Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 103, Tuesday 18 August 2026

‘Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God’ (Matthew 19: 24) … a camel at the Goreme Open Air Museum in Cappadocia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

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

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.

Squeezing through the Eye of a Needle? … a narrow, low gate in the streets of Tangier (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 19: 23-30 (NRSVA):

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’

27 Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’ 28 Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’

‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor’ (Matthew 19: 21) … estate agents’ signs on Beacon Street, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

A rich young man has come to Jesus seeking advice. He has many possessions, but he knows this is not enough. He wants to possess eternal life, and comes to Jesus for advice. When Jesus suggests he should go, sell his possessions, and give the money to the poor and then return and follow him, the young man ‘went away grieving, for he had many possessions.’

Then Jesus tells the disciples ‘it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven … it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’

During her sermon preparation some years ago, a priest colleague asked on Facebook: ‘If a fire broke out in your house, what three possessions would you grab?’

The answers she got were interesting. People included their laptop (with their photographs), their phone, their keys, their wallet or purse with their plastic cards, and their passport.

What would you take with you?

What do we cling to?

I once had a large collection of old banknotes. They were enough to make me a millionaire or even a multimillionaire … in Weimar Germany, war-time Greece or Ceausescu’s Romania. But in reality they are worth nothing today and would earn no interest apart from the interest they might have for collectors.

They were in circulation at times when inflation became rampant in those countries and at times of crisis in Europe. Had they been spent at the time they were issued they might have bought something of value; had they been given away in their day, they might have helped the poor and the hungry. But circumstances saw to it that those who became attached to their wealth on paper would lose all they had.

The Gospel reading this morning challenges us to think again what we cling to and what are our true values.

Does the faith of the man who falls down before Christ in the Gospel reading depend on his own wealth and money? When our prosperity and wealth disappear, like the fast-fading value of those banknotes, are we in danger of feeling abandoned by God?

How would we grab our faith and take it with us if we rushed to escape a crisis?

In the Gospel reading yesterday, the man runs up to Jesus, and falls on his kneels as if in adoration, or like a servant before a master, and asks what he should do to inherit eternal life.

Christ’s response is cautious. Is he challenging the man to see whether he really knows the Ten Commandments? Or is he testing the man to see how he has acquired his riches and wealth?

The man slinks away because he has much property.

What acts as a ball and chain that holds us back in our lives today, leaving us not fully free to follow Jesus? I may not have much property. But is there something else that I need to shed, in my attitudes, values, habits, behaviour, priorities, use of time, commitment or lack of commitment?

In his compassion, Christ sees this man’s weakness. He has emphasised his relationship with others. But is this founded on his desire for personal salvation, some sort of personal version of the concept of ‘karma’?

What about his relationship with God?

Does he trust in God because God is God, rather than because of what God can do for him?

The man asks how he may inherit eternal life. Is eternal life something to be inherited, like wealth and social status or place in society? In that society, religion was inherited rather than a matter of personal choice – one was born a Jew, but few people ever became Jews. Is eternal life to be inherited, like religious identity and social class?

Are we in danger at times of thinking that we are entitled to our place in the Kingdom of God?

And in our behaviour, as well as our prayers, do we let God know, and others know, this?

Christ comes to the quick when he points out that this young man puts his trust in his own piety and wealth, in his achievements, in his inherited status. But wealth stands in the way of his relationship with God.

So, Christ tests the man. If he truly loves the poor, he will make a connection between loving God and loving others. The man is shocked and makes quick his departure.

This rich young man may lack nothing, but he wants eternal life. Yet he fails to realise he has met the living God face-to-face, and he turns away.

But Christ does not say the rich and the wealthy cannot find salvation. He says money and riches can hold us back and make it difficult to be true disciples, to enter the kingdom of God. It can be so difficult that, ‘it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God’ (verse 24). The Talmud suggests though it would be even more difficult, perhaps even impossible, where it speaks of ‘an elephant passing through a needle’s eye’ (b. Ber. 55b; b. B. Metz. 38b).

We cannot save ourselves, but God can save us. However, Peter’s implied question (verse 27) points out again how easy it is to think that being a disciple or follower of Christ should be linked with the hope of rewards in the here and now.

I find I have to ask myself again after reading this Gospel passage: What do I cling onto most now that I can shed – not in terms of property and possessions, but prejudices and values – that get between me and Christ, and between the way I live my life and eternal life.

Then will I be happy to get down on my knees, like a camel, and squeeze into the City of God through the smallest and most narrow of the city gates, and find in the most humbling of ways how to squeeze into the Kingdom of God?

