Daily prayer in Lent 2025: 11, Saturday 15 March 2025

‘For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good …’ (Matthew 5: 45) … sunset on Cross in Hand Lane in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

Lent began last week on Ash Wednesday, and tomorrow is the Second Sunday in Lent (Lent II).

The Six Nations championship comes to a climax this weekend, and I hope to find somewhere appropriate in Stony Stratford this afternoon and this evening to watch the matches between Ireland and Italy (14:15), Wales and England (16:15) and France and Scotland (20:00), each promising to be nail-biting decider in its own way.

Meanwhile this morning, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time 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.

‘But I say to you, Love your enemies … so that you may be children of your Father in heaven’ (Matthew 5: 44-45) (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 5: 43-48 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 43 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’

‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ (Matthew 5: 44) … the Good Samaritan in a stained glass window in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Matthew 5: 43-48) continues our readings from the Sermon on the Mount. This is one of the passages chosen by the Revd Bonnie Evans-Hills, now a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church, for a Bible study at the annual residential conference of USPG conference in High Leigh back in 2018.

In an earlier Bible study that week, she had brought us through the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 1-12) with reflections on her own experiences in international peace work and interfaith dialogue. Having challenged us with the significance of the Beatitudes, her reflections on the closing day of the conference were based on two passages in the Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5: 17-19 and 43-48.

Bonnie reminded us that the command to love is the summary of the law and the prophets and that not one tiny little bit of that commandment will be lost. The law and the prophets are summed up in that one tiny word, Love. Every other commandment depends on this.

She pointed out that other than verse 43 here there is nowhere in the Bible that it is said to ‘hate your enemy’.

Returning to her idea the previous day that peace-making needs to engage both the perpetrators and the victims, she recalled a story told by Ruth Scott of a US soldier in Vietnam who came across an ‘enemy soldier’ in a hammock. The other soldier smiled, reached into his pocket, and the American shot him immediately, only to find the Vietnamese soldier had not been reaching into his pocket for a gun but was gripping a photograph of his family that he wished to share.

There is nothing that cannot be forgiven, and there is no-one who is not worth forgiving, she said, commenting on The Book of Forgiving by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter, the Revd Mpho Tutu.

There are times when each and every one of us has needed to forgive, and when we have needed to be forgiven, and there will be many times like these in the future too. We are all broken and in need of being on the path to wholeness.

She told of a young Israeli who was a peace activist but who accepted conscription believing he could make a difference. But he was killed almost immediately. His mother’s immediate response was to tell his fellow soldiers: ‘Do not take revenge in the name of my son.’ His death was a test of the family’s commitment to building peace. ‘The worst has happened to us. The only thing we have left is to reach our hand out to offer to help build peace.’

‘Forgiveness is the radical act of a freedom fighter,’ she said. And she urged us to let go of the pain and the need to punish, and to hate, and to have revenge.


‘For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good …’ (Matthew 5: 45) … five minutes at sunset on the Sarawak River in Kuching (Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 15 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), has been ‘The Church and Unity.’ This theme was introduced last Sunday with reflections by the Right Revd Dr Royce M Victor, Bishop in the Diocese of Malabar, Church of South India.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 15 March 2025) invites us to pray:

I will lean in, retreat from the pressures I face, and move closer and deeper into your love. I will breathe out, refrain from the distractions I seek, and become open and receiving of your grace. I will linger, encircled by the depth of your care, and receive the endless nature of your mercy.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
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 God,
you have renewed us with the living bread from heaven;
by it you nourish our faith,
increase our hope,
and strengthen our love:
teach us always to hunger for him who is the true and living bread,
and enable us to live by every word
that proceeds from out of your mouth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Heavenly Father,
your Son battled with the powers of darkness,
and grew closer to you in the desert:
help us to use these days to grow in wisdom and prayer
that we may witness to your saving love
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Lent II:

Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth,
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ’s religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow


‘For he … sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous’ (Matthew 5: 45) … three minutes watching tropical rain on the rooftops of Kuching (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

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

Praying in Advent with USPG and Lichfield Cathedral (9): 9 December 2018

Paulo Ueti, Bible scholar and theologian in the Anglican Church of Brazil … ‘Let’s join together in prayer and support gender justice because when one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers’

Patrick Comerford

This is the Second Sunday of Advent [9 December]. Later this morning, I am presiding at the Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2) in Castletown Church, Kilcornan, Co Limerick (9.30 a.m.), leading Morning Prayer in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, Co Limerick (11.30 a.m.), and preaching in both churches.

