Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 134, Saturday 19 September 2026

‘When they hear the word … [they] bear fruit with patient endurance’ (Luke 8: 15) … fruit on sale in the market at Rialto in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and tomorrow is the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVI). The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Theodore of Tarsus (690), Archbishop of Canterbury.

Today is Stony Stratford’s Big Market Day and I may visit the Made in Stony Stratford craft fair in the Cock Hotel from 10 am to 4 pm. During the day, I hope to also pop into ‘To Steki Mas Extra’, an extra version of the Greek Community’s ‘pop-up’ café from 10:30 am to 3 pm in the Swinfen Harris Church Hall, beside the Greek Orthodox Church on London Road. In the afternoon I may catch some of the last game of the Cricket season at Stony Stratford Cricket Club. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

The Sower and the Seed (see Luke 8: 4-15) … an image in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 8: 4-15 (NRSVA):

4 When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5 ‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. 7 Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

9 Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that

“looking they may not perceive,
and listening they may not understand.”

11 ‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. 14 As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.’

‘When it grew, it produced a hundredfold’ (Luke 8: 8) … blossoming trees and shaded gardens in Platanias in suburban Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

In the Gospel reading yesterday (Luke 8: 1-3), we hear how Jesus was going around the towns and villages, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, accompanied by the 12 disciples and a number of women who supported his work.

People from the town come to hear him, and he teaches them in this morning’s reading (Luke 8: 4-15) in the form of a parable, the well-known parable of the sower. The parable is told in two stages.

The first stage is the parable itself. The emphasis is on the sower sowing. He scatters the seed all over, as Jesus scatters his teaching among the people – in the towns and villages, in the countryside, on the mountainside, by the lakes and shore.

Some of the scattered seed falls on the path, some on rocks, some among brambles and some on good soil. Even though some of the seed that the sower scatters inevitably withers and dies, some which will find fertile soil and flourish.

So it is with the Word of God and the Word of Jesus. It is a message of confidence and hope for the future of the Kingdom. In the Gospel, it is Jesus’ disciples who are the fertile soil. Christ is the Sower, the seed is the Word, those spoken to are the soil.

Clear as the parable is, the disciples ask for an explanation. Jesus tells them that the inner secrets of the Kingdom are for them, they are given τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας (ta mysteria tis basileias), the mysteries of the kingdom.

The word ‘mystery’ (μυστήριον, mysterion) refers to something hidden, a secret or religious mystery, not known to uninitiated, ordinary people. The Church came to use this word to refer to a sacrament, particularly to the Eucharist. We still use the word mystery in this way.

It is found at least three times in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer in referring to the Eucharist: ‘we … have duly received these holy mysteries’; ‘so shall ye be meet partakers of these holy mysteries’; and ‘he hath instituted and ordained holy mysteries, pledges of his love.’

We think of the word ‘mystery’ in terms of a genre of novel or a problem to be solved. But the word mystery in Greek is μυστήριον (mysterion, but usually as the plural μυστήρια, musteria).

It comes from the Greek word muo, to shut the mouth. It relates, therefore, to a secret teaching, the kind of revelation that is passed on in whispers, revealed only to the initiated.

In the Hebrew scriptures, God is the ‘revealer of mysteries’ (Daniel 2: 47). The Wisdom literature talks about ‘the secret purposes of God’ (see Wisdom 2: 22).

In the Gospels the word μυστήριον (mysterion) is used to refer to the secret meaning of parables (see Matthew 13: 11; Mark 4: 11; Luke 8: 4-15; Luke 9: 1-10).

This noun had originally been used in reference to the secrets of ancient mystery cults, but it is generally used in the plural in the New Testament to refer to a number of doctrines not known earlier in the Bible. Saint Paul uses it in a technical, theological sense, setting forth the notion that Christ is the mystery, the secret plan of God that has always been implicit in creation but is now made explicit in Christ. Christ is the predestined mystery of God revealed within the fullness of time. In receiving him, people receive salvation.

In many liturgies, the Eucharistic acclamation after the words of institution is: ‘The Mystery of Faith.’ In many Churches, when we celebrate the Eucharist, we are inviting people to approach Christ and to meet him in these sacred mysteries.

What if, in this morning’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist, Christ is scattering the Good News of the Kingdom among all people, offering it to all who will hear, whether they bear fruit or not, but is reminding the disciples, reminding us as the Church, that we have been entrusted with the sacred mysteries of the kingdom in the Eucharist?

If we hear and understand the word, then we are invited, sacramentally to meet Christ in the sacred mysteries, the Eucharist.

‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path’ (Luke 8: 5) … a pathway through the fields in Comberford, between Tamworth and Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 19 September 2026):

The theme this week (13 -19 September 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘Witness as With-ness’ (pp 38-39). This theme was introduced last Sunday with a reflection by the Revd Canon Dr Peniel Rajkumar, Director of Global Mission and Theologian, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 19 September 2026) invites us to pray:

God of transformation, help me to become a “spect-actor” who joins your work in the world. May I trust that your power is revealed even in the most unexpected places.

The Collect:

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
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:

Keep, O Lord, your Church, with your perpetual mercy;
and, because without you our human frailty cannot but fall,
keep us ever by your help from all things hurtful,
and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Lord God,
defend your Church from all false teaching
and give to your people knowledge of your truth,
that we may enjoy eternal life
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Trinity XVI:

O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers
of your people who call upon you;
and grant that they may both perceive and know
what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them;
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.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

‘When they hear the word … [they] bear fruit with patient endurance’ (Luke 8: 15) … summer blossoms on a tree in the old town in Rethymnon (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 2026: 81, Monday 27 July 2026

‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened’ (Matthew 13: 33) … a variety of bread on a market stall in Buckinghamo (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church and this week began with the Eighth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VIII, 26 July 2026). Today (27 July), the Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship gives thanks for the life and work of Bishop Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901), Bishop of Durham and Teacher of the Faith. He was one of the ‘Cambridge Triumvirate’ and was the founder Westcott House, the theological college in Cambridge that I visited last week and that I described in blog posting on Saturday evening.

