Daily prayer in Easter 2025: 22, Sunday 11 May 2025

‘What my Father has given me is greater than all else … The Father and I are one’ (John 10: 29-30) … Christ the Pantocrator depicted in church domes in Rethymnon, Panormos and Iraklion in Crete (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

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. Today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Easter IV, 11 May 2025), sometimes known as ‘Good Shepherd Sunday’.

Later this morning I hope to take part in the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, when I am reading the second lesson (Revelation 7: 9-17). 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.

A menorah in the chapel in Milton Keynes University Hospital … this morning’s Gospel reading is set during the Festival of the Dedication or Hanukkah (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

John 10: 22-30 (NRSVA):

22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ 25 Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; 26 but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.’

The Stoa of Attalos beneath the Acropolis in Athens … it gives us an idea of what the Stoa or Portico of Solomon in Jerusalem may have looked (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The Gospel reading this morning (John 10: 22-30) is a portion of the ‘Good Shepherd Discourse’ (John 10: 1-42), in which Jesus twice repeats the fourth or middle of the seven ‘I AM’ sayings in Saint John’s Gospel: ‘I am the Good Shepherd’ (John 10: 11, 14).

The setting for this portion of the ‘Good Shepherd Discourse’ (verses 22-30) is the Portico or Stoa of Solomon in the Temple on the Festival of the Dedication, or Hanukkah. Jesus is walking in the Portico of Solomon or Solomon’s Porch or Colonnade (στοα του Σολομωντος, see also Acts 3: 11; 5: 12), a stoa or colonnade on the east side of the Temple’s Outer Court or Women’s Court, named after King Solomon.

The Feast of the Dedication, sometimes known as the Festival of Lights and known today as Hanukkah, falls between late November and the end of December (this year, it begins on 14 December and ends on 22 December 2025).

The holiday commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the year 164 BCE after its destruction by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV (see I Maccabees 4: 52-59). The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a menorah or candelabrum with nine branches (hanukkiah). One branch is typically placed above or below the others and its candle (shamash) is used to light the other eight candles. Each night, one additional candle is lit by the shamash until all eight candles are lit together on the final night of the festival.

The lights recall the miracle of the one-day supply of oil in the Temple miraculously lasting eight days, first described in the Talmud. According to the Babylonian Talmud (b Shabbat 21B), after the Greek forces of Antiochus IV had been driven from the Temple, the Maccabees discovered that almost all the ritual olive oil had been profaned. They found but a single container still sealed by the High Priest, with enough oil to keep the menorah in the Temple lit for just a single day. They used this, yet it burned for eight days – the time it took to have new oil pressed and made ready.

Josephus says John Hyrcanus was unique in Jewish history as the only man to unite the offices of priest, prophet and king. He reigned from 135 to 104 BCE, and by 124 BCE he had built a new Jerusalem.

Christ’s claims to oneness with God and pre-existence with him (John 8: 58) have aroused some listeners. Some think he is demented but others doubt it, for he heals (verses 20-21). If Jesus really is the Messiah, the people in this reading may have hoped that he too, like John Hyrcanus, would unite the offices of priest, prophet and king, and that he would rescue the people from the foreign tyranny of the Romans, just as God rescued an earlier generation from the evil reign of Antiochus.

In the stoa or portico of Solomon, they now ask whether he is the Messiah (verse 24). How long will he keep them in suspense? (verse 24).

Jesus answers with a rebuke, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe’ (verse 25). Faith is needed to understand the answers he has given – and at this stage they are lacking in faith.

His godly actions or works show who he is. To those who do believe, who are his sheep (verse 27), he gives eternal life (verse 28) and assurance that they will not perish, that they will not be condemned to annihilation at the end-time. He will ensure that they remain his. And once again, he repeats that he and the Father are one.

This Gospel reading also reminds us that we are part of the Communion of Saints: ‘I give them eternal life, and they will never perish’ (John 10: 28). We are not just one part of the Communion of Saints, but part of the whole Communion of Saints, heirs to the full apostolic legacy of the Church.

In today’s reading from the Book of Revelation, we are reminded that the Communion of Saints is drawn from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. All are gathered together, across time and space, breaking down all the barriers of history and discrimination, to give blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, and honour and power and might to the Lamb of God (Revelation 7: 9, 12).

In the Gospel reading, we are told that the saints, those who have eternal life, are those who hear Christ’s voice, answer his call, follow him and do his will. He knows them, they know him, and they have the promise of eternal life (John 10: 22-30).

I truly enjoy the way Greeks and other Orthodox Christians emphasise celebrating their name days rather than their birthdays. For when we join the saints in glory before the Lamb on the Throne, the only birthday that will matter will be the day in which we join that wonderful company of saints.