Throughout the season of Advent this year, I am spending a short time of prayer and reflection each morning, using the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), and the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 being used in Lichfield Cathedral.

USPG, founded in 1701, is an Anglican mission agency supporting churches around the world in their mission to bring fullness of life to the communities they serve.

USPG is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice.

Under the title Pray with the World Church, the current USPG prayer diary (7 October 2018 to 16 February 2019), offers prayers and reflections from the Anglican Communion.

We are coming to the end of the middle of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, and the USPG Prayer Diary begins this week with an article by Paulo Ueti, a Bible scholar and theologian in the Anglican Church of Brazil:

Christianity in Brazil might be pervasive, but this has not stopped violence increasing. In particular, women and girls are being abused, raped, beaten and murdered.

According to statistics, the so-called traditional family is the most dangerous place, with women often being attacked by their current or former partners. And this abuse often goes unpunished.

The Episcopal Anglican Church in Brazil is committed to overcoming gender violence. Years ago, the church stated that gender violence is not only a crime but also a sin which our baptism calls us to struggle against every day.

The church has a safe house in northern Brazil, Noeli dos Santos, which runs sensitisation training for all dioceses. In addition, the Anglican Service for Diaconia and Development is partnering with other organisations to advocate for rights and combat violence. Let’s join together in prayer and support gender justice because when one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers.

The USPG Prayer Diary:

Sunday 9 December 2018:

O God, who spoke through the prophets,
telling forth against the evils of society.
Inspire your church today to stand up, speak out
and bring in your kingdom of justice, peace and inclusion.

‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight’ (Luke 3: 4) … a pathway through fields in Comberford, near Lichfield and Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Lichfield Cathedral Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar:

Lichfield Cathedral’s Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 suggests you light your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray. It suggests setting aside five to 15 minutes each day.

Buy or use a special candle to light each day as you read and pray through the suggestions on the calendar. Each week there is a suggestion to ‘eat simply’ – try going without so many calories or too much rich food, just have enough. There is a suggestion to donate to a charity working with the homeless. There is encouragement to pray through what you see and notice going on around you in people, the media and nature.

The calendar is for not only for those who use the Cathedral website and for the Cathedral community. It is also for anyone who wants to share in the daily devotional exercise. The calendar suggests lighting your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray.

Today’s suggested reading is Luke 3: 1-6, and the calendar suggests: ‘Go to Church.’

The reflection for today suggests:

Pray for all who wake us to what’s true and warn us about what’s really going on. Pray for an instinct for truth.

Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland):

Baruch 5: 1-9; the Canticle Benedictus; Philippians 1: 3-11; Luke 3: 1-6.

The Collect:

Father in heaven,
who sent your Son to redeem the world
and will send him again to be our judge:
Give us grace so to imitate him
in the humility and purity of his first coming
that when he comes again,
we may be ready to greet him with joyful love and firm faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Post Communion Prayer:

Lord,
here you have nourished us with the food of life.
Through our sharing in this holy sacrament
teach us to judge wisely earthly things
and to yearn for things heavenly.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection.

Continued tomorrow.

Praying in Advent with USPG and Lichfield Cathedral (8): 8 December 2018

The shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield, is in the style of the Italian ceramicist Lucca della Robbia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

Today, the Church Calendar remembers the Conception of the Virgin Mary [8 December] or, in the Roman Catholic tradition, the Immaculate Conception. Throughout the season of Advent this year, I am spending a short time of prayer and reflection each morning, using the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), and the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 being used in Lichfield Cathedral.

USPG, founded in 1701, is an Anglican mission agency supporting churches around the world in their mission to bring fullness of life to the communities they serve.

USPG is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice.

Under the title Pray with the World Church, the current USPG prayer diary (7 October 2018 to 16 February 2019), offers prayers and reflections from the Anglican Communion.

We are in the middle of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, and the USPG Prayer Diary begins this week with an extract from a speech given at this year’s USPG Conference, ‘All Things Are Possible,’ in High Leigh by Jessica Richards, co-ordinator for Campaigns and Advocacy in the Church of South India.

