Daily prayer in Advent 2025: 15, Sunday 14 December 2025

‘Outsiders Welcome … Whatever your story, Christmas starts with Christ’ … one of the posters in the Advent resources from Joy for All

Patrick Comerford

We are more half-way into the Season of Advent, and the countdown to Christmas is gathering pace. Today is the Third Sunday of Advent (Advent III, 14 December 2025), or Gaudete Sunday. In addition, tonight in the Jewish calendar is also the first night in Hanukkah, which continues until next Sunday night (21 December 2025).

Later this morning, I hope to be involved in the Parish Eucharist, reading one of the lessons in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford. Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

Saint John the Baptist in a fresco by the Cretan iconographer, Alexandra Kaouki, in Rethymnon

Matthew 11: 2-11 (NRSVA):

2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ 4 Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written,

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.”

11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.’

Saint John the Baptist with his mother, Saint Elizabeth, in a stained glass window in Dingle, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Third Sunday of Advent is often known as Gaudete Sunday and is traditionally associated with Saint John the Baptist. The third, pink candle we light on the Advent Wreath this morning is a reminder of Saint John the Baptist.

We already met Saint John the Baptist by the banks of the River Jordan in the Gospel reading last Sunday, the Second Sunday of Advent (Matthew 3: 1-12, 7 December 2025).

Do you remember how Saint John is taken aback when he first meets Christ? He comes across full of confidence and certainty. He announces the coming of Christ with great hope and expectation, bursting with energy. Yet, when Christ comes to him to be baptised, is there even a hint that John is a little reluctant to baptise him?

Have you ever wondered why John does not know who Jesus is? After all, not only has he baptised him and hailed him, he is also his cousin. Considering how close to one another their mothers Mary and Elizabeth have been in life, why would John now not know who Jesus is?

Is this not the same John who leapt with joy in his mother’s womb when he realised he was in the presence of the unborn Christ (see Luke 1: 44)?

Have you ever wondered why John was not one of the disciples?

We move on quite a bit by the Third Sunday of Advent. It is a week later in the lectionary readings, but many months after Christ’s baptism in the River Jordan. Saint John the Baptist has preached himself hoarse about looking forward to one who is more powerful than he is. However, since then Jesus has not been wielding power in the way John may have hoped for or may have been expecting.

Now, as John waits in prison, about to lose his head, perhaps he wonders whether he made a mistake in thinking Jesus is the Messiah. Perhaps he is feeling discouraged and doubtful as he sends messengers to ask Jesus: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’

The simple answer for Christ might have been: ‘Yes.’

Instead, however, Christ points Saint John, the messengers and the crowd to the signs of the Kingdom. Echoing the Prophet Isaiah, he points out that the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are healed, the dead are raised and the poor receive good news.

These are not mere claims, but incontrovertible proof. Yet, apparently, there are some who take offence at Christ. Perhaps even Saint John the Baptist has been disappointed because his expectations of the Messiah are not being fulfilled by Christ. He is hardly the king of the coming kingdom – after all, he is not ‘dressed in soft robes’. The term ‘soft robes,’ used twice in verse 8, has resonances of self-indulgence, perhaps even selfish and sexual indulgence.

Is this what gives rise to Saint John’s doubts?

Is Jesus the one John the Baptist has been expecting?

When Saint John’s disciples return and tell him what Christ has told them, does Saint John conclude that Jesus is not the Messiah he has been waiting for?

Does John think he has been waiting for the wrong kind of Messiah?

How often have you waited expectantly – for Christmas, for a Christmas present, for a new job, for a major family milestone, for the move to a new home – only to face the realisation that your expectations have not been fulfilled? Yet another pair of socks? The wrong job with low pay, high expectations and bad conditions? The family milestone overturned by a family crisis? The new home has horrid neighbours or no access to appropriate schools and public transport?

Picture Vladimir and Estragon in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, lonely and empty by the side of the road, waiting forever for Godot who never arrives.

Picture Eleanor Rigby in the lyrics of the Beatles, waiting alone at the window, alone among the lonely people.

Picture Saint John the Baptist, waiting in the cell where he has been imprisoned by Herod the Great.

Now he is tired. He has grown discouraged. He is questioning. He is like us. He jumps to hope with power and aggressiveness. But later, when he is dispirited, he has questions, and he has doubts. Is Jesus really the Christ he is looking for?

What happened to the John the Baptist who said Jesus would chop down fruitless trees and throw chaff into the fire?

Has Jesus spent his ministry throwing chaff into the fire?

No, it seems not. And so Saint John sends his own disciples, to ask: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we wait for another?’

Has Jesus come in a way that John does not expect? Should he and his disciples look for another?

Christ refers to the signs of the Kingdom in Isaiah. Saint John is ‘more than a prophet’, for he heralds the dawn of the final era of history and he announces the coming of the Kingdom. Now Christ validates John’s ministry as a true prophet, quoting a prophecy from Malachi in verse 10, and then equating John’s ministry with the returned Elijah.

Christ criticises the people who went out to see John the Baptist in the wilderness with the wrong expectations. What they actually saw was greater than they could ever imagine. Yet even John, great as he is, only points the way to an even greater reality. Now the fulfilment of this promise is beginning to be worked out and to be seen.