The Talmud speaks of the difficulty of ‘an elephant passing through a needle’s eye’ … an elephant in Lichfield Cathedral as part of the March of the Elephants in support of Saint Giles Hospice two years ago (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 18 August 2026):

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

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 18 August 2026) invites us to pray:

Lord, thank you that all you made was good (Genesis 1). Forgive us for treating your creation poorly. Please heal all that you have made, and teach us to learn what it means to live in harmony with the Earth and with one another.

The Collect of the Day:

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

The Post Communion Prayer:

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

Additional Collect:

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

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

Tourists on camels near Levissi (Kayaköy) near Fethiye in Turkey (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: 38, Sunday 14 June 2026, Second Sunday after Trinity (Trinity II)

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

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and this is the Second Sunday after Trinity (Trinity II, 14 June 2026). I hope to be involved in the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church this morning, reading one of the lessons, leading the intercessions and singing with the choir. Later in the day, Folk on the Green, Stony Stratford’s own music festival, is taking place on Horsefair Green from 12 noon until 7 pm.

Meanwhile, 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 glorious company of the Apostles praise thee’ … the great East Window in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth, depicting the Twelve Apostles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Matthew 9: 35 to 10: 8 [9-23] (NRSVA):

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’

1 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.’

[9 ‘Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for labourers deserve their food. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town.

16 ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. 19 When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; 22 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.’]

‘Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority’ (Matthew 10: 1) … the Twelve Apostles depicted in an icon in a church in Panormos, east of Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

In the Calendar of the Church, we are in what is known as Ordinary Time, the time between Trinity Sunday and the beginning of Advent.

This morning’s Gospel story this morning begins with an image of Christ in ordinary, everyday situations, going ‘about all the cities and villages’ (Matthew 9: 35), mixing with ordinary people. These are people who need hope, people who are sick, sore and sorry, people who are distressed, marginalised and suffering, and Christ has compassion for these weary and worn-down people, because they are harassed and helpless, ‘like sheep without a shepherd’ (Matthew 9: 36).

They are ordinary people, indeed, in ordinary places, in ordinary time, but suffering and often isolated and marginalised in their everyday lives.

And to answer their plight, to carry out his mission, Christ chooses 12 disciples, 12 ordinary people, with ordinary backgrounds and careers: Peter, who denies him three times; Andrew his brother, a fisherman; James and John, ‘Mammy’s boys’ who jockey for position, unsure of what the Kingdom of God is about; Philip, who could easily turn away Greek-speaking Gentiles; Matthew, despised as a tax collector; Thomas who doubts him; Judas who betrays him … (see Matthew 10: 2-4).

In our ordinary everyday lives, Christ calls us to follow him, not for our own self-satisfying feeling of being good, chosen, select or even elect, but to proclaim the Good News; not for our own advantage and enrichment, but because that is what the suffering world needs today.

We are called as ordinary people to do that; our Baptism is our commission to do that; our Confirmation is our ‘Amen’ to that.

In the reading from the Book of Genesis today (Genesis 18: 1-15 ), Abraham and Sarah, in the extraordinary circumstances of the time, being childless and now going into old age, must still have thought they were living through a very ordinary day when they were visited that day at the oaks of Mamre.

God visits us in very extraordinary circumstances, in the midst of our very ordinary, everyday lives.

At first, Abraham sees ‘three men’ standing near him, and they seem to be human in appearance. But he addresses them as ‘my lord’ and offers them courtesy and hospitality, washing their feet, providing shelter from the mid-day heat, bringing ‘a little bread’ and then preparing a full meal.

As they accept this hospitality, it becomes clearer who they are. One of them speaks, promises to return and promises that Sarah will have a son.

In the second part of that reading, which provides an optional ending to this story next Sunday (Genesis 21: 8-21), we hear how God keeps his promise.

This reading has often been read as an early understanding in the Bible of the Trinity, and so is an appropriate reading in these Sundays after Trinity.

In the Gospel reading, Christ sends the 12 out in mission to the marginalised and the outcast. They are to proclaim the ‘good news,’ as Saint John the Baptist announced, that ‘the kingdom of heaven has come near’, is at hand.

We might ask, as we prepare to welcome a new Rector to Stony Stratford next month, whether we are preparing too to welcome back once regular worshippers, churchgoers and parishioners. But we might also ask whether we are ready to delight in meeting strangers in our midst and bringing them into our tent, to share the kindness, friendship and hospitality found within. For the kingdom of God is at hand.

I find myself thinking about a well-known prayer by Bishop Thomas Ken (1637-1711):

O God, make the door of this house
wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship,
and a heavenly Father’s care;
and narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride and hate.
Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling block to children,
nor to straying feet,
but rugged enough to turn back the tempter’s power:
make it a gateway to thine eternal kingdom.