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

‘My sheep hear my voice. I know them’ (John 10: 27) … sheep on a small farm in Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 11 May 2025, Easter IV):

‘Health and Hope in the Manyoni District’ 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 is introduced today with a programme update from Dr Frank Mathew Haji of the Integrated Child Health and End Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Programme in Tanzania:

The Integrated Child Health and End Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Programme is making a significant impact on maternal and child health in the Manyoni district, Singida region, Tanzania. Focused on improving health services for women of childbearing age and children under five, the programme particularly targets the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Ruth [name changed for privacy], who contracted HIV in 2018, feared for her future and struggled with her husband as they faced difficulties conceiving. When a mobile clinic from the Anglican Church of Tanzania visited her village, Ruth attended with a friend and received vital medication and counselling. This support not only helped her manage her health but also allowed her and her husband to navigate their challenges together. Today, they are excitedly expecting a healthy baby, thanks to the programme’s interventions.

Ruth’s story illustrates how the programme brings hope and better health to families, ensuring that children are born HIV-free and that communities are empowered with the knowledge and resources they need to thrive.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 11 May 2025, Easter IV) invites us to pray reflecting on these words:

‘Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ’ (Galatians 6: 2).

The Collect:

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life:
raise us, who trust in him,
from the death of sin to the life of righteousness,
that we may seek those things which are above,
where he reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Merciful Father,
you gave your Son Jesus Christ to be the good shepherd,
and in his love for us to lay down his life and rise again:
keep us always under his protection,
and give us grace to follow in his steps;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Risen Christ,
faithful shepherd of your Father’s sheep:
teach us to hear your voice
and to follow your command,
that all your people may be gathered into one flock,
to the glory of God the Father.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Christ as the Good Shepherd in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna (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 Ordinary Time 2024: 60, Monday 8 July 2024

‘The Preaching of the Kingdom of God’ … a new icon with a mission theme in the Lady Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Sixth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VI, 7 July 2024). Later today, I hope to visit Cambridge before heading on to the High Leigh Conference Centre at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, where the annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is taking place this week.

Before today this day’s journeys begin, 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 in connection with this week’s USPG conference;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

The High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire … the venue for the USPG Conference this week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 9: 18-26 (NRSVUE):

18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. 23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26 And the report of this spread through all of that district.

‘United Beyond Borders’ is the theme for this week’s USPG conference in High Leigh

This morning’s reflection:

The annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) takes place this week at the High Leigh Conference Centre near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire.

The conference theme this year is ‘United Beyond Borders’, and I hope to reflect on the conference in this prayer diary on mornings for rest of this week.

The conference programme includes this quotation: ‘For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3: 26-28).

I met the Revd Tuomas Mäkipää, the former Chaplain of Saint Nicholas, Helsinki, last year when Charlotte and I were visiting Church-linked programmes in Helsinki working with Ukrainian refugees and supported by USPG. He has written a prayer for the conference programme:

Father,
Give wisdom to the leaders of the nations,
that they may be a force for good on the earth.
Sustain the anxious and fearful
and renew them with courage from on high,
Comfort all worried families whose loved ones are in danger,
surround them with your love protect them from all harm.
Be with the sick and wounded,
Stand by all prisoners and captives,
let your mercy be shown to all and your power to heal and save.
In Christ Jesus your son, our Lord, Amen.

The USPG conference in High Leigh opens tomorrow and continues until Thursday

Today’s Prayers (Monday 8 July 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 ‘United Beyond Borders.’ This theme was introduced yesterday with reflections on this week’s USPG conference by Rachael Anderson, Senior Communications and Engagement Manager, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 8 July 2024) invites us to pray:

Heavenly Father – we pray for unity and peace in all countries where there is fighting over land boundaries.

The Collect:

Merciful God,
you have prepared for those who love you
such good things as pass our understanding:
pour into our hearts such love toward you
that we, loving you in all things and above all things,
may obtain your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
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.

Post Communion Prayer:

God of our pilgrimage,
you have led us to the living water:
refresh and sustain us
as we go forward on our journey,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Creator God,
you made us all in your image:
may we discern you in all that we see,
and serve you in all that we do;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge … I am hoping to visit Cambridge later today on my way to High Leigh in Hoddesdon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

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

Daily prayers during the 12 Days of Christmas: 9, 2 January 2024

‘On the Ninth Day of Christmas … ladies dancing’ … street art in Kraków (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Today is the Ninth Day of Christmas (2 January 2024). The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today celebrates the lives of Saint Basil the Great (379) and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (389), bishops and teachers of the faith, Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1833), monk and spiritual guide, and Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (1945), bishop in South India and Evangelist.