When we are disappointed, when our expectations of the coming Kingdom are dashed, is it because we are not looking for the signs of the Kingdom that are all around us?

The gift of Christ is precious, but does this gift always meet my expectations, your expectations?

Are we prepared to look around and notice new places where Jesus is working and living? If you were told: ‘Go and tell John what you see and hear,’ where would you say you see and hear Christ at work today?

I am not blind, lame, leprous, deaf, poor, downtrodden, dead … surely? Am I?

Christ comes in humility for the humble. He comes for those who do not have it all worked out for themselves. These, he tells John’s messengers, of his Advent, of the coming Kingdom of Justice and Mercy.

We have an opportunity to echo that yes this Advent.

As a sign, as a symbol, of how we can join in that ‘Yes,’ the Church of England and other churches are displaying posters at bus stops across the country that say ‘Yes’ to the people who are being targeted and victimised by the far-right. The slogans on the posters include ‘Outsiders Welcome’ and ‘Christ has always been in Christmas’.

This is a part of the response of the Joint Public Issues Team, a partnership that also involves the Baptist Union, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church, offering a ‘rapid response resource’ for local churches trying to navigate the complexities of Christian nationalism and the co-option of Christian language and symbols – including Christmas – for a nationalist agenda.

These posters say ‘Yes’ to the people who cross borders, who face a dangerous ‘No’ along the way, who face violence and the dangers of human trafficking, who find themselves in the wilderness or are imprisoned in their present circumstances and living conditions. They offer words of comfort and challenge the words of hatred by the hard-right protesters seeking to hijack the labels and messages of Christmas.

This is one way we can share our hope for, our belief in, the coming Christ and the coming Christmas this Advent. We too can be signs of faith, or hope, in the promises of the coming kingdom and the promises of Christ’s coming in Advent.

‘The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist’ (1608) by Caravaggio in Saint John’s Co-cathedral in Valletta, the capital of Malta (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers:

The theme this week (14 to 20 December 2025) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘The Floating Church’ (pp 10-11). This theme is introduced today with a Programme Update by Sister Veronica of the Community of the Sisters of the Church in Melanesia:

‘I have the privilege of serving a large and diverse mission field. As Provincial Sister of the Community of the Sisters of the Church, my fellow sisters and I serve the Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACOM), sometimes called ‘the floating church,’ which stretches across more than 1,000 islands in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

‘Our ministry takes many forms. At our community headquarters, Tetete Ni Kolivuti, we offer retreats and hospitality. In 2025, ACOM hosted its General Synod there, but we also welcome staff from the local university, Roman Catholic leaders, and anyone in need of rest, reflection, or a space for collaboration.

‘We run a school for children living on coconut and cocoa plantations near Tetete Ni Kolivuti, many of whom would otherwise have no access to education.

‘In Honiara, at the Christian Care Centre, we support women and children who have experienced domestic violence, offering safe accommodation, community meals, and prayer ministry. This is the only institution of its kind in the country.

‘We also undertake mission trips to islands for up to three months, travelling village to village to visit the elderly and sick, lead Bible studies and worship, and share the Sisters’ way of life. It is a life of service, rooted in faith and guided by the needs of the communities we are privileged to serve.’

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today (the Third Sunday of Advent) as we read and meditate on Matthew 11: 2-11.

The Collect:

O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts;
kindle in us the fire of your Spirit
that when your Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

God for whom we watch and wait,
you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:
give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘The Baptism of Christ’ by Paolo Veronese in the Church of Il Redentore in Venice (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

Daily prayer in Easter 2025: 19, Thursday 8 May 2025

Bread in a shop window in Dingle, Co Kerry … the Gospel today continues the readings from the ‘Bread of Life’ discourse in Saint John’s Gospel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Easter is a 50-day season that continues until the Day of Pentecost, and this week began with the Third Sunday of Easter (Easter III, 4 May 2025). The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Julian of Norwich (ca 1417), Spiritual Writer.

Today is VE Day (Victory in Europe Day), marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World II in Europe. The bells of Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, along with the bells of churches and cathedrals throughout the UK, are to ring out at 6:30 this evening. Later this evening, people are being asked to light a candle for peace in their windows at 9:30. But, 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.

‘Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh’ (John 6: 51) … preparing bread for the Eucharist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 6: 44-51 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 44 ‘No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

‘I am the Bread of Life’ (John 6: 35) ... an image from Saint Luke’s Episcopal Cathedral, Orlando (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

We have read in recent days about Jesus feeding of the 5,000 and walking on the water, and we are now introduced to reading the long Bread of Life discourse (verses 22-59), spoken in the synagogue in Capernaum (John 6: 59).

The day following the feeding of the 5,000, the people go in search of Jesus, but when they go to the site of the feeding, they find he is not there either. Eventually they find Jesus and his disciples near Capernaum, Jesus’ principal base in Galilee. They ask him: ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ (verse 25).

When the people push their questions onto Jesus, he insists on speaking of himself in relationship to God the Father, who has sent him.

And then Jesus uses the first two of his seven ‘I AM’ sayings in Saint John’s Gospel, ‘I am the bread of life’ (John 6: 35, in yesterday’s reading, and 6: 48 in today’s reading).

