Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 142, Sunday 27 September 2026 Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVII)

He said to his sons, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today’ (see Matthew 21: 28) … in a vineyard Perpignan in the south of France (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and today is the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVII, 27 September). Later this morning, I hope to be at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford. I also plan to visit the Greek Orthodox Church in Stony Stratford later this morning.

Today in the Jewish Calendar is the second day od Sukkot 5787. Yom Tob Day 1 started at sunset on Friday night (25 September) and ended last night (26 September), and Yom Tob Day 2 started yedsterday evening and ends this evening (27 September).

Meanwhile, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, and 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.

‘Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ (Matthew 21: 25) … the baptism of John in a window in Saint Mary’s Church, St Neots, Cambridgeshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 21: 23-32 (NRSVA):

23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ 24 Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” 26 But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ 27 So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

28 ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” 29 He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Rome or Paris? Black or White? … are all decisions a clear choice between conflicting contrasts? … wallpaper in a restaurant in Templeogue, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

Black or White?

Dog or Cat?

Land or Sea?

Wet Bob or Dry Bob?

Paris or Rome?

Wine or Beer?

It’s the sort of game we all play in our families at one time or another. I loved playing ‘Matching Pairs’ with my sons when they were at the early learning stage.

For adults, there are similar jokes about two kinds of people we compare or contrast: ‘There are two types of people: those who divide people into two categories, and those who don’t.’ For the mathematicians: ‘There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don’t.’ And for those with a more subtle sense of humour: ‘There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.’

The readings in the lectionary today give us contrasting pairs. In the first reading (Exodus 17: 1-7), we see contrasts between adults and children; water and wilderness; testing and thirsting; obeying and quarrelling; responsible freedom and slavery without responsibility. The Psalm (Psalm 78) contrasts images of ancestors and children, day and night, rock and river, and so on. In the Epistle reading (Philippians 2: 1-13), the Apostle Paul presents the stark contrasts offered in Christ of slavery and freedom, deity and humanity, fear and trembling, heaven and earth.

These images prepare for the matching pairs or clashing contrasts in today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 21: 23-32).

In the week before his Crucifixion, Christ has just shown the importance of faith in understanding God’s ways. Now, as he teaches in the Temple, representatives of the Sanhedrin, the chief priests and the elders, ask who has given him the power and authority to say and do all that he has said and done in his ministry.

However, Christ declines to answer them until they first answer his question, one that will show whether they have the faith needed to understand his answer.

Those who come to question Christ are skilled in the Law. But this is of little help when it comes to deciding whether a prophet is genuinely from God, in this case Saint John the Baptist.

If they say that Saint John the Baptist was from God, they ought to have repented as he urged them. If they say John was not from God, they risk losing face and credibility with the crowd who are now following Christ. The Sanhedrin judged such issues, but their answer shows their incompetence.

In the second part of this reading (verses 28-30), Christ tells a parable about admission to the kingdom. Like the first son in this parable, people once regarded as disobedient and having lived evil lives, such as tax collectors and prostitutes, have turned to God. But people like the second son, who have given lip-service to the law of God, have not lived out what they say they believe. The second son in the parable addresses the father as κύριος (kyrios), not merely Lord, but in the Septuagint a way of addressing God, yet remains disobedient. br />
However, there is still time.

The Gospel reading is set in the immediate aftermath of Christ’s entry in triumph into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and his cleansing of the Temple. When he returns to the Temple the following day, he is confronted by the religious and civic leaders, the guardians of belief and tradition, who challenge and question him about his power and authority.

The ‘chief priests and the elders of the people’ are the leaders in the Temple hierarchy, and also at the apex of society in Jerusalem – questioning Jesus about what gives him authority. In particular, they ask what gives him the right to behave as he does, and especially the right to claim he is acting in God’s name when he is behaving like that.

It is a question that Christ might have expected, under the circumstances. The exchange takes place when he enters the Temple. The day before had been an eventful day: when Christ enters Jerusalem and the crowds hail him as king. He next goes into the Temple courts, he overturns the tables and the seats of the money changers and the dove sellers, and he speaks about the destruction of the Temple.

The Temple authorities have been offended. Quite naturally, they have to confront him.

Who does he think he is?

What gives him the right to force his way in and stir things up?

What authority has he to behave like this?

But, in a clever manoeuvre, Christ answers their questions by asking his own question. It was acceptable then, but every bar room lawyer knows now that you are not allowed to ask questions that allow only a choice between two convicting answers, loaded questions like: ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’

Loaded questions are loaded with presuppositions, often with built-in fallacies and false dichotomies. And the chief priests and the elders fall into a trap that every sixth-form debater would know how to set and how to escape.

There is a great deal of humour here. Those who are skilled in the Law failed to see the flawed legal trap. And in doing this they display their innate inabilities, their incomparable incompetence, their own failures in judgment.

In this reading, Christ answers with a two-part question. And once again, he turns the tables on those who confront him. They are taken aback; they are caught in a dilemma: if they answer one way, they are caught out; if they answer the other, they are still caught out. It is a dichotomy, a nd either way they cannot win.