The Twelve Apostles … an icon in the Cathedral in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 14 June 2026, Trinity II):

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 14 to 20 June 2026 (pp 10-11), is ‘Rooted in Compassion’. This theme is introduced today with a reflection from the Ven Titus Oluwalusi, the Anglican Chaplain at Saint John’s Church in Casablanca, Morocco:

To mark Refugee Week, we turn to Morocco, where the Venerable Titus Oluwalusi ministers to a diverse congregation from more than 20 countries. Many are migrants from sub-Saharan Africa or temporary residents, navigating life in a new and often challenging environment.

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus teaches us about love for our neighbours. The story shows that the root of love is compassion. True compassion goes beyond mere sympathy; it combines heartfelt concern with action. Mercy has no measure and requires no qualification. The Samaritan crossed boundaries to meet human need.

Jesus saw the crowds and was filled with compassion for them. He healed the sick and cared for those who were like sheep without a shepherd. He calls all of us to follow His example of compassion, outreach, and missionary care.

In Casablanca, many people are transient, isolated, or navigating new lives far from home. Here, every opportunity to care, disciple, and provide pastoral support is vital, helping people remain grounded in faith and connected to a supportive community.

There is always a chance to be kind. If we miss it, others may not. For the sake of the lost and for the glory of God, we need hearts full of compassion. To grow in love, we must first grow in compassion. A compassionate person will be more useful in God’s hand than a gifted one who lacks it.

The USPG prayer diary today (Sunday 14 June 2026, Trinity II) invites us to pray:

Read and meditate on Colossians 3: 12: As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

The Collect of the Day:

Lord, you have taught us
that all our doings without love are nothing worth:
send your Holy Spirit
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues,
without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Loving Father,
we thank you for feeding us at the supper of your Son:
sustain us with your Spirit,
that we may serve you here on earth
until our joy is complete in heaven,
and we share in the eternal banquet
with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Faithful Creator,
whose mercy never fails:
deepen our faithfulness to you
and to your living Word,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Figures of the 12 Apostles surround the 16th century tomb of a knight and lady in the churchyard at Saint Mary’s Church, Thurles, Co Tipperary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

The Apostles and Evangelists in two sets of icons in the tiny Church of the Twelve Apostles on the island of Gramvousa off the north-west coast of Crete (Photographs: Patrick Comerford; click on images for full-screen view)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 18, Monday 25 May 2026

‘Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven’ (Mark 10: 21) … torn and ragged banknotes in a tin box outside an antiques shop in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The 50-day season of Easter, which began on Easter Day (5 April 2026), came to an yesterday with the Day of Pentecost or Whit Sunday (24 May 2026), and – although many people may still know this day as Whit Monday – we return in the Church Calendar today to Ordinary Time.

In the Book of Common Prayer, today is named the Monday in Whitsun Week. The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today recalls the Venerable Bede (735), Monk at Jarrow, Scholar, Historian, and Aldhelm (709), Bishop of Sherborne.

Today is a Bank Holiday in England, with a number of cultural programmes 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, 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.

‘Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven’ (Mark 10: 21) … a market stall in Blackrock, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 10: 17-27 (NRSVA):

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 18 Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother”.’ 20 He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 27 Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

‘Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven’ (Mark 10: 21) … in the market in Goreme in Cappadocia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

In today’s Gospel reading (Mark 10: 17-27), Christ is teaching what it means to follow him. A man runs up to Jesus, and falls on his kneels as if in adoration, or like a servant before a master. It is an unusual act of piety, for people stood to pray at the time. But we came across a similar posture earlier this year when the Syro-Phoenician woman approached Jesus in Tyre (Mark 7: 24-30, 12 February 2026).

Christ’s response is cautious. Rabbis were not usually addressed as good, for only God is good.

When Christ puts some of the Ten Commandments to this man, the man insists that since his youth he has observed those commandments dealing with our relationships with others, those commandments that prohibit murder, adultery, theft, lying and fraud, and that call on us to honour parents, the elderly. From calling Christ ‘Good Teacher,’ the man has moved quickly to asserting that he himself is good, and a good example.

The decalogue is often divided into the four ‘theological’ commandments, which are not a matter for debate or interpretation among right-thinking Jews at that time, and the six ‘ethical’ commandments (see Exodus 20), which become matters for interpretation.

However, as Ched Myers points out in one of his commentaries on Saint Mark’s Gospel (Say to this Mountain, St Paul’s), a closer look at the list of the second grouping of commandments shows that Jesus replaces the last commandment – ‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour’ (Exodus 20: 17) – with the words ‘You shall not defraud.’