These seven ‘I AM’ sayings are traditionally listed as:

1, I am the Bread of Life (John 6: 35, 48)
2, I am the Light of the World (John 8: 12)
3, I am the gate (or the door) (John 10: 7)
4, I am the Good Shepherd (John 10: 11 and 14)
5, I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11: 25)
6, I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14: 6)
7, I am the true vine (John 15: 1, 5)

These ‘I AM’ sayings echo the divine name revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, ‘I AM’ (Exodus 3: 14). In the Hebrew Bible, the meaning of God’s name is closely related to the emphatic statement ‘I AM’ (see Exodus 3: 14; 6: 2; Deuteronomy 32: 39; Isaiah 43: 25; 48: 12; 51: 12; etc.). In the Greek translation, the Septuagint, most of these passages are translated with as ‘I AM’, ἐγώ εἰμί (ego eimi).

The ‘I AM’ of the Hebrew Bible and the ‘I AM’ of Saint John’s Gospel is the God who creates us, who communicates with us, who gives himself to us.

As we continue to read John 6 and the sayings about Jesus as the Bread of Life, today’s reading largely repeats what has been said already. But a new element is introduced when Jesus reminds us that it is not we who find him, but rather it is the Father who finds us and leads us to Jesus as the Way to God. Here Jesus quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures: ‘And they shall all be taught by God’ (verse 45).

These words are found in Isaiah (54: 13) and are reminiscent of words spoken by Jeremiah: ‘I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people’ (Jeremiah 31: 33).

Jesus again repeats that he is the Bread of Life, using that formal expression ‘I AM’ that points to divine origin. Unlike the manna that their ancestors ate in the desert, this Bread brings eternal life: ‘This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die’ (verse 50).

His interlocutors ask Jesus are asking for a sign like manna, but Jesus says that it did not give real life: ‘Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died’ (verse 49). The Bread that Jesus will give will bring a never-ending life to those who eat it. Jesus is the Living Bread because he is the very Word of God and because he offers up his Body and Blood in a sacrifice of love, bringing life to the whole world.

And this Bread is his flesh, life-giving flesh. This flesh will be given for the life of the world – a looking forward to Calvary. Giving eternal life will cost the human life of the Giver.

With these words, Chapter 6 moves to its eucharistic meaning. The word ‘flesh’ (σάρξ, sarx) introduces the link between Eucharist and Incarnation. Jesus is the Word made flesh and that Word is the food that we all need to ‘eat’. To ‘eat’ here, while involving actual eating and drinking, really points to the total assimilation into oneself and into a gathered community of the very Spirit of Jesus.

The Eucharist, as we shall see in tomorrow’s readinf, is the great sign of the Christian community by which we both affirm and celebrate our union with Jesus. By our eating of the Bread-that-is-flesh, we affirm our total belief in all that Jesus is and stands for.

Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

‘Wisdom set her table and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine of the kingdom’ (Post-Communion Prayer) … an icon of Christ the Great High Priest, in a shop window in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 8 May 2025, Julian of Norwich):

My prayers today include the Papal Conclave which continues today (8 May), when members of the College of Cardinals start continue voting for a new Pope in a secret ballot, with up four rounds of voting today and continuing until one candidate receives two-thirds support.

‘Inconvenient Migration’ provides 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). This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections from Carol Miller, Church Engagement Manager, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 8 May 2025) invites us to pray:

God of compassion, we ask for moments of joy, laughter and creativity for children in this difficult time. Guard their dear hearts.

The Collect:

Most holy God, the ground of our beseeching,
who through your servant Julian
revealed the wonders of your love:
grant that as we are created in your nature
and restored by your grace,
our wills may be so made one with yours
that we may come to see you face to face
and gaze on you for ever;
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 Julian to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Julian of Norwich depicted in a window in Saint Julian’s Church, Norwich … she is remembered in the Church Calendar on 8 May (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

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

Daily prayer in Advent 2024: 19, Thursday 19 December 2024

‘O Radix Jesse’ … the Tree of Jesse (1703), an icon in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the final days of the Season of Advent, and Christmas Day is less than a week away. The week began with the Third Sunday of Advent (Advent III, 15 December 2024), also known as Gaudete Sunday.

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

The Birth of Saint the Baptist (see Luke 1: 57-66) … an icon from the Monastery of Anopolis in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 1: 5-25 (NRSVA):

5 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.

8 Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. 10 Now at the time of the incense-offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11 Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. 13 But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 16 He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’ 18 Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.’ 19 The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.’

21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. 22 When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

24 After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, 25 ‘This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favourably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.’

Saint John the Baptist as a child with his mother Saint Elizabeth … a stained-glass window in Saint Mary’s Church, Dingle, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Luke 1: 5-25), we continue in a series of readings before Christmas that draw on the two nativity narratives found in Matthew 1: 1-24 and Luke 1: 5-79.

During the week before Christmas, the great canticle Magnificat at Evensong traditionally has a refrain or antiphon attached to it proclaiming the ascriptions or ‘names’ given to God through the Old Testament. Each name develops into a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah.

O Sapientia, or O Wisdom, is the first of these days, and was marked on Tuesday (17 December). It was followed yesterday (18 December) by O Adonai, and then O Root of Jesse today (19 December), O Key of David tomorrow (20 December), and then O Dayspring, O King of the Nations, and, finally on 23 December, O Emmanuel.