As they are left mulling this over, Christ tells the parable of two sons and a father. The second dichotomy, the second comparison, the second either/or choice, is posed when Christ tells this parable about a father who sends his two sons, a willing son and an unwilling son, to work in the family vineyard.

It is a sharp contrast between being and doing. The two sons remind me once again of the T-shirt I have joked about for years and that eventually I bought in the Plaka in Athens with the words:

‘To do is to be’ – Socrates

‘To be is to do’ – Plato

‘Do be do be do be do’ – Sinatra

The American publisher Cyrus Curtis (1850-1933) once said: ‘There are two kinds of people who never amount to much: those who cannot do what they are told, and those who can do nothing else.’

But the two sons illustrate a serious dilemma: Those who respond negatively to what they are asked to do, may eventually do it … and recognise their initial wilfulness. Those who say they are going to do something they are tasked with, but then refuse to follow-up, to deliver, to do, refuse to recognise their own wilfulness yet persist in their sinfulness.

How often have we responded to people because of their words rather than their deeds and found we have completely misjudged them?

The two sons are asked to go to work in the family vineyard. One son says: ‘I will not.’ In a Mediterranean village culture, in which there is no such thing as personal privacy, this son’s reaction to his father shames the father publicly. The other son says: ‘I go, sir.’ In public, he appears to be what a good son should be.

But the tables are turned when we learn that the son who mouths off actually goes to work in the vineyard, while the son who seems at first to be good and dutiful turns out to be disobedient.

So, those who say they are compliant and say they are doing the right thing have headed off to do things their own way, while claiming they are doing what God wants.

On the other hand, Christ tells all present that even prostitutes and tax collectors who appear to be disobedient might actually end up with a true place in the vineyard. In today’s context, who are the people I keep excluding from the kingdom yet are being called in by God?

Paradoxes aside, most of us are not like one son or the other … most of us are like both sons, and wrestle with their responses and their approaches throughout our lives.

nvitation to a party, a book launch, a wedding, often have four little letters at the end: ‘RSVP’? Have you ever been one of those people who, anxious not to offend, sends back a reply saying yes, I’ll be there, and then something else crops up, and I fail to turn up?

I admit that at time I have been invited to events, ignored the RSVP line in the bottom corner, and then, at the last moment, turned up. And, I have to confess, I have, at least one or twice, accepted … and not turned up. On which evening do you think I was most appreciated, most welcomed? It is more forgivable to be socially awkward than to be wilfully rude.

When we strive with the demands of Christian living, with Christian discipleship, it is easy to be like one of these sons. There are times when we may find it difficult to do what God is asking you to do. We wait, we think, we ponder, but eventually we answer that RSVP and seek to do God’s will. We say ‘No’ countless times, and then realise how worthwhile it all is: labouring in the vineyard should be hard work, but it leads to a good harvest and good wine.

I have to be careful to distinguish between God’s will and my own will. When they coincide, there are countless blessings. But when they are in conflict, I need to beware of pretending that one is the other, that I am answering the Father’s call and doing his work, when in reality I am doing what I want to do myself, and telling others what I want rather than what God wants.

In The Great Divorce, CS Lewis claims: ‘There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done”.’

Doing and Being … advice on a T-shirt in the Plaka in Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 27 September 2026, Trinity XVII):

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 27 September to 3 October 2026 (pp 42-43), is ‘Power of Language’. This theme is introduced today with a reflection by Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG:

‘Language is more than words; it carries culture, identity, and connection. It preserves memory, shapes community understanding, and gives voice to what matters most. At the USPG International Consultation 2026, the Right Revd Dushantha Rodrigo and the Right Revd Sally Hernández García shared examples of how language can both divide and heal communities.

‘In Sri Lanka, Tamil and Sinhala communities have long histories and rich cultural traditions. After independence, political decisions once excluded Tamil speakers from official recognition, leading to unrest, lost opportunity, and deep division. In short, “Two languages, one country; one language, two countries.” The Church responded by using language as a bridge, offering services, hymns, and liturgy in Tamil, Sinhala, and English so communities could worship together. “Presenting the gospel in different languages gives us credibility in a multi-lingual nation. No message means no hope at all,” explained Bishop Dushantha. Language here becomes access to the gospel and a pathway to reconciliation.

‘In Mexico, Indigenous languages continue alongside Spanish, allowing communities to express faith in ways that honour local culture. Translating the Book of Common Prayer and other liturgical materials is not only technical work but an act of inclusion and respect.

‘As a linguist myself, it was amazing to worship in many different languages. It offered a tangible reminder that God is not bound by language or culture, and that when every voice is honoured, worship and mission are enriched and made more complete.’

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 27 September 2026, Trinity XVII) invites us to pray as we read and mediate on Matthew 21: 23-32:

He said to his sons, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today’ (see Matthew 21: 28) … in a vineyard in Platanias, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
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, we pray that your grace
may always precede and follow us,
and make us continually to be given to all good works;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Gracious God,
you call us to fullness of life:
deliver us from unbelief
and banish our anxieties
with the liberating love of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘John came to you in the way of righteousness’ (Matthew 21: 32) … Saint John the Baptist in a fresco in the Church of the Transfiguration in Piskopianó, near Iraklion in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 139, Thursday 24 September 2026

‘It was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared’ (Luke 9: 7-8) … the Prophet Elijah by Phyllis Burke in the Carmelite Church in Clarendon Street, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and this week began with the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVI, 20 September). Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in this week in the Church Calendar are also known as Ember Days.