The USPG Prayer Diary:

Saturday 8 December 2018:

Pray for understanding among men and women so that we might see each other as created by God and deserving of a full life.

The Virgin Mary in the Annunciation icons by the Bethlehem Icon School in the nave of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Lichfield Cathedral Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar:

Lichfield Cathedral’s Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 suggests you light your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray. It suggests setting aside five to 15 minutes each day.

Buy or use a special candle to light each day as you read and pray through the suggestions on the calendar. Each week there is a suggestion to ‘eat simply’ – try going without so many calories or too much rich food, just have enough. There is a suggestion to donate to a charity working with the homeless. There is encouragement to pray through what you see and notice going on around you in people, the media and nature.

The calendar is for not only for those who use the Cathedral website and for the Cathedral community. It is also for anyone who wants to share in the daily devotional exercise. The calendar suggests lighting your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray.

Today, the Church Calendar in Common Worship celebrates the Conception of the Virgin Mary. Today’s suggested reading is Luke 1: 26-38.

The reflection for today suggests:

As you write Christmas cards and messages, think about Mary received good news from God. Give thanks for all who’ve brought good news into our lives.

Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland):

Isaiah 30: 19-21, 23-26; Psalm 146: 4-9; Matthew 9: 35 to 10: 1, 6-8.

Collect:

Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

God our deliverer,
Awaken our hearts
to prepare the way for the advent of your Son,
that, with minds purified by the grace of his coming,
we may serve you faithfully all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection.

Continued tomorrow.

Praying in Advent with USPG and Lichfield Cathedral (7): 7 December 2018

Saint Ambrose of Milan (left) and Saint Gregory the Great (right) in a pair of mosaics in the apse of the Church of the Holy Name in Ranelagh, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

Today, the Church Calendar commemorates Saint Ambrose of Milan [7 December]. Throughout the season of Advent this year, I am spending a short time of prayer and reflection each morning, using the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), and the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 being used in Lichfield Cathedral.

USPG, founded in 1701, is an Anglican mission agency supporting churches around the world in their mission to bring fullness of life to the communities they serve.

USPG is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice.

Under the title Pray with the World Church, the current USPG prayer diary (7 October 2018 to 16 February 2019), offers prayers and reflections from the Anglican Communion.

We are in the middle of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, and the USPG Prayer Diary begins this week with an extract from a speech given at this year’s USPG Conference, ‘All Things Are Possible,’ in High Leigh by Jessica Richards, co-ordinator for Campaigns and Advocacy in the Church of South India.

The USPG Prayer Diary:

Friday 7 December 2018:

Give thanks for the support of USPG for gender justice programmes run by churches in the Anglican Communion in Asia and Africa.

Saint Ambrose among the Seven Fathers of the Church carved above the south door of Lichfield Cathedral … (from left): Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome, Saint Ambrose, Saint Gregory, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Athanasius and Saint Basil (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Lichfield Cathedral Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar:

Lichfield Cathedral’s Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 suggests you light your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray. It suggests setting aside five to 15 minutes each day.

Buy or use a special candle to light each day as you read and pray through the suggestions on the calendar. Each week there is a suggestion to ‘eat simply’ – try going without so many calories or too much rich food, just have enough. There is a suggestion to donate to a charity working with the homeless. There is encouragement to pray through what you see and notice going on around you in people, the media and nature.

The calendar is for not only for those who use the Cathedral website and for the Cathedral community. It is also for anyone who wants to share in the daily devotional exercise. The calendar suggests lighting your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray.

Today, the Church Calendar in Common Worship commemorates Saint Ambrose of Milan. Today’s suggested reading is Matthew 9: 27-31.

The reflection for today suggests:

Reflect on the times when you have received a blessing or a gift. Think about what use you have made of it.

Readings (Common Worship):

Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland):

Isaiah 29: 17-24; Psalm 27: 1-14, 16-17; Matthew 9: 27-31.

Collect:

Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

God our deliverer,
Awaken our hearts
to prepare the way for the advent of your Son,
that, with minds purified by the grace of his coming,
we may serve you faithfully all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection.

Continued tomorrow.

Praying in Advent with USPG and Lichfield Cathedral (6): 6 December 2018

Saint Nicholas, the inspiration for Santa Claus, in a mosaic in Westminster Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

Today the Church Calendar in Common Worship commemorates Saint Nicholas [6 December], the Bishop of Myra who is the inspiration for Santa Claus. Throughout the season of Advent this year, I am spending a short time of prayer and reflection each morning, using the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), and the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 being used in Lichfield Cathedral.