Later this evening, I have a meeting of the trustees of a local charity in 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, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened’ (Matthew 13: 33) … bread in a shop window in Marylebone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Matthew 13: 31-35 (NRSVA):

31 He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’

33 He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’

34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. 35 This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet:

‘I will open my mouth to speak in parables;
I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.’

‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field’ (Matthew 13: 31) … the Mustard Seed is a restaurant in a country house setting in Ballingarry, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

This morning’s reflections:

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist this morning (Matthew 13: 31-35) repeats part of yesterday’s Gospel reading (Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52). I suppose it helps to be reminded this morning to be reminded how why Jesus keeps on trying to grasp at images that might help the Disciples and help us to understand what the Kingdom of God is like.

Christ tries to offer us a taste of the kingdom in this reading, as he continues to speak in parables. The two parables in today’s reading – the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Parable of the Yeast – are really similes that must have seemed incredible in their day because of Christ’s use of exaggeration and hyperbole.

A mustard seed is very small, but it grows into a large shrub, rather than a tree. Birds do not nest in it.

Bread made with three measures of flour would feed 100 people, so once again we have hyperbole. The Kingdom of God will grow from small beginnings to something beyond our measure or imagination.

We have a romantic imagination that confuses gardens with Paradise, and Paradise with the Kingdom of Heaven. But perhaps that is a good starting point.

I was reflecting yesterday how the Kingdom of Heaven may be so like so many of those places that I see as snatches of heaven, places where I find myself constantly praising God and thanking God for creation.

But … but it’s not just that. And I start thinking that Christ does more than just paint a scene when he describes the kingdom of heaven.

I also need thanks for the small seeds or fistfuls of yeast, and share them with those I love and cherish.

You may wonder why Christ decides to talk about a mustard seed and a mulberry tree, rather than, say, an olive tree. After all, as he was talking in the incident in this morning’s Gospel reading, he must have been surrounded by grove after grove of olive trees.

But, I can imagine, he is also watching to see if those who are listening have switched off their humour mode, if they have withdrawn their sense of humour. He is talking here with a great sense of humour, using hyperbole to underline his point.

We all know a tiny grain of mustard is incapable of growing to a big tree. So, what is Christ talking about here? Because, he not only caught the disciples off-guard with his hyperbole and sense of humour … he even wrong-footed some of the Reformers and many Bible translators who make mistakes about what sort of trees he is talking about this morning.

Why did Christ refer to a mustard seed and a mulberry or sycamine tree, and not, say, an olive tree or a mighty oak tree?

Christ first uses the example of a tiny, miniscule kernel or seed (κόκκος, kokkos), from which the small mustard plant (σίναπι, sinapi) grows. But mustard is an herb, not a tree. Not much of a miracle, you might say: tiny seed, tiny plant.

But he then mixes his metaphors and refers to another plant. Martin Luther, in his translation of the Bible, turned the tree (verse 6) into a mulberry tree. The mulberry tree – both the black mulberry and the white mulberry – is from the same family as the fig tree.

As children, some of us sang or played to the nursery rhyme or song, ‘Here we go round the mulberry bush’. Another version is ‘Here we go gathering nuts in May’. The same tune is used for the American rhyme Pop goes the weasel and for the Epiphany carol, ‘I saw three ships’. TS Eliot used the nursery rhyme in his poem ‘The Hollow Men’, replacing the mulberry bush with a prickly pear and ‘on a cold and frosty morning’ with ‘at five o’clock in the morning.’

Of course, mulberries do not grow on bushes, and they do not grow nuts that are gathered in May. Nor is the mulberry a very tall tree – it grows from tiny seeds but only reaches the height of an adult person. It is not a very big tree at all. It is more like a bush than a tree – and it is easy to uproot too.

The Greek word used in verse 31 for a tree, δένδρον (dendron), appears 25 times in the New Testament as the ordinary word for a tree, not a shrub or a bush. Although generic, it carries rich theological weight. A tree stands rooted between heaven and earth, silently declaring the Creator’s power (Genesis 1-2) and inviting reflection on life, growth, fruitfulness, and judgment.

When the New Testament writers select dendron, they tap into this panoramic biblical backdrop to illuminate the message of repentance, authentic discipleship, kingdom expansion, and final judgment. In first-century Judea and Galilee, hillsides were dotted with olive, fig, date-palm, sycamore, oak, and cedar. Trees furnished timber, fuel, medicine, oil, fruit, shade, and landmarks for travellers. Their steady annual cycles made them ideal teaching aids.

However, the tree Christ names in a smiliar reference in Saint Luke’s Gospel (Luke 17: 1-6) is the sycamine tree (συκάμινος, sikámeenos), which has the shape and leaves of a mulberry tree but fruit that tastes like the fig, or the sycamore fig (συκόμορος, Ficus Sycomorus). Others think the tree being referred to here is the sycamore fig (συκόμορος, Ficus Sycomorus), a tree the same as the big tree that little Zacchaeus climbs in Jericho to see Jesus (Luke 19: 1-10).

The sycamine tree is not naturally pollinated. The pollination process is initiated only when a wasp sticks its stinger right into the heart of the fruit. In other words, the tree and its fruit have to be stung in order to reproduce. There is a direct connection between suffering and growth, but also a lesson that everything in creation, including the wasp, has its place in the intricate balance of nature.