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.

A hilltop chapel dedicated to the Prophet Elijah in a small graveyard east of Georgioupoli in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 9: 7-9 (NRSVA):

7 Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 8 by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. 9 Herod said, ‘John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?’ And he tried to see him.

‘It was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared’ (Luke 9: 7-8) … an icon of the Prophet Elijah in a hilltop chapel near Georgioupoli in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

The Prophet Elias (Hλίας) or Elijah is a popular dedication for mountain-top and hill-top churches and chapels throughout Greece, because of his association with hilltops and mountains, including, in the New Testament, the mountain of the Transfiguration.

Elijah, one of the most studied prophets in the Old Testament, is perhaps too the loftiest and the most worthy of all the prophets.

Of all the Biblical prophets, the New Testament mentions Elijah more than any other: he is mentioned by name 29 times in New Testament and he is alluded to a few other times.

Some English translations of the New Testament use Elias, a Latin form of the name, and in the King James Version the name Elias appears in texts translated from the Greek.

In the New Testament, both Christ and Saint John the Baptist are compared with Elijah and on some occasions they are thought by some to be manifestations of Elijah.

In the Annunciation narrative in Saint Luke’s Gospel, an angel appears to Zechariah, the father of Saint John the Baptist, and tells him that John ‘will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God,’ and that ‘the spirit and power of Elijah will go before him’ (Luke 1: 16-17).

In Saint John’s Gospel, Saint John the Baptist is asked by a delegation of priests and Levities from Jerusalem if he is the Messiah or Elijah. He replies: ‘No’ (John 1: 19-21).

Saint John the Baptist preaches a message of repentance and baptism. He predicts the day of judgment, using imagery similar to that of Malachi, and he preaches that the Messiah is coming. For those who hear him, he does all this in a style that immediately recalls the image of Elijah. He wears a coat of animal hair secured with a leather belt (see Matthew 3: 1-4; Mark 1: 6), and he preaches frequently in wilderness areas near the River Jordan (see Luke 3: 4).

Christ says that for those who believe Saint John the Baptist is like Elijah, who would come before the ‘great and terrible day’ as predicted by the Prophet Malachi (see Malachi 3: 1; Malachi 4: 5-6). In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, Christ compares Saint John the Baptist with Elijah, fulfilling his office but not being recognised for this, yet greater than Elijah (see Matthew 11: 7-14, 17: 10-13).

In Saint Luke’s Gospel, Herod Antipas is perplexed when he hears some of the stories about Christ. Some people tell Herod that Saint John the Baptist, whom he had executed, has come back to life, others tell him that Christ is Elijah, and still others think that one of the ancient prophets has risen from the dead (see Luke 9: 7-9).

Later, Christ asks his disciples who do people say he is, and their answers include Elijah, other prophets and Saint John the Baptist (see Matthew 16: 13-14; Mark 8: 27-30; Luke 9: 18-20).

Christ is associated with miracle stories similar to those of Elijah, such as the raising of the dead (Mark 5: 21-23; Luke 7: 11-15, 8: 49-56; John 11) and miraculous feeding (Matthew 14: 13-21, Mark 6: 34-45; Luke 9: 10-17; John 6: 5-16; see II Kings 4: 42 ff). Yet Christ implicitly separates himself from Elijah when he rebukes James and John for desiring to call down fire on an unwelcoming Samaritan village in a similar manner to Elijah calling down fire on the Samaritan troops (Luke 9: 51-56; cf II Kings 1: 10).

Similarly, Christ rebukes a potential follower who wants first to return home to say farewell to his family, whereas Elijah permitted his successor Elisha to do this (Luke 9: 61-62; cf I Kings 19: 16-21).

We might also ask whether the cup Christ blesses at the Last Supper is the Cup of Elijah.

During the Crucifixion, some of the onlookers mistakenly think Christ is calling out to Elijah and wonder whether Elijah will come to rescue him, for in the folklore of the time Elijah was seen as a rescuer of Jews in distress (Matthew 27: 46-49; Mark 15: 34-36).

In all three Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration, the Prophet Elijah appears with Moses at the Transfiguration (see Matthew 17: 1-9; Mark 9: 2-8; Luke 9: 28-36).

Elijah’s appearance in glory at the Transfiguration does not seem to startle the disciples, and it appears they are overcome by fear only when they hear the voice from the cloud.

At the summit of the Mount of the Transfiguration, Christ’s face begins to shine. The disciples who are with him hear the voice of God announce that Christ is ‘My beloved Son.’ The disciples also see Moses and Elijah appear and talking with Christ.

Saint Peter is so struck by the experience that he asks Christ if they should build three booths or tabernacles – one for Elijah, one for Christ and one for Moses.

