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

‘Hang all the law and the prophets …’

Patrick Comerford

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

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

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

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

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

Matthew 22: 34-40 (NRSVA):

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

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

Today’s Reflections:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today’s Prayers (Friday 21 August 2026):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 16 to 22 August 2026 (pp 30-31), is ‘Hope in the Making’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by Grace Murray, a USPG volunteer. The prayers this week come courtesy of passersby at Greenbelt Festival 2025.

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

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

The Collect of the Day:

O God, you declare your almighty power
most chiefly in showing mercy and pity:
mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace,
that we, running the way of your commandments,
may receive your gracious promises,
and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

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

Additional Collect:

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

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

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

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The Greeks have a word (or two) for it: 62, Ελευθερία ή θάνατος, ‘Freedom or Death’, an irreversible binomial

The nine blue and white stripes of the Greek flag represent the nine syllables of the rallying cry Ελευθερία ή θάνατος (‘Eleftheria i Thanatos’), ‘Freedom or Death’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

While I was wnandering aoround Oxford yesterday (16 June 2026), by the boathouses, the rivers and the islands in the river, I was musing on Bloomsday and the wandering of Ulysses. But I also recall a holiday on an Ionian island in Greece about 20-25 years ago, when I also visited Ithaki, the island home of Odysseus. On that same holiday, I met an Irish couple who introduced themselves as Joyce and James from Dublin.

They never, ever, introduced themselves in the reverse order, as in ‘I’m James, … Joyce.’

But inevitably, for many of the people staying in that same small apartment block, this became known as their ‘James Joyce holiday’. The pairing was irreversible.

Another holidaymaker in the same apartment block found out, as he was packing to go home, that his suitcase had ripped. Rather than buying a new case, he found a large, pre-used cardboard box, packed all his belongings inside and wrapped it up in bubble wrap, with strong brown masking tape.

At the airport, as he was about to place the box on the scanning machine, a policeman asked him to take it off, and open it.

‘I can’t,’ he pleaded.

‘Take it off’.

Lesson 1, Do not argue with a Greek police officer, any police officer, at an airport.

The lesson was being ignored, but two other tourists – eager to defuse the situation and more eager not to miss their flight – without any airs and graces or fuss and bother removed the box, hoping to restore peace and calm and wanting to minimalise any confrontation with law and order.

‘What is it in the box?’

‘Just me Bits and Bobs’, said the elderly Dub casually, unaware of the chaos or mess that could unfold around him – what Greeks call τα πάνω κάτω (ta páno káto), ‘the ups-downs’.

‘Bobs and Bits?’ the policeman asked.

We all began to smile, he noticed our spontaneous response, tensions were defused, and soon the box was on its way back through the scanner.

Pardon the pun, but it was an open and shut case. Perhaps all he had in his bag and baggage was odds and sods, six of one and half a dozen of the other. Not in there, I am sure from his holiday attire, were a shirt and tie.

Despite the smiles, we had all minded our Ps and Qs. No-one had to bow and scrape, no-one lost an arm and a leg, and we all went through security, happy after a holiday on a Greek island that for two weeks had been our Land of Milk and Honey.

When we got home, I am sure, nobody unpacked their flop flips, put their holidays nacks and nicks in appropriate crannies and nooks, or had conversations in the days that followed with their dad and mum about the days of the Tans and Blacks.

Who speaks of ‘breakfast and bed’ rather than ‘bed and breakfast’ for a B&B? … Park Villa Guest House in Kilkenny (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The pairing of words known in English as an irreversible binomial, or a frozen binomial, also exists in Greek. This is a pair of words linked by a conjunction such as και (‘and’) and that always occur in a fixed, non-reversible order. Έτσι κι έτσι (Etsi ki etsi), which means ‘so-so’, is a classic example of this paired rhythmic pattern in Greek. The phrase literally means ‘thus and thus’ and is used to describe average health, mood, or a mediocre experience:

Τι κάνεις; (ti káneis), How are you?

Έτσι κι έτσι (Etsi ki etsi), So-so.

Other common examples of the use of an irreversible binomial in Greek include:

Πέτσι και κόκαλο (pétsi ke kókalo, skin and bones), meaning emaciated or extremely thin.

Απ' έξω και ανακατωτά (ap' éxso ke anakatotá, inside out and upside down, completely mixed up), referring to knowing something perfectly.