This Levitical censure appears in a part of the Torah that is concerned with socio-economic behaviour: ‘You shall not defraud your neighbour; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a labourer until morning’ (Leviticus 19: 13).

With this fresh listing of the commandments, is Jesus (a) challenging the man to see whether he really knows the Ten Commandments; or (b) showing he is more interested in understanding how this man has acquired his riches and wealth than in accepting his claims to piety at face value?

Why did the man slink away? Because he had much property (verse 22).

What acts as a ball and chain that holds us back in our lives today, leaving us not fully free to follow Jesus? I may not have much property. But is there something else that I need to shed, in my attitudes, values, habits, behaviour, priorities, use of time, commitment or lack of commitment?

In his compassion, Christ sees this man’s weakness. He has emphasised his relationship with others. But is this founded on his desire for personal salvation, some sort of personal version of the concept of ‘karma.’

What about his relationship with God? Does he trust in God because God is God, rather than because of what God can do for him?

The man asks how he may inherit eternal life. Is eternal life something to be inherited, like wealth and social status or place in society? In that society, religion was inherited rather than a matter of personal choice – one was born a Jew, but few people ever became Jews. Is eternal life to be inherited, like religious identity and social class?

Are we in danger at times in thinking that we are entitled to our place in the Kingdom of God? And, in our behaviour, as well as in our prayers, do we let God know, and others know, this?

Christ comes to the quick when he points out that this young man puts his trust in his own piety and wealth, in his achievements, but wealth stands in the way of his relationship with God.

So, Christ tests the man. If he truly loves the poor, he will make a connection between loving God and loving others. The man is shocked and makes quick his departure. In that time, and even for many people today, wealth and prosperity are seen as a blessing and signs of God’s favour. But, without them, could this man truly trust in God?

Christ does not say that the rich and the wealthy cannot find salvation. He says that money and riches can hold us back and make it difficult to be true disciples, to enter the kingdom of God. It can be so difficult that, ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God’ (verse 25). We cannot save ourselves, but God can save us.

‘You know the commandments’ … ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth’ (Mark 10: 19-20) … the Ten Commandments on carved stones on display in a synagogue in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 25 May 2026):

This week in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), from 24 to 30 May 2026 (pp 58-59), the theme is ‘Carriers of the Flame’ and was introduced yesterday with reflections by Carol Miller, Church Engagement Manager, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 25 May 2026) invites us to pray:

We give thanks for all who carry the mission of USPG through prayer, service and generosity, and ask that their witness may inspire us to follow in their footsteps.

The Collect:

God our maker,
whose Son Jesus Christ gave to your servant Bede
grace to drink in with joy the word
that leads us to know you and to love you:
in your goodness
grant that we also may come at length to you,
the source of all wisdom,
and stand before your 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:

Merciful God,
who gave such grace to your servant Bede
that he 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.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God’ (Mark 10: 25) … tourists clamber on camels at Achakkar beach near Tangier in Morocco (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

38 million in Morocco, 38 million imaginary Koreans, 38 million war victims, and 38 million blog readers

In the stepped streets and arched alleyways of Tangier … Morocco has a population of 38 million (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The viewing and reading figures for this blog continue to overwhelm me. These figures reached the 38 million mark at lunchtime this afternoon (14 May 2026). They reached the 37 million mark a week ago (8 May 2026), having reached 36 million six days before that (2 May 2026) and 35 million at the beginning of this month (1 May 2026). The figures have now passed the million mark four times so far this month, and passed that mark four times last month also: 34 million (29 April), 33 million (25 April), 32 million (19 April) and 31 million (8 April).

These viewing and reading figures have been overwhelming in these recent weeks and months and this blog continues to reach a volume of readers that I could never have expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. Half the total hits (19 million) have been within less than six months, having reached 19 million hits a little more than five months ago, on 9 December 2025. The total hits in March 2026 were the highest monthly total ever (4,523,648), followed by 4,365,464 hits for last month (April 2026); so far this month the figure for May is more than 3.3 million.

At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 17 million hits or visitors in 2026.

I first began blogging in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the 12 days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were this month (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were last month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three were in March, one was in February, and two were in January 2025:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)*
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)
• 322,038 (26 April 2026)

• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)
• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)

The daily average is about 237,000 so far in May, although that figure is distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days so far this month. There were about 145,000 or more hits a day last month; ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

A half-page feature on Korean politics in ‘The Irish Times’ on on 15 September 1997 … Donald Trump thinks South Korea has a population of 38 million

To put this figure of 38 million into perspective:

Back in March 2020, Donald Trump said the population of Seoul, the South Korean capital, was 38 million during a White House press briefing. Trump began sharing facts about the country, saying ‘I know South Korea better than anybody.’ He asked, again and again, ‘Do you know how many people are in Seoul? Do you know how big the city of Seoul is?’ and then answered his own question: ‘38 million people. That’s bigger than anything we have. 38 million people, all tightly, wound together.’