Saint John Chrysostom explains the presence of Elijah and Moses at the Transfiguration in three ways:

• They represent the Law and the Prophets – Moses receives the Law from God, and Elijah is a great prophet.
• They both experience visions of God – Moses on Mount Sinai and Elijah on Mount Carmel.
• They represent the living and the dead – Elijah, the living, because he is taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire, and Moses, the dead, because he does experience death.

Moses and Elijah show that the Law and the Prophets point to the coming of Christ, and their recognition of and conversation with Christ symbolise how he fulfils ‘the law and the prophets’ (Matthew 5: 17-19). Moses and Elijah also stand for the living and dead, for Moses dies and his burial place is known, while Elijah is taken alive into heaven in order to appear again to announce the time of God’s salvation.

It was commonly believed that Elijah would reappear before the coming of the Messiah (see Malachi 4), and the three interpret Christ’s response as a reference to John the Baptist (Matthew 17: 13).

Elijah is mentioned on three other occasions in the New Testament: in Saint Luke’s Gospel, in Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans, and in the Epistle of James:

1, After he reads from the scroll in the synagogue in Nazareth and is criticised for his teaching, Christ cites Elijah as an example of the rejected prophets when he says: ‘No prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town’:

24 And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. 25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’ (Luke 4: 24–27).

2, Saint Paul cites Elijah as an example that God never forsakes his people:

1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.’4 But what is the divine reply to him? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. (Romans 11: 1-6)

3, Saint James says: ‘The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.’ He then cites as examples Elijah’s prayers which start and end the famine in Israel (see James 5: 16-18).

Elijah is honoured as a saint in the calendars of both the Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church on 20 July. In Greece, chapels and monasteries dedicated to the Prophet Elias (Προφήτης Ηλίας) are often found on mountaintops, which themselves are often named after him.

Elijah is revered as the spiritual Father and traditional founder of the Order of Carmelites. In addition to taking their name from Mount Carmel where the first hermits of the order established themselves, the Carmelite traditions about Elijah focus on his withdrawal from public life.

It could be said that to read Saint Luke’s Gospel with insight we also need to read the story of Elijah and Elisha. To read their story, keeping in mind the miracles, the actions, and the teachings of these two prophets, is to add a richness to our reading of Saint Luke, but also brings with it a vital understanding of the continuity and discontinuity of God’s ways in the Old Testament and New Testament.

Where do you find Elijah and Elisha in Saint Luke’s Gospel?

What are similarities and contrasts between Jesus and them?

Why is it easier to face a dilemma with the questions ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ rather than the questions ‘What Would Elijah Do?’

What richness does it add to your understanding of the kingdom?

Inside a hilltop chapel dedicated to the Prophet Elias in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 24 September 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 20 to 26 September 2026 (pp 40-41), is ‘For God and Country’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by Rosie Dawson, USPG Trustee and freelance journalist.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 24 September 2026) invites us to pray:

Father, we pray for your grace in the healing of historical legacies where mission has been entangled with colonialism, slavery, and domination. Grant us truth-telling and reconciliation that leads to new life.

The Collect of the Day:

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.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Almighty God,
you have taught us through your Son
that love is the fulfilling of the law:
grant that we may love you with our whole heart
and our neighbours as ourselves;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Lord of creation,
whose glory is around and within us:
open our eyes to your wonders,
that we may serve you with reverence
and know your peace at our lives’ end,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

The Monastery of Profitis Elias near Pyrgos on the Greek island of Santorini

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 Skete of Prophet Elias near the Monastery of the Pantokrator Monastery on Mount Athos

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 113, Saturday 29 August 2026

The Execution of Saint John the Baptist … an early 18th century icon from the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Anopolis, in the Museum of Christian Art in the Church of Saint Catherine of Sinai in Iraklion in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Today is the beginning of the August bank holiday weekend here. We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and tomorrow is the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XIII, 30 August 2026). The Church Calendar today remembers the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (29 August 2026), a lesser festival in the calendar of the Church of England.

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 daughter of Herodias dances for the head of Saint John the Baptist … a fresco in the Church of Analipsi in Georgioupoli, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 14:1-12 (NRSVA):

1 At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus; 2 and he said to his servants, ‘This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ 3 For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been telling him, ‘It is not lawful for you to have her.’ 5 Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod 7 so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.’ 9 The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; 10 he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. 12 His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.

The beheading of Saint John the Baptist … a fresco in the Church of Analipsi in Georgioupoli, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

It is about six or seventh months since the Gospel reading told the story of the execution of Saint John the Baptist (Mark 6: 14-29, 6 February 2026) and little more than two months since we commemorated the Birth of Saint John the Baptist (24 June 2026). Now, the Church Calendar again marks his Beheading today with a lesser festival.

Today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 14:1-12) is full of stark, cruel, violent reality. To achieve this dramatic effect, it is told with recall, flashback or with the use of the devise modern movie-makers call ‘back story.’

Cruel Herod has already executed Saint John the Baptist – long ago. Now he hears about the miracles and signs being worked by Jesus and his disciples.