Ήθη και έθιμα (íthi ke éthima, morals and customs), a standard frozen phrase encompassing cultural traditions.

Στο κάτω κάτω της γραφής (sto káto káto tis grafís, after all, bottom line), literally ‘at the bottom bottom of the writing’.

Τα πάνω κάτω (ta páno káto, upside down, chaos), literally ‘the ups-downs’, used to describe a mess.

Άνω κάτω (ano kato, ‘up down’) or ‘topsy-turvy’.

Μπρος πίσω (bros piso, ‘front back’) or back and forth.

Έθιμα και έθιμα (ethima kai ethima), ‘customs and habits’.

Μισός κι άλλος μισός (misos ki allos misos) ‘one and the other’.

Ένας κι ένας (enas ki enas), one by one.

Common Greek irreversible binomials feature entrenched phrases, historical idioms, and common collocations. In Greek linguistics, irreversible binomials or idiomatic, fixed-order word pairs, similar to the order of ‘bread and butter’ in English, are heavily shaped by iconicity or the chronological or logical sequence of events, and by end-weight, with longer or heavier words appearing toward the end of the phrase.

Verbs expressing sequential actions must follow their natural temporal order (as in going in before going out). In Greek, this appears as μπαινοβγαίνω (bainovgeno, ‘go in and out’) or ανεβοκατεβαίνω (anevokateveno, ‘go up and down’).

When nouns or adverbs of similar meaning are combined, the element with the more sonorous or longer vowel, or a greater number of syllables, is usually placed at the end to provide a rhythmic cadence.

The most famous example of an irreversible binomial in Greek is Ελευθερία ή θάνατος (Eleftheria i Thanatos), ‘Freedom or Death’. This pair of words is ordered by established convention, and they are fixed in sequence. Swapping their order, as in saying ‘Death or Freedom’, sounds jarring to any Greek speaker.

As a linguistic convention, the pairings in an irreversible binomial are anchored by cultural, psychological, and semantic rules. When faced with an ultimatum, we instinctively priorities the positive or desired outcome first, followed by the negative alternative. Positioning ‘Freedom’ before ‘Death’ frames the statement as a pursuit of life’s highest ideal, with death accepted only as a last resort.

The phrase Ελευθερία ή θάνατος (Eleftheria i Thanatos) has become the Greek national motto. It originated in the 1820s during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. The nine blue and white stripes of the Greek flag represent the nine syllables of this rallying cry.

The phrase gives its name to Freedom or Death, also known as Captain Michalis, a 1953 novel by the author Nikos Kazantzakis from Iraklion in Crete that is became a key work of modern Greek literature.

The binary choice between liberty and life without freedom is mirrored in other historic rallying cries, such as the Patrick Henry’s ‘Give me liberty, or give me death!’ The late Seumas Phelan, when he was a sub-editor at The Irish Times, would cry out during lulls and dull moments on the subs desk, ‘Give me copy, or give me death’.

In English, the fixed order of irreversible binomials or frozen binomials means that changing the order sounds jarring, even if the meaning remains clear. This fixed order is largely shaped by linguistic patterns rather than arbitrary rules.

The natural rhythm or ablaut means English speakers naturally prefer pairs with specific syllable stresses, or where a shorter, high-frequency word precedes a longer one, as with short and sweet or sick and tired.

Iconic sequencing means phrases often follow a chronological or logical order of events in the real world, such as cause and effect, or trial and error.

But cultural conventions and historical and semantic traditions also cement phrases into our long-term memory, processing them as single holistic units rather than individual words. In law and official documents, there are many irreversible binomials consisting of near synonyms, such as the oft-expressed terms and conditions and cease and desist.

There are hundreds of these expressions in English and they generally fall into a few key categories, such as food and objects. Think of how we link Fish and Chips, Salt and Pepper, Knife and Fork, or Bread and Butter. In everyday conversation and idioms, we refer to Give and Take, Back and Forth, Safe and Sound, Bed and Breakfast, but never to Roll and Rock or Blues and Rhythm, and we ask for explanations and excuses to be Short and Sweet.

The term ‘irreversible binomial’ was introduced in 1954 by the Ukrainian-born etymologist and philologist Yakov Malkiel (1914-1998), although aspects of the phenomenon had been discussed since at least 1903 under different names such as ‘terminological imbroglio’ and the now politically-incorrect ‘Siamese twins’.

