dublin Castle, his father, Charles Alexander Gore, was brought up in the Vice-Regal Lodge, now Arás an Uachtaráin, and his mother was from Bessborough, Co Kilkenny.

But formidable theologians are also allowed to play pranks on the unsuspecting. And it is told that Charles Gore loved to play a particular prank on his friends and acquaintances when he was a canon of Westminster Abbey.

He would enjoy showing visitors the tomb of one of his collateral ancestors, the 3rd Earl of Kerry, who was descended from the Fitzmaurice family, once famous throughout Limerick and North Kerry.

He would point to an inscription that ends with the words, highlighted in black letters and in double quotation marks: ‘hang all the law and the prophets.’

But when you look closer at this monument, those words are preceded by ‘… ever studious to fulfil those two great commandments on which he had been taught by his divine Master …’ ‘… hang all the law and the prophets.’

A more recent Irish-born theologian of international standing, Professor David Ford, sees these two commandments as the key, foundational Scripture passage for all our hermeneutical exercises.

He was born in Dublin and since 1991 has been the Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge. Speaking at the Dublin and Glendalough Clergy Conference in Kilkenny 12 years ago [2012], he was asked about some of the hermeneutical approaches he outlines in his book, The Future of Christian Theology (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 20111). He said that if the two great commandments are about love, and God is love, then no interpretation is to be trusted that goes against love.

And he reminded us of Augustine’s great regula caritatis, the rule of love. If love is the rule, then the ‘how’ of reading scripture together is as important as the ‘what.’

In The Future of Christian Theology, he says: ‘Anything that goes against love of God and love of neighbour is, for Christian theology, unsound biblical interpretation.’

In other words, this passage, and its parallels in the other synoptic Gospels, provides for David Ford the hermeneutical key to understanding all Biblical passages.

Some years ago, I was preaching on this morning's Gospel reading in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, Co Limerick. I asked the children (and adults) playfully how we might hang all the law and the prophets.

I began by hanging up two inter-linked wire hangers. One wire hanger carried a card saying, ‘Love God’, the other a card saying, ‘Love one another.’ They were held onto a line by string against the pulpit.

The children were then invited to bring wire hangers to hang from these first two wire hangers. This second group of hangers carried cards with markings such as ‘Remember God’s goodness,’ ‘Don’t make a god of money,’ ‘Tell the truth,’ ‘Listen to Mom and Dad,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Be faithful,’ ‘Don’t rob,’ ‘Don’t tell lies,’ ‘Don’t envy others,’ ‘Don’t be jealous’ …

Then the string holding the first two wire hangers was cut. All the wire hangers fell to the floor.

The Lesson, of course, was: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22: 37-40).

Kerry Crescent in Calne, Wiltshire, recalls a FitzMaurice family title and a story told by Charles Gore (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Friday 23 August 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘What price is the Gospel?’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a programme update from Dr Jo Sadgrove, Research and Learning Advisor, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 23 August 2024, International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition) invites us to pray:

Father of everlasting compassion, you see your children growing up in a world of inequality, greed and oppression; help us learn from the mistakes of history.

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
you are always more ready to hear than we to pray
and to give more than either we desire or deserve:
pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid
and giving us those good things
which we are not worthy to ask
but through the merits and mediation
of 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 of all mercy,
in this eucharist you have set aside our sins
and given us your healing:
grant that we who are made whole in Christ
may bring that healing to this broken world,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

God of constant mercy,
who sent your Son to save us:
remind us of your goodness,
increase your grace within us,
that our thankfulness may grow,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Saint Bartholomew:

Almighty and everlasting God,
who gave to your apostle Bartholomew grace
truly to believe and to preach your word:
grant that your Church
may love that word which he believed
and may faithfully preach and receive the same;
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.

Cambridge Divinity School … David Ford was Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s reflection

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

Saving one Ukrainian monk and bishop brings Orthodox honours to Rector of Killarney

Archdeacon Simon Lumby (left) of Killarney at special celebrations in Ukraine earlier this year

Patrick Comerford

For many years, while I was a priest in he Rathkeale Group of Parishes in West Limerick and North Kerry, the Ven Simon Lumby was my archdeacon. He was also a good neighbour, friend and colleague, and we went on a number of retreats together, including one to Glenstal Abbe.