In the old Sarum rite, these were sung one day earlier, beginning on 16 December, requiring another ascription for 23 December, this being O Virgin of Virgins. Since this was clearly apposite to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and not a ‘title’ of God, it was not adopted much beyond Sarum and, with the revision of the Calendar, Anglicans have adopted the more widely-used formulæ and dating.

The seven majestic Messianic titles for Christ are based on Biblical prophecies, and they help the Church to recall the variety of the ills of humanity before the coming of the Redeemer as each antiphon in turn pleads with mounting impatience for Christ to save his people.

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Luke 1: 5-25), tells the story of the birth of Saint John the Baptist.

The story of Saint John the Baptist is central to the Nativity narrative, but it is interesting to note that Saint John the Baptist is also revered as a prophet in Islam and that, as Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyā, he is mentioned five times in the Qur’an.

The passages on Yāhya in the Qur’an describe his God-given gift of wisdom which he acquires in youth, as well as his parallels with Jesus. The Qur’an frequently mentions Zechariah (Zakariya) and his continuous praying for the birth of a son. Zakariya's wife Elizabeth (Isha') was barren and therefore the birth of a child seemed impossible. As a gift from God, Zakariya was given a son named Yāhya.

Islamic tradition says John the Baptist or Yāhya greeted Muhammad on the night of the Al-Isra al-Mi’raj, along with Jesus (Isa), on the second heaven. His story was also told to the Abyssinian king during the Muslim migration to Abyssinia. According to the Qur’an, Yahya was one on whom God sent peace on the day that he was born and the day that he died.

Although most Muslims do not celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus is also described in two places in the Qur’an: Sura 3 (Al Imram) and Sura 19 (Maryam), and in popular Muslim belief the second coming or return of Jesus is to take place at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.

The Minaret of Jesus is the tallest of the three minarets of the Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus mosque. Muslims and Christians alike also revere that mosque as the burial place of the head of John the Baptist.

Syria itself is a central location in understanding the beginnings of Christianity: in his popular hymn ‘Dear Lord and Father of Mankind’, John Greenleaf Whittier locates Christ’s ministry and miracles ‘by the Syrian Sea’; Saint Luke’s Gospel dates the first Christmas to the time ‘while Quirinius was governor of Syria’ (Luke 2: 2); later, Saint Paul experiences his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9: 1-22); and it was in Antioch, long a part of Syria, that the disciples are first called ‘Christians’ (Acts 11: 25).

Recent events in Syria are a reminder that the Christmas story is a story shared by all people in that region. When Syrians celebrated the fall of the Assad regime at Friday prayers last week (13 December), they converged in their thousands on the Umayyad Mosque.

Saint John the Baptist remains a key figure for all who are engaged in Christian-Muslim dialogue.

The Chapel and the Hospital of Saint John Baptist without the Barrs, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 19 December 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 ‘Joy – Advent’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections by the Revd Sonja Hunter, Priest at All Saints’ Anglican Church in Samoa, Diocese of Polynesia.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 19 December 2024) invites us to pray:

Father, we pray for the Anglican Church in Samoa and all dioceses across the Communion who welcome many to church over the Christmas period. We pray that churches may be places of welcome, and the services may glorify you and be moments of great joy.

The Collect:

O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts;
kindle in us the fire of your Spirit
that when your Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

God for whom we watch and wait,
you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:
give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

Saint John the Baptist depicted in a window in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

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 John the Baptist depicted in the east window in the south chapel of the Church of Saint John the Baptist, Spon Street, Coventry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2024: 88, Monday 5 August 2024

Five loaves and two fish … ‘St Peter’s Harrogate Feeding Hungry People’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Tenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity X) yesterday (4 August 2024). The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Oswald (642), King of Northumbria, Martyr.

Later this morning, I have yet another appointment in Milton Keynes University Hospital in connection with ongoing monitoring of my sarcoidosis. 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.

The miracle of the loaves and fishes in a fresco in Analipsi Church in Georgioupoli, Crete … there are only two fish, but the loaves of bread have already been multiplied (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 14: 13-21 (NRSVA):

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ 16 Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ 17 They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ 18 And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Five loaves in a shop window in Dingle, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

This morning’s reflection:

The feeding of the multitude is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels (see Mark 6: 30-44; Luke 9: 12-17; John 6: 1-15), with only minor variations on the place and the circumstances.

In the verses immediately before this morning’s reading, Saint Matthew tells of the beheading of Saint John the Baptist, who was executed after he denounced Herod Antipas for marrying his brother Philip’s wife, while Philip was still alive (see Matthew 14: 1-11).

The disciples of Saint John the Baptist took his body and buried it – a foreshadowing of how his disciples are going to desert Christ at his own death and burial – and they then go to Christ to tell him the news (verse 12).

When Jesus hears this, he takes a boat and withdraws to a deserted place. But the crowds follow him on foot around the shore and find him, and when he comes ashore there is a great crowd waiting for him. He has compassion for them, and he cures the sick among them (verses 13-14).

But a greater miracle is about to unfold – perhaps even two greater miracles.