Many irreversible binomials are catchy due to alliteration, rhyming, or ablaut reduplication, and have become clichés or catchphrases. The mix and match of idioms includes phrases such as rock and roll, the birds and the bees, and they have survived the wear and tear of generations among generation of native English speakers, even one word in a pairing has become obsolete as in spick and span. Spick is a fossil word that never appears outside the phrase spick and span. Who uses words such as such as vim or abet except when using sayings such as vim and vigour or aid and abet.

No-one is ever caught between a hard place and a rock, high water and hell never come, and I know no-one who has had a tuck and nip, even among the famous and rich. Although, if I wanted to be little more Greek in my turn of phrase, or a Joycean reference, then instead of ‘a rock and a hard place’ I might chose to be caught between the equally dangerous and threatening Scylla and Charybdis.

Ball and Chain? … ‘Sitting on History’ by Bill Woodrow in Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Previous words in this series:

1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.

2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.

3, Bread, Ψωμί.

4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.

5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.

6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.

7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.

8,Theology, Θεολογία.

9, Icon, Εἰκών.

10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.

11, Chaos, Χάος.

12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.

13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.

14, Mañana, Αύριο.

15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.

16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.

17, The missing words.

18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.

19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.

20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.

21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.

22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.

23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.

24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.

25, Asthma, Ασθμα.

26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.

27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.

28, School, Σχολείο.

29, Muse, Μούσα.

30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.

31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.

32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.

33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.

34, Cinema, Κινημα.

35, autopsy and biopsy

36, Exodus, ἔξοδος

37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος

38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς

39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια

40, Practice, πρᾶξις

41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός

42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή

43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή

44, catastrophe, καταστροφή

45, democracy, δημοκρατία

46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end

47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse

48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha

49, Ἠλεκτρον (Elektron), electric

50, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις

51, Bimah, βῆμα

52, ἰχθύς (ichthýs) and ψάρι (psari), fish.

53, Τὰ Βιβλία (Ta Biblia), The Bible

54, Φῐλοξενῐ́ᾱ (Philoxenia), true hospitality

55, εκκλησία (ekklesia), the Church

56, ναός (naos) and ἱερός (ieros), a church

57, Χριστούγεννα (Christougenna), Christmas

58, ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia), θεοφάνεια, (theopháneia), Epiphany and Theophany

59, Ζέφυρος (Zéphuros), the West Wind

60, Αύριο (Avrio), Tomorrow

61, καλημέρα (κaliméra), ‘Good Morning’, and καλαμάρι, κalamári, ‘squid’

62, Ελευθερία ή θάνατος, ‘Freedom or Death’

63, Ποδόσφαιρο, ‘Football’

64, καφές (coffee), Φραπές (frappé)

65, Odyssey (η Οδύσσεια) and Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς)

Series to be continued

’Freedom or Death’ is one of the great literary works by Nikos Kazantzakis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 104, Friday 22 August 2025

‘Hang all the law and the prophets …’

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and this week began with the Ninth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity IX, 17 August 2025).

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

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

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

Matthew 22: 34-40 (NRSVA):

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

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

Today’s Reflection:

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

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

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

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

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

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

He was born in Dublin and is the Regius Professor of Divinity Emeritus in the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge and was the founding Director of the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme (2002-2015) . Speaking at the Dublin and Glendalough Clergy Conference in Kilkenny 13 years ago [2012], he was asked about some of the hermeneutical approaches he outlines in his book, The Future of Christian Theology (2011). He said that if the two great commandments are about love, and God is love, then no interpretation is to be trusted that goes against love.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today’s Prayers (Friday 22 August 2025):

The theme this week (17 to 23 August) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Tell the Full Story’ (pp 28-29). This theme was introduced on Sunday with reflections from Dr Jo Sadgrove, Research and Learning Advisor, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 22 August 2025) invites us to pray:

Lord, have mercy on communities worldwide suffering from environmental harm caused by colonial exploitation. Heal the land and restore lives. Grant us wisdom to care for your creation and seek justice.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
who sent your Holy Spirit
to be the life and light of your Church:
open our hearts to the riches of your grace,
that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
in love and joy and peace;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

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

Additional Collect:

Gracious Father,
revive your Church in our day,
and make her holy, strong and faithful,
for your glory’s sake
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

In my prayers today I am also remembering my eldest brother, Stephen Edward Comerford (1946-1970), who would have been 79 today. He 55 years ago died in Durham, North Carolina, at the age of 24 on 18 December 1970, while he was working on his PhD in Duke University. May his memory be a blessing ז״ל.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

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

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 69, Thursday 17 July 2025

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11: 28) … ‘A Case History’ (1998) by John King, also known as ‘The Hope Street Suitcases’ in Liverpool (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Fourth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity IV, 13 July 2025). 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.

