Daily prayer in Easter 2025: 39, Wednesday 28 May 2025

An icon of the Trinity in Saint Nektarios Church in Tsesmes, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Easter is a 50-day season, beginning on Easter Day (20 April 2025) and continuing until the Day of Pentecost (8 June 2025), or Whit Sunday. This week began with the Sixth Sunday of Easter (Easter VI, 25 May 2025), and tomorrow is Ascension Day (29 May 2025).

The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Lanfranc (1089), Prior of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury and Scholar. Later this evening, There are no choir rehearsals in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, this evening. 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.

A modern copy of Andrei Rublev’s icon, the Hospitality of Abraham or the ‘Old Testament Trinity’, by Eileen McGuckin

John 16: 12-15 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 12 ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.’

The Visitation of Abraham or the ‘Old Testament Trinity’ … a fresco in the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in Tolleshunt Knights, Essex (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The Gospel reading provided in the Lectionary today (John 16: 12-15) continues our readings from the ‘Farewell Discourse’ at the Last Supper in Saint John’s Gospel ((John 14: 1 to 17: 26), where Christ continues to prepare his followers for his departure, and reminds them of his promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost: ‘When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth’ (verse 13).

Today’s reading is also the Gospel reading provided this year for Trinity Sunday (15 June 2025).

Allow me to introduce us this morning to some ways of thinking of God as the Trinity.

If I were to introduce you to my world, to my story, I might invite you to visit the places that have shaped and made me.

I might invite you to imagine what it was like for a small boy to lay awake in his grandmother’s farmhouse in west Waterford, it was so bright outside on a balmy summer’s evening. Downstairs, I can hear the old clock chiming out the time: it’s ten, and a hush descends on the house as the adults settle down in their chairs to listen to the news on the wireless. I hear the old black kettle boiling over the open fire as someone prepares to make a pot of tea. Outside, a pigeon is still cooing in the thatch, I imagine I can hear the abbey bells ringing out the time across the fields, and I know I am safe and loved in this world.

Twenty or so years later, once again it’s late at night, in the top storey of a tall house in a narrow street in Wexford town.

It’s comforting to hear the clock of Rowe Street church count out the hours. Is that a late train I hear trundling along the quays? A lone voice in the Theatre Royal braving a late rehearsal for one of next week’s operas? And I am so looking forward to the Festival Service in Saint Iberius’s Church.

Let us move forward another two decades or so. I can’t sleep in the suburban house in south Dublin. But I can hear my children snoring contentedly in their own rooms. Outside, the unseasonable rain is pelting down, the wind is rustling through the cherry tree outside, and I wonder whether all the cherry blossom will be shaken down and washed onto the grass below by the time morning dawns. An apposite memory this morning as I realise the coincidence that both Trinity Sunday and Father’s Day are going to fall on the same day this year.

We can use words not only to tell our stories, but to paint pictures, to invite others into our communities, into our families, and into our lives. Now that you have heard and seen what has shaped me, where I have been formed, what made me feel loved and secure, now that you have been invited into my story, my family` and know me, we are ready to sing the same songs, to sit together at the same table. Why, we might even dance.

The Trinity is an image of God, a perfect community, a community of God that invites us to share God’s story, to sit at table with God, to sing songs with God, … all the things we’re doing at this Festal Eucharist. Why, as Karen Baker-Fletcher says in her book, the Trinity could be God’s invitation for us to dance with God. [Karen Baker-Fletcher, Dancing With God: A Womanist Perspective on the Trinity (St Louis: Chalice Press, 2006; 2007)]

Two of the great Early Fathers of the Church, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus and Saint John of Damascus, use the term perichoresis, an image of going around, enveloping, to describe the mysterious union of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Clark Pinnock writes: ‘The metaphor suggests moving around, making room, relating to one another without losing identity.’ [Clark Pinnock, Flame of Love, A theology of the Holy Spirit (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996)].

There is a play on words – a pun on the Greek origins of the word – that allows us to think of creative choreography, to imagine a dance of reciprocal love. This divine unity is expressed in the relationship of the three as one, for relationship is at the heart of the unity of the three-in-one. It is a relationship that is mutual and reciprocal. The Trinity tells us that shared life is basic to the nature of God: God is perfect social relationship, perfect mutuality, perfect reciprocity, perfect peace, perfect love.

‘As a circle of loving relationships, God is dynamically alive.’ The three persons of the Trinity are caught up in an eternal dance of reciprocity, so intertwined that at times it may appear difficult to tell who is who. They move with choreographed harmony. The love emanating from within cannot help but create, for it is the nature of love not to harbour and to hoard but to expand and to create.

God has, from the beginning, been wooing creation to dance. The community of God desires community with us. You and I are being courted, God wants to dance with you, and with me. The love that created us and our world is the same love that longs to be in fellowship with us.

When we worship in spirit and in truth, do others, does the world see us united as one, bound by love, dancing in harmony and flinging out new creation from within our midst? And do we call others to dance with us?

The Russian icon writer Andrei Rublev tried to create the same picture in a different way. In his famous icon of ‘The Visitation of Abraham’ – a modern interpretation of which you can see in this cathedral – he depicts three visitors who arrive at Abraham’s door. The guests become the hosts, the host becomes the guest, and Abraham is invited to a meal that is past, present and future. It is every domestic meal, it is a foretaste of the Eucharist, it is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. In welcoming strangers, he is entertaining angels; but in entertaining angels, he is invited into communion with God as Trinity.

It is a moment in the past, a moment in the present and a moment in the future, when we shall all be restored to being in the image and likeness of God our Creator. God, in creating us, creates out of love, making our destiny eternal life with him. We are created to experience life within the Trinitarian communion of persons.