This is a story of a miracle, but which miracle?

The multiplication of the five loaves and two fish is a miracle in itself, of course. But we might consider how there is another miracle here too.

Saint Matthew places this story in a section in his Gospel about training the disciples for their mission. So, perhaps, Christ is teaching them about how they can do this.

Christ tells the people to sit down – well, not so much to sit down as to recline (ἀνακλίνω, anaklíno, verse 19). They are asked to recline on the grass as they would at a banquet or at a feast – just as Christ reclines with the disciples at the Last Supper.

In verse 19, we have a reminder of the feeding of the people in the Wilderness (see Exodus 16), but also a foretaste or anticipation of the Last Supper (see Matthew 26: 20-29), the Eucharistic feast, and of the Messianic banquet at the end of time.

Christ takes bread, looks up to heaven, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them to distribute it among the people

The feeding with the fish also looks forward to the Resurrection. The fish is an early symbol of faith in the Risen Christ: Ichthus (ἰχθύς, ΙΧΘΥC) is the Greek word for fish, and can be read as an acrostic, a word formed from the first letters of words, spelling out ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ (Iēsous Khristos Theou Huios, Sōtēr), ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.’

In verse 20, we are told all ate and were filled (see Exodus 16: 15-18, Numbers 11: 31-32; Elisha’s food miracles, II Kings 4:42-44; cf John 6: 31-33, Revelation 2: 17). In Apocryphal writings, II Baruch 29: 8, a Jewish pseudepigraphical text thought to date from the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE, also connects the feeding in the wilderness in Exodus 16 with the Messianic age.

There is yet another level to the story in verse 20. The disciples get everyone to work together with a common purpose. All are filled, and yet much is left over: a basket for each disciple. Each of them has a mission, telling the good news of the infinite abundance of God's love and the kingdom in which all can eat.

Whether they are Birthdays, baptisms, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, retirements, or parish celebrations, we all enjoy a good party. Parties affirm who we are, where we fit within the family, and mark the rhythm of life and the continuity of families and communities.

It is not only the eating or the drinking. It is very difficult to sit beside someone at the same table after a funeral, or to stand beside someone at the bar at a wedding, and not to end up getting to know them and – as is said in Ireland – getting to know ‘their seed, breed and generation.’

Families share names, share stories, share memories, share identities, share anniversaries. And that is not all in the past. These celebrations allow us to express and share our hopes for the future too … is that not what baptisms and weddings are about in every family – hope for the future, hope for life itself?

In this story, the disciples have failed to buy or produce enough bread for a meal. Christ responds not by sympathising but by demanding great generosity (see verse 18).

The disciples gather up what is left over. Gathering is an act of reverential economy towards the gifts of God; but gathering also anticipates Christ gathering all to himself. The amount that is left over is a sign of the outpouring of God’s generosity. There are 12 baskets – one for each tribe of Israel and one for each of the 12 disciples. God’s party, the Eucharist, looks forward to the new Israel, not the sort of earthly kingdom that the people now want but the Kingdom of God.

Christ puts no questions of belief to the disciples or to the crowd when he feeds them on the mountainside. They do not believe in the Resurrection – it has yet to happen. But he feeds them, and he feeds them indiscriminately. The disciples wanted to send them away (verse 15), but Christ wants to count them in. Christ invites more people to the banquet than we can fit into our churches.

The Revd Albert Ogle, who was once a priest in Dublin and studied at the Irish School of Ecumenics. He now lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and recalled this story on Facebook last week:

‘One of the bishops who participated in the irregular ordination of the first 11 women priests in the Episcopal Church was Bishop Daniel Corrigan. I met him in Santa Barbara many years ago and he told me this amazing story about connections and memory.

‘The Episcopal Church has a long history to Scotland and Corrigan found himself as a 15 year old serving with the US Naval submarine unit, off the coast of a remote Scottish island where the locals lived in cave houses. Corrigan and the crew had been submerged for days and without food, decided to knock on one of these creaky wooden doors in the dead of night.

‘He recalls how a very tall gaunt figure appeared at the door in lamplight to greet the strangers who were covered in oil and grime from the submarine. They wanted something to eat. She turned away from them and the next thing he remembered was seeing her return to the door with a large round loaf, like a priest at the Eucharist.

‘This impression of priestly generosity and open invitation remained with Corrigan all his life and it was this seminal experience for him to agree to ordain the Philadelphia 11, 50 years ago today.

‘I am sure the enigmatic generous Scottish woman had no idea what her kindness would release into the world. Keep loving and being generous. You never know who or what you might be feeding.’

We often describe this morning’s Gospel story as the Feeding of the Multitude, or the Feeding of the Five Thousand. But how many people are there?

Verse 21 tells us that there were ‘about five thousand men,’ but adds also, ‘besides women and children.’

If there were 5,000 men there that day, and one woman and two children for each couple, we are then talking about the feeding of 20,000 people, or the population of a town like Wexford, Celbridge or Mullingar in Ireland, Berkhamsted, Brownhills, Truro or Newquay in England, or Ierapetra and Agios Nikolaos in Crete.