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

My reflections each morning during the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ are following this pattern:

1, A reflection on a verse from the popular Christmas song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’;

2, the Gospel reading of the day;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

‘On the Ninth Day of Christmas … ladies dancing’ … a floor show in Nevşehir in Cappadocia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today is the Ninth Day of Christmas (2 January). But, in liturgical terms, Christmas is a 40-day season that continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February).

Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. They were defenders of the doctrine of the incarnation in the fourth century, and so it is appropriate to remember them during the 12 days of Christmas.

The Orthodox calendar celebrated Saint Basil yesterday, and in the Orthodox tradition 2 January instead marks the beginning of the Forefeast of the Theophany, which reaches its climax on 5 January.

The ninth verse of the traditional song, ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, is:

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me …
nine ladies dancing,
eight maids-a-milking,
seven swans-a-swimming,
six geese-a-laying,
five golden rings,
four colly birds,
three French hens,
two turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.

The Christian interpretation of this song often sees the nine ladies dancing as figurative representations of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit:

● Love,
● Joy,
● Peace,
● Patience,
● Kindness,
● Goodness,
● Faithfulness,
● Gentleness, and
● Self-control

(see Galatians 5: 19-23).

‘Nine ladies dancing’ … a floor show in Kuşadası on the Aegean coast of Turkey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 1: 19-28 (NRSVA):

19 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ 20 He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ 21 And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ 22 Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ 23 He said
‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
“Make straight the way of the Lord”’,
as the prophet Isaiah said.

24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, ‘Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?’ 26 John answered them, ‘I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27 the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ 28 This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

The bell above the Church of Aghios Vassilios (Saint Basil) in Koutouloufári, in the mountains above Iraklion in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 2 January 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 ‘Looking to 2024 – Freedom in Christ.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Revd Duncan Dormor, USPG General Secretary.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (2 January 2024) invites us to pray in these words:

As we start a new year, we pray that we look to this year with hope for the future – free of fear, faithful in Christ.

The Collect:

Lord God, whose servants Basil and Gregory
proclaimed the mystery of your Word made flesh,
to build up your Church in wisdom and strength:
grant that we may rejoice in his presence among us,
and so be brought with them to know the power
of your unending love;
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 Basil and Gregory to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

Saint Basil among Seven Fathers of the Church above the south porch of Lichfield Cathedral (from left): Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, Gregory, John Chrysostom, Athanasius and Basil (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 prayers in the Kingdom Season with USPG: (17) 21 November 2023

‘May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6: 14) … a cross on the sand dunes in Laytown, Co Meath (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

In this time between All Saints’ Day and Advent Sunday, we are in the Kingdom Season in the Calendar of the Church of England. This week began with the Second Sunday before Advent (19 November 2023).

Throughout this week, I am reflecting on the seven churches in cities or places that give their names to the titles of nine letters or epistles by Saint Paul: Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae and Thessaloniki.

My reflections this morning follow this pattern:

1, A reflection on a Pauline church;

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

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

A Celtic cross in Duleek, Co Meath … Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians is the one book in the Bible that is addressed to a Celtic people (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Paul’s Galatia:

The Apostle Paul wrote 14 of the 27 books the New Testament. He founded several Christian communities in Asia Minor and Europe from the mid-40s to the mid-50s AD, and wrote letters to the churches in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae and Thessaloniki.

The Letter to the Galatians is the ninth book in the New Testament. It was written in Koine Greek to a number of Early Christian communities not in one particular city but in Galatia. This is either the Roman province of Galatia in southern Anatolia, or a large region defined by Galatians, an ethnic group of Celtic people in central Anatolia.

Galatia (Γαλατία) in the highlands of central Anatolia corresponded approximately to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls or Celts from Thrace who settled there and became a small transient foreign tribe in the 3rd century BCE, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BCE. It was bounded on the north by Bithynia and Paphlagonia, on the east by Pontus and Cappadocia, on the south by Cilicia and Lycaonia, and on the west by Phrygia. Its capital was Ancyra, present-day Ankara, the capital of modern Turkey.

In this letter, Saint Paul is principally concerned with the controversy surrounding Gentile Christians and the Mosaic Law. He argues that the Gentile Galatians do not need to adhere to Mosaic Law, particularly male circumcision, and that Gentiles could convert to Christianity, without converting to Judaism or becoming Jewish proselytes.

Biblical scholars mainly agree that Galatians is a true example of Paul’s writing in its style and themes. The letter also offers s a different point of view from the description of the Council of Jerusalem than that in Acts 15: 2-29.