Some people think that Saint John the Baptist has returned, even though John has been executed by Herod. Others think Jesus is Elijah – and popular belief at the time expected Elijah to return at Judgment Day (Malachi 4: 5).

On the other hand, Herod, the deranged Herod who has already had John beheaded, wonders whether John is back again. And we are presented with a flashback to the story of Saint John the Baptist, how he was executed in a moment of passion, how Herod grieved, and how John was buried.

When I was reflecting on this story in Saint Mark’s Gospel earlier this year (6 February 2026) I asked: Did you ever get mistaken for someone else? Or, do you ever wonder whether the people you work with, or who are your neighbours, really know who you are?

I was thinking then of two examples. Anthony Hope Hawkins was the son of the Vicar of Saint Bride’s in Fleet Street, the Revd Edwards Comerford Hawkins. He was walking home to his father’s vicarage in London one dusky evening when he came face-to-face with a man who looked like his mirror image.

He wondered what would happen if they swapped places, if this double went back to Saint Bride’s vicarage, while he headed off instead to the suburbs. Would anyone notice? It inspired him, under the penname of Anthony Hope, to write his best-selling novel, The Prisoner of Zenda.

The other example I think of is the way I often hear people put themselves down with sayings such as: ‘If they only knew what I’m really like … if they only knew what I’m truly like …’

What are you truly like?

And would you honestly want to swap your life for someone else’s?

Would you take on all their woes, and angsts and burdens, along with their way of life?

It is a recurring theme for poets, writers and philosophers over the centuries. It was the theme in John Boorman’s movie The Tiger’s Tail (2006). Brendan Gleeson plays both the main character and his protagonist. Is he his doppelgänger, a forerunner warning of doom, destruction and death? Or is he the lost twin brother who envies his achievements and lifestyle?

The doppelgänger was regarded as a harbinger of doom and death. There is a way in which Saint John the Baptist is seen as the harbinger of the death of his own cousin, Christ.

The account of Saint John’s execution anticipates the future facing Christ and some of the disciples, and Christ’s own burial (see Mark 15: 45-47). The idea that John might be raised from the dead anticipates Christ’s resurrection.

As well as attracting similar followers and having similar messages, did these two cousins, in fact, look so like one another physically?

But Herod had known John the Baptist, he knew him as a righteous and a holy man, and he protected him. Why, he even liked to listen to John.

Do you think Herod was confused about the identities of Christ and of Saint John the Baptist?

Is Herod so truly deranged that he can believe someone he has executed, whose severed head he has seen, could come back to life in such a short period?

Or is Herod’s reaction merely one of exasperation and exhaustion: ‘Oh no! Not that John, back again!’

We too are forerunners, sent out to be signs of the Kingdom of God. To be a disciple is to follow a risky calling – or at least it ought to be so.

To be a disciple is to follow a risky calling – or at least it ought to be so.

I once had a poster with a grumpy looking judge and the words, ‘If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?’

Herod’s maniacal and capricious way of making decisions makes discipleship a risk-filled commitment.

But Herod’s horrid banquet runs right into the next story in Saint Mark’s Gospel where Christ feeds the 5,000, a sacramental sign of the invitation to all to the heavenly banquet – more than we can imagine can be fed in any human undertaking.

The invitation to Herod’s banquet, for the privileged and the prejudiced, is laden with the smell of death.

The invitation to Christ’s banquet, for the marginalised and the rejected, is laden with the promise of life.

Herod feeds the prejudices of his own family and a closed group of courtiers. Christ shows that, despite the initial prejudices of the disciples, all are welcome to his banquet.

Herod is in a lavish palace in his city, but is isolated and deserted. Christ withdraws to an open but deserted place to be alone, but a great crowd follows him.

Herod fears the crowd beyond his palace gates. Christ rebukes the disciples for wanting to keep the crowds away.

Herod offers his daughter half his kingdom. Christ offers us all, as God’s children, the fullness of the kingdom of God.

Herod’s daughter asks for John’s head on a platter. On the mountainside, Christ feeds all.

Our lives are filled with choices.

Herod chooses loyalty to his inner circle and their greed. Christ tells his disciples to make a choice in favour of those who need food and shelter.

Herod’s banquet leads to destruction and death. Christ’s banquet is an invitation to building the kingdom and to new life.

Would I rather be at Herod’s Banquet for the few in the palace or with Christ as he feeds the masses in the wilderness?

Who would you invite to the banquet?

And who do you think feels excluded from the banquet?

We may never get the chance to be like Herod when it comes to lavish banqueting and decadent partying. But we have an opportunity to be party to inviting the many to the banquet that really matters.

Who feels turned away from the banquet by the Church today, abandoned and left to fend for themselves?

And, in our response to their needs, when we become signs of the Kingdom of God, we provide evidence enough to convict us when we are accused of being Christians.