For there are three things we all encounter in our lives: we all need to be cared for; we all encounter suffering; we all need company. God the Father creates us and cares for us; God in Christ identifies with our suffering, takes on and takes away our suffering; God the Holy Spirit enlivens our communities, gives us that divine measure. God has, in a very real way, entered into the mystery of our humanity, so that we may enter into the mystery that is his communio personarum.

‘This deifying union has, nevertheless, to be fulfilled ever more and more even in this present life, through the transformation of our human nature and by its adaptation to eternal life.’ [Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (Crestwood, NY: Saint Vladimir’s Press, 2002), p 196.]

The Communion reflection in the notices leaflet last Sunday in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, included a ‘Meditation on the Holy Icon of Rublev’ by Saint Evdokimos of Vatopedi Monastery, Mount Athos:

‘Tell me, did you ever feel inhabited? Can you not feel life palpitating in your depths? Yes, the three are there, in all their mystery. Yes, you are inhabited! “If only you knew what God is offering.” “If anyone me, my father will love him, and we will come to him, and live with him.” Yes, you live in the Trinity, who lives in you; you are his guest, and he is your guest. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit; because the tears of the Spirit are in us. He will never impose himself. He will never violence your freedom. Let your three guests love each other within you, praise each other in you, and sing of each other, let them dance for joy in your tent. Your secret is the secret that God is in you. Become aware of that in the land of silence!’

God invites us in creation, in Christ, in the Church, in the Word, and in the Sacrament, to be in union with God, to share God’s story, to sit down and dine with God, to sing and dance with God, to find our inner dwelling with God, and to be at one with God. And that is the purpose and the fulfilment of Christian life.

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

The Trinity in an icon of the Heavenly Divine Liturgy by Michael Damaskinos, ca 1585-1591, in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 28 May 2025):

The Feast of the Ascension is tomorrow (29 May 2025) and provides the theme for 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 Dr Paulo Ueti, Theological Advisor and Regional Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Wednesday 28 May 2025) invites us to pray:

God of land, sea, and sky, you have entrusted us with your creation. Forgive us the ways we have failed in our stewardship. As we rejoice in the Ascension, guide us to renew our commitment to care for the earth and all its creatures.

The Collect:

God our redeemer,
you have delivered us from the power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your Son:
grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life,
so by his continual presence in us he may raise us
to eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God our Father,
whose Son Jesus Christ gives the water of eternal life:
may we thirst for you,
the spring of life and source of goodness,
through him who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

Risen Christ,
by the lakeside you renewed your call to your disciples:
help your Church to obey your command
and draw the nations to the fire of your love,
to the glory of God the Father.

Collect on the Eve of Ascension Day:

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that as we believe your only–begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ
to have ascended into the heavens,
so we in heart and mind may also ascend
and with him continually dwell;
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

‘God of land, sea, and sky, you have entrusted us with your creation’ (USPG Prayer Diary today) … sunrise on the mouth of the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig, Co Wexford (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 Advent 2024: 24, Tuesday 24 December 2024, Christmas Eve

‘By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us’ (Luke 1: 78) … sunrise on the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig, near Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We come to the end of Advent today, and this evening is Christmas Eve. Later this evening, I hope to join the choir of Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, singing carols in All Saints’ Church, Calverton, at 8:30 and at ‘Midnight Mass’ there at 9 pm.

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.

‘By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us’ (Luke 1: 78) … a winter sunrise in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Luke 1: 67-79 (NRSVA):

67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:

68 ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a mighty saviour for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and has remembered his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.’

‘To give light to those who sit in darkness’ (Luke 1: 79) … Christmas lights in winter darkness at Magdalene Bridge and the Backs in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024 )

Today’s Reflection:

In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Luke 1: 67-79), we conclude a series of readings before Christmas that draw on the two nativity narratives found in Matthew 1: 1-24 and Luke 1: 5-79.

This reading continues on from the stories of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Saint Elizabeth and the account of the birth of Saint John the Baptist.

After the birth and naming of his son, Zechariah finds his speech is restored, and prophesies in a poetic speech that we have come to know as the canticle Benedictus.

The canticle naturally falls into two parts. Part 1 (verses 68-75) is a song of thanksgiving for the realisation of the Messianic hopes. In Part 2 (verses 76-79), Zechariah addresses his own son, who is to be a prophet, who will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, who will tell people of the good news of their salvation and forgiveness:

‘By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.’

How many parents could say this with confidence, joy and love about their own children on this Christmas Eve?

The English Catholic theologian and writer Tina Beattie last week made a plea to parents, priests, teachers and anyone who has dealings with children in the build-up to Christmas. In a posting on Facebook, she asked them: ‘please never tell children that Santa only comes to good children, or that Santa won’t come if they’re naughty.’

‘There are thousands of good children to whom Santa won’t come because they live in poverty, dereliction or neglect,’ she pointed out. ‘But also, children so easily internalise a sense of blame and shame – for parental squabbles and separations, for bad things that happen to their families and friends. They don’t need to be threatened into good behaviour or made fearful that Santa won’t come because they misbehaved.’

And she concluded: ‘If you want them to have a sense of why gifts are given at Christmas, tell them that this is a time of gifts not because we’re good, but because God is good and loves them, whatever they do and whoever they are.’

The theologian Tina Beattie has pointed out that children ‘don’t need to be threatened into good behaviour or made fearful that Santa won’t come’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 24 December 2024, Christmas Eve):

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 ‘Love – Advent’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections by the Revd Lopa Mudra Mistry, Presbyter in the Diocese of Calcutta, the Church of North India (CNI).