‘For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light’ (Matthew 11: 30) … pilgrim figures in a shop window in Santiago de Compostela (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 11: 28-30 (NRSVA):

Jesus said: 28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens’ (Matthew 11: 28) … the bells in Vlatadon Monastery in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

Today’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist (Matthew 11: 28-30) is particularly short, but holds out the offer and the promise of hope.

In the law of contract, there are two important elements … offer and acceptance.

This morning Christ invites all of us who are tired, frazzled and bothered, weary and heavy-laden, to come to him and if we do he offers us rest. There’s the offer.

What about acceptance?

He simply asks that we take his yoke and learn from him.

‘Ah,’ you may ask, ‘but what about the terms and conditions?’

As you know – as the banks and our mobile phone services constantly remind us – all contracts are subject to terms and conditions.

Well the terms and conditions are simple: for his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

I still remember how the former Dean of Lismore, the late Bill Beare, once challenged the clergy of the Diocese of Cashel, Ossory and Ferns at a meeting in Kilkenny in words like: ‘Who said you couldn’t dump everything at the foot of the cross.’

This morning, we might think of dumping everything at the foot of the cross during the day … and then try to do it every day. And become confident of the offer and the promise of hope.

In a recent posting on social media, the Right Revd Steven Charleston, retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska, offers a reflection on the challenge of bringing hope to others:

Give the lonely heart a reason to be hopeful.
Give the weary traveller a place to rest.
Give the solo singer a chorus.
Give the troubled spirit room to breathe.
Give old poets a reason to keep writing.
Give young ones the same.

‘Come to me, all you that are … carrying heavy burdens’ (Matthew 11: 28) … suitcases as people prepare to leave a USPG conference in High Leigh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 17 July 2025):

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

The USPG prayer diary today (Thursday 17 July 2025) invites us to pray

God of the persecuted, we lift up the situation in Mozambique where many Christians fear for their lives due to extremism. As Bishop within the Church in Angola and Mozambique, strengthen Bishop Filomena as she proclaims your truth and points to our hope in you.

The Collect:

O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
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,
comfort of the afflicted and healer of the broken,
you have fed us at the table of life and hope:
teach us the ways of gentleness and peace,
that all the world may acknowledge
the kingdom of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Gracious Father,
by the obedience of Jesus
you brought salvation to our wayward world:
draw us into harmony with your will,
that we may find all things restored in him,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

‘O God … without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy’ (Collect of the Day) … religious goods in the Zindos workshop in Kalambaka, near Meteora in northern Greece (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

Watford Junction leaves me wondering whether I am now living north or south of Watford

Watford High Street follows the line of an ancient trackway … 70-79 High Street, designed by Sydney Dawe in the 1920s, is on the footprint of an older building (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

I pass through Watford regularly on the train from Milton Keynes into London. It is just 24 km (15 miles) or 16 minutes from Euston, and it is also close to several motorway junctions on both the M1 and the M25. But until this week, I had never stopped to visit Watford itself.

In popular conversation and journalism, Watford Gap marks the divide between Northern England and Southern England, and the phrase ‘North of Watford’ usually refers to the north of England, especially to places remote from London. Watford in Northamptonshire is close to the north/south isogloss of the three key hallmarks of Northern English and Southern English: foot–strut split, bad-lad split and the Bath vowel.

Some writers say the original expression refers not to Watford in Northamptonshire but to the much larger Watford town in Hertfordshire and Watford Junction railway station, once the last urban stop on the main railway line out of London to the north of England.

I have been to Watford in Northamptonshire in search of Comberford family links. But Watford Junction is in the other direction from Milton Keynes, and while M1 Watford Gap services lead to the Midlands and the North, Watford Junction is the last urban stop on the main line to Euston for rail users.