This is all from the man who alleges the BBC misconstrued his words.

When I was in South Korea in 1997, as an Irish Times journalist and as a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Global Economics in Seoul, South Korea then had a population of about 10.4 million; when Trump made that gaffe three years later, Seoul had a population of around 10 million, according to its own official figures, but no more than that. Since then, the figures has continued to fall, and is now about 9.2 to 9.6 million people. But then, he claims, he knows ‘South Korea better than anybody.’ Just, please, don’t ask Trump to calculate these decreases in percentages, and it doesn’t assure anyone that he knows anything about the Far East while he is visiting China today.

On the other hand, 38 million is the approximate population of Morocco, Poland, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Greece recorded a new record in inbound tourism in 2025, with about 38 million visitors and revenues of more than €23.6 billion, according to the latest figures from the Greek Tourism Research Institute, INSETE.

The Costs of War Project estimates that US post-9/11 wars have displaced at least 38 million people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines, Libya and Syria.

A study by the Center of Economic and Policy Research revealed last year that, between 1971 and 2021, US and EU sanctions have killed 38 million people around the world. That figure equals the total of 38 million civilian deaths during World War II.

38 million minutes is approximately 72 years, 3 months and 0 days. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take more than 72 years, from mid- February 1954, to reach today’s latest figure of 38 million.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120-140 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. A similar number have been reading my current series of postings on churches and local history in Staffordshire, and were reading my recent series of postings on the churches and chapels of Walsingham. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 850 to 1,000 or more people each week.

This evening, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 38 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 120-140 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

* Figure amended at midnight on 14 May 2026 to reflect numbers for the full day.

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 101, Tuesday 19 August 2025

‘Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God’ (Matthew 19: 24) … a camel at the Goreme Open Air Museum in Cappadocia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

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

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

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

Squeezing through the Eye of a Needle? … a narrow, low gate in the streets of Tangier (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 19: 23-30 (NRSVA):

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’

27 Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’ 28 Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’

‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor’ (Matthew 19: 21) … a town centre hotel for sale in Ballybunion, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

A rich young man has come to Jesus seeking advice. He has many possessions, but he knows this is not enough. He wants to possess eternal life, and comes to Jesus for advice. When Jesus suggests he should go, sell his possessions, and give the money to the poor and then return and follow him, the young man ‘went away grieving, for he had many possessions.’

Then Jesus tells the disciples ‘it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven … it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’

During her sermon preparation some years ago, a priest colleague asked on Facebook: ‘If a fire broke out in your house, what three possessions would you grab?’

The answers she got were interesting. People included their laptop (with their photographs), their phone, their keys, their wallet or purse with their plastic cards, and their passport.

What would you take with you?

What do we cling to?

I once had a large collection of old banknotes. They were enough to make me a millionaire or even a multimillionaire … in Weimar Germany, war-time Greece or Ceausescu’s Romania. But in reality they are worth nothing today and would earn no interest apart from the interest they might have for collectors.

They were in circulation at times when inflation became rampant in those countries and at times of crisis in Europe. Had they been spent at the time they were issued they might have bought something of value; had they been given away in their day, they might have helped the poor and the hungry. But circumstances saw to it that those who became attached to their wealth on paper would lose all they had.

The Gospel reading this morning challenges us to think again what we cling to and what are our true values.

Does the faith of the man who falls down before Christ in the Gospel reading depend on his own wealth and money? When our prosperity and wealth disappear, like the fast-fading value of those banknotes, are we in danger of feeling abandoned by God?

How would we grab our faith and take it with us if we rushed to escape a crisis?

In the Gospel reading yesterday, the man runs up to Jesus, and falls on his kneels as if in adoration, or like a servant before a master, and asks what he should do to inherit eternal life.

Christ’s response is cautious. Is he challenging the man to see whether he really knows the Ten Commandments? Or is he testing the man to see how he has acquired his riches and wealth?

The man slinks away because he has much property.

What acts as a ball and chain that holds us back in our lives today, leaving us not fully free to follow Jesus? I may not have much property. But is there something else that I need to shed, in my attitudes, values, habits, behaviour, priorities, use of time, commitment or lack of commitment?

In his compassion, Christ sees this man’s weakness. He has emphasised his relationship with others. But is this founded on his desire for personal salvation, some sort of personal version of the concept of ‘karma’?

What about his relationship with God?

Does he trust in God because God is God, rather than because of what God can do for him?