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 24 December 2024, Christmas Eve) invites us to pray:

Thank you for the gift of salvation and the love that you have shown us through Jesus Christ.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
you make us glad with the yearly remembrance
of the birth of your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as we joyfully receive him as our redeemer,
so we may with sure confidence behold him
when he shall come to be our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Eternal God, for whom we wait,
you have fed us with the bread of eternal life:
keep us ever watchful,
that we may be ready to stand before the Son of man,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Almighty God,
as we prepare with joy
to celebrate the gift of the Christ-child,
embrace the earth with your glory
and be for us a living hope
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘To give light to those who sit in darkness’ (Luke 1: 79) … darkness and light in Kenilworth Square, Dublin, last week (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 the Kingdom Season: 17, Sunday 17 November 2024, Second Sunday before Advent

‘Look, Teacher, what large stone and what large buildings!’ (Mark 13: 1) … the ruins of the Roman Temple in Córdoba (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the Kingdom Season, the time between All Saints and Advent, and today is the Second Sunday before Advent. This visit to Kuching is coming to an end, and this is our last full day here.

Later this morning, I hope to attend the Cathedral Eucharist in Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching. This is also Diocesan Children’s Sunday in the Diocese of Kuching. The celebrant at the Cathedral Eucharist this morning is the Revd Dato’ Bong Ah Loi, one of the cathedral priests, and the preacher is the Bishop of Kuching, the Right Revd Datuk Danald Jute.

But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time early this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading 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.

‘Beware that no one leads you astray’ (Mark 13: 5) … confusing signs leading into the sea at the beach at Bettystown, Co Meath (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 13: 1-8 (NRSVA):

1 As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ 2 Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’

3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4 ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?’ 5 Then Jesus began to say to them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and they will lead many astray. 7 When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.’

How do we respond when prayers do not seem to be answered? … climbing steps in the dark at Ferrycarrig in Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s reflection:

We are coming towards the end of the Year B cycle of Lectionary readings and the readings from Saint Mark’s Gospel; on Sunday next, the last in Year B, we are reading from Saint John’s Gospel.

This Sunday’s readings raise a number of questions and pose a number of challenges:

• What can we pray for?

• Who can we ask to pray for us?

• Do we only pray for people and causes we regard as worthy and deserving?

• Are there some things we should not ask for in prayer?

• How do we respond when prayers are answered?

• How do we respond when prayers do not seem to be answered?

• How do we respond to those who seem to pray against us?

• Should prayer be accompanied by an offering or a promise of an offering?

• How does prayer relate to our hopes for the future … for ourselves, our families, our communities, our future?

• How do we pray in times of doubt, in times of fear?

• How do we respond if others seem to have led us astray in our prayers and in our religious hopes?

• What if the way they have led us astray is related in negative or destructive ways not only to our futures, but to the future of the world?

As the Collect of the Day reminds us, prayer is about shaping us in Christ’s image rather than bringing a shopping list to God.

But, on the other hand, if we cannot bring everything to Christ in prayer, how can we possibly be prepared to celebrate him next Sunday as Christ the King?

Christ has indicated to the disciples that the poor widow who gave all that she has in the Temple is a good example of discipleship. Now, in verses 1-2, he predicts the destruction of the Temple, as the prophets Micah and Jeremiah had done earlier. His words were later used against him.

Did he mean it literally or figuratively? We do not know. (Both the Temple and the religious system were destroyed in 70 AD.)

Then Christ and his first four disciples, Peter, James, John and Andrew (verse 3) visit the Mount of Olives – a place already mentioned (see Zechariah 14: 4) in connection with events at the end of the era. They ask him when will the Temple be destroyed (verse 4).

How will we know that the end of the era is near? Christ gives them three indicators:

• Many will come in Chris’s name claiming, ‘I am he!’ (verse 6) – the Christological ἐγώ εἰμι (ego eimi we associate with the ‘I AM’ sayings in Saint John’s Gospel).

• major international political conflicts will erupt (verse 8).

• natural disasters and famines will erupt (verse 8).

• And there shall be other signs too (see verse 14-25 later).

The figure of a woman in labour (‘birth pangs,’ verse 8) also appears in Jeremiah, Hosea and Micah.

The main theme in this passage, known as the Marcan Apocalypse, are that many apocalyptic messengers are deceitful and that those who are discerning will wait for the real end. We are to resist false prophets of doom, yet to be ready for the true events that are to unfold.

In the meantime, we are charged to continue the mission of the Church: ‘And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations’ (verse 10).

‘When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed’ (Mark 13: 7) … the ‘Triumph of Achilles’ by the Franz Matsch in the Achilleion Palace in Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 17 November 2024, Second Sunday before Advent):

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 ‘Coming Together for Climate Justice’. This theme is introduced today with Reflections by Linet Musasa, HIV Stigma and Discrimination Officer, Anglican Council of Zimbabwe:

‘Climate change has significantly impacted countries within the region of Africa. Over the past years, we have witnessed drastic changes in weather patterns and droughts and cyclones in Sub-Saharan African countries that experience extreme poverty.

‘To combat the impact of climate change, three provinces, the Church of the Province of Central Africa (Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe), the Anglican Church of Tanzania, and the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean (Seychelles, Madagascar and Mauritius) started a four-year programme called Provincial Climate Change Campaign (PCC Campaign 2023-2027).

‘Over the past six months, the activities that have been carried out include: supporting government officials to formulate policies on waste management; church members using plastic waste to make innovative products i.e. mats, handbags, and hats; training of youth leaders, priests and Mothers’ Union to lead the awareness campaigns; conducting various awareness events; and producing information, education and communication materials for community members.

‘The number of people reached by the campaign is over 100,000.’