Sir Colin J Humphreys of Selwyn College Cambridge, former Professor of Materials Science, in his analysis of the number of people in the Exodus suggests the number of Israelite men over the age of 20 in the census following the Exodus was 5,000, and not 603,550. He attributes the apparent error to an error in interpreting or translating the Hebrew word ’lp (אלף), and he goes on to suggest the number of men, women and children at the Exodus was about 20,000. Both of his figures correlate with the figures for the feeding of the multitude in this Gospel reading.

When we invite people into the Church, we have so much to share – much more that the meagre amount people may think we have in our bags.

As we enjoy the feast, enjoy the banquet, enjoy the party, share the Eucharist, are we prepared to be open to more being brought in to enjoy the banquet and the party than our imagination allows us to imagine.

A basket of bread in Barron’s Bakery in Cappoquin, Co Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 5 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 ‘Understanding each other by walking together’. This theme was introduced yesterday with a programme update from the Right Revd Eduardo Coelho Grillo, Anglican Bishop of Rio de Janeiro.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 5 August 2024) invites us to pray:

Lord, we pray for the Church in Rio de Janeiro, for its mission and leaders, in particular its inter-faith work.

The Collect:

Lord God almighty,
who so kindled the faith of King Oswald with your Spirit
that he set up the sign of the cross in his kingdom
and turned his people to the light of Christ:
grant that we, being fired by the same Spirit,
may always bear our cross before the world
and be found faithful servants of the gospel;
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 our redeemer,
whose Church was strengthened by the blood of your martyr Oswald:
so bind us, in life and death, to Christ’s sacrifice
that our lives, broken and offered with his,
may carry his death and proclaim his resurrection in the world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of the Transfiguration:

Father in heaven,
whose Son Jesus Christ was wonderfully transfigured
before chosen witnesses upon the holy mountain,
and spoke of the exodus he would accomplish at Jerusalem:
give us strength so to hear his voice and bear our cross
that in the world to come we may see him as he is;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Saint Oswald depicted in a panel on the altar in Saint Chad’s Church, Lichfield (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

Warm bread and a warm welcome in Pepi Studios on Tsouderon Street in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Ireland’s smallest record shop in Dingle is my big hit in a colourful new guide book

The tiny Dingle Record Shop, on Green Street, is probably the most musical 10 square feet (3 sq m) in Ireland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

When my parents realised that a young age I was thinking of working as a journalism, they had very different, opposing views of my career choice.

My father never accepted my choice: even when I had become Foreign Desk Editor of The Irish Times, with a high national profile and an international reputation, he continued to ask me when I was going to get a ‘real job.’

It was not as though journalism is not in the family: my foster father, George Kerr, was a journalist in the Irish Press, and Maire Comerford worked there too; I have one cousin who worked with the Irish Independent and two who have also worked with The Irish Times. Yet he continued to see me as working in the ‘arty farty world,’ and to urge me to return to the career of a chartered surveyor I had once trained for.

My mother, for her part, immediately encouraged me to start the Guardian – or the Manchester Guardian as she continued to refer it – as the standard for good journalism, and told me I could look to being published in National Geographic magazine as the measure of success in journalism.

I have remained a daily reader of the Guardian ever since. But, while I worked closely with the Guardian and Guardian journalists, and, I never wrote for it … and I never thought of writing for National Geographic.

But, a sumptuously illustrated, colourful new book published by the National Geographic in recent days arrived in the post from Boston early this week, and it includes one of my photographs, taken in Dingle, Co Kerry, almost two years ago.

As the Covid-19 restrictions were being lifted in Ireland that summer, I spent six or seven days on an early summer road trip from Askeaton, Co Limerick, to Co Kerry and west Cork, visiting Dingle, the Blasket Islands, Cape Clear Island, Baltimore, Skibbereen, Rosscarbery, Glengarriff, Garinish Island, Castletownbere, Gougane Barra and Millstreet.

Jack Kavanagh’s new book, Always Ireland, An Insider's Tour of the Emerald Isle, is designed for American readers who want a memorable guide for planning road trips in Ireland or a memorable gift to being home.

This travel guide covers every county of Ireland, visiting Ireland’s best-loved tourist must-sees, from the literary pubs of Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher. The book is divided into the five newly reimagined regions of Irish tourism: the Ancient East; Munster and the South; the Wild Atlantic Way; Ulster and Northern Ireland; and Offshore Ireland.

Visitors are invited to find coastal cliffs and centuries-old castles, art galleries and libraries, distilleries and pubs (especially the pubs of Kilkenny and Killarney), the Wexford Festival – and hurling, the ‘Heroic Game of Ancient Myths.’ There are more than 300 glorious National Geographic images, illustrating recommended itineraries, practical tips and insightful histories, with advice on where to stay, what to eat, and what to do, and recipes introducing the tastes of Ireland, from the ‘Ulster Fry’, soda bread and Irish stew to Guinness and Oysters and Irish coffee and its origins in Foynes, Co Limerick.

Jack Kavanagh began his career in journalism at the Irish Press. Here he introduces the Irish Diaspora around the world, alongside the Poet President Michael D Higgins; historian Diarmaid Ferriter; harp maker Kevin Harrington; singer-songwriter Christy Moore; wild animal conservationist David O’Connor; the writers John Banville, Frank McCourt and Roddy Doyle; and the film maker, Maire Comerford’s nephew, the film maker Joe Comerford, who wrote and directed Reefer and the Model (1988).