The man asks how he may inherit eternal life. Is eternal life something to be inherited, like wealth and social status or place in society? In that society, religion was inherited rather than a matter of personal choice – one was born a Jew, but few people ever became Jews. Is eternal life to be inherited, like religious identity and social class?

Are we in danger at times of thinking that we are entitled to our place in the Kingdom of God?

And in our behaviour, as well as our prayers, do we let God know, and others know, this?

Christ comes to the quick when he points out that this young man puts his trust in his own piety and wealth, in his achievements, in his inherited status. But wealth stands in the way of his relationship with God.

So, Christ tests the man. If he truly loves the poor, he will make a connection between loving God and loving others. The man is shocked and makes quick his departure.

This rich young man may lack nothing, but he wants eternal life. Yet he fails to realise he has met the living God face-to-face, and he turns away.

But Christ does not say the rich and the wealthy cannot find salvation. He says money and riches can hold us back and make it difficult to be true disciples, to enter the kingdom of God. It can be so difficult that, ‘it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God’ (verse 24). The Talmud suggests though it would be even more difficult, perhaps even impossible, where it speaks of ‘an elephant passing through a needle’s eye’ (b. Ber. 55b; b. B. Metz. 38b).

We cannot save ourselves, but God can save us. However, Peter’s implied question (verse 27) points out again how easy it is to think that being a disciple or follower of Christ should be linked with the hope of rewards in the here and now.

I find I have to ask myself again after reading this Gospel passage: What do I cling onto most now that I can shed – not in terms of property and possessions, but prejudices and values – that get between me and Christ, and between the way I live my life and eternal life.

Then will I be happy to get down on my knees, like a camel, and squeeze into the City of God through the smallest and most narrow of the city gates, and find in the most humbling of ways how to squeeze into the Kingdom of God?

The Talmud speaks of the difficulty of ‘an elephant passing through a needle’s eye’ … an elephant in Lichfield Cathedral as part of the March of the Elephants in support of Saint Giles Hospice last year (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 19 August 2025):

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

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 19 August 2025) invites us to pray:

Lord, we lift up Caribbean church members in the UK, remembering the pain caused by the 2007 abolition anniversary. Heal their hurt, strengthen their voices, and guide us towards true justice and equality for all.

The Collect of the Day:

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

The Post-Communion Prayer:

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

Additional Collect:

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

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Tourists on camels near Levissi (Kayaköy) near Fethiye in Turkey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 58, Sunday 6 July 2025, Third Sunday after Trinity (Trinity III)

‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you’ (Luke 10: 11) … collecting shoes for refugee children from Syria (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and today is the Third Sunday after Trinity (Trinity III, 6 July 2025). Later this morning, I am involved in the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, leading the intercessions. Later in the afternoon, two of us hope to attend Choral Evensong in Southwark Cathedral.

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.

‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you’ (Luke 10: 11) … about to put my big foot in it, again, in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20 (NRSVA):

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

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

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

Sending out the 70 … the speed limit leaving Venice and crossing the Lagoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

Jesus has set his face to go to Jerusalem, and a Samaritan village has refused to welcome his messengers in the previous Sunday’s reading where the provisions for Trinity II were used (Luke 9: 51-62).

But Christ has rebuked James and John for their response to this rejection, and in this reading he now sends out 70 disciples on a mission of healing and proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God. They are to go ahead of Christ, to the places he is about to travel through on his way to Jerusalem, preparing the way for Jesus’ own mission, and tells them how to respond to both acceptance and rejection.

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

The 70 are sent out ‘like lambs into the midst of wolves’ (verse 3), defenceless before hostile people. But the image hold within it the promise that Christ is to usher in an era of peace and reconciliation, in which ‘the wolf and the lamb shall feed together’ (see Isaiah 65: 25).

The 70 are to head out immediately and without delay (‘carry no purse …,’ verse 4) and concentrate on the mission (‘greet no one …’). They are to bring peace with them, and when they meet a person of peace, God’s peace will be with that person (verse 6).

They should accept whatever hospitality and food they are offered, and to show by their action, healing people and sharing the promise of the kingdom of God.

Verses 12-15, which are omitted here, tell the Seventy how to handle hostile situations, and to leave rejection to God’s own judgment and God’s own time.

The 70 return, and if they had any misgivings when they were sent out, they now come back surprised and filled with joy. Christ has seen their victory over evil forces, and gives them authority ‘snakes and scorpions,’ then regarded culturally as sources of evil.

But if they have returned with joy, they are not to be joyful in the face of evil. Instead, they are to rejoice in the coming of the kingdom.

We might ask this morning, what is the symbolism of the Seventy?

Naaman is told to wash seven times, and Seventy disciples are sent on a mission into Gentile territory.