Whether it is a small seed like the mustard seed, a small, seemingly useless and annoying creature like the wasp, a small and despised figure of fun like Zacchaeus, or a small amount of yeast used in baking bread, each has value in God’s eyes, and each has a role in the great harvest of gathering in for God’s Kingdom.

Put more simply, it is quality and not quantity that matters.

‘It … becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches’ (Matthew 13: 32) … old trees in Saint Mary Magdalene churchyard, Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2066)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 27 July 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 26 July to 1 August 2026 (pp 22-23), is ‘Lives in Transit’. This theme was introduced yesterday with a programme update by Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG.

The USPG prayer diary today (Monday 27 July 2026) invites us to pray:

God of all peoples, we pray for migrant workers who begin each week in uncertainty and hard labour. Surround them with protection and your love.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty Lord and everlasting God,
we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern
both our hearts and bodies
in the ways of your laws
and the works of your commandments;
that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,
we may be preserved in body and soul;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Strengthen for service, Lord,
the hands that have taken holy things;
may the ears which have heard your word
be deaf to clamour and dispute;
may the tongues which have sung your praise be free from deceit;
may the eyes which have seen the tokens of your love
shine with the light of hope;
and may the bodies which have been fed with your body
be refreshed with the fullness of your life;
glory to you for ever.

Additional Collect:

Lord God,
your Son left the riches of heaven
and became poor for our sake:
when we prosper save us from pride,
when we are needy save us from despair,
that we may trust in you alone;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

Westcott House, Cambridge … the calendar in Common Worship today remembers Bishop Brooke Westcott (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

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 2026: 47, Tuesday 23 June 2026

‘Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction (Matthew 7: 13) … the gate behind Erasmus Darwin House leading into Dr Darwin’s Garden and Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and this week began with the Third Sunday after Trinity (Trinity III, 21 June 2025). The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Etheldreda (ca 678), Abbess of Ely. Two days ago (21 June 2026), the Right Revd Sarah Elizabeth Clark was installed as the Seventieth Bishop of Ely in Ely Cathedral.

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.

‘Do not throw your pearls before swine’ (Matthew 7: 6) … pigs on a farm at Packington, half-way between Lichfield and Tamwroth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 7: 6, 12-14 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said to his disciples:] 6 ‘Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.

12 ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.

13 ‘Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.’

‘Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction (Matthew 7: 13) … a narrow gate and a wide gate leading into the former grounds of Wesley College in Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

Our Gospel story (Matthew 7: 6, 12-14) continues our readings from the Sermon on the Mount. Today’s reading from the Sermon on the Mount omits verses 7-11 about prayer, and instead contains teachings of Jesus that at first reading seems to be unrelated. The Sermon on the Mount is an edited collection of sayings on the theme of the qualities found in a true disciple of Jesus.

1, In verse 6 , Jesus warns against giving what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they ‘trample them under foot and turn and maul you’.

In the ancient world, dogs and pigs represented uncleanness, hostility and worthlessness. They symbolise individuals who do not revere the truth and will instead disrespect it. In many parts of the East Mediterranean, and among Jews and Muslims to this day, dogs and pigs are unclean. And so, consecrated food from sacrifices in the Temple should not be given as food to the dogs.

We may remember how the state of Lazarus’s poverty at the gates of the rich man is made even more abject by describing how ‘even the dogs would come and lick his sores’ (Luke 16: 21).

In his conversation with the Syro-Phoenician woman, Jesus talks about not giving the food of children to dogs (Matthew 15: 21-28; Mark 7: 24-30).

Just as sacred or sacrificial food should not be fed to dogs, precious pearls should not be given to pigs. We might we remember the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32), where the pitiable state of the young man is emphasised by saying the only job he could find was feeding pigs and he was so hungry he would have eaten the pigs’ food.

Casting pearls before swine is a proverbial that originates in this passage. It advises us to use discernment and to stop wasting our most precious spiritual truths, wisdom and resources with people who are hostile to Gospel values.

Christ advises his followers not to expose their beliefs indiscriminately to all and sundry. Of course, the Gospel is good news for all, but there are people who subject it to ridicule or who are abusing it for their own political ends. I think this morning of self-styled clerics who have brought crosses and Bibles to the far-right street marches in Britain, or the ‘Christian Nationalist’ pastors who have been allowed to infiltrate Donald Trump’s inner circle in Washington.

Verse 6 is also one of the many examples of poetic parallelism or indiscriminately in the original Greek of the New Testament:

Μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἅγιον τοῖς κυσίν,
μηδὲ βάλητε τοὺς μαργαρίτας ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων,

Do not give what is holy to the dogs;
And do not cast your pearls before swine.

The Didache (Διδαχὴ), or ‘The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles’, was an early treatise used by the Church Fathers (Διδαχὴ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων). In Chapter 9, the Didache quotes prayers that might correspond with what we might call the Consecration and Communion prayers at the Eucharist. But this text also parallels what may have been the Jewish blessing of wine and bread at the time and with which the prayers in Chapter 9 have a close affinity.

μηδεις δε φαγετω μηδε πιετω απο της ευχαριστιας υμων,
αλλ' οι βαπτισθεντες εις ονομα κυριου,
και γαρ περι τουτου ειρηκεν ο κυριος.
μη δωτε το αγιον τοις κυσι.

No one is to eat or drink of your Eucharist
but those who have been baptised in the Name of the Lord;
for the Lord’s own saying applies here,
‘Give not that which is holy unto dogs’ (Didache 9: 5).