A majority of scholars agree that Galatians was written between the late 40s and early 50s, although some date it to ca 50-60. But the similarity between this epistle and the Letter to the Romans has led some to the conclusion that they were both written about the same time, during Paul’s stay in Macedonia ca 56-57 CE.

Saint Paul evangelised South Galatia in 47-48 CE. The Acts of the Apostles records him travelling to the ‘region of Galatia and Phrygia,’ which lies immediately west of Galatia, and the New Testament indicates that Paul spent time in the cities of Galatia – Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe – during his missionary journeys.

The letter is addressed ‘to the churches of Galatia.’ However, the location of these churches is a matter of debate. Most scholars agree that it is a geographical reference to the Roman province in central Asia Minor, which had been settled by immigrant Celts in the 270s BCE and retained Gaulish features of culture and language in Paul’s day. Some scholars argue that ‘Galatia’ is an ethnic reference to Galatians, a Celtic people in northern Asia Minor.

After Saint Paul left Galatia, the churches there were led astray by individuals espousing legalism and what Saint Paul saw as a ‘different gospel.’ The Galatians appear to have been receptive to the teaching of these newcomers, and the epistle is his response to what he sees as their willingness to turn from his teaching.

The cities of northern Galatia include Ankyra, Pessinus, and Gordium – known for the story of the Gordian Knot and Alexander the Great.

Others say the letter is addressed to the South Galatians during either his time in Tarsus in Cilicia or during his first missionary journey, when he travelled throughout southern Galatia, and written in 49 CE.

A dangerous legacy of interpretation of this letter during the Reformation is found in Luther’s Lectures on Galatians, in which he expressed his deep and worrying antisemitism.

Probably the best-known single statement by Saint Paul in this letter is: ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3: 28).

It is worth noting how Saint Paul provides three different pairs: Jew or Greek, slave or free, and male and female. His words eliminate racism, antisemitism, and the biological differences between males and females, and call gender roles into question, leaving no place for gender hierarchy in the Gospel.

Saint Paul tells these people that the whole law is summed up in one single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Galatians 5: 5). He reminds them that ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Galatians 5: 22-23).

The command to love, to love God and to love our neighbour, is at the heart of the Gospel. It is summarised in the two great commandments in Matthew 22: 36-40 and Luke 10: 27 (see Leviticus 19: 18). But Saint Paul, on more than one occasion, reduces it all down to this one great commandment. In this letter, for example, he says: ‘For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”.’ (Galatians 5: 14). Earlier, he writes: ‘The only thing that counts is faith working through love’ (Galatians 5: 6).

‘May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6: 14) … an icon cross in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 19: 1-10 (NRSVA):

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ 9 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

‘Bear one another’s burdens’ (Galatians 6: 2) … a Turkish bag among suitcases belonging to delegates at a USPG conference in High Leigh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 21 November 2023):

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 ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’. This theme was introduced on Sunday.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (21 November 2023) invites us to pray in these words:

We pray that this year’s 16 Days campaign might make governments, churches and communities around the world take notice and support an end to gender-based violence.

‘The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control’ (Galatians 5: 22-23) … fruit at breakfast-time in Platanias in Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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 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.

Yesterday’s Reflection (Corinth)

Continued Tomorrow (Ephesus)

‘The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control’ (Galatians 5: 22-23) … lemon trees bearing fruit in Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (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

‘The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control’ (Galatians 5: 22-23) … fruit on a market stall in Tangier (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

When we want to pose for our own ‘selfies’ with Jesus

‘Some Greeks came to Philip … and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’ (John 12: 20-21) … the Monument of Alexander the Great in Thessaloniki, looking out towards Mount Olympus (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday next 21 March 2021

The Fifth Sunday in Lent (Passion Sunday)

10 a.m.: the Parish Eucharist

The Readings: Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Psalm 51: 1-13; John 12: 20-33

There is a link to these readings HERE.

‘But this is the covenant that I will make … and I will write it on their hearts’ (Jeremiah 31: 33) … hearts decorating a bar in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

May I speak to you in the name of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

One Easter morning, when all the great Greek excitement of Easter was over – the processions, the parades, the late-night services, the bands and the street crowds – we enjoyed the calm and peace of the morning, and we walked the length of the seafront in Thessaloniki.

After all the solemnity and excitement is over, after the Lenten fasts have come to an end, no-one in Greece stirs outside their family home on Easter morning. It almost felt like we had the seafront to ourselves as we walked from the harbour to the landmark White Tower and on to the monumental sculpture of Alexander the Great.