Simon is the Rector of Killarney, Co Kerry, and when he recently rescued Father Benjamin Voloshchuk, a refugee Orthodox monk-priest from Ukraine who had ended up in Killarney, little did he realise what was going to unfold as a consequence.

Archimandrite Benjamin was then a priest of the Chernivtsi and Bukovyna Diocese in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The monk was about to be ‘transported’ or moved without choice to Westport, Co Mayo, along with the other Ukrainian refugees in their hotel in Killarney back in October 2022. In all, 135 Ukrainian refugees were housed in Hotel Killarney and they were given just two days’ notice that they would be relocated to Westport.

Archdeacon Simon was quick to respond, and moved the refugee monk into his Rectory in December. Then, to his surprise, shortly after moving in, Father Benjamin was called back to Ukraine in early January and was told he had been chosen to become the bishop to the Ukrainian refugees and diaspora in Europe.

There are 32 communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 11 countries in Western Europe today, with a large number of priests from the church meeting their spiritual and pastoral needs.

Because the war in Ukraine means the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has an increased presence across Europe, the Holy Synod of the church decision to elect a bishop to look after Ukrainian parishes abroad and supporting people who have found themselves outside Ukraine forcibly as a consequence of the war.

The decision to elect a new bishop was taken on 20 December last, and Archimandrite Benjamin was nominated as the Bishop of Boyarsky, Vicar of the Kyiv Metropolitanate, and administrator of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church parishes abroad.

The jewelled pectoral cross presented to Archdeacon Simon Lumby in Ukraine in recognition of his work with the Ukrainian community in Killarney

The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Onufriy (Berezovsky), Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, consecrated the new bishop in the Pochaiv Lavra or Monastery. The church itself is formally known as the Church of Venerable Agapitos of the Kyiv Caves in the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The lavra or monastery belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but for centuries it has been the most spiritual centre in western Ukraine for all the different Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches in Western Ukraine, despite their differences and divisions and recent controversies.

Before the beginning of the Divine Liturgy and the consecration of the new bishop, a special rite took place when the bishop-elect proclaimed his faith and made vows to keep the tradition of the Church. A deacon then offered wishes for long life to the primate, priests, the Church, the people, and the prospective new bishop.

During the Liturgy, prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine, for the government, for prisoners of war, and for God’s mercy on the people, especially refugees. Afterwards, Bishop Benjamin was handed a hierarchal crozier, and then as bishop he blessed the people for the first time.

In recognition of his instrumental role in pioneering the spiritual support of Ukrainian Orthodox refugees in Ireland, Archdeacon Lumby was invited to attend the consecration in the lavra as a guest of honour of the new bishop. Later, he was invited by Archbishop Onuphryi to the celebratory meal at his residence. There, the Rector of Killarney was given a unique award when he was presented with a jewelled pectoral cross in honour of his work and for giving Bishop Benjamin a welcome in his home.

Last Saturday morning (25 November), the archdeacon was a guest at the Ukrainian Divine Liturgy in Saint Mary’s Church, Killarney, wearing his cassock and the cross he had been decorated with. In yet another honour, he was presented with an icon of the Mother of God. This icon is a copy of one in a monastery on Mount Athos and is known for the healing a blind monk received when he prayed kneeling in front of the icon.

Bishop Benjamin has named his congregation in Killarney after this icon, ‘so this is a signal honour,’ Simon tells me. ‘It turns out my cross is the one worn at Mother of God Liturgies.’

The archdeacon’s connections with Orthodoxy have continued to blossom, and he says ‘it’s a delight to sit and watch’ the Orthodox Ukrainian at their Divine Liturgy. He recently spent a few days at the Orthodox Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, where I have often been a guest. Now, he is planning a retreat and pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain of Mount Athos early next year.

Meanwhile, on Day 7 of his tour of the Diocese of Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe, Bishop Michael Burrows visited Killarney ten days ago (18 November). There he was joined by members of the Orthodox Community from Ukraine who worship in Saint Mary’s Church, before he then set off to visit the churches and parishes along the Ring of Kerry.