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 17 November 2024, Second Sunday before Advent) invites us to pray:

God of creation, who loves all he has made and all that has evolved, open the eyes of your people, that your love might be reflected in our care for the planet. Through Jesus Christ, who walked this earth and calls us by name. Amen. (the Right Revd Nicholas Baines)

The Collect:

Heavenly Father,
whose blessed Son was revealed
to destroy the works of the devil
and to make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life:
grant that we, having this hope,
may purify ourselves even as he is pure;
that when he shall appear in power and great glory
we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom;
where he is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Collect (Diocesan Children’s Sunday, Kuching):

O Lord our God,
you who welcomes children into your Kingdom,
help us to grow and nurture these children of yours
to be a godly generation who fear and love you.
Grant us also a child-like faith whose trust in you is unwavering;
that by having it we may taste and see your goodness in this world,
and in the world to come.
Grant this prayer, O Lord, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
who reigns together with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

Gracious Lord,
in this holy sacrament
you give substance to our hope:
bring us at the last
to that fullness of life for which we long;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Additional Collect:

Heavenly Lord,
you long for the world’s salvation:
stir us from apathy,
restrain us from excess
and revive in us new hope
that all creation will one day be healed
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down’ (Mark 13: 2) … classical remains in the Forum in Rome (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 with the Psalms in Easter: 31 May 2022 (Psalm 97)

‘The Lord is King! Let earth rejoice’ (Psalm 97: 1) … a stained glass window in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Today is the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (31 May 2022). Before this day begins, I am taking some time this morning to continue my reflections in this season of Easter, including my morning reflections drawing on the Psalms.

In my blog, I am reflecting each morning in this Prayer Diary in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 97:

Psalm 97 was the appointed psalm in the Revised Common Lectionary readings on Sunday (29 May 2022). It is sometimes known by its Latin name Dominus regnavit exultet terra. In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate, this psalm is counted as Psalm 96.

Psalm 97 is the fifth in a series of psalms (Psalms 93-99) that are called royal psalms as they praise God as King. Biblical scholars note numerous thematic and structural similarities between Psalm 96 and Psalm 97, which are both psalms about the kingship of God.

Psalm 97 is a hymn celebrating God’s kingship, and it speaks of his’s supremacy as Lord of the earth, his sovereignty, his enactment of justice, and the widespread rejoicing that will ensue. ‘The Lord is king!’ (verse 1), in other words, he has won the battle for world kingship over the forces of chaos. May the whole earth rejoice!

Verses 2-5 are a theophany, a description of how God has appeared as he has visited earth: in a cloud and in a burning bush during the Exodus, etc. He rules with righteousness and justice. He is ‘the Lord of all the earth’ (verse 5).

The word ‘all’ occurs three times in verses 6-9, emphasising God’s omnipotence. Verse 7 says that those who worship images or idols will realise the error of their ways. Other gods recognise God’s supremacy. Then, in verse 8, the people of Israel rejoice in God’s justice.

Verses 10-12 tell us the kind of rule God exercises. Those who hate evil are faithful to him, and he rescues them from the ways of the wicked. Light shines on the righteous, who rejoice and who give thanks to God.

In Jewish tradition, Psalm 97 is the third of six psalms recited during the Kabbalat Shabbat or ‘Welcoming the Shabbat’ service. These six psalms represent the six days of the week, with Psalm 97 corresponding to the third day, Tuesday. Verse 11, ‘Light dawns for the righteous ...’ is recited by Ashkenazi Jews at the start of the Kol Nidre service on Yom Kippur.

The Masoretic text version of Psalm 97: 7 reads ‘worship him, all ye gods,’ but the Septuagint equivalent reads ‘προσκυνήσατε αὐτῷ πάντες οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ’, ‘worship him, all ye his angels.’

In his commentary on Psalm 97, the former Chief Rabbi, the late Lord (Jonathan) Sacks, writes: ‘History is not destined to be an endless story of the victory of right, the powerful over the powerless. At the heart of reality is a force that makes for justice, giving strength to the weak, and courage to the oppressed. “Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart”.’

‘Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart’ (Psalm 97: 11) … dawn breaks over the mouth of the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig in Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 97 (NRSVA):

1 The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him,
and consumes his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All worshippers of images are put to shame,
those who make their boast in worthless idols;
all gods bow down before him.
8 Zion hears and is glad,
and the towns of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgements, O God.
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

10 The Lord loves those who hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful;
he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light dawns for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Global Day of Parents.’

The USPG Prayer Diary this morning (31 May 2022, The Visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth) invites us to pray:

Lord, may we witness to you with those whom we hold close. Help us to follow your calling and walk alongside our fellow Christians.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Saint Elizabeth … a panel from the triptych in the Lady Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral … 31 May is the Feast of the Visitation (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 with the Psalms in Easter: 19 May 2022 (Psalm 85)

‘Righteousness will look down from the sky’ (Psalm 85: 11) … sunrise over Wexford town and the Slaney estuary seen from Ferrycarrig (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Before this day begins, I am taking some time this morning to continue my reflections in this season of Easter, including my morning reflections drawing on the Psalms.

In my blog, I am reflecting each morning in this Prayer Diary in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 85:

Psalm 85 is found in Book 3 in the Book of Psalms, which includes Psalms 73 to 89. In the slightly different numbering scheme in the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, this is psalm is numbered as Psalm 84. In Latin, the psalm is known as Benedixisti Domine terram tuam. In Judaism, it is called a psalm of returned exiles. The Jerusalem Bible describes it as a prayer for peace.

Psalm 85 is one in a group of psalms at the end of Book III within the 150 psalms, from Psalm 84 to Psalm 89. These psalms attempt to provide hope to the exilic Israelite community. But, despite their celebration of the historic traditions of the Jewish people, they remind the reader that these elements no longer provide the hope they once did.