There is an interesting archival photograph of James Joyce in Paris with Sylvia Beach, the first publisher of Ulysses.

My photograph on page 137 is of the tiny Dingle Record Shop on Green Street, described in the caption as ‘probably the most musical 10 square feet (3 sq m) in Ireland.’ I photographed the shop when I was in Dingle on 13 June 2021, during that early summer road trip almost two years ago.

The other photographs in this lavish book are places I have visited on that and so many other similar road trips. There is no Bunclody, Millstreet or Askeaton and a mere passing reference to Cappoquin, and the common mistake is repeated of referring to King John’s Castle in Limerick as ‘King John’s Castle’. But Jack Kavanagh is obviously proud of Glendalough in his native Co Wicklow.

Many of the places – from the library in Trinity College Dublin to the beaches of Achill Island – are familiar to most Irish people. But this book is aimed at the American market in particular. No Irish person I know speaks of ‘Éire’, the ‘Enchanting Emerald Isle’ or ‘Celtic Coffee.’ But this is a book by an insider and not for insiders.

If tourists do not bring this book with them at the beginning of their visits, they would be recommended to collect it at the airport on their way home, a thoughtful present or a beautiful reminder of their holiday and road trips.

• Jack Kavanagh, Always Ireland, An Insider's Tour of the Emerald Isle (Washington DC: National Geographic, 2023), 336 pp, hb, ISBN 978-1-4262-2216-0, $35 in US.

Praying in Advent with Lichfield Cathedral and USPG: Friday 23 December 2022

The Birth of Saint the Baptist (see Luke 1: 57-66) … an icon from the Monastery of Anopolis in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the last week of Advent, and there are just two days to Christmas Day.

The traditional counting of the ‘O Antiphons’ began last Saturday (17 December) with ‘O Sapientia.’ For eight days before Christmas, the canticle Magnificat at Evensong has a refrain or antiphon proclaiming the ascriptions or ‘names’ given to God through the Old Testament.

Each name develops into a prophecy of the forthcoming and eagerly-anticipated Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God. O Sapientia, or ‘O Wisdom’, was followed on Sunday by ‘O Adonai’, then O Radix Jesse (‘O Root of Jesse’) on Monday, O Clavis David (‘O Key of David’) on Tuesday, O Oriens (‘O Dayspring’) on Wednesday, then O Rex Gentium (‘O King of the Nations’) yesterday and, finally, today, O Immanuel Immanuel (‘God is with us’).

Before today gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for reading, prayer and reflection.

During Advent, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, The reading suggested in the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar produced by Lichfield Cathedral this year;

2, praying with the Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’

Saint John the Baptist as a child with his mother Saint Elizabeth … a stained-glass window in Saint Mary’s Church, Dingle, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 1: 57-66 (NRSVA):

57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60 But his mother said, ‘No; he is to be called John.’ 61 They said to her, ‘None of your relatives has this name.’ 62 Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63 He asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And all of them were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 Fear came over all their neighbours, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them pondered them and said, ‘What then will this child become?’ For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.’

Saint John the Baptist (right) with the Virgin Mary and Christ in a stained glass window in Saint Mary’s Church, Lichfield … the births of these three alone are celebrated in the Church Calendar (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar:

Reflect on this story: God is shaping a new future and John the Baptist will be the forerunner and herald of a new age. Pray for the new-born – for all the delight, joy and promise they bring. Pray for parents wondering about the kind of world their children will grow up in and inherit.

Collect:

God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

Heavenly Father,
who chose the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of the promised saviour:
fill us your servants with your grace,
that in all things we may embrace your holy wil
l and with her rejoice in your salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Eternal God,
as Mary waited for the birth of your Son,
so we wait for his coming in glory;
bring us through the birth pangs of this present age
to see, with her, our great salvation
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

USPG Prayer Diary:

The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is ‘International Migrants Day.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection on International Migrants Day by Bishop Antonio Ablon, Co-ordinator of the Filipino Chaplaincy in Europe, part of the Philippine Independent Church.

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:

Let us pray for workers who are vulnerable and exploited. May their voice be heard, wrongs revealed and injustice righted.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The entrance to the Hospital of Saint John Baptist without the Barrs, Lichfield (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

Praying in Advent with Lichfield Cathedral and USPG: Sunday 11 December 2022

Saint John the Baptist in a fresco by the Cretan iconographer, Alexandra Kaouki, in Rethymnon

Patrick Comerford

We are half-way through Advent, and today is the Third Sunday of Advent (11 December 2022), or Gaudete Sunday.

The day takes its common name from the Latin word Gaudete (‘Rejoice’), the first word of the introit of this day’s Liturgy:

Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete. Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus: Dominus enim prope est. Nihil solliciti sitis: sed in omni oratione petitiones vestræ innotescant apud Deum. Benedixisti Domine terram tuam: avertisti captivitatem Jacob.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Lord, you have blessed your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob (see Philippians 4: 4–6; Psalm 85: 1).