If we share sacred truths with people who are actively antagonistic or indifferent to the core values of the Gospel, they will trample them and potentially turn and attack you. We should be as vigorous in denying the Christian claims and credentials of these dangerous political extremists, no matter what religious symbols and labels they abuse, claim and arrogate to themselves, and we should be as offended by this behaviour as we would be if they were to abuse sacramental communion in a similar manner.

2, The second saying in today’s Gospel (verse 12) is a positive way of expressing the ‘Golden Rule’: ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets’ (verse 12). The Golden Rule is not exclusive to Christianity or the Gospel, and is known in many cultures. The Golden Rule may have been first codified in Babylon in the Code of Hammurabi stele and tablets (ca 1754 BCE). A partial copy exists on a 2.25 metre stone stele, now in the Louvre in Paris, and a copy is on display in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

The term ‘Golden Rule’ or ‘Golden Law’ began to be used widely in the early 17th century in England by Anglican theologians and preachers. The earliest known usage is that of Anglicans Charles Gibbon and Thomas Jackson in 1604.

Hillel the Elder (ca 110 BCE to 10 CE), cited this as the most important message of the Torah in his teachings. Once, Hillel was challenged by a gentile who asked to be converted on condition that the Torah was explained to him while he stood on one foot. Hillel accepted him as a candidate for conversion to Judaism but, drawing on Leviticus 19:18, 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 Golden Rule is often expressed in a negative way: ‘Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you’. If I lived by the negative maxim, I might observe it by doing nothing at all. But the positive maxim, which Christ teaches in today’s reading, can only be lived out by actively doing good to others.

3, In the third saying (verses 13-14), Christ contrasts the narrow gate with the wide road. To follow the wide road allows me to do just about anything I feel like doing, following my likes and dislikes, my instincts and whims, wherever they lead me along the road of greed and self-centredness, of lies and deceit, of violence and destruction.

But the narrow gate is not for the narrow-minded. It is allowing my life to be guided by truth, principles and values that are at the heart of Gospel teachings. It requires discipline, but in the long run, it is the easier way because it conforms more to the deepest human needs and desires.

‘Do not give what is holy to dogs’ (Matthew 7: 6) … the Famine sculpture on the Quays in Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 23 June 2026):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 21 to 27 June 2026 (pp 12-13), is ‘Land Taken, Land Remembered’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by the Venerable Rosalyn Kantlaht’ant Elm, Director of Indigenous Ministries, Anglican Church of Canada.

The USPG prayer diary today (Tuesday 23 June 2026) invites us to pray:

Creator God, guide your church as it continues the work of truth and reconciliation with Indigenous communities. Give us humility to listen and courage to act with justice.

The Collect of the Day:

Eternal God,
who bestowed such grace upon your servant Etheldreda
that she gave herself wholly to the life of prayer
and to the service of your true religion:
grant that we, like her,
may so live our lives on earth seeking your kingdom
that by your guiding
we may be joined to the glorious fellowship of your saints;
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 God,
who gave such grace to your servant Etheldreda
that she served you with singleness of heart
and loved you above all things:
help us, whose communion with you
has been renewed in this sacrament,
to forsake all that holds us back from following Christ
and to grow into his likeness from glory to glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist:

Almighty God,
by whose providence your servant John the Baptist
was wonderfully born,
and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Saviour
by the preaching of repentance:
lead us to repent according to his preaching
and, after his example,
constantly to speak the truth, boldly to rebuke vice,
and patiently to suffer for the truth’s sake;
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.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction (Matthew 7: 13) … a narrow gate leading into the Church of Agios Georgios Grotta in Rethymnon (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 Lent 2026: 25, Saturday 14 March 2026

The Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18: 9-14) … a stained glass window in Saint Michael’s Church, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We have passed the half-way point in Lent, and tomorrow is the Fourth Sunday in Lent (Lent IV, 15 March 2026) and Mothering Sunday or Mothers’ Day.

Today is the decisive and final day in the Six Nations championship, promising wall-to-wall rugby. After an exciting weekend of rugby last weekend, I hope to find somewhere appropriate in Stony Stratford to watch today’s fixtures: Ireland v Scotland (14:10), Wales v Italy (16:40), and France v England (20:10). 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:

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.

An icon of the Pharisee and the Publican … who was good at praying, and who was a model for praying?

Luke 18: 9-14 (NRSVA):

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 10 ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” 13 But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’

Today’s Reflections:

The Jesus Prayer … an image from Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ,
Υἱὲ Θεοῦ,
ἐλέησόν με τὸν ἁμαρτωλό

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner

The Jesus Prayer, in its simplicity and clarity, is rooted in a prayer heard in this morning’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist (Luke 18: 9-14) and three other passages in Saint Luke’s Gospel:

• the cry of the ten lepers who called to him, ‘Jesus, Master, take pity on us’ (Luke 17: 13);
• the cry for mercy of the publican, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ (Luke 18: 14);
• the cry of the blind man at the side of the road near Jericho, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me’ (Luke 18: 38);
• the sentiments of the cry of the penitent thief on the cross (Luke 23: 42).

The parable of the Pharisee and the Publican and their prayers is an interesting way to examine our own approaches to prayer. Christ teaches his Disciples a variety of approaches to prayer, giving them examples of prayer with the Lord’s Prayer, and examples of how others pray: the Prodigal Son’s father who prays for his son every day; the persistent widow who keeps on badgering the unjust judge every day; and this morning’s Gospel reading, which presents us with two different approaches to prayer, public and private.

But perhaps we can we can be too quick to say that we are presented with one good example and one bad example.

Both the Pharisee and the Publican prays for himself. Each bares himself before God.

The Pharisee gives thanks to God. In fact, by all the current standards of and means of measuring Jewish piety, he is a good man. Consider what he tells God and us about himself.