I spent much yesterday in Watford, a modern town in Hertfordshire with a population of 102,000 or more. The name Watford is first mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 1007. The name Watford may come from the Old English waet (full of water) or wath (hunting), and -ford, and the High Street follows the line of part of an ancient trackway from the south-east to the north-west.

Watford developed on the banks of the River Colne on land belonging to St Albans Abbey, which claimed the manor of Casio (‘Albanestou’), dating from a grant by King Offa in AD 793, although it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086).

By the 12th century, the area was part of St Albans Abbey’s manor of Cashio. The Abbey was granted a charter allowing it to hold a market, and Saint Mary’s Church began to be built. The town also grew because it was on the route to Berkhamsted Castle and the royal palace at Kings Langley.

The Cassiobury estate, which came to include Cassiobury House and Cassiobury Park, was granted to Sir Richard Morrison in the 16th century, and became the family seat of the Earls of Essex.

Arthur Capell (1631-1683), 1st Earl of Essex, rebuilt Cassiobury House, which he inherited from his mother, Elizabeth Morrison, daughter and heiress of Sir Charles Morrison (1587-1628). He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1672-1677, and gave his name to Capel Street, Essex Street and Essex Gate in Dublin. Essex was convicted for his role in the Rye House Plot to assassinate Charles II and his brother the Duke of York, the future James II, and he died in the Tower of London in 1683 while awaiting execution for treason.

From 1753-1923, The Grove was the seat of the Villiers family, who were descended from the Capell and Morrison families and who became Earls of Clarendon in 1776.

The Bedford Almshouses, built in 1580, are the oldest houses in Watford, were built in 1580 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Bedford Almshouses, built in 1580, are the oldest houses in Watford. They were endowed by Francis Russell (1527-1585), 2nd Earl of Bedford and godfather to Sir Francis Drake, and Russell’s second wife, Bridget Manners, former wife of Sir Richard Morison. They were built in Parsonage Barn Yard, close to Saint Mary’s Church, to provide housing ‘for eight poor women.’

The almshouses are Grade II listed and continue to provide housing as a charitable trust under the Bedford, Morison and Cordery Almshouses for 18 single men and women over the age of 60.

The earliest known schools in Watford include one run by George Redhead in 1595, a Free School near Saint Mary’s churchyard in 1640, and a Free School endowed by Elizabeth Fuller (1644-1709) of Watford Place in 1704. Her home was at Watford Place, although the white villa on the site is said to be the third house there, built around 1790.

Elizabeth Fuller of Watford Place endowed a Free School in 1704 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

When Daniel Defoe visited Watford in 1778, he described it as a ‘genteel market town, very long, having but one street.’

Watford remained an agricultural community with some cottage industry for many centuries. The Industrial Revolution brought the Grand Junction Canal (now Grand Union Canal) from 1798 and the London and Birmingham Railway from 1837. The canal and the railway brought rapid growth, with paper-making mills such as John Dickinson at Croxley, followed by the development of printing, as well as two brewers, Benskins and Sedgwicks, who flourished in Watford until the late 20th century.

As the town expanded, King Street, a new street off the High Street, opened in 1851, followed by Queens Road and Clarendon Road in the 1860s. Watford expanded rapidly in the decades that followed, with new inhabitants moving in from London, resulting in cramped and unsanitary houses that partly explain riots that erupted in 1902. A slum clearance programme was interrupted by World War I in 1914, but resumed in the 1920s.

By then, printing had become the biggest industry in Watford, with Sun Printers and Odhams Press, and for a time Watford was the biggest printing centre, until the printing industry went into decline after World War II. Odhams Press closed in 1978 and the Sun moved out of Watford in the 1980s.

In the Atria shopping centre in the heart of Watford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

In the heart of Watford, the High Street has a high concentration of bars, clubs and restaurants. The Harlequin Shopping Centre, which opened in 1992, was renamed ‘intu Watford’ in 2013, and is now known as Atria Watford.

In recent decades, Watford’s proximity to London and good rail and road links have attracted several businesses to the town. Watford has the head offices of a number of national companies such as JD Wetherspoon, and is the UK base of many multinationals, including Hilton Worldwide and JJ Kavanagh and Sons, Ireland’s largest private coach operator, was founded in 1919 with a service connecting Urlingford and Kilkenny City.

The Grove in Watford has been the venue for many international conferences and sporting events, including the 2006 World Golf Championship, the 2013 Bilderberg Conference and the 2019 NATO summit.