The White Tower is a mixture of Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman work. It was a prison and a place of massacre, and it was once known as the Red Tower, because of the blood splattered on the walls of the countless victims of torture and execution. After Thessaloniki was incorporated into the modern Greek state, the tower was whitewashed in a symbolic gesture of cleansing.

As this morning’s psalm says, ‘Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow’ (Psalm 51: 10).

From there, we walked on to the Monument of Alexander the Great at Nea Paralia. This is a tall sculpture, six metres tall, by the artist Evangelos Moustakas, and shows Alexander the Great on his horse Voukefalas (Bucephalus).

Thessaloniki is proud that it is the city of both Aristotle and Alexander the Great. At one time, Alexander the Great was so powerful and his empire so expansive that to many Greeks he seemed to be the ruler of the world (see John 12: 31). And every Greek knows Alexander the Great was the son of Philip of Macedon.

In this morning’s Gospel reading, some Greeks are in Jerusalem for the Festival – the Festival of Passover, which begins next Saturday night (27 March) for this year, and which for Christians becomes Easter. These Greeks, we are told, wish to see Jesus; so, it is only natural that they should go to Philip and ask him to help them get through the crowds to see Jesus.

Every Greek would have expected that someone with the name Philip would speak Greek. Finding Philip in the crowd must have been like finding your local TD outside the Dáil and asking him to bring you into Leinster House to meet the Taoiseach.

Philip thinks about what to do. But instead of going to Jesus, he goes to Andrew, who is yet another disciple with a Greek name. Perhaps those Greek visitors, those Greek pilgrims or tourists, think they are in with the in-crowd. They have found not one, but two Greek-speakers among the disciples.

But the story is bewildering. We are not told whether they ever get to see Jesus.

Are they simply looking for the first century equivalent of a ‘selfie’ – wanting not so much to see Jesus but to be seen with Jesus, without listening to Jesus, still less without the commitment involved in following Jesus?

Do they hear his call, ‘follow me’ (John 12: 26)?

In this Gospel reading, we are in the days before Palm Sunday, and the days before Passover. The Sabbath immediately preceding Passover is known as Shabbat haGadol (שבת הגדול), the ‘Great Sabbath.’ This year, this Sabbath falls next Saturday (27 March 2021.) The haftarah or prophetic portion read on that Sabbath (Malachi 3: 4-24) speaks of the ‘great day’ of God on which the Messiah will appear.

Malachi is an anonymous prophet – the name Malachi simply means ‘my messenger.’ But in this passage, he also says:

You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What do we profit by keeping his command or by going about as mourners before the Lord of hosts? Now we count the arrogant happy; evildoers not only prosper, but when they put God to the test they escape’ (Malachi 3: 14-15).

Whether that portion had already become established as a reading by the time Saint John’s Gospel was written, the Sabbath before the Passover was already one that was imbued with expectations of the appearance of the Messiah, and the readers of this Gospel, at this stage, would expect to hear Jesus speaking about those who have turned away from serving God.

So Christ reminds those who are listening to him in this Gospel reading that those who love him must serve, and ‘whoever serves me must follow me’ (John 12: 26).

But then, on the other hand, are Philip and Andrew like power brokers? Do they take advantage of their positions to control access to Christ, instead of inviting others to follow Christ?

The mission of Israel was to be a light to the gentiles. But in questioning, doubting – perhaps even denying – that those Greeks should have access to Christ too, are Philip and Andrew denying the mission and purpose of their own people, the reason they are freed at Passover from slavery in Egypt?

Are they, perhaps, denying the mission and witness of Christ, the inclusivity of Christ?

Do they behave as if Christ is only for them, their culture, their people, and not for all, irrespective of cultural or ethnic origins, language, background or gender?

In the second part of this Gospel story, we are pointed not just to the Cross, but to the resurrection. This is not just a story for Lent, but a story filled with the Easter promise of the Resurrection.

In the long run, the conclusion to this story is found in the experience of Greeks visiting Jerusalem after the Resurrection, just 50 days later, at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit is poured out on devout people of every nation, and the disciples find they are heard by each one present in their own language.

It becomes a foundational experience for the Church.

Saint Paul finds it so transforming that he reminds his readers: ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ’ (Galatians 3: 28).

Am I like Philip and Andrew, too comfortable with a Christ who fits my own cultural comforts, my own demands and expectations?

Do I all to easily lock Christ away in my own ‘churchiness,’ to the point that the stone might never have been rolled away from the tomb on Easter morning?

What prejudices from the past do I use to dress up my image of Christ today?

If Saint Paul is right …. then Christ reaches out too to those who are marginalised in our society because of their gender, sexuality, colour, language or religious background.