First of all, he thanks God that he is not like other people. The Morning Prayer for Orthodox Jewish men, to this day, includes a prayer with these words: ‘Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast not made me a gentile, … a slave, … a woman.’

Thanking God that I am not like others is not an expression of disdain for others; it is merely another, humble way of thanking God for being made the way we are, in God’s image and likeness. The Pharisee’s prayer is not unusual.

The Pharisee then goes on to tell God that he obeys all the commandments: he prays, he fasts and he tithes – in fact, he tithes more than he has to, and perhaps also fasts more often than he has to – and he gives generously to the poor. He more than meets all the requirements laid on him by the Mosaic law, and he goes beyond that. He is a charitable, kind and faithful man.

Anyone who saw him in the Temple and heard him pray would have gone away saying he was a good man, and a spiritual man.

But, despite attending to his responsibilities towards others, the Pharisee in this parable does not pray for the needs of others, in so far as we are allowed to eavesdrop on his prayers.

But then, neither does the publican pray for the needs of others.

So neither man is condemned for not being heard to pray for the needs of the other.

What marks the prayers of the Pharisee out from the prayers of the publican is that, in his prayers, the Pharisee expresses his disdain for the needs of others.

The parable of the Pharisee and the Publican is also a reminder that at times people may think that because they have sinned they should not pray.

But the story of the Pharisee (apparently good) and the Publican (apparently bad), tells us that the Pharisee prayed easily, while the publican could not even lift his eyes to heaven. Instead, the publican smote his breast and prayed: ‘Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.’

Christ tells us it was the publican who ‘returned home justified’ not the Pharisee.

The publican wants to pray even when he feels guilty of sin.

We do not have to wait until we feel righteous, like the Pharisee, so that we can pray. Such prayer is almost useless. I know I can all too easily pray the Jesus Prayer, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner,’ and pray it all the more readily when I am feeling righteous than when I realise I am a sinner.

The error of the Pharisee is to confuse the means with the end. Acts of virtue or piety are meant to dispose our hearts towards communion with God, not turn us in on ourselves. As Metropolitan Anthony Bloom wrote: ‘From the [Pharisee] learn his works, but by no means his pride; for the work by itself means nothing and does not save.’

Religious feelings can be deceptive in the extreme. When I think I feel like praying, I may in fact be feeling ‘pious,’ and I may not be ready to pray at this stage. Instead, I may be preparing to be self-consumed and self-congratulatory about being a pious person of prayer.

John Betjeman’s most savage satire is ‘In Westminster Abbey.’ This poem is a dramatic monologue, set during the early days of World War II, in which a woman enters Westminster Abbey to pray for a moment before hurrying off to ‘a luncheon date.’ Her thoughts on bombings and war are particularly relevant in the midst of today’s wars and crises.

She is not merely a chauvinistic nationalist, but also a racist, a snob and a hypocrite who is concerned more with how the war will affect her share portfolio than anything else. Her chauvinistic nationalism leads her to pray to God ‘to bomb the Germans’ … but ‘Don’t let anyone bomb me.’

Her social and ethical lapses are a product of her spiritual state, which is a direct result of her nation’s spiritual sickness. But she lets God know prayer and her relationship with God are low down her list of priorities:

Let me take this other glove off
As the vox humana swells,
And the beauteous fields of Eden
Bask beneath the Abbey bells.
Here, where England’s statesmen lie,
Listen to a lady’s cry.

Gracious Lord, oh bomb the Germans,
Spare their women for Thy Sake,
And if that is not too easy
We will pardon Thy Mistake.
But, gracious Lord, whate’er shall be,
Don’t let anyone bomb me.

Keep our Empire undismembered
Guide our Forces by Thy Hand,
Gallant blacks from far Jamaica,
Honduras and Togoland;
Protect them Lord in all their fights,
And, even more, protect the whites.

Think of what our Nation stands for,
Books from Boots’ and country lanes,
Free speech, free passes, class distinction,
Democracy and proper drains.
Lord, put beneath Thy special care
One-eighty-nine Cadogan Square.

Although dear Lord I am a sinner,
I have done no major crime;
Now I’ll come to Evening Service
Whensoever I have the time.
So, Lord, reserve for me a crown,
And do not let my shares go down.

I will labour for Thy Kingdom,
Help our lads to win the war,
Send white feathers to the cowards
Join the Women’s Army Corps,
Then wash the steps around Thy Throne
In the Eternal Safety Zone.

Now I feel a little better,
What a treat to hear Thy Word,
Where the bones of leading statesmen
Have so often been interr’d.
And now, dear Lord, I cannot wait
Because I have a luncheon date.

On the other hand, when I feel like the Publican in our parable, then I can pray like a Publican. Throughout the Church, parishioners protest, ‘I cannot take Communion … lead the intercession … serve at the altar today … because I do not feel worthy.’ But surely I am in much greater danger when I do feel worthy.

When does someone ever say, ‘I have been so good this week I have not felt in the least like a sinner, and this is a great sin and deception?’ Now we would be getting somewhere with prayer!

The 19th century Russian, Saint John of Kronstadt (1829-1902), writes: ‘When the foolish thought of counting up any of your good works enters into your head, immediately correct your fault and rather count up your sins, your continual and innumerable offences against the All-Merciful and Righteous Master, and you will find that their number is as the sand of the sea, whilst your virtues in comparison with them are as nothing.’

What ever happened to the publican or the tax-collector afterwards?

We are not told his name. We are not told where he lived. We are not told how he lived.

Did he ever put into practice what he was praying for? Asking for mercy, receiving mercy, giving mercy?