Bishop Michael Burrows with members of the Orthodox Community from Ukraine in Saint Mary’s Church, Killarney

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (137) 12 October 2023

Saint Michael’s Church, Killorglin, Co Kerry, is probably the newest Church of Ireland parish church built in the Republic of Ireland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and this week began with the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVIII, 8 October 2023).

Today (12 October), the Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship remembers the lives and witness of Wilfrid of Ripon (709), Bishop, Missionary; Elizabeth Fry (1845), Prison Reformer; and Edith Cavell (1915), Nurse.

Before the day begins, I am taking some time early this morning for prayer and reflection.

The Church recently celebrated Saint Michael and All Angels last month (29 September). So in my reflections each morning this week I am continuing the Michaelmas theme of the last two weeks in this way:

1, A reflection on a church named after Saint Michael or his depiction in Church Art;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Inside Saint Michael’s Church, Killorglin, Co Kerry, designed by the architect Peter O’Farrelly in 1997 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Michael’s Church, Killorglin, Co Kerry:

Saint Michael’s Church, Killorglin, and Saint Cartach’s Church, Castlemaine, form the Kilcolman Union of Parishes in the Ardfert and Aghadoe or Co Kerry part of the Dioceses of Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe in the Church of Ireland.

Killorglin is on the Ring of Kerry tourist route, 26 km south of Tralee and 22 km west of Killarney, and has a population of about 2,200 people. The annual events include the Puck Fair festival in August, which starts with the crowning and parading of a wild mountain goat as ‘king.’

The name Killorglin (Cill Orglan in Irish) means ‘Orgla’s Church.’ The Anglo-Normans built a castle at Killorglin in 1215. Within a few years, the Augustinian priors established a church at Dromavalla on the banks of the river Laune. A small village grew up at this location on the boundaries of the Norman Shire of Kerry and the Gaelic territories of Desmond.

After the Desmond Wars (1579-1583). the castle of Killorglin was granted to Jenkin Conway, who originally came from Conwy in north Wales. His son, Jenkin, secured a patent from King James I in 1613 for a three-day fair in Killorglin, believed to be the origins of the Puck Fair.

It is said John ‘Black Jack’ Blennerhassett of Castle Conway, Killorglin, built a private chapel for his family on Bridge Street in the 1690s. The site and chapel passed to Thomas Mullins (1736-1824) of Dingle, later Lord Ventry, in 1795 when he bought the Blennerhassett estate, castle and lands of 7,000 acres in the Killorglin area from his kinsman Harman Blennerhassett.

Lord Ventry transferred the site in 1812 to his son, the Revd Frederick Mullins (1778-1833) to build a new Church of Ireland parish church in Killorglin. Mullins received financial assistance from the Board of First Fruits, and the church was built on Bridge Street (later Lower Bridge Street) in 1816.

Saint Michael’s Church was substantially rebuilt in 1868 to designs by the church architects William Joseph Welland and William Gillespie. It is believed that the belltower and the minor nave remain from the original structure, but the main nave dates from 1868.

Saint Michael’s was a double-height church with a three-bay side elevation and a single-bay three-stage entrance tower at the west gable end with a battlemented parapet. It has a pitched slate roof with gable parapets, limestone rubble stone walls, a rose window of five quatrefoils in the east wall, and a timber boarded door. The gateway, built ca 1820 has a pair of rubble stone piers with iron gates.

Saint Michael’s Church was closed and deconsecrated in 1996, the building was offered for sale, and a new Church of Ireland parish church was built in the town.

A new Church of Ireland parish church, also named Saint Michael’s Church, was built on Iveragh Road in Killorglin, in 1997 with broad support from the local community. Saint Michael's Church was designed by the architect Peter O’Farrelly. It is octagonal in shape, with a high conical roof. It is built of ragstone, and a community centre is attached to the church.

Saint Michael’s Church is probably the newest Church of Ireland parish church to be built in the Republic of Ireland.

A stained-glass window in the entrance lobby depicts the Archangel Michael. This one-lancet window measures 2720 mm x 1090 mm. It was moved from Knockane Church, Churchtown. It was made in 1945 by the artist Douglas Strachan (1875-1950).