USPG, founded in 1701, is an Anglican mission agency supporting churches around the world in their mission to bring fullness of life to the communities they serve.

USPG is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice.

Under the title Pray with the World Church, the current USPG prayer diary (7 October 2018 to 16 February 2019), offers prayers and reflections from the Anglican Communion.

We are in the middle of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, and the USPG Prayer Diary beging this week with an extract from a speech given at this year’s USPG Conference, ‘All Things Are Possible,’ in High Leigh by Jessica Richards, co-ordinator for Campaigns and Advocacy in the Church of South India.

The USPG Prayer Diary:

Thursday 6 December 2018:

Pray that the Anglican Churches around the world might become beacons of hope in standing up for the rights of women.

The Great West Door of Lichfield Cathedral on a cold winter night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Lichfield Cathedral Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar:

Lichfield Cathedral’s Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 suggests you light your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray. It suggests setting aside five to 15 minutes each day.

Buy or use a special candle to light each day as you read and pray through the suggestions on the calendar. Each week there is a suggestion to ‘eat simply’ – try going without so many calories or too much rich food, just have enough. There is a suggestion to donate to a charity working with the homeless. There is encouragement to pray through what you see and notice going on around you in people, the media and nature.

The calendar is for not only for those who use the Cathedral website and for the Cathedral community. It is also for anyone who wants to share in the daily devotional exercise. The calendar suggests lighting your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray.

Today the Church Calendar in Common Worship commemorates Saint Nicholas. The suggested reading is Matthew 7: 21, 24-27.

The reflection for today suggests:

Pray for courage to go deeper in faith and understanding. Remember our duty to help a rising generation come to faith.

Readings (Common Worship):

Isaiah 61: 1-3; Psalm 68; I Timothy 6: 6-11; Mark 10: 13-16.

Collect:

Almighty Father, lover of souls,
who chose your servant Nicholas
to be a bishop in the Church,
that he might give freely out of the treasures of your grace:
make us mindful of the needs of others
and, as we have received, so teach us also to give;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

God, shepherd of your people,
whose servant Nicholas revealed the loving service of Christ
in his ministry as a pastor of your people:
by this Eucharist in which we share
awaken within us the love of Christ
and keep us faithful to our Christian calling;
through him who laid down his life for us,
but is alive and reigns with you,
now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflection.

Continued tomorrow.

Praying in Advent with USPG and Lichfield Cathedral (5): 5 December 2018

The High Leigh Conference Centre in Hertfordshire … the venue earlier this year for the USPG Conference, ‘All Things Are Possible’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

Throughout the season of Advent this year, I am spending a short time of prayer and reflection each morning, using the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), and the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 being used in Lichfield Cathedral.

USPG, founded in 1701, is an Anglican mission agency supporting churches around the world in their mission to bring fullness of life to the communities they serve.

USPG is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice.

Under the title Pray with the World Church, the current USPG prayer diary (7 October 2018 to 16 February 2019), offers prayers and reflections from the Anglican Communion.

We are in the middle of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, and the USPG Prayer Diary begins this week with an extract from a speech given at this year’s USPG Conference, ‘All Things Are Possible,’ in High Leigh by Jessica Richards, co-ordinator for Campaigns and Advocacy in the Church of South India.

The USPG Prayer Diary:

Wednesday 5 December 2018:

Give thanks for the efforts of the Church of South India to end the abuse of girls from all cultures and backgrounds.

The Choir Stalls in Lichfield Cathedral after Choral Evensong (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Lichfield Cathedral Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar:

Lichfield Cathedral’s Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 suggests you light your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray. It suggests setting aside five to 15 minutes each day.

Buy or use a special candle to light each day as you read and pray through the suggestions on the calendar. Each week there is a suggestion to ‘eat simply’ – try going without so many calories or too much rich food, just have enough. There is a suggestion to donate to a charity working with the homeless. There is encouragement to pray through what you see and notice going on around you in people, the media and nature.

The calendar is for not only for those who use the Cathedral website and for the Cathedral community. It is also for anyone who wants to share in the daily devotional exercise. The calendar suggests lighting your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray.