Watford has 92 listed buildings in Watford, including Saint Mary’s Church, which dates from the 12th century, and Holy Rood Church, dating from 1890. Cassiobury House was demolished in 1927, but the park has become one of the best green spaces in England. Other public parks and gardens in Watford include Cheslyn House and Gardens and Woodside Park.

The Palace Theatre in Watford opened in 1908 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Watford Palace Theatre opened in 1908 and is the only producing theatre in Hertfordshire. The Palace Theatre was built in 1908 by WA Theobald and the red brick front was added in 1909-1910 by Wylson and Long. At the ends are tall towers with leaded domes and a frieze has a panel inscribed ‘Palace Theatre’. The entrances are under a flat canopy. Inside are two curved galleries and stage boxes.

The Pump House Theatre and Arts Centre is based in an old pumping station off the Lower High Street. Watford Colosseum has been the venue for concerts by Maria Callas (1954) and Luciano Pavarotti (1995), and is also a venue for plays, charity events, snooker championships and boxing fixtures.

Watford Museum has a collection that includes works by JMW Turner, Sir Joshua Reynolds, William Blake and Jacob Epstein.

Perhaps the major tourist attraction in Watford today is the Warner Bros Studios, an 80-ha film studio complex at Leavesden, about 4 km (2.5 miles) north of the town centre, in the former de Havilland factory.

The studios have been the location for many Hollywood productions, but the big attraction is that this is where the Harry Potter films were made. There are queues outside Watford Junction station throughout the day for a special shuttle bus to the studios.

However, I was not in search of Harry Potter or the Philosopher’s Stone … nor was I wondering whether I now live north of Watford or south of Watford. Instead, I wanted to see some of the churches, especially Saint Mary’s and Holy Rood, the synagogues, mosques and gurudwaras and the sculptures around the town, and learning about some of the town’s football history. And so, more about them in the days to come, I hope.

Watford has the head offices of a number of national companies and is the UK base of many multinationals (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Daily prayer in Lent 2025: 22, Wednesday 26 March 2025

The Ten Commandments on two central panels of the reredos in Saint Margaret Lothbury Church, London, with the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed on each side (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Lent began three weeks ago on Ash Wednesday (5 March 2025), and this week began with the Third Sunday in Lent (Lent III). The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Harriet Monsell (1811-1883), founder of the Community of Saint John the Baptist.

Later this evening, I hope to take part in the choir rehearsals in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford. 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.

The Ten Commandments on two panels in Saint Carthage’s Cathedral, Lismore, Co Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 5: 17-19 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 17 ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.’

The Ten Commandments on a Torah Mantle on Torah Scrolls from Adelaide Road Synagogue now in the Dublin Jewish Museum (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

Which are the least of the commandments? And if we ask that question we might ask to which is the greatest of the commandments.

In Jewish law, there are 613 commandments, precepts or mitzvot. They include positive commandments, to perform an act (mitzvot aseh), and negative commandments, to abstain from certain acts (mitzvot lo taaseh). The negative commandments number 365, which coincides with the number of days in the solar year, and the positive commandments number 248, said to be the number of bones and main organs in the human body (Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23b–24a).

The number of tzitzit or knotted fringes of the tallit or prayer shawl worn by pious Jews at prayer is connected to the 613 commandments: the Hebrew numerical value of the word tzitzit is 600; each tassel has eight threads (when doubled over) and five sets of knots, totalling 13; the sum of these numbers is 613. This reflects the idea that donning a tallit or prayer shawl with tzitzit reminds the wearer of all 613 Torah commandments.

Later this week (28 March), we read how once, when a Scribe wants to know which of one of these 613 commandments is the most important (Mark 12.28–34), Christ offers not one but two commandments or laws. But neither is found in the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20: 1-17 and Deuteronomy 5: 4-21). Instead, Christ steps outside the Ten Commandments and quotes from two other sections in the Bible (Deuteronomy 6: 4-5, Leviticus 19: 18).

The first command Christ quotes is the shema, ‘Hear, O Israel, …’ (verse 29), recited twice daily by pious Jews. The shema is composed from two separate passages in the Book Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 and 11: 13-21), and to this day it is recited twice daily in Jewish practice.

Christ links this first commandment to a second, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (verse 31). Once again, he is not quoting from the Ten Commandments; instead, here he is quoting from the Book Leviticus (Leviticus 19: 18).