Four psalms of this group – Psalms 84, 85, 87 and 88 – are attributed to the Korahites, who are described as the doorkeepers of the tabernacle in the Book of Chronicles.

The psalm could have been written before or after the exile in Babylon (6th century BCE). It is attributed to the sons of Korah.

Psalm 85 is described as a ‘prayer for the restoration of God’s favour,’ a promise that concludes the reading from the Prophet Hosea. Many are familiar with verse 7 through its repetition in the versicles and responses at Morning and Evening Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer:

Show us your mercy, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.

The psalmist recalls God’s restoration of his people (‘Jacob’) and how God forgave their sins (verses 1-3). But things have become difficult again, and the psalmist prays that God may again show his favour to his people, restoring them to their land, ending his anger with them, reviving them so they may rejoice, showing them his love and giving them life and salvation (verses 4-7).

The psalmist then asks God to give peace to the people when they return to his worship. This is a prayer that hopes for peace, steadfast love and faithfulness. In contrast with Hosea’s description of an unfaithful people, the psalmist prays for a future in which:

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground
and righteousness will look down from the sky.

As a sign of God’s blessings to the people, both spiritually and materially, the yield of the land will increase (verses 8-12).

The image in verse 10 of Justice and Peace or ‘righteousness and peace’ kissing (צֶ֖דֶק וְשָׁל֣וֹם נָשָֽׁקוּ) was a popular theme in art work from the Middle Ages through the 18th century. These include paintings by Tiepolo, Lanfranco, Pompeo Batoni, Nicolas Prévost, and Laurent de La Hyre. The verse was also engraved on a papal tiara which Napoleon gave to Pope Pius VII.

However, the Hebrew root n-š-q (נשק) has several translations, including ‘kiss’, ‘fight’, and ‘fought against each other,’ and the word may describe a dynamic type of contact, whether positive or negative. The Midrash understands this interaction in a turbulent context, relating it to God taking counsel with his ministering angels about whether to create the first human.

While the superscript attributes this psalm to the sons of Korah, commentators are undecided about the period in which the psalm was written. One suggestion is that it was written at the end of the reign of Saul. Others suggest the setting of Psalm 85 corresponds to the description in the Book of Nehemiah in which only part of the Jewish nation returns from the Babylonian captivity.

Jewish commentators suggest the sons of Korah are speaking prophetically about the conclusion of the Babylonian exile. They pray that God will also return the Jewish people from their current exile and remove his anger from them altogether. The image of kindness and truth meeting alludes to the interrelationship between Israel’s truth and God’s righteousness. When Israel adheres to the truth, God will respond with righteousness; he will send rain to produce abundant harvests.

According to the Midrash Tehillim, the land referred to in this psalm is the Land of Israel, ‘a land that the Lord your God looks after. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it’ (Deuteronomy 11: 12). God waits for the people to perform the mitzvot or Biblical commandments associated with the Land – such as tithing the crops and observing the Shmita (Sabbatical Year) and Yovel (Jubilee Year) – and when they do, both they and the land will find favour in God’s eyes.

In the Sephardic tradition, Psalm 85 is recited after Kaddish (Titkabel) during the afternoon service on Yom Kippur eve. Sephardi Jews also recite this psalm along with numerous others on Yom Kippur itself.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, the beginning of Psalm 85 is recommended as an introit or antiphon for Mass on Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent.

Themes from verses 9 to 11 were paraphrased in John Milton’s hymn ‘The Lord will come and not be slow.’

The psalm has also been quoted in nonviolent movements. In 1993, the Catholic bishops in the United States quoted the verse ‘for he will speak peace unto his people’.

‘Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other’ (Psalm 85: 10) … a sculpture in the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 85 (NRSVA):

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.

1 Lord, you were favourable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you pardoned all their sin.
Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.

4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation towards us.
5 Will you be angry with us for ever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
so that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.

8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him,
and will make a path for his steps.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Advocacy in Brazil.’

The USPG Prayer Diary this morning (19 May 2022) invites us to pray:

Let us pray for the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil, made up of nine dioceses across Brazil. May we learn from them and be inspired by their ministry.

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

My safe castle on High Street has become a pink house facing the Opera House in Wexford

The National Opera House (left) and No 18 High Street (the house in pink on the right) in Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

It is almost 50 years since I moved to Wexford in 1972 and joined the staff of the People Group of Newspapers as a sub-editor.

At the time, I was trying to complete a BSc in Estate Management at Reading University with the support of Jones Lang Wootton. But I was getting greater satisfaction as a freelance journalist, contributing to the Lichfield Mercury, the Rugeley Mercury, the Tamworth Herald, the Kilkenny People and Horse and Hound, among others.

The Wexford People was the first newspaper to offer me a full-time job, and I worked there for the best part of three years, living first on School Street and then on High Street.

At No 18 High Street, Wexford, I had the whole top floor of the house – all two rooms – to myself (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Living in a flat at No 18 High Street, Wexford, I had the whole top floor of the house – all two rooms – to myself, making me the envy of many of my former schoolfriends who found themselves in cramped ‘digs’ or squeezed into dingy one-room ‘bedsits.’

Wexford, like Lichfield, felt like home to me. My great-grandfather, James Comerford (1817-1902), and his brothers had lived, at different times, on John Street, which runs parallel to High Street, just a stone’s throw from that small flat, and on my paternal grandmother’s side of the family, my great uncle, John Lynders (1873-1957), had lived on South Main Street earlier in the 20th century.