A two-lancet window with one tracery-light in the south chapel depicts the emblems of the Four Evangelists in the two lancets, measuring 2680 mm x 670 mm. It was made in 1866 by Charles Alexander Gibbs (1825-1877), one of the major stained glass suppliers of the Victorian period. It too came from Knockane Church, Churchtown, where it had been placed as a memorial to Richard The Macgillicuddy of the Reeks.

The Revd Ann-Marie Stuart and the Revd Isabel Keegan retired from Saint Michael’s Church, Killorglin, and the Kilcolman Union of Parishes earlier this year, five years after coming to Co Kerry, and the parish is currently vacant.

Meanwhile, the Victorian parish church was bought and restored by Nicholas Foley and his daughter Cliodhna. When the building first opened a restaurant and event space in 2006, it was called ‘Sol y Sombra,’ a Spanish phrase meaning ‘light and shadow’ and referring to the play of light inside the building through the stained glass windows. With a new name, it was launched as 10 Bridge Street last year (2022).

The window in the entrance lobby depicting the Archangel Michael was made in 1945 by Douglas Strachan (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 11: 5-13 (NRSVA):

5 And he [Jesus] said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” 7 And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

9 ‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’

The window with emblems of the Four Evangelists was made by Charles Alexander Gibbs in 1866 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘After the Storm.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (12 October 2023) invites us to pray in these words:

As yesterday was International Day of the Girl Child, we pray that women and girls everywhere may live life abundantly as God intended for them.

Saint Michael’s Church, the earlier church on Lower Bridge Street, was closed in 1996 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Collect:

Almighty God,
who called our forebears to the light of the gospel
by the preaching of your servant Wilfrid:
help us, who keep his life and labour in remembrance,
to glorify your name by following the example
of his zeal and perseverance;
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:

Holy Father,
who gathered us here around the table of your Son
to share this meal with the whole household of God:
in that new world where you revea
l the fullness of your peace,
gather people of every race and language
to share with Wilfrid and all your saints
in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Inside the former Saint Michael’s Church, now the restaurant 10 Bridge Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s Reflection

>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

The new Saint Michael’s Church on Iveragh Road, Killorglin, in the springtime (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (130) 5 October 2023

Saint Michael’s Church, Waterville, Co Kerry, was built in the 1860s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and the week began with the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVII, 1 October 2023).

Before today begins, I am taking some time this morning for prayer and reflection.

The Church celebrated Saint Michael and All Angels last Friday (29 September). So my reflections each morning during Michaelmas last week and this week are taking this format:

1, A reflection on a church named after Saint Michael or his depiction in Church Art;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

In the porch of the Church of Saint Michael and All Angels, Waterville … renovated in recent years to serve as a church and a heritage centre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Michael and All Angels Church, Waterville, Co Kerry:

Waterville is on the Ring of Kerry on a narrow strip of land between Currane Lake and the Atlantic Ocean. The Church of Saint Michael and All Angels is the Church of Ireland parish church in Waterville. The parish has also been known as Dromod and Templedrome. The original church at Dromod or Dromid was at Salahig, outside Waterville, and dated back to the 12th century.

The list of vicars and rectors of the parish dates back to the early 15th century when Maurice O’Sullewayn (O’Sullivan) was appointed Vicar of Inishnosail or Drummad in the Diocese of Ardfert, after obtaining a dispensation because he was the son of a priest. A similar dispensation, for the same reason, was granted in 1430 to his successor, Maurice O’Cuoma.

By the mid-15th century, the Papal letters note that the parish was a sinecure. The appointment was often filled by non-resident pluralists, who left their pastoral and parochial duties to low-paid curates. For example, in the early 19th century, Daniel Eccles Lucas was Rector of Dromod or Waterville in Co Kerry (1812-1828), and at the same time Rector of Castleblakeney, Co Galway (1823-1828), in the Diocese of Elphin.

George Blake Concannon was Rector of Dromod in 1855-1872, but during that time was also chaplain to the Earl of Gainsborough (1865-1870). This second appointment is all the more surprising because Charles Noel (1818-1881), 2nd Earl of Gainsborough, was a prominent Whig politician who became a Roman Catholic in a very public conversion in 1850, along with his wife and children.

I told this story in ‘Four Victorian weddings and a funeral,’ published as a chapter in Marriage and the Irish: A miscellany, edited by Salvador Ryan (Wordwell: Dublin, 2019).