An icon of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist in a church in Koutouloufári in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 29 August 2026, the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist):


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 23 to 29 August 2026 (pp 32-33), has been ‘Legacies of History’. This theme was introduced last Sunday with a reflection by the Revd Dr Rachele Evie Vernon O’Brien, a Jamaican-born theologian and advocate.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 29 August 2026, the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist) invites us to pray:

God of truth, we pray for the Codrington project. Guide the research, the conversations, and the listening, so that this work may bring understanding, justice, and hope.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
who called your servant John the Baptist
to be the forerunner of your Son in birth and death:
strengthen us by your grace
that, as he suffered for the truth,
so we may boldly resist corruption and vice
and receive with him the unfading crown of glory;
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,
whose prophet John the Baptist
proclaimed your Son as the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world:
grant that we who in this sacrament
have known your forgiveness and your life–giving love
may ever tell of your mercy and your peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Trinity XIII:

Almighty God,
who called your Church to bear witness
that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself:
help us to proclaim the good news of your love,
that all who hear it may be drawn to you;
through him who was lifted up on the cross,
and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

Father Irenaeus, a monk in the Monastery of Saint Macarius in Wadi Natrun in Egypt, shows me the relics in the crypt of Saint John the Baptist below the northern wall of the church (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: 86, Saturday 1 August 2026

An icon of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist in a church in Koutouloufari in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church, we have reached the beginning of a new month today, and tomorrow is the Ninth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity IX, 2 August 2026).

In many places, in the past, 1 August was known as Lammas, from an Old English word hlāfmæsse, meaning loaf-mass, or as Loaf Mass Day. The name originates from the word ‘loaf’ in reference to bread and ‘Mass’ in reference to the Eucharist. It is a festival to mark the blessing of the First Fruits of harvest, with a loaf of bread being brought to the church for this purpose. Lammastide falls at the halfway point between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox.

Later today, the Greek community in Stony Stratford is opening its pop-up café at Swinfen Harris Church Hall, London Road. Το Στεκι Μας, Our Place, takes place every first Saturday of the month from 10:30 to 5 pm.

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 Beheading of Saint John the Baptist’ by Caravaggio in the Oratory of Saint John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 14: 1-12 (NRSVA):

14 At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus; 2 and he said to his servants, ‘This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ 3 For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been telling him, ‘It is not lawful for you to have her.’ 5 Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod 7 so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.’ 9 The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; 10 he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. 12 His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.

Father Irenaeus, a monk in the Monastery of Saint Macarius in Wadi Natrun, shows me the relics in the crypt of Saint John the Baptist below the north wall of the church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

This morning’s Gospel reading (Matthew 14: 1-12) is in sequence with our Gospel readings throughout the past week. However, we are going to hear it once again near the end of the month, when 29 August is observed liturgically by most Christian traditions, including most Anglican, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran churches, as a day commemorating the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.

That liturgical commemoration is almost as old as the commemoration of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist on 24 June. In some Orthodox cultures, the day is one of strict fasting.

Saint John the Baptist was beheaded on the orders of Herod Antipas through the vengeful request of his daughter Salome. The story of his beheading is a story that places personal integrity, morality and honour in stark contrast to self-centred arrogance, vengeance, and the tyrannical abuse of power.

According to the Synoptic Gospels, Herod, who was Tetrarch of Judea, had imprisoned Saint John the Baptist after he reproved Herod for divorcing his wife and unlawfully marrying Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip.

On Herod’s birthday, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, danced before him and his guests. The drunken Herod was so pleased that he promised her anything she desired, including half his kingdom. When her mother prompted Salome to ask for the head of Saint John the Baptist on a platter, he was executed in prison. The disciples took his body and buried it, but the Gospel accounts say nothing about what happened to his head (Matthew 14: 1-12; Mark 6: 14-29; see Luke 9: 7-9).

According to some Orthodox traditions, Saint John’s disciples buried his body at Sebaste, near present-day Nablus on the West Bank, but Herodias took his head and buried it in a dung heap. Later, Saint Joanna, the wife of one of Herod’s stewards, secretly recovered the head and buried it on the Mount of Olives, where it remained hidden for centuries. In the fourth century, a monk named Innocent is said to have found the buried head, but hid it again.

Over a century later, in the year 452 CE, when Constantine the Great was Emperor, two monks in Jerusalem on a pilgrimage claimed to have found the head once again, but it fell into the hands of an Arian monk, Eustathius. Eventually, Archimandrite Marcellus brought the head to Emesa in Phoenicia.

Yet other traditions say Herodias had the head buried in Herod’s fortress at Machaerus or in Herod’s palace in Jerusalem. It was found during the reign of Constantine and secretly taken to Emesa, where it was hidden until it was found once again in 453.

From Emesa, the head was brought to Constantinople. Although it was moved to Cappadocia in the early ninth century during the iconoclastic persecution, it was returned later to Constantinople.

According to another tradition, the body of Saint John the Baptist remained in Sebaste. However, his shrine was desecrated under Julian the Apostate ca 362. A portion of the rescued relics was brought first to Jerusalem and then to Alexandria in 395. Today, the former tomb in Nablus is at the Nabi Yahya Mosque or Saint John the Baptist Mosque.