The number 70 is assigned to the families of Noah’s descendants (see Genesis 10: 1-32). In Jewish tradition, 70 is the number of nations of the world, and this is repeated in the Book of Jubilees (44: 34), although is not regarded as Biblical in almost every tradition. The Septuagint lists 72 names, and some translations of Saint Luke’s Gospel enumerates the 70 as 72. Do the 70 – or the 72 – represent a future mission to all nations?

In the wilderness, Moses was aided by 70 elders (see Exodus 24: 1, 9; Numbers 11: 16, 24-25).

The Septuagint or Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, takes its Latin name, abbreviated to LXX, the Roman numeral 70, from the Greek name for the translation, Ἡ τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα μετάφρασις (ton evdomekonta metaphrasis), ‘The Translation of the Seventy.’

The Letter of Aristeas in the Second Century BCE says the Septuagint was translated in Alexandria at the command of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-247 BCE) by 70 Jewish scholars (or, according to later tradition, 72 – six scholars from each of the Twelve Tribes) who independently produced identical translations.

Once again, we can see the confusion between the numbers 70 and 72. Is Saint Luke saying the 70 (or 72) represent the true words of God? That they represent the 12 Tribes of Israel, six each?

The Great Sanhedrin is described in rabbinic texts as the Court of 71, although no Old Testament text ever refers to such an institution. It was regarded as the supreme authority in matters religious and civil, including the appointment of kings, authorising offensive wars, punishing idolatry and teaching Torah.

Do Jesus and the 70 represent the new 71, the new Sanhedrin?

However, despite the Gospel references to the Sanhedrin, it is worth pointing out that there are very few rabbinic references that locate a Sanhedrin in the late Second Temple period, the time of Christ and Saint Paul.

Meanwhile, what were the difficulties and the evils the 70 were to face on the way? Where were they going?

We hear more about this in the following passage in this chapter, which is the reading next Sunday (Luke 10: 25-37). This is the story of a man who is attacked on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem, and who finds that the one person who comes to assistance is a Samaritan.

The very threats we may face may not be the ones who fear, and those who offer us comfort and support on the way may be those we least expect to offer it. But more about that next Sunday.

‘See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes’ (Luke 10: 19) … a Moroccan snake charmer in Tangier (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 6 July 2025, Trinity III):

The theme this week (6 to 12 July) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Following in the Footsteps of Saint Thomas.’ This theme is introduced today with a programme update from the Revd Mark Woodrow, USPG Bishop’s Nominee for St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and Parish Priest and Rural Dean in Suffolk. He writes:

Read John 11:1-16

It might seem strange that at the end of this passage Thomas replies: ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him’. As someone whose call to ordained ministry was shaped by an extended period of living and working in India prior to ordination, I have been constantly struck by Saint Thomas’ willingness to join Jesus in returning to the dangers of Judea, to put his own life on the line and to follow Jesus even if it meant dying with him.

You may know that Saint Thomas died for his faith in Mylapore, near modern-day Chennai, India, in AD 72, around 40 years after the events in Judea. Tradition holds that he brought Christianity to India 30 years earlier.

For a number of years now, I have led small group trips across India. It has been a great privilege to share with many from the UK an insight into the Christian faith that was being lived out in India long before it arrived in the UK. This was (and in many ways, still is) a faith forced to exist as a minority within a pluralistic society. It is also a place where many Christians, particularly in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, worship in communities that can trace their own faith back through their ancestors to Saint Thomas himself.

It was to these communities I returned as part of my recent extended study leave or sabbatical. Through my conversations and observations with many Priests and lay ministers, I want to share with you some aspects of the ongoing ministry and community challenges and that I commend to you to join with me in prayer.

The USPG prayer diary today (Sunday 6 July 2025, Trinity III) invites us to pray:

Gracious God, we thank you for all your faithful servants in India's churches. Bless those who are willing to put aside self, to hear and respond to your call.

The Collect:

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

O God, whose beauty is beyond our imagining
and whose power we cannot comprehend:
show us your glory as far as we can grasp it,
and shield us from knowing more than we can bear
until we may look upon you without fear;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Additional Collect:

God our saviour,
look on this wounded world
in pity and in power;
hold us fast to your promises of peace
won for us by your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

‘… whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets …’ (Luke 10: 10) … exit onto the street is possible but no entrance is permitted at Preaching Lane in Athlone (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 2025: 29, Monday 3 March 2025

‘Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven’ (Mark 10: 21) … torn and ragged banknotes in a tin box outside an antiques shop in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are still in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar. Yesterday was the Sunday before Lent (2 March 2025), and Lent begins the day after tomorrow, Ash Wednesday (5 March 2025).