In Christ there is no Catholic nor Protestant, no male and female, no black and white, no gay and straight.

And every time I reduce Christ to my own comfortable categories I keep him behind that stone rolled across the tomb.

And so, may all we think, say and do be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

‘Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow’ (Psalm 51: 10) … the White Tower has become an emblem of Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 12: 20-33 (NRSVA):

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

27 ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say — “Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ 30 Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’ … Saint Philip (left) in a stained-glass window in the chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical colour: Violet.

The canticle Gloria is omitted in Lent.

Penitential Kyries:

Lord God,
you sent your Son to reconcile us to yourself and to one another.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Lord Jesus,
you heal the wounds of sin and division.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Holy Spirit,
through you we put to death the sins of the body – and live.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

The Collect of the Day (Lent V):

Most merciful God,
who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
Grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross,
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Lenten Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
Create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Introduction to the Peace:

Now in union with Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of Christ's blood; for he is our peace. (Ephesians 2: 17)

Preface:

Through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
who, for the redemption of the world,
humbled himself to death on the cross;
that, being lifted up from the earth,
he might draw all people to himself:

Post Communion Prayer:

God of hope,
in this Eucharist we have tasted
the promise of your heavenly banquet
and the richness of eternal life.
May we who bear witness to the death of your Son,
also proclaim the glory of his resurrection,
for he is Lord for ever and ever.

Blessing:

Christ draw you to himself
and grant that you find in his cross a sure ground for faith,
a firm support for hope,
and the assurance of sins forgiven:

‘Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow’ (Psalm 51: 8) … snow in Cloister Court, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Hymns:

125, Hail to the Lord’s anointed (CD 8)
656, Nearer, my God, to thee (CD 38)

Strolling on the seafront in Thessaloniki, leading to the White Tower (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.

Where is ‘The Prophetic Voice of the Church’ heard today? Who speaks ‘Truth to Power’?

The High Leigh Conference Centre near Hoddeson … the venue for the USPG Conference this year (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday, 7 July 2019, the Third Sunday after Trinity.

11.30 a.m.: Morning Prayer, Saint Brendan’s Church (Kilnaughtin), Tarbert, Co Kerry.

Readings: II Kings 5: 1-14; Psalm 30; Galatians 6: (1-6), 7-16; Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20.

May I speak to you in the name of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Our readings this morning are very much readings about mission.

In our Old Testament reading (II Kings 5: 1-14), we meet Naaman, a victorious general who is faced with the physical defeat of skin diseases.

Naaman suffers from leprosy, a word used for several skin diseases and disorders, many of them incurable. At an advanced stage of these skin diseases, people also suffered severe social isolation.

Naaman has great expectations but they can only be met by responding to simple commands. Naaman thinks he can buy God’s healing, but finds he receives faith freely in the free-flowing water.

Naaman finds healing and wholeness among a strange people. It is an interesting model of mission in reverse, for instead of Elisha going to him with good news and the promise of healing, Namaan goes to the prophet in the hope of healing and hearing good news.

In our Epistle reading (Galatians 6: 1-16), Saint Paul concludes his Letter to the Galatians, a church divided between those who say new converts to Christianity must first become converts to Judaism and people from the local Gentile community who were mainly Greek-speakers, many of them descended from Celtic tribes that had settled in central Anatolia.

Last Sunday, we heard Saint Paul telling these people that the whole law is summed up in one single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Galatians 5: 5). He reminds them that ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Galatians 5: 22-23).

Now, Saint Paul ends this letter telling these people to bear one another’s burdens, and to be honest about themselves and with each other. Within the church, he tells them, there is no place for adhering to old divisions or boasting about being Jew or Gentile, circumcised or not circumcised. What truly matters is the new creation.

In the Gospel reading (Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20), Christ is on his way to Jerusalem when he sends out 70 disciples on a mission of healing and proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God. They are to go ahead of Christ, to the places he is about to travel through on his way to Jerusalem, preparing the way for Jesus’ own mission, and he tells them how to respond to both acceptance and rejection.

They are sent out with the understanding that the ‘harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few’ (verse 2).

The Seventy are sent out ‘like lambs into the midst of wolves’ (verse 3). But this is not a threatening image. You may recall how the Prophet Isaiah describes the coming Kingdom of God as an era of peace and reconciliation, in which ‘the wolf and the lamb shall feed together’ (see Isaiah 65: 25).

The Seventy are to bring peace with them, and when they meet a person of peace, God’s peace will be with that person. They should accept whatever hospitality and food they are offered, and to show their faith by their action, healing people and sharing the promise of the kingdom of God.

When the 70 return, they come back surprised and filled with joy following their experiences.