Nowadays, several places claim to have the severed head of Saint John the Baptist, including the Church of San Silvestro in Capite in Rome, Amiens Cathedral in France, Antioch in Turkey, the Romanian skete of Saint John Prodromos (Saint John the Baptist) on Mount Athos in Greece, and the former Basilica of Saint John the Baptist in Damascus. Because of the traditions relating the head to the Syrian capital, many Muslims believe that Christ’s second coming will take place in Damascus.

In Egypt, when I visited the Coptic Orthodox Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great at Wadi el-Natrun, about 100 km north-west of Cairo, in the Desert of Sceits, Father Irenaeus, a monk in the monastery, showed me the relics of Saint John the Baptist in the crypt of the main church in the monastery.

The Church of Saint Macarius was restored in recent decades at the request of the late Pope Shenouda III. We were told that during the restoration of the church, the monks unearthed the crypt of Saint John the Baptist and the crypt of the Prophet Elisha below the northern wall . The relics were then gathered into a special reliquary and placed before the sanctuary of Saint John the Baptist in the Church of Saint Macarius.

The monastery has spiritual, academic and fraternal links with several monasteries outside Egypt, including Chevetogne in Belgium, Solesmes Abbey and the Monastery of the Transfiguration in France, Deir el-Harf in Lebanon and the Community of the Sisters of the Love of God at the Convent of the Incarnation at Fairacres in Oxford.

Each day, the monastery receives large numbers of Egyptian and foreign visitors, sometimes as many as 1,000 people a day. The monks give special priority to priests, full-time lay workers and Sunday school teachers as visitors, and during the summer holidays, the monastery offers many young people opportunities to spend a few days on retreat, with spiritual direction and guidance.

The monastery is playing a significant role in the spiritual awakening of the Coptic Church. ‘We receive all our visitors, no matter what their religious conviction, with joy, warmth and graciousness, not out of a mistaken optimism, but in genuine and sincere love for each person,’ says the monastery website.

In his book, Church and State, one of the monks, Father Matta el-Meskeen, declares that politics should be entirely separated from religion. ‘Give therefore to emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s’ (Matthew 22: 21). In other writings, such as Sectarianism and Extremism, Father Matta warns against the common tendency of minorities to be wrapped up in themselves and to despise others.

The monks say they live out fully the unity of the Church in spirit and in truth, ‘in anticipation of its visible attainment ecclesiastically. Through our genuine openness of heart and spirit to all men, no matter what their confession, it has become possible for us to see ourselves, or rather Christ, in others. For us, Christian unity is to live together in Christ by love. Then divisions collapse and differences disappear, and there is only the One Christ who gathers us all into his holy person.’

And they add: ‘It is our hope that the desert of Scetis will become once more the birth place of good will, reconciliation and unity between all the peoples on earth in Christ Jesus.’

These monks are an example to us all. Meanwhile, in my prayers this morning I am thinking of those places associated with Saint John the Baptist in the Middle East, including Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and Egypt, Syria and Turkey. The people there must be in our prayers this morning, including the victims of war and violence, the people starving in a famine that has created through political and military policies, the missing hostages, children and families being forced to move constantly and in terror, the maimed and the dying, whole communities that have been traumatised, the suffering minorities in the region.

I pray this morning that integrity, morality and honour may triumph over arrogance, vengeance and the tyrannical abuse of power, and pray too for an end to the killing of people at the behest of those with too much power and too many weapons.

The beheading of Saint John the Baptist … a fresco in Analipsi Church or the Church of the Ascension in Georgioupoli, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

The USPG prayer diary today (Saturday 1 August 2026) invites us to pray:

Lord God, we pray for USPG and all church partners engaged in eradicating human trafficking and abolishing modern slavery. Guide their advocacy, deepen their compassion, and strengthen their efforts to bring justice, protection, and freedom.

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.

Collect on the Eve of Trinity IX:

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.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

An icon of Saint John the Baptist in a small chapel in Georgioupoli in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 48, Wednesday 24 June 2026, the Birth of Saint John the Baptist

Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield, and the east end of the chapel, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

The week began with the Third Sunday after Trinity (Trinity III, 21 June 2026), and today is Feast of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist. The Birth of Saint John Baptist (24 June) is one of the few birthdays of a saint commemorated in the Church Calendar.

I was ordained priest 25 years ago today, on the Feast of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist [24 June 2001], and deacon 26 years ago tomorrow [25 June 2000]. I had hoped to mark those anniversaries in Lichfield today by being present at either the Patronal Eucharist in the chapel in Saint John’s Hospital or the mid-day Eucharist in Lichfield Cathedral, and Choral Evensong in the cathedral with participants from MusicShare. During the day, I shall seek out time for quiet time, reflection and prayer, and I may go for some walks around Lichfield or along Cross in Hand Lane.

However, the extreme heat warnings throughout England, and warnings against train travel, it looka like I may spend the day at home in Stony Stratford, with a private celebration of the Eucharist to mark this anniversary before taking part in a choir rehearsal in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church. Meanehile, 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.

Saint John the Baptist above the entrance to Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Luke 1: 57-66, 80 (NRSVA):

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

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

80 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.