Throughout Advent, the spirit of the Liturgy is one of expectation and preparation for Christmas and for the coming of Christ. Gaudete Sunday in Advent is a counterpart to Laetare Sunday in Lent, and provides a similar break about mid-way through the season of preparation, and signifies the joy and gladness as the Lord’s coming comes nearer and nearer. On Gaudete Sunday, rose-coloured vestments may be worn instead of violet or Sarum blue, and this is noted as an option in the Church of England in Common Worship. On the Advent wreath, the rose-coloured or pink candle is lit in addition to the two violet or blue candles, which represent the first two Sundays of Advent. The readings emphasise the joyous anticipation of the Lord’s coming.

Later this morning, I plan to attend the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford. But, before today gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for reading, prayer and reflection.

During Advent, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, The reading suggested in the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar produced by Lichfield Cathedral this year;

2, praying with the Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’

Saint John the Baptist with his mother, Saint Elizabeth, in a stained glass window in Dingle, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Matthew 11: 2-11 (NRSVA):

2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ 4 Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written,

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.”

11 ‘Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.’

‘The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist’ (1608) by Caravaggio in Saint John’s Co-cathedral in Valletta (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar:

Reflect on the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist. Think about how the Church is the herald of Jesus’s message, how it points to him, helps to bring the world to him. Ask for the grace and blessing to help people find Jesus Christ, the true light, and that all the Cathedral community may play a part in mission.

Collect:

O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts;
kindle in us the fire of your Spirit
that when your Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

God for whom we watch and wait,
you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:
give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord.

USPG Prayer Diary:

The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is ‘Walking Together.’ This theme is introduced today by the Right Revd Maria Grace Tazu Sasamori, who became Bishop of Hokkaido in Japan in April 2022. She shares her reflections on this year’s Lambeth Conference with Archbishop Justin Welby:

‘I was very nervous about coming to the Lambeth Conference; as the conference is conducted in English, I was very nervous about keeping up with the conversations that were happening all of the time.

‘Through the time I spent at the Lambeth Conference, I have really understood the diversity and breadth of the Anglican Communion. This diversity is one that at times involves pain and suffering. I have come to appreciate the value of this diversity and the way that bishops bring strength from their positions in their own dioceses and provinces to share the message of Christ. I hope that I can do this going forward.

‘All of the stories that I have heard and that we have shared over the course of the Lambeth Conference have had a great impact on me. When I return to Japan, I hope that I can take the following message: that even though we may have different stories and are part of different cultures, we can continue to work and walk together.’

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today (the Third Sunday of Advent, International Migrants Day) in these words:

Prepare our hearts to receive you, O Lord,
and open our hearts to receive one another.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow</b>

‘The Baptism of Christ’ by Paolo Veronese in the Church of Il Redentore in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

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

With the Saints through Christmas (13): 7 January 2022, Saint John the Baptist

Saint John the Baptist in a fresco by the Cretan iconographer, Alexandra Kaouki, in Rethymnon

Patrick Comerford

The Feast of the Epiphany was celebrated yesterday (6 January), and the Epiphany theme continues for the next few weeks, with Sunday’s Gospel reading telling the story of Christ’s baptism in the River Jordan by Saint John the Baptist.

Meanwhile, before this day gets busy, I am taking some time early this morning for prayer, reflection and reading.

I have been continuing my Prayer Diary on my blog each morning, reflecting in these ways:

1, Reflections on a saint remembered in the calendars of the Church during Christmas;

2, the day’s Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

This morning, I am reflecting on Saint John the Baptist and his role in the Epiphany stories.

The Orthodox Church celebrates the Synaxis or Gathering) of Saint John the Baptist on 7 January. On this day too, the Orthodox Church also commemorates the translation of his right hand to the city of Constantinople.

Because Saint John’s main role in his life was played out on the day of Theophany or the Epiphany (6 January), the Orthodox Church from earliest times dedicated the day after the Epiphany to his memory.

Saint John the Baptist occupies a totally unique place by his roles in baptising Christ and in baptising people for repentance. Saint John prepared himself in the wilderness of the desert for 30 years for his great service by a strict life, by fasting, prayer and sympathy for the fate of God’s people.

Saint John was of such moral purity that, in truth, he could be called an angel or messenger as Holy Scripture. He appeared on the banks of the River Jordan, to prepare the people by his preaching to accept the Saviour of the world.

In church hymns, Saint John the Baptist is called a ‘bright morning star,’ whose gleaming outshone the brilliance of all the other stars, announcing the coming dawn of the day of grace, illumined with the light of the spiritual Sun, Jesus Christ.

Saint John differs from all other prophets especially in that he had that privilege of being able, with his hand, to show Christ to the world. Saint John bridges the history of the Biblical Prophets and the era of the New Testament, and bore witness to the Son of God, incarnate in the flesh, and he was a witness of the Theophany of the Trinity at Christ’s Baptism.

The execution of Saint John the Baptist, depicted in a fresco in a church in Georgioupioli in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 4: 12-17, 23-25 (NRSVA):

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

15 ‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned.’

17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

The prayer in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) invites us to pray this morning (7 January 2022):

Let us pray for the National Missionary Society of India and the work they do in the fields of education and medicine.

Yesterday: Balthasar, Melchior and Caspar

Tomorrow: Saint Albert of Cashel

Saint John the Baptist with his mother, Saint Elizabeth, in a stained glass window in Dingle, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

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