While Concannon was Rector of Dromod, the Church of Saint Michael and All Angels was built in 1861 and was consecrated by Charles Graves, Bishop of Limerick and Ardfert, in 1866. The church is set in an interesting graveyard, with the former parish school beside it, and commending views out across Waterville Bay.

Inside Saint Michael’s Church, designed by Welland and Gillespie (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Michael’s is a double-height over part-basement Gothic Revival church, dated 1866. It was designed by Joseph Welland and completed by the partnership of Welland and Gillespie.

The church has a four-bay nave, a single-bay, double-height lower chancel at the east end, a vestry projection on the north side, a corbelled limestone ashlar spirelet at the gable, and a single-bay porch on the south side,.

The church is built with random rubble red sandstone walls with grey limestone dressings and has a pitched artificial slate roof with gable limestone copings and springers. There is a buttress at the centre of the west gable, a limestone corbel table to the gutters, carved rosettes at the west gable and a base batter. The lancet windows have limestone surrounds and leaded diamond glazing with stained glass margins. The east window is a triple lancet.

The church was first planned in 1858-1859 and the foundation stone was laid in March 1859. The contractor was DW Murphy of Bantry, Co Cork. The plans were modified by Joseph Welland and William Gillespie in 1861-1866, and the church was consecrated on 29 September 1866.

The two-light west window, designed by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, was erected in 1882 in memory of John Edward Butler of Waterville and Youghal.

A later Victorian Rector of Dromod, Canon William Augustine Blood-Smith, was in Waterville in 1881-1883. He was a son-in-law of Canon Samuel Willis, Rector of Rathkeale, and later became Archdeacon of Killaloe and Kilfenora.

A lighting strike around 1900 and an increase in the size of the congregation with the expansion of the Commercial Cable Company provided the impetus for extending the church and adding a new belfry.

There are two memorials in the church to Archdeacon John George Fahy and his family. He was Rector of Dromod for over 40 years (1883-1924), was also Archdeacon of Aghadoe from 1912 and Archdeacon of Ardfert and Aghadoe from 1922, although Ardfert is misspelled on his memorial as Ardeert.

A new reredos in Saint Michael’s Church was dedicated on 18 September 1960. The church was rededicated to Saint Michael and All Angels on 29 September 1966, when the Revd James Leslie Enright was the Rector of Waterville and Valentia.

The Friends of Saint Michael’s, Waterville, was set up in 2010, after the church was a venue during the Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival.

Five years ago, the local parish and the Rural Development Agency signed an agreement on a 10-year lease for the church. The parish still uses the church for services, but a heritage centre has been added to the vestry, and the church is being used for exhibitions, films, concerts and other events.

The completion of the first stage was celebrated at an ecumenical service on Trinity Sunday, 27 May 2018, when Father Gerald Finnucane and Saint Finian’s Parish, Waterville, were thanked for the use of the Waterville Oratory during the project.

A report from the Kenmare and Dromod Group of Parishes in the diocesan magazine Newslink was inviting: ‘We look forward to welcoming our regular Sunday visitors, following in the footsteps of Charlie Chaplin and General Charles de Gaulle – why not join them for a day out to the far West of the Kingdom of Kerry.’

The Waterville community, through the local development company IRD is dedicated to the protection, restoration and enhancement of the church.

The Revd Michael Cavanagh has been the priest-in-charge of Kenmare, Kilcrohane, Dromod and Valentia since 2010.

The windows at the west end of the church are in memory of John Edward Butler of Waterville (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 10: 1-12 (NRSVA):

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” 12 I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.’

The reredos in Saint Michael’s Church was dedicated on 18 September 1960 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Supporting Justice for Women in Zambia.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (5 October 2023, World Teachers Day) invites us to pray in these words:

We thank you, Lord, for teachers across the world. May we value their work and their wisdom.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
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:

Lord, we pray that your grace
may always precede and follow us,
and make us continually to be given to all good works;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Archdeacon John George Fahy and his family are commemorated by two memorials in Saint Michael’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s Reflection

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

Saint Michael’s Church looks out onto Waterville Bay and the Wild Atlantic Way (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)