I am just back from the annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).

The conference theme this year was ‘The Prophetic Voice of the Church.’ Over a period of three days, we heard stories of mission and reaching out as people described and shared their experiences of mission, in these islands and across the globe.

The general secretary of USPG, the Revd Duncan Dormor, spoke of how USPG lives out its mission in the midst of the world’s challenges. Climate justice and inter-religious living, as well as other key challenges, like migration and gender justice ‘are truly global in nature and remind us of the fundamental interdependence of the world, and the deep sense of connection between the churches of the Anglican Communion ... They shape the mission priorities of our partner churches,’ he said.

There was an opportunity for a long meeting with Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya of Swaziland, who has had close links with this diocese. Our Bible studies each morning were led by the Very Revd Gloria Mapangdol, a theologian from the Philippines.

The world of mission has shifted from a one-way process to partnership, we were told by Bishop Dickson Chilongani, from Central Tanganyika in Tanzania. He spoke movingly about suffering and trusting in God. We are not merely human beings but ‘human becomings.’

Bishop Dickson said to be prophetic is to speak on God’s behalf. He reminded us that the majority of prophets in the Old Testament were not priests but lay people, ordinary people, like Amos the farmer who was a shepherd and who was looking after sycamore trees.

These lay prophets told the truth about power and society, spoke on behalf of the poor and the oppressed. For the ‘Prophetic Voice of the Church’ to be heard today, lay participation is crucial, he said.

Canon Kirilee Reid, chaplain and refugee projects officer in Calais in France, spoke movingly of her work with the 550 displaced and often forgotten people living in Calais.

In one of her Bible studies, Gloria Mapangdol brought us through Mary’s song in Saint Luke’s Gospel, Magnificat, and then left us with three questions to discuss:

● How can we become the prophetic voices of our communities?

● Are we willing to take risks to give voice and hope to those who do not have them?

● How can we in the Church strengthen or recover our prophetic ministry in today’s world?

If someone like Naaman came to the Church today, expecting healing and to hear a prophetic voice, what would we have to say to him, and would he hear the ‘Prophetic Voice of the Church’?

If we were sent out like the 70 this morning, to prepare the way for Christ in our society, what would people hear from us?

Would they hear the ‘Prophetic Voice of the Church’?

Would we proclaim the promises of the kingdom of God in our words and in our actions?

Would we like Saint Paul this morning, be able to ‘never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6: 14)?

And would we come back rejoicing?

And so, may all we think, say and do be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

‘Bear one another’s burdens’ (Galatians 6: 2) … suitcases belonging to delegates at this year’s USPG conference in High Leigh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20:

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

16 ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’

17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ 18 He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

‘He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments’ (II Kings 5: 5) … old coins in an antique shop in Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Liturgical Colour: Green

The Collect:

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

‘May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6: 14) … an icon cross on the nave altar in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Hymns:

492, Ye servants of God, your master proclaim (CD 28)
456, Lord, you give the great commission (CD 27)
443, Sent forth by God’s blessing, our true faith confessing (CD 26)

‘May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6: 14) … a cross on the sand dunes in Laytown, Co Meath (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

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.

‘Sent forth by God’s blessing,’ listening to the ‘Prophetic Voice of the Church’ with USPG

‘Bear one another’s burdens’ (Galatians 6: 2) … suitcases belonging to delegates at this year’s USPG conference in High Leigh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday, 7 July 2019, the Third Sunday after Trinity.

9.30 a.m.: The Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2), Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick.

Readings: II Kings 5: 1-14; Psalm 30; Galatians 6: (1-6), 7-16; Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20.

May I speak to you in the name of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Our readings this morning are very much readings about mission.

In our Old Testament reading (II Kings 5: 1-14), we meet Naaman, a victorious general who is faced with the physical defeat of skin diseases.

Naaman suffers from leprosy, a word used for several skin diseases and disorders, many of them incurable. At an advanced stage of these skin diseases, people also suffered severe social isolation.

Naaman has great expectations but they can only be met by responding to simple commands. Naaman thinks he can buy God’s healing, but finds he receives faith freely in the free-flowing water.

Naaman finds healing and wholeness among a strange people. It is an interesting model of mission in reverse, for instead of Elisha going to him with good news and the promise of healing, Namaan goes to the prophet in the hope of healing and hearing good news.

In our Epistle reading (Galatians 6: 1-16), Saint Paul concludes his Letter to the Galatians, a church divided between those who say new converts to Christianity must first become converts to Judaism and people from the local Gentile community who were mainly Greek-speakers, many of them descended from Celtic tribes that had settled in central Anatolia.