In moments when I allow my imagination to run away with itself, and with me, I like to ask whether this is the same tax collector as Zacchaeus who appeared in the Gospel reading late last year (Luke 19: 1-10, the Fourth Sunday before Advent, 2 November 2025).

The Pharisee this morning lists all he does: he fasts twice a week; he gives a tenth of all his income (verse 12). Zacchaeus has a profound change of heart, and decides to give away half of his possessions to the poor and to repay four-fold what he has squeezed out of anyone unjustly (Luke 19: 8).

Prayer leads us to God, but prayer that does not lead us to love our neighbour is prayer that is dead.

We need to be people who pray like a publican. We will find so many more times available for prayer if we do. But we should pray for those who are praying like a Pharisee too, so that God may free us from our delusions.

‘In Westminster Abbey’ by John Betjeman’s is a dramatic monologue that retells one part of the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 14 March 2026):

The theme this week (8-14 March 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘Biblical Sisterhood’ (pp 36-37). This theme was introduced last Sunday with reflections by Dr Sanjana Das, PhD feminist theologian, advocate for the dignity and rights of trafficked and migrant working women.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 14 March 2026) invites us to pray:

Merciful God, we pray for traffickers and all who exploit others. Reveal their wrongdoing, open their hearts to repentance, and guide them toward justice, so that lives may be freed from abuse and dignity restored.

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.

Collect on the Eve of Lent IV:

Merciful Lord,
absolve your people from their offences,
that through your bountiful goodness
we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins
which by our frailty we have committed;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

The Pharisee and the Publican … who would you prefer to have coffee with this morning? (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 Lent 2026: 21, Tuesday 10 March 2026

‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything’ (Matthew 18: 29) … coins in a large bowl in a café in Carpenter Street, Kuching, (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the middle of Lent, which began almost three weeks ago on Ash Wednesday (18 February 2026), and this week began with the Third Sunday in Lent (Lent III).

I am planning to travel from Stony Stratford later this morning to take part in the Ecumenical Pilgrimage to Walsingham in Norfolk from today (Tuesday 10 March) until Friday (13 March). This Ecumenical pilgrimage has been organised with the support of the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius and the Society of Saint John Chrysostom and is in its 100th year. I have been invited to be one of the speakers, speaking on Thursday afternoon on ‘A Priest along the Way of a Pilgrim’.

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.

‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything’ (Matthew 18: 26) … old, worthless banknotes heaped up outside an antiques shop in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 18: 21-35 (NRSVA):

21 Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ 22 Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

23 ‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” 29 Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’

‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?’ (Matthew 18: 32-33) … a stained-glass window in Saint Michael’s Church, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist this morning (Matthew 18: 21-35) looks critically at the limits we place on forgiveness and the over-abundant generosity and universal scope of God’s forgiveness.

What are the limits to my capacity to understand and forgive others?

Are there limits to God’s willingness to forgive?

Forgiveness is so central to Christian faith and life, that it is emphasised throughout Saint Matthew’s Gospel.

In this reading, Saint Peter asks how many times he should forgive, and is told ‘not seven times but, I tell you, seventy-seven times,’ or, as some sources put it, seventy times seven.

In Biblical thinking, the number seven always indicates holiness, as in the seventh day, the seventh month, the seventh year or ‘year of release,’ and the Jubilee year that follows seven cycles of seven years.

As the former Chief Rabbi, the late Lord (Jonathan) Sacks, has said, seven is the symbol of the holy, that God exists beyond time and space.

But what about the number 70 when Christ says ‘seven times seventy’ or ‘seventy-seven times’?

Talmudic scholars approach the Torah as if it has ‘seventy faces’ (Numbers Rabbah 13: 15-16). The number 70 has sacred significance in Biblical Hebrew: 70 is the number of people who first went down to Egypt, the elders chosen by Moses, the years of King David, the Babylonian exile, the sages of the Sanhedrin, the translators of the Septuagint, the span of human life, the words of Kiddush, the nations of the world …

The French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy points out in The Genius of Judaism that the number 70 is ‘no ordinary number.’ He calls it the ‘secret universal.’ It represents the fullness of humanity, the ‘other universal that escorts human beings on the path of their history and to the centre of their substance.’ It is ‘the number of infinity extended.’

So, Christ tells us in this Gospel reading that divine forgiveness is to be extended ‘seventy-seven times’ or ‘seventy times seven’ – in other words, God’s forgiveness in its abundance is holy in its giving and infinite in its reach.

In the second part of this reading, Christ explains what he is saying in a parable that is unique to Saint Matthew’s Gospel and that involves three distinct episodes:

1, A king decides to settle his accounts with his slaves or servants: the word δοῦλος (doulos) means either, so those who first heard this parable could imagine an end-of-year audit with court officials, financiers or tax collectors. One of these officials owes 10,000 talents, the equivalent to £3,358,735,524 (€3,877,551,979) today. No ordinary slave could accumulate such a debt. Of course, he is unable to clear a debt of such magnitude.

The king might have been reminded that Jewish law prohibits demanding payment from a debtor who is unable to pay (mitzvah 234; Exodus 22: 24). A lender may not embarrass a borrower by harassing him, and is forbidden to seize the debtor’s land or to sell him or his family into slavery.

When the servant seeks forgiveness, the king goes beyond the narrow constraints of rabbinical law, shows overflowing generosity, and agrees to clear off the loan.

2, Now, however, this senior official demands the repayment of a loan of three month’s wages, 100 denarii – about £6,473 (€7,473) today – from a lower-level servant. Imagine the senior official as the line manager for the official who asks for forgiveness. Once again, there is commandment not to take a pledge from a debtor by force (mitzvah 239; Deuteronomy 24: 10). The man already forgiven now refuses to forgive when it is his turn, even his obligation, and he compounds this with his use of force.