Christ combines these two precepts into a moral principle, linked by love. But he is not the first, nor is he the last, to do this, nor is this combination unique for the Scribes or the Pharisees.

Hillel the Elder (ca 110 BCE to 10 CE), who was asked a similar question, cited this verse as the most important message of the Torah. Once, he was challenged by a gentile who asked to be converted if the Torah was explained to him while he stood on one foot. Drawing on Leviticus (Leviticus 19: 18), Hillel told the man: ‘Do not do to anyone else what is hateful to you: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn’ (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbath 31a).

The Scribe agrees with Jesus and elaborates. Both precepts are much more important than all the burnt-offerings and sacrifices in the Temple (verses 32-33). For responding in this way, Christ tells this Scribe that he has answered wisely and is near the kingdom of God (verse 34).

The Irish-born theologian Professor David Ford sees these two commandments as the key, foundational Scripture passage for all our hermeneutical exercises. David Ford was born in Dublin, and from 1991-2015 he was the Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge.

Speaking once at the Dublin and Glendalough Clergy Conference in Kilkenny [2012], he was asked about some of the hermeneutical approaches he outlines in his book, The Future of Christian Theology (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011). He said that if the two great commandments are about love, and God is love, then no interpretation is to be trusted that goes against love.

He reminded the clergy present of Augustine’s great regula caritatis, the rule of love. If love is the rule, then the ‘how’ of reading scripture together is as important as the ‘what.’ In The Future of Christian Theology he says: ‘Anything that goes against love of God and love of neighbour is, for Christian theology, unsound biblical interpretation.’

In other words, the two great commandments provide the key to understanding all the commandments, and ‘whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 5: 19).

A selection of tallitot or prayer shawls in the synagogue in Chania in Crete … the number of knots and fringes represent the 613 commandments in Jewish law, but which is the most important? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 26 March 2025):

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 ‘Towards Reconciliation and Renewal’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a programme update by the Revd Canon Dr Carlton J Turner, Anglican Tutor in Contextual Theology and Mission Studies and Deputy Director of Research at the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Wednesday 26 March 2025) invites us to pray:

Lord, we ask for a Church that is willing to repent for its historic injustices. May we seek forgiveness and work towards healing and justice for all.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain,
and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,
may find it none other than the way of life and peace;
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:

Merciful Lord,
grant your people grace to withstand the temptations
of the world, the flesh and the devil,
and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Eternal God,
give us insight
to discern your will for us,
to give up what harms us,
and to seek the perfection we are promised
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

The Ten Commandments on the ‘parochet’ or curtain on the Ark containing the Torah Scrolls in a synagogue in Kraków (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 Christmas 2024-2025: 34, Monday 27 January 2025

‘But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property (Mark 3: 27) … Kilkenny Castle at night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

This is the last week in the 40-day season of Christmas, which continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation next Sunday (2 February 2025). This week began with the Third Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany III, 26 January 2025), and today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January 2025).

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.

‘If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand’ (Mark 3: 24) … confusing road signs in Tsesmes near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 3: 22-30 (NRSVA):

22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’ 23 And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

28 ‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’ – 30 for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’

‘Time present and time past / Are both perhaps present in time future / And time future contained in time past’ (TS Eliot) … the clock on Rathmines Town Hall depicted in street art on Mountpleasant Avenue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Reflection:

TS Eliot’s play Murder in the Cathedral is based on the events leading up to the murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 29 December 1170.

Becket was murdered at the behest of King Henry II, and the play focuses on Becket’s internal struggles. As he reflects on the martyrdom he faces, his tempters arrive, like Job’s comforters, and they question the archbishop about his plight, echoing in many ways Christ’s temptations in the wilderness.

The first tempter offers Becket the prospect of physical safety. The second tempter offers him power, riches and fame in serving the king so that he can disarm the powerful and help the poor. The third tempter suggests the archbishop should form an alliance with the barons and seize a chance to resist the king.

Finally, the fourth tempter urges Thomas to look to the glory of martyrdom.

Becket responds to all his tempters and specifically addresses the immoral suggestions of the fourth tempter at the end of the first act:

Now is my way clear, now is the meaning plain:
Temptation shall not come in this kind again.
The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.