Before this day begins though, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

‘Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven’ (Mark 10: 21) … a market stall in Blackrock, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 10: 17-27 (NRSVA):

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 18 Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother”.’ 20 He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 27 Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

‘Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven’ (Mark 10: 21) … in the market in Goreme in Cappadocia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

In today’s Gospel reading (Mark 10: 17-27), Christ continues to teach what it means to follow him. A man runs up to Jesus, and falls on his kneels as if in adoration, or like a servant before a master. It is an unusual act of piety, for people stood to pray at the time. But we came across a similar posture a few weeks ago when the Syro-Phoenician woman approached Jesus in Tyre (Mark 7: 24-30, 11 February 2025).

Christ’s response is cautious. Rabbis were not usually addressed as good, for only God is good.

When Christ puts some of the Ten Commandments to this man, the man insists that since his youth he has observed those commandments dealing with our relationships with others, those commandments that prohibit murder, adultery, theft, lying and fraud, and that call on us to honour parents, the elderly. From calling Christ ‘Good Teacher,’ the man has moved quickly to asserting that he himself is good, and a good example.

The decalogue is often divided into the four ‘theological’ commandments, which are not a matter for debate or interpretation among right-thinking Jews at that time, and the six ‘ethical’ commandments (see Exodus 20), which become matters for interpretation.

However, as Ched Myers points out in one of his commentaries on Saint Mark’s Gospel (Say to this Mountain, St Paul’s), a closer look at the list of the second grouping of commandments shows that Jesus replaces the last commandment – ‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour’ (Exodus 20: 17) – with the words ‘You shall not defraud.’

This Levitical censure appears in a part of the Torah that is concerned with socio-economic behaviour: ‘You shall not defraud your neighbour; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a labourer until morning’ (Leviticus 19: 13).

With this fresh listing of the commandments, is Jesus (a) challenging the man to see whether he really knows the Ten Commandments; or (b) showing he is more interested in understanding how this man has acquired his riches and wealth than in accepting his claims to piety at face value?

Why did the man slink away? Because he had much property (verse 22).

What acts as a ball and chain that holds us back in our lives today, leaving us not fully free to follow Jesus? I may not have much property. But is there something else that I need to shed, in my attitudes, values, habits, behaviour, priorities, use of time, commitment or lack of commitment?

In his compassion, Christ sees this man’s weakness. He has emphasised his relationship with others. But is this founded on his desire for personal salvation, some sort of personal version of the concept of ‘karma.’

What about his relationship with God? Does he trust in God because God is God, rather than because of what God can do for him?

The man asks how he may inherit eternal life. Is eternal life something to be inherited, like wealth and social status or place in society? In that society, religion was inherited rather than a matter of personal choice – one was born a Jew, but few people ever became Jews. Is eternal life to be inherited, like religious identity and social class?

Are we in danger at times in thinking that we are entitled to our place in the Kingdom of God? And, in our behaviour, as well as in our prayers, do we let God know, and others know, this?

Christ comes to the quick when he points out that this young man puts his trust in his own piety and wealth, in his achievements, but wealth stands in the way of his relationship with God.

So, Christ tests the man. If he truly loves the poor, he will make a connection between loving God and loving others. The man is shocked and makes quick his departure. In that time, and even for many people today, wealth and prosperity are seen as a blessing and signs of God’s favour. But, without them, could this man truly trust in God?

Christ does not say that the rich and the wealthy cannot find salvation. He says that money and riches can hold us back and make it difficult to be true disciples, to enter the kingdom of God. It can be so difficult that, ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God’ (verse 25). We cannot save ourselves, but God can save us.

‘You know the commandments’ … ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth’ (Mark 10: 19-20) … the Ten Commandments on carved stones on display in a synagogue in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 3 March 2025):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘The World’s Greatest Leader: Jesus Christ.’ This theme was introduced yesterday with a Programme Update by the Right Revd Filomena Tete Estevão, Bishop of Angola.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 3 March 2025) invites us to pray:

Father, we thank you for the example of Jesus, the greatest leader of all, who served with love, humility, and self-sacrifice. Help leaders to follow in his footsteps, seeking not power or prestige, but the wellbeing and flourishing of those they serve.

The Collect:

Almighty Father,
whose Son was revealed in majesty
before he suffered death upon the cross:
give us grace to perceive his glory,
that we may be strengthened to suffer with him
and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Holy God, we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ:
may we who are partakers at his table
reflect his life in word and deed,
that all the world may know his power to change and save.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Holy God,
you know the disorder of our sinful lives:
set straight our crooked hearts,
and bend our wills to love your goodness and your glory
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God’ (Mark 10: 25) … tourists clamber on camels at Achakkar beach near Tangier in Morocco (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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