Today’s suggested reading is Matthew 25: 29-37.

The reflection for today suggests:

As you receive and hear appeals for charity, act on your generous instincts. Pray for a charity working with the homeless. Give them a gift.

Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland):

Isaiah 25: 6-10a; Psalm 23; Matthew 15: 29-37.

Collect:

Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

God our deliverer,
Awaken our hearts
to prepare the way for the advent of your Son,
that, with minds purified by the grace of his coming,
we may serve you faithfully all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection.

Continued tomorrow.

Praying in Advent with USPG and Lichfield Cathedral (4): 4 December 2018

The High Leigh Conference Centre in Hertfordshire … the venue earlier this year for the USPG Conference, ‘All Things Are Possible’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

Throughout the season of Advent this year, I am spending a short time of prayer and reflection each morning, using the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), and the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 being used in Lichfield Cathedral.

USPG, founded in 1701, is an Anglican mission agency supporting churches around the world in their mission to bring fullness of life to the communities they serve.

USPG is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice.

Under the title Pray with the World Church, the current USPG prayer diary (7 October 2018 to 16 February 2019), offers prayers and reflections from the Anglican Communion.

We are in the middle of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, and the USPG Prayer Diary begins this week with an extract from a speech given at this year’s USPG Conference, ‘All Things Are Possible,’ in High Leigh by Jessica Richards, co-ordinator for Campaigns and Advocacy in the Church of South India.

The USPG Prayer Diary:

Tuesday 4 December 2018:

Pray for safety and protection for girls in India who, even in the womb, face the threat of death due to cultural attitudes.

The West Front of Lichfield Cathedral on a cold winter night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Lichfield Cathedral Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar:

Lichfield Cathedral’s Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 suggests you light your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray. It suggests setting aside five to 15 minutes each day.

Buy or use a special candle to light each day as you read and pray through the suggestions on the calendar. Each week there is a suggestion to ‘eat simply’ – try going without so many calories or too much rich food, just have enough. There is a suggestion to donate to a charity working with the homeless. There is encouragement to pray through what you see and notice going on around you in people, the media and nature.

The calendar is for not only for those who use the Cathedral website and for the Cathedral community. It is also for anyone who wants to share in the daily devotional exercise. The calendar suggests lighting your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray.

Today’s suggested reading is Luke 10: 21-24.

The reflection for today suggests:

As you read today’s passage remember God reveals himself to us in the simplicity of who we are, not what we would like to be.

Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland):

Isaiah 11: 1-10; Psalm 72: 1-4, 18-19; Luke 10: 21-24.

Collect:

Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

God our deliverer,
Awaken our hearts
to prepare the way for the advent of your Son,
that, with minds purified by the grace of his coming,
we may serve you faithfully all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection.

Continued tomorrow.

Praying in Advent with USPG and Lichfield Cathedral (3): 3 December 2018

The High Leigh Conference Centre in Hertfordshire … the venue earlier this year for the USPG Conference, ‘All Things Are Possible’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

Throughout the season of Advent this year, I am spending a short time of prayer and reflection each morning, using the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), and the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 being used in Lichfield Cathedral.

USPG, founded in 1701, is an Anglican mission agency supporting churches around the world in their mission to bring fullness of life to the communities they serve.

USPG is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice.

Under the title Pray with the World Church, the current USPG prayer diary (7 October 2018 to 16 February 2019), offers prayers and reflections from the Anglican Communion.

We are in the middle of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, and the USPG Prayer Diary began this week with an extract from a speech given at this year’s USPG Conference, ‘All Things Are Possible,’ in High Leigh by Jessica Richards, co-ordinator for Campaigns and Advocacy in the Church of South India.

The USPG Prayer Diary:

Monday 3 December 2018:

Pray for an end to attitudes in India and around the world that label women and girls as inferior to men.

Saints above the door of the south transept in Lichfield Cathedral on a winter night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Lichfield Cathedral Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar:

Lichfield Cathedral’s Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 suggests you light your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray. It suggests setting aside five to 15 minutes each day.

Buy or use a special candle to light each day as you read and pray through the suggestions on the calendar. Each week there is a suggestion to ‘eat simply’ – try going without so many calories or too much rich food, just have enough. There is a suggestion to donate to a charity working with the homeless. There is encouragement to pray through what you see and notice going on around you in people, the media and nature.