Wexford was kind to me and warmly welcomed me. I quickly became integrated and assimilated into the life of the town and the county. No 18 faced onto the back entrance to the People workshop, so it seemed like I could roll down the stairs and roll into work each morning, and there was no long trek home after a late evening’s work.

Everything I needed, enjoyed and that could enrich me was within easy reach. Further along High Street at the time was the Theatre Royal, and during the Wexford Festival I often went to sleep to the sound of opera rehearsals. On other nights I fell asleep to the chimes and bells of Rowe Street Church.

Around the corner and down the end of Rowe Street on Main Street was Saint Iberius Church, the Church of Ireland parish church, where Canon Eddie Grant was the Rector, the Tower Bar, where I made many friends from all walks of life, and the Corish Memorial Hall, then the hub of trade union life and the Labour Party.

In White’s coffee shop in the mid-1970s, probably planning a poetry reading in the 1970s

I soon became involved in the Labour Party in the 1973 general election and the local elections the following year, in the trade union movement as a branch secretary in the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), and in church life, including the committee of the YMCA which served effectively as the parish hall, work parties in the Church of Ireland national school, speaking in a Lenten series in Killane and Killegney group of parishes organised by the late Canon Norman Ruddock, and preaching for the first time ever, in the Presbyterian Church on Anne Street and in the Presbyterian Church in Enniscorthy, both on the same Sunday.

I was involved in the arts, including poetry readings, folk sessions and art exhibitions with Billy Roche, later to become Wexford’s celebrated playwright, in the local rugby club, Wexford Wanderers, editing a local monthly, What’s On In Wexford, commissioned by the Junior Chamber, and had pen-and-ink illustrations published in local magazines, including Ireland’s Own.

It was a time to develop and tune my gifts in writing, my appreciation of the arts, and my understanding of the world; it was a time to make lasting friendships; it was a time of growth and maturing, a time to develop and enhance my own values, socially, politically, religiously and spiritually; and it was a time to deepen a sense of identity with the part of Ireland where I had deep family roots.

I was back in Wexford this week, not so much to recover those memories and joys as to say thank you for them and to reaffirm – after half a century – that they are deeply embedded in my self-understanding and my self-awareness.

After lunch in the Ferrycarrig Hotel, looking out onto the estuary of the River Slaney as it flows into the sea at Wexford Harbour, I walked along the Main Street, past the YMCA, the former site of White’s coffee shop, through the Bullring, past Saint Iberius Church, the premises where the Tower Bar and the Corish Memorial Hall once stood, past the former People office, stopping to browse in the book shops, and on down into South Main Street and to the former Dun Mhuire Theatre, once the RIC station where my Great-Uncle John Lynders once lived.

Later in the afternoon, I walked along the Quays and the Crescent, recalling the ‘woodenworks,’ the lost Guillemot and ‘South Station,’ and pennies childishly thrown on the railway line to be squeezed and squashed by trains destined for Rosslare.

The Crescent in Wexford in late February, early Spring sunshine (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

In the side streets and narrow lanes off Main Street, I found the churchyards of the former mediaeval parish churches, Saint Mary’s and Saint Patrick’s, and then I was back into High Street, where I was so happy 50 years ago. It was my own safe castle.

No 18 was sold again some years ago, and has been turned back into a single-unit family home. The house has been ‘prettified’ and painted pink, and now looks charming in the early Spring sunshine of late February.

When I moved to Wexford in the early 1970s, I was told about ‘the narrow streets and proud people.’ The Theatre Royal moved many years ago, and across the narrow street from No 18, the former People printworks have become the National Opera House.

I climbed the stairs to the top floor for afternoon coffee, and soaked in the view from the balcony across the town and the harbour, out to Begerin Island and the Wexford Slobs. From the balcony outside the coffee shop, looking down on the roofs of Wexford, I could see my old office where the People editorial team and sub-editors had worked.

Happy memories were rekindled of old colleagues, including Gerry Breen, who died a few weeks ago, Nicky Furlong and Hilary Murphy who both joined me for dinner in Ferrycarrig during another recent visit to Wexford, Phil Murphy, Tony O’Brien, Frank Murphy, Gene Yore, Johnny Roche and the late Eddie O’Keeffe. There were so many others too.

A painting by Neil Shawcross of the Penguin paperback cover of ‘The Castle’ by Franz Kafka in the National Opera House, Wexford … now part of a tribute to the late Mairead Furlong (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

On the way back down the stairs, my eyes were caught by the collection of paintings by Neil Shawcross of Penguin paperback covers, especially – of course – The Castle by Franz Kafka.

The Neil Shawcross bequest of paintings to the Wexford Festival Trust was in recognition of the contribution to the arts over a lifetime by the late Mairead Furlong. I never got to see Nicky on this visit. But I still felt I could pay tributes to the mentors of half a century ago.

The People titles when I worked in Wexford included the Wexford People, the Enniscorthy Guardian, the New Ross Standard, the Gorey Guardian, the Wicklow People and the Bray People. The skills I learned there have their fruits today in my writings and in my blog postings.

Looking down on my former office in the Wexford People from the balcony at the coffee shop in the National Opera House (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

How do you imagine the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit look like?

‘Spirit of the living God’ (Hymn 386) … sunrise on the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig near Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday 23 May 2021, the Day of Pentecost (Whit Sunday)

Castletown Church, Kilcornan

11 am: The Parish Eucharist

The Readings: Acts 2: 1-21; Psalm 104: 26-36, 37b; John 15: 26-27, 16: 4b-15.

There is a link to the readings HERE.

‘Come Holy Spirit’ … the holy water stoup in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

I enjoy the recent story about children who were spending some time at school drawing.

The teacher moved around the class, looking at each child’s work, asking about their ideas and giving positive approval and affirmation.