Last Sunday, we heard Saint Paul telling these people that the whole law is summed up in one single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Galatians 5: 5). He reminds them that ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Galatians 5: 22-23).

Now, Saint Paul ends this letter telling these people to bear one another’s burdens, and to be honest about themselves and with each other. Within the church, he tells them, there is no place for adhering to old divisions or boasting about being Jew or Gentile, circumcised or not circumcised. What truly matters is the new creation.

In the Gospel reading (Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20), Christ is on his way to Jerusalem when he sends out 70 disciples on a mission of healing and proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God. They are to go ahead of Christ, to the places he is about to travel through on his way to Jerusalem, preparing the way for Jesus’ own mission, and he tells them how to respond to both acceptance and rejection.

They are sent out with the understanding that the ‘harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few’ (verse 2).

The Seventy are sent out ‘like lambs into the midst of wolves’ (verse 3). But this is not a threatening image. You may recall how the Prophet Isaiah describes the coming Kingdom of God as an era of peace and reconciliation, in which ‘the wolf and the lamb shall feed together’ (see Isaiah 65: 25).

The Seventy are to bring peace with them, and when they meet a person of peace, God’s peace will be with that person. They should accept whatever hospitality and food they are offered, and to show their faith by their action, healing people and sharing the promise of the kingdom of God.

When the 70 return, they come back surprised and filled with joy following their experiences.

I am just back from the annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).

The conference theme this year was ‘The Prophetic Voice of the Church.’ Over a period of three days, we heard stories of mission and reaching out as people described and shared their experiences of mission, in these islands and across the globe.

The general secretary of USPG, the Revd Duncan Dormor, spoke of how USPG lives out its mission in the midst of the world’s challenges. Climate justice and inter-religious living, as well as other key challenges, like migration and gender justice ‘are truly global in nature and remind us of the fundamental interdependence of the world, and the deep sense of connection between the churches of the Anglican Communion ... They shape the mission priorities of our partner churches,’ he said.

There was an opportunity for a long meeting with Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya of Swaziland, who has had close links with this diocese. Our Bible studies each morning were led by the Very Revd Gloria Mapangdol, a theologian from the Philippines.

The world of mission has shifted from a one-way process to partnership, we were told by Bishop Dickson Chilongani, from Central Tanganyika in Tanzania. He spoke movingly about suffering and trusting in God. We are not merely human beings but ‘human becomings.’

Bishop Dickson said to be prophetic is to speak on God’s behalf. He reminded us that the majority of prophets in the Old Testament were not priests but lay people, ordinary people, like Amos the farmer who was a shepherd and who was looking after sycamore trees.

These lay prophets told the truth about power and society, spoke on behalf of the poor and the oppressed. For the ‘Prophetic Voice of the Church’ to be heard today, lay participation is crucial, he said.

Canon Kirilee Reid, chaplain and refugee projects officer in Calais in France, spoke movingly of her work with the 550 displaced and often forgotten people living in Calais.

In one of her Bible studies, Gloria Mapangdol brought us through Mary’s song in Saint Luke’s Gospel, Magnificat, and then left us with three questions to discuss:

● How can we become the prophetic voices of our communities?

● Are we willing to take risks to give voice and hope to those who do not have them?

● How can we in the Church strengthen or recover our prophetic ministry in today’s world?

If someone like Naaman came to the Church today, expecting healing and to hear a prophetic voice, what would we have to say to him, and would he hear the ‘Prophetic Voice of the Church’?

If we were sent out like the 70 this morning, to prepare the way for Christ in our society, what would people hear from us?

Would they hear the ‘Prophetic Voice of the Church’?

Would we proclaim the promises of the kingdom of God in our words and in our actions?

Would we like Saint Paul this morning, be able to ‘never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6: 14)?

And would we come back rejoicing?

And so, may all we think, say and do be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

The High Leigh Conference Centre near Hoddeson … the venue for the USPG Conference this year (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20:

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

16 ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’

17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ 18 He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

‘He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments’ (II Kings 5: 5) … old coins in an antique shop in Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Liturgical Colour: Green

The Collect:

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

The Post-Communion Prayer:

O God,
whose beauty is beyond our imagining
and whose power we cannot comprehend:
Give us a glimpse of your glory on earth
but shield us from knowing more than we can bear
until we may look upon you without fear;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

‘May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6: 14) … an icon cross on the nave altar in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Hymns:

492, Ye servants of God, your master proclaim (CD 28)
456, Lord, you give the great commission (CD 27)
443, Sent forth by God’s blessing, our true faith confessing (CD 26)

‘May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6: 14) … a cross on the sand dunes in Laytown, Co Meath (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

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.