3, When the king hears about this, he retracts his original forgiveness.

After telling this parable, Christ identifies the king as God, the first servant as any Christian, and the second as anyone else.

Christ makes the point that God’s forgiveness in its abundance is holy in its giving and infinite in its reach. He calls us to forgive in a way that is so difficult that I am still wrestling with it.

Many of us grew up with language that chided us, so that when we did something wrong and said sorry, we were told, ‘Sorry is not enough’ or ‘Sorry doesn’t fix anything.’ Such phrases allow a hurt person to withhold forgiveness, to find comfort in their own hurt, to control us in a way that allows us to know mercilessly how much we are in need of mercy.

But we also live in a culture of half-hearted apologies that are difficult to forgive. Politicians and business leaders say they accept responsibility by resigning – so they never have to answer for their actions. Half-hearted apologies – ‘I am sorry if I have offended you’ – mean that those who are hurt feel they need to apologise for their response, their reaction, for being hurt.

There are times that I have no right to forgive, when it is not my place to forgive. I cannot forgive the perpetrators of the Holocaust, because, no matter how many times I have visited places that are an intimate part of the Holocaust story, I am not one of the victims.

I cannot forgive slaveholders or mass murderers in wars and killing fields, because I am not one of their victims. On the other hand, perhaps, because I am not a victim, I might find it is not so difficult.

The true difficulties arise in my own personal life: members of my own family, lost friends, near neighbours, former colleagues I think hurt me in the past. I walk around with perceived slights, insults and hurts, like some crutch that helps the wounded, broken me to walk through this broken and hurting world.

But then I am reminded, time and again, that God’s forgiveness in its abundance is holy in its giving and infinite in its reach.

‘And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt’ (Matthew 18: 27) … a stained-glass window in Saint Michael’s Church, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 10 March 2026):

The theme this week (8-14 March 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Biblical Sisterhood’ (pp 36-37). This theme was introduced on Sunday with reflections by Dr Sanjana Das, PhD feminist theologian, advocate for the dignity and rights of trafficked and migrant working women.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 10 March 2026) invites us to pray:

Gracious God, we give thanks for our partner the Diocese of Durgapur, Church of North India and its work to prevent forced marriage and trafficking through education and awareness. Bless the ministry of the Anti Human Trafficking programme, we pray.

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 Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Forgiveness and love in the face of death and mass murder … a fading rose on the fence at Birkenau (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 Lent 2026: 18, Saturday 7 March 2026

Minarets and church domes on the skyline in Rethymnon in Crete … the Parable of the Prodigal Son is an important aid in the Christian-Muslim dialogue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on images for full-screen viewing)

Patrick Comerford

Lent began over two weeks ago on Ash Wednesday (18 February 2025), and tomorrow is the Third Sunday in Lent (Lent III). The Church Calendar today remembers Perpetua, Felicity and their Companions (203), Martyrs at Carthage.

I am back in Stony Stratford after two weeks in Kuching and a long and arduous journey that took me through Oman in the Gulf on Thursday and Friday. Later this morning, I hope to drop in to Το Στεκι Μας, Our Place, the pop-up Greek café which opens every first Saturday of the month at the Swinfen Harris Church Hall beside the Greek Orthodox Church on London Road, Stony Stratford, between 10:30 am and 3 pm. Later in the day I hope to find somewhere appropriate to watch this afternoon's Six Nations rugby matches between Scotland and France (14:10) and England and Italy (16:20).

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 Parable of the Prodigal Son depicted in a window in Saint Michael’s Church, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 (NRSVA):

1 Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

3 So he told them this parable:

11 … ‘There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’” 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” 22 But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe – the best one – and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

25 ‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” 31 Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found”.’

The Church of the Annunciation in Kaş in southern Turkey was converted into the Yeni Cami or New Mosque in 1963 … how does the Parable of the Prodigal Son assist Christian-Muslim dialogue? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

Today’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist in the Lectionary (Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32) is the Parable of the Prodigal Son, one of the best-known parables, even among people who seldom go to church, and it is one of the parables that are unique to Saint Luke’s Gospel.

I have spent two weeks in Kuching, where I was woken each morning by the bells of Saint Thomas’s Cathedral and the call to prayer from neighbouring mosques, and my journey back to England has brought me back through Muscat and the Middle East. During these weeks, both in Malaysia and in Oman, I have conscious of the way in which Lent and Ramadan overlap for Christians and Muslims this year. This morning I am also reminded this morning of a course on Muslim-Christian dialogue I did over 30 years ago, back in 1995, when how I learned how the Parable of the Prodigal Son is an important resource in this dialogue.

At the time, I was the newly-appointed Foreign Desk Editor of The Irish Times, and I was writing a number of features on Islam and on Muslim-Christian dialogue. I realised I needed to ‘upskill’ myself in these areas, building on my theological education, and the editor, Conor Brady suggested I identify some short courses that could equip me in these fields.

I took two courses, one year after another. The first was a short residential course at CME level in the then Church of Ireland Theological College (now CITI) in Dublin in 1995, organised by my friend the Revd Declan Smith of the Church Mission Society (CMS), who died earlier this year (2 January 2026)`.

That course was delivered by the Revd Dr Colin Chapman, a British missiologist who specialises in Islamic studies. He worked in the Middle East for 18 years for CMS and the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). He taught in Cairo, Bethlehem and Beirut, where he was a lecturer in Islamic studies at the Near East School of Theology (1999-2003). He also taught at Trinity College, Bristol, and was the principal of Crowther Hall, the CMS college in Selly Oak, Birmingham.