Saint Mark’s Gospel is very sparse in its account of the story of Christ’s temptations in the wilderness – just two verses (see Mark 1: 12-13). In the much fuller accounts given by Saint Matthew (Matthew 4: 1-11) and Saint Luke (Luke 4: 1-13), Christ is tempted to do the right things for the wrong reason.

What would be wrong with Christ turning stones into bread (see Matthew 4: 3; Luke 4: 3-4) to feed the hungry?

What would be wrong with Christ showing miraculous powers (see Matthew 4: 3; Luke 4: 9) to point to the majesty of God (see Matthew 4: 4; Luke 4: 10-11)?

What would be wrong with Christ taking command of the kingdoms of this world (see Matthew 4: 9; Luke 4: 5-7) to usher in justice, mercy and peace?

Let us not deceive ourselves, these are real temptations. For those who are morally driven there is always a real temptation to do the right thing but to do it for the wrong reason.

In today’s Gospel reading (Mark 3: 22-30) and in tomorrow’s reading (Mark 3.31-35), Christ is challenged in two fundamental ways: he is challenged about whether his work is the work of God or the work of the Devil (Mark 3: 22); and he is challenged to think about what his family thinks about what he is doing (Mark 3: 32).

In recent years, Ireland benefitted from economic growth and social and legislative changes that made it a modern European nation, like its neighbours. But ambition turned to greed, and greed then turned to economic collapse. The Irish economy and Irish society seemed to have given in to the temptation to do what appeared to be the right thing for the wrong reason.

Too often when I am offered the opportunity to do the right thing, to make a difference in the lives of others and in this world, I ask: ‘What’s in this for me?’

When I am asked to speak up for those who are marginalised or oppressed, this should be good enough reason in itself. But then I wonder how others are going to react – react not to the marginalised or oppressed, but to me.

How often have I seen what is the right thing to do, but have found an excuse that I pretend is not of my own making?

How often do I think of doing the right thing only if it is going to please my family members or please my neighbours?

How often do I use the Bible to justify not extending civil rights to others?

How often do I use obscure Bible texts to prop up my own prejudices, forgetting that any text in the Bible, however clear or obscure it may be, depends, in Christ’s own words, on the two greatest commandments, to love God and to love one another.

We can convince ourselves that we are doing the right thing when we are doing it for the wrong reason. A wrong decision taken once, thinking it is doing the right thing, but for the wrong reason, is not just an action in the present moment. It forms habits and it shapes who we are, within time and eternity.

Today is International Holocaust Memorial Day. The Revd Martin Niemöller (1892-1984), a prominent German Lutheran pastor and an outspoken opponent of Hitler, spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. He once said:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.

What we do today or refuse to do today, even if we think it is the right thing to do but we do it for the wrong reasons, reflects how we have formed ourselves habitually in the past, is an image of our inner being in the present, and has consequences for the future we wish to shape.

As TS Eliot writes:

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future
And time future contained in time past (‘Burnt Norton’).

How is the Church to recover its voice and speak up for the oppressed and the marginalised, not because it is fashionable or politically correct today, but because it is the right thing to do today and for the future?

Surely all our actions must depend on those two great commandments – to love God and to love one another.

Martin Niemöller’s cell in Sachsenhausen (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 27 January 2025, International Holocaust Remembrance Day):

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 ‘A Reflection on 2 Timothy’. This theme was introduced yesterday with a Programme Update by the Revd Canon Dr Nicky Chater, Chair of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches and Chaplain for these communities in the Diocese of Durham.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 27 January 2025, International Holocaust Remembrance Day) invites us to pray:

Forgive us when we give space to fear, negativity, and hatred of others, simply because they are different from us. Through our prayers and actions, help us to stand together with people and communities who are suffering, so that light may banish all darkness, love will prevail over hate and good will triumph over evil.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
whose Son revealed in signs and miracles
the wonder of your saving presence:
renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your mighty power;
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:

Almighty Father,
whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ is the light of the world:
may your people,
illumined by your word and sacraments,
shine with the radiance of his glory,
that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed
to the ends of the earth;
for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

God of all mercy,
your Son proclaimed good news to the poor,
release to the captives,
and freedom to the oppressed:
anoint us with your Holy Spirit
and set all your people free
to praise you in Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day … a fading rose on the fence at Auschwitz-Birkenau; behind is one of the concentration camp watchtowers and a train wagon (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