She came to one small boy working very earnestly, and asked, ‘What are you drawing?’

‘I’m drawing a picture of God!’

‘But no-one knows what God looks like,’ she said.

‘They will when they see my picture!’

Are we confident, like that small boy, of knowing what God is like?

We are all used to those child-like images that now seem outdated and old-fashioned of God the Father as an old man with grey hair and a long white beard – not that, I should add hastily – that old men with grey hair and long white beards are ever going to be outdated or out of fashion.

I am sure we all have our own favourite images of Christ too: it may be the caring Christ as the Good Shepherd, the incarnate Christ as the child at Christmas, the redeeming Christ on the Cross, the Christ of faith as the Risen Christ of Easter, or the Christ of Hope in his coming as Christ the King.

Whichever one appeals to you says a lot about your own prayer-life: whether you have a particular emphasis on Faith, Hope or Love.

Nor are these the only traditional images of Christ that are available for us to explore. We might, for example, learn fresh insights from Roman Catholic images of Christ as the Sacred Heart or Orthodox images of Christ the Pantocrator, the ruler of all creation, or Christ as the Lamb on the Throne.

But what about the Holy Spirit?

For most of us, it is very difficult to describe the Holy Spirit. And this is made more difficult by language that was already out-of-date and old-fashioned when we were growing up, language that called the Holy Spirit the Holy Ghost, long after the word ‘ghost’ had come to have another meaning.

At times, I think, our thinking about the Holy Spirit is made difficult by traditional images of a dove that looks more like a homing pigeon than like the Holy Spirit that hovers and dances, approvingly and with joy and delight, over the waters of Creation (see Genesis 1: 2) and over Christ at his baptism.

Nor is our thinking helped by the way artists in the past depicted the tongues of fire in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2: 1-21), so often dancing around meekly-bowed heads of people cowering and hiding in a cramped upstairs room in a small house in Jerusalem, rather than a room that is bursting at the seams and ready to overflow.

So, what does the Holy Spirit look like?

Has anyone read The Shack by William Paul Young (2007), or seen the movie (2017)?

In The Shack, Sarayu fulfils the role of the Holy Spirit in the three-part version of God seen in the novel – the other parts being Jesus and Papa. Jesus explains to Mack Phillips that her name means ‘a common wind’ in one human language.

The nature of her role and her characteristics remain mysterious, and she seems to be the embodiment of some of God’s supernatural properties, such as being all-knowing and ever-present.

She appears as an Asian woman with a shimmering, almost transparent appearance that makes her slightly difficult to look at. When she takes Mack to a garden representing his wild yet ordered soul, Sarayu attempts to help Mack to understand the nature of his innermost spiritual self as well as how to comprehend and manage his feelings.

That seems like a good effort in modern literature to portray the Holy Spirit. But how might we see the Holy Spirit at work? When and where?

In the Gospel reading, Christ promises to send the Advocate (verse 8).

But what is the ‘Advocate’? What does the word ‘Advocate’ mean?

If we don’t confuse the word with a strong, yellow Dutch drink made of eggs and brandy, most of us probably only come across this word in books like John Grisham novels, describing a lawyer in a criminal court case.

And I am not going to make things easier by saying the word used in the Gospel passage is ‘Paraclete’ or παράκλητος (parákletos). Paraclete? What does it mean? Paraclete, parachute, paramedic … what does it mean? Why can’t we just make it easy when it comes to talking about the Holy Spirit this morning?

Well, this is a word that has a wide range of meanings that include advocate, encourager or comforter. So, the word can signify:

1, Someone who consoles or comforts
2, Someone who encourages or uplifts
3, Someone who refreshes
4, Someone summoned or called to one’s side, to one’s aid
5, Someone who pleads someone else’s cause before a judge … a pleader, the counsel for the defence – there’s that John Grisham novel again – a legal assistant, an advocate
6, Someone who intercedes in someone else’s cause before a third party, person, an intercessor
7, In the widest sense, a helper, one who provides succour or aid, an assistant.

The word paraclete (παράκλητος) originally signified being ‘called to one’s side.’

In Classical Greek, the best-known use of the term is in a speech by Demosthenes.

During a trial, he asks, he urges, he pleads with the Citizens of Athens to ignore personal preferences and prejudices and to listen ‘to the spirit of justice,’ to ignore the ‘party spirit of advocates’ who serve ‘private ambitions’ to ‘the advantage of evil-doers’ (Demosthenes, On the False Embassy, 19: 1).

So, it is a word that comes from Greek writings rather than earlier Biblical passages in Hebrew. We find it most often in the Johannine writings, but it is used elsewhere:

1, In Saint Matthew’s Gospel (see Matthew 5: 4), Christ uses a verb (παρακληθήσονται, paraclethesontai), that talks about being ‘refreshed, encouraged, or comforted.’ But is also implies the Paraclete is ‘the one who sets free.’

2, In Saint John’s Gospel, the word is used four times (14: 16, 14: 26, 15: 26, and 16: 7), and is often translated into English as counsellor, helper, encourager, advocate, or comforter.

3, In I John 2: 1, the word (παράκλητος) describes the intercessory role of Christ, who advocates for us, who pleads on our behalf to the Father.

The Early Church identifies the Paraclete with the Holy Spirit (Το Άγιο Πνεύμα) received at Pentecost in today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles (see Acts 1: 5, 1: 8, 2: 4, and 2: 38).

The word Paraclete may also have been used in the Early Church as a way of describing the Spirit’s help when Christians were hauled before courts.