Colin Chapman’s publications include Cross and Crescent: Responding to the Challenges of Islam (1988, 2007), Islam and the West (1998), Whose Promised Land?: the continuing conflict over Israel and Palestine (1983, 1992, 2002, 2015), Whose Holy City? Jerusalem and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2004) and ‘Islamic Terrorism’: Is There a Christian Response?’ (2005).

His Cross and Crescent was submitted in conjunction with his thesis ‘Teaching Christians about Islam: a Study In Methodology’ at the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Selly Oak, at the Department of Theology in the University of Birmingham in September 1993, a year before I took his course in Dublin.

He was strongly influenced by the work of the American theologian Professor Kenneth Bailey (1930-2016), who also taught at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut (1962-1985) and at the Ecumenical Institute for Theological Research in Jerusalem.

On that course in Dublin, as throughout his work, Colin Chapman drew heavily on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which he finds unique in the context of Christian-Muslim dialogue. He finds it especially valuable as a story told by Jesus himself, because it presents the message of Jesus and as a story that can be told, elaborated, dramatised and discussed in ways that are culturally familiar within Middle East contexts.

Kenneth Bailey, in his study of the parables of Jesus, believes that the basic message of Jesus can be summed up as the costly demonstration of unexpected love, God’s yes to all people. Not only does he proclaim his love, but he actually defines and declares his love in action. As Colin Chapman interprets Kenneth Bailey’s writing, this demonstration of God’s unexpected love is costly for him, since in a sense he suffers in the process of forgiving.

Colin says the Parable of the Prodigal Son expresses all these points with special force. The father loves his sons – both the rebellious son who wants to leave home, and the older son who has such a cold and formal relationship with him. He goes on loving them, even when we might expect him to want to punish us and reject us. He demonstrates his love to both of them in ways that would have been considered surprising, if not shocking, in Middle East societies. And in demonstrating his love to them, the father suffers in the process.

Colin has summarised Bailey’s understanding of the significance of the Prodigal Son’s homecoming: ‘On his return, the prodigal is overwhelmed by an expected visible demonstration of love in humiliation. He is shattered by the offer of grace, confesses unworthiness, and accepts restoration to sonship in genuine humility. Sin is now a broken relationship which he cannot restore. Repentance is now understood as acceptance of grace and confession of unworthiness. The community rejoices together. The visible demonstration of love in humiliation is seen to have dear overtones of the atoning work of Christ.’

This parable comes from a culture that is similar to the culture of the Islamic world, Colin argues. The strong emphasis in Islam on the unity of the family and family loyalties and the fact that most of the Muslim world is in Africa and the Middle East should make it easy for Muslims to understand what is happening in the story, he suggests.

But the parable also raises question for Muslims, he points out. What Muslim could imagine a younger son asking for his share of the inheritance while his father is still alive? Should a father not punish his sons when they dishonour the name of the family? Has the elder brother got to swallow his pride and welcome home his younger brother who has disgraced himself?

The second course was a year later, in 1996, in the College of the Ascension in Selly Oak, Birmingham. It was led by the Principal, the Revd Canon Dr Andrew Wingate, in association with USPG. That course in 1996 included Saint Patrick’s Day, and Andrew surprised me by asking me to preach at the Eucharist in his college chapel that Sunday.

CMS moved some of its training to Cowley, Oxford, in 2005 and closed Crowther Hall. The United College of the Ascension closed in 2006. Some of its work, and that of the Department of Mission, continues in the Selly Oak Centre for Mission Studies, based in the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham, an ecumenical theological foundation close to Birmingham University.

Later, Andrew Wingate was the founding director of Saint Philip’s Centre for Study and Engagement, Leicester, where I was involved in yet another a course in interfaith dialogue 2012. He continued to be available as a consultant and teacher in Inter-Faith Relations, and we continued to meet at USPG conferences and events.

I drew heavily on Colin Chapman’s work when I produced resources on Christian-Muslim dialogue for CMS and when I was a lecturer in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. Later, in semi-retirement in Milton, Cambridge, he assisted at All Saints’ Church. We met occasionally at Saint Bene’t’s Church, Cambridge, when I was studying at the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies and staying ay Sidney Sussex College.

I have been a lifelong supporter of USPG, and I sometimes wondered whether some people in USPG saw me as a ‘Prodigal Son’ when I worked for CMS for four years (2002-2006), or did CMS see me as a ‘Prodigal Son’ when I subsequently joined the boards of USPG in Ireland and became a trustee of USPG?

The former College of the Ascension in Selly Oak, Birmingham, where I studied Christian-Muslim dialogue in 1996 (click on image for full-screen viewing)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 7 March 2026):

The theme this week (1-7 March 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been: ‘Saint David’s Day’ (pp 34-35). This theme was introduced last Sunday with Reflections by the Revd Sarah Rosser, Team Vicar in the Netherwent Ministry Area, Diocese of Monmouth, Church in Wales.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 7 March 2026) invites us to pray:

We pray for ourselves: help us to know your love, to listen for your call, and to live as salt and light in the world.

The Collect:

Holy God,
who gave great courage to Perpetua, Felicity and their companions:
grant that we may be worthy to climb the ladder of sacrifice
and be received into the garden of 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:

Eternal God,
who gave us this holy meal
in which we have celebrated the glory of the cross
and the victory of your martyrs Perpetua, Felicity and their companions:
by our communion with Christ
in his saving death and resurrection,
give us with all your saints the courage to conquer evil
and so to share the fruit of the tree of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Lent III:

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.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Lent and Ramadan overlap for Christians and Muslims this year … a sign by the Floating Mosque in Kuching. Can the Parable of the Prodigal Son assist Christian-Muslim dialogue? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

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