Inside the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Today’s Reflections:

Saint Matthew’s Gospel introduces Christ’s ministry by first telling the story of Saint John the Baptist. Saint Mark begins his Gospel with the appearance of Saint John the Baptist. And the first person we meet in Saint John’s Gospel is Saint the Baptist. But Saint Luke alone tells the story of Saint Elizabeth’s pregnancy and the birth of Saint John the Baptist.

This birthday celebration is at pivotal moment in the calendar: half-way between one Christmas Eve and the next: yes, sorry to startle you, but Christmas Eve is just six months away from today. But it is also a pivotal moment in the calendar, because it coincides with that time when the days start to get shorter and the nights start to get longer.

In Ireland, in Greece, and in many other places across Europe, a bonfire was kindled as darkness fell on Saint John’s Eve. The bonfire was a protest at what the poet Dylan Thomas called ‘the dying of the light.’

The child’s mother, Elizabeth, even though she is, as some might say, a little on in years, knows her pregnancy is a blessing, and her neighbours and relatives rejoice with her when she gives birth (Luke 1: 58).

The child’s father, Zechariah, is, literally, dumb-struck, by the prospect of becoming the father of a son. When he recovers his speech – a sign of his obedience to God in all this chaos – his first words give us the long song of praise or canticle we know as Benedictus.

This is the part that is missing from the Gospel reading provided for today. But here Zechariah hails his son as the prophet of God the most high. And he is a prophet because he brings from the very beginning, at his birth the good news of the fulfilment of God’s promise.

Zechariah tells those who are gathered that God has responded to the cries of people, and in his mercy is going to ‘rescue’ then ‘from the hands of our enemies,’ so that they may live without fear’:

‘By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.’ (Luke 1: 78-79).

But I sometimes wonder whether Zechariah and Elizabeth would have been so quick to rejoice, so quick to celebrate, if they had known what was going to happen to their son?

Could they had foreseen that a cruel capricious ruler, who would slaughter the first-born, would then lock up their son and – to meet the demands of his wayward daughter – would agree to behead him?

We all know in some way the sadness of people who wait longingly, through many years of marriage, for the birth of a child.

But we all know too that the greatest sadness and grief any parent can suffer is to be alive when their child dies, no matter how old the parents are by then, no matter how young or old the child is, an infant or an adult.

Would any of us who are parents have our children if we knew they were going to suffer cruelly? But my question is asked in vain. The answer, of course, is yes. And that answer is so because it is rooted in love.

While I think of Zechariah and Elizabeth, how they longed for a child, how that child escaped Herod’s slaughter of children in his age group (see Matthew 2: 16-18), only to become the victim of the victim of cruelty that was whimsical and decided on the spur of the moment, I cannot avoid thinking of the plight of children forcibly separated from their parents in the United States, and who are held in inhumane conditions, separated from their parents, not knowing where they are going, or when.

It seems like only yesterday since I was invited to speak outside the US Embassy in Dublin in 2018 at a protest about Trump holding children in cages. There I asked if anyone asks how ordinary, decent people remained silent while children were being sent on trains to Auschwitz and Belsen in the 1930s and 1940s, they need only ask how ordinary, decent people remain silent today given what we now know is happening in the US.

If children here in a school, creche or pre-school group were held in conditions like that, the police or the gardai would be called in immediately, and there would be outrage if judges did not jail the culprits. I reminded the protest outside the embassy how we would not allow cattle to be transported like this, or animals to be caged like this. Why then are children being held like this?

I hope I would not have been silent in the 1930s or the 1940s. But I can blame myself if I am silent today. This is not about politics, this is about morality.

This is not about what I think or do not think about Donald Trump or JD Vance or about Elon Musk, about ICE or Homeland Security, about the deployment of troops on the streets of US cities against the will of elected politicians or of the people in the cities; this is about what I think about as small children being pulled forcibly from their mothers, or parents being shot dead on their doorstep because they are Democrat politicians, elected politician.

This not about whether I think Donald Trump is like Herod, but about whether I fear countless children living in the US today could end up like Anne Frank, like the children whose stories I have heard in Krakow and Auschwitz.

Sometimes evil is so great that crying out is our only prayer, but remaining silent becomes our condemnation.

Zechariah was dumb-struck, indeed, but the end of his silence is a sign of his obedience to God’s hopes for the future.

And I know that the pregnant Elizabeth took comfort against any foreboding she may have had instinctively for her son when the words she heard from her cousin Mary, just a few verses before this morning’s reading, words in the Canticle Magnificat:

‘He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty’ (Luke 1: 51-53).

Saint John the Baptist in an icon by Hanna-Leena Ward in her recent exhibition in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 24 June 2026, the Birth of Saint John the Baptist):

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 (Wednesday 24 June 2026, the Birth of Saint John the Baptist) invites us to pray:

Lord God, as John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ, prepare our hearts to face the truth and turn towards your justice and mercy.

The Collect:

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.

Post Communion:

Merciful Lord,
whose prophet John the Baptist
proclaimed your Son as the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world:
grant that we who in this sacrament
have known your forgiveness and your life-giving love
may ever tell of your mercy and your peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

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

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

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