So, if I were to be child-like and try to find an image of the Holy Spirit, I would want to draw images of someone who speaks up for people who have no-one to speak up for them, someone who stands alongside people who are being oppressed, people being treated unfairly or unjustly, the victims of violence and discrimination; someone who encourages, refreshes, consoles, comforts, takes the risks of speaking up and speaking out.

Someone who does this constantly, someone who does this with integrity and hope, especially when those who benefit least expect it, is like the Holy Spirit for me.

And, like the Holy Spirit, they break down all the barriers and walls that we try to build as fences around ourselves and even around the Church.

Pentecost means the Church does not need any protecting, any fences, any barriers. Pentecost calls on us, on the Church, to be like the Holy Spirit, and to go out into the world on behalf those who need an advocate, a counsellor, a friend, a Paraclete.

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

‘The Day of Pentecost’ or ‘The Descent of the Holy Spirit’ by Titian in the Church of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Acts 2: 1-21 (NRSVA):

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs — in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13 But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”.’

The Church of the Holy Spirit in the grounds of Prague Castle and Prague Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 15: 26-27, 16: 4b-15 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said to his disciples:] 26 ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. 27 You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

4b ‘I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.

‘I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?” 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement: 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11 about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

12 ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.’

Pentecost (El Greco) … ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf’ (John 15: 26)

Liturgical colour: Red (Pentecost, Year B)

Greeting (from Easter until Pentecost):

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

Penitential Kyries:

Great and wonderful are your deeds,
Lord God the Almighty

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

You are the King of glory, O Christ.

Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire.

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
By the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Introduction to the Peace:

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.
If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5: 22

Preface:

Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
according to whose promise
the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us,
making us your children,
and giving us power to proclaim the gospel throughout the world:

Post Communion Prayer:

Faithful God,
who fulfilled the promises of Easter
by sending us your Holy Spirit
and opening to every race and nation the way of life eternal:
Open our lips by your Spirit,
that every tongue may tell of your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing:

The Spirit of truth lead you into all truth,
give you grace to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
and to proclaim the words and works of God …

Dismissal (from Easter Day to Pentecost):

Go in the peace of the Risen Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Hymns:

386, Spirit of God, unseen as the wind (CD 23)
310, Spirit of the living God (CD 18)

‘Spirit of God, unseen as the wind’ (Hymn 386) … sunlight on the waters of the Straits of Gibraltar between the coasts of Spain and Morocco (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

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

Missing a few days in Ferrycarrig for planned celebrations in Wexford

I was looking forward to watching the sunrise over the Slaney in Ferrycarrig this morning (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I had hoped to be in Wexford this week, staying for two nights in the Ferrycarrig Hotel from yesterday until tomorrow. I was looking forward to waking up this morning looking out onto mouth of the Slaney and watching the sun rise behind the small hills that overlook the estuary.

Those plans for a small celebration today were made before the latest pandemic restrictions were introduced at Christmas. As the Covid-19 figures continue to remain high and the roll-out of vaccine keeps on being delayed, it seems it may be some months before I get back to Wexford, and an even longer time before I can think about planning to travel further beyond.

I cannot recall this morning when these January mini-breaks became a traditional celebration, but they have been fixed firmly in the family calendar for the past decade or so.

At times, they did not coincide with the day itself: timetabling and teaching commitments in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute for many years, followed by parish Sunday commitments in the Rathkeale Group of Parishes, have made a virtue of flexibility.

In the past, these January mini-breaks have often combined celebrations with a mini-retreat in Lichfield, staying at the Hedgehog Vintage Inn on Stafford Road, and walking into Lichfield to following the cycle of daily prayer and the mid-day Eucharist in the cathedral and finding time for prayer in the chapel of Saint John’s Hospital.

But these have always been retreats that allowed appropriate celebration, with dinner in the Hedgehog or in favourite restaurants such as Ego or the now lamentably-closed Olive Tree and Eden on Tamworth Street.

In other years, there were short visits in January to Wexford, that allowed time to meet friends and former colleagues.

We spent a few days in the Ice House in Ballina, Co Mayo in 2014. We were in Lichfield again in 2015, waking to snow covering the grounds of the Hedgehog one morning. But we were back in Dublin in time for the consecration of Bishop Kenneth Kearon as Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe in Christ Church Cathedral on 24 January. In 2016, teaching commitment meant I was in Dublin, but there had been the customary visits to Bunclody, Enniscorthy and Wexford earlier that month.

Then, in more recent years, the celebrations have sometimes been moved a little further. We spent almost a week in Rome in early January 2017, knowing I was moving to the Rectory in Askeaton later in the month, and the day itself was celebrated in Eaton Square, a restaurant in Terenure that has since closed.

We were back in Lichfield once again in 2018 (24-26 January), staying once again in the Hedgehog.

In 2019, we were in Prague (22-25 January), and returned to Dublin in time for the funeral of my friend, colleague and former student, the Revd Robert Lawson, in Castleknock on 26 January, before going back to London for a residential meeting of the trustees of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).

Last year, I celebrated in Valencia (26-29 January). I had been in London earlier that month (20-21) for a launch in the House of Lords for resources for Holocaust Memorial Day, and returned to London in March for a meeting of USPG trustees.

I have not been outside Ireland since then. In recent days, as I was clearing up some photographs to make space on my Google account, I realise how much I miss those visits, especially to Wexford, Lichfield, Rethymnon and Cambridge.

But this morning, as I think of how much I miss this week’s planned few days back in Wexford, I am conscious of the many people working in hotels and restaurants whose future now looks very precarious, and the frontline workers who are trying to make this a safer Ireland and a safer world to travel in.

But I would rather miss these trips and be able to travel again later this year, or perhaps even wait until next year, than to travel now and regret not being able to celebrate again.

The Hedgehog in Lichfield has been a regular venue for January celebrations (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)