The calendar is for not only for those who use the Cathedral website and for the Cathedral community. It is also for anyone who wants to share in the daily devotional exercise. The calendar suggests lighting your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray.

Today’s suggested reading is Matthew 8: 5-11.

The reflection for today suggests:

Pray for the gifts of insight and compassion. Hold before God all in desperate need today. Listen to world news with special attention.

Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland):

Isaiah 2: 1-5; Psalm 122; Matthew 8: 5-13.

Collect:

Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

God our deliverer,
Awaken our hearts
to prepare the way for the advent of your Son,
that, with minds purified by the grace of his coming,
we may serve you faithfully all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection.

Continued tomorrow.

Praying in Advent with USPG and Lichfield Cathedral (2): 2 December 2018

‘Darkness into Light’ … taking part in the Advent Procession in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick, on Advent Sunday 2017

Patrick Comerford

Today is the First Sunday of Advent [1 December 2018], the beginning of the Season of Advent, and the beginning of a new Church Year. Later this morning, I am leading the services and preaching in Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick (the Parish Eucharist), and Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin (Tarbert), Co Kerry (Morning Prayer). In the evening, I hope to take part in the Advent procession and carol service, ‘Darkness into Light,’ at 7 p.m. in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick.

Throughout the season of Advent this year, I plan to spend a short time of Prayer and reflection each morning, using the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency, USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), and the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar being used in Lichfield Cathedral.

USPG, founded in 1701, is an Anglican mission agency supporting churches around the world in their mission to bring fullness of life to the communities they serve.

Theologically, practically and financially, USPG encourages and enables churches within the Anglican Communion to act as the hands and feet of Christ. Together, they are working to improve health, tackle poverty, put children in school, challenge discrimination, nurture leaders, give voice to women, and much more.

Under the title Pray with the World Church, the current USPG prayer diary (7 October 2018 to 16 February 2019), offers prayers and reflections from the Anglican Communion.

We are in the middle of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, and the USPG Prayer Diary today includes an extract from a speech given at this year’s USPG Conference, ‘All Things Are Possible,’ in High Leigh by Jessica Richards, co-ordinator for Campaigns and Advocacy in the Church of South India:

‘One of CSI’s successful campaigns involves the girl child. In India, the girl child’s right to live is not a given: female foeticide is practised in many parts [estimates suggest hundreds of female foetuses and new-borns are killed every day]. Now, thanks to campaigners like CSI, girls are starting to march in the streets to assert their right to live.

‘Our girl child campaign trains congregations on children’s rights and abuse. We encourage churches to report cases of abuse to the state child helpline. We also run a campaign in schools and communities. We try to create spaces in which children can speak openly about abuse. We include children from all backgrounds, including street children and children with disabilities. The children take this knowledge back to their families and this initiates conversations – about the rights of girls – and we hope this will help society move towards the greater social inclusion of girls. This girl child campaign has been supported by USPG, for which we are very grateful.’

The USPG Prayer Diary:

Sunday 2 December 2018: 1st Sunday of Advent:

Lord Jesus, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
pour tour blessings on all women and children today,
especially those who face discrimination and violence.
Reveal to them their worth and dignity before you.

JESSICA RICHARD SPEAKS AT USPG CONFERENCE 2018 from USPG on Vimeo.

Lichfield Cathedral Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar:

Lichfield Cathedral’s Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar for 2018 suggests you light your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray. It suggests setting aside five to 15 minutes each day.

Buy or use a special candle to light each day as you read and pray through the suggestions on the calendar. Each week there is a suggestion to ‘eat simply’ – try going without so many calories or too much rich food, just have enough. There is a suggestion to donate to a charity working with the homeless. There is encouragement to pray through what you see and notice going on around you in people, the media and nature.

The calendar is for not only for those who use the Cathedral website and for the Cathedral community. It is also for anyone who wants to share in the daily devotional exercise. The calendar suggests lighting your Advent candle each day as you read the Bible and pray.

Today’s suggested reading is Luke 21: 25-36.

The reflection for today suggests going to Church and continues:

We realise that life is complicated: joy & sorrow, pleasure & pain. Pray for trust in God’s purposes and for alertness to his love and presence.

The West Door of Lichfield Cathedral late at night in November (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, the Church of Ireland):

Jeremiah 33: 14-16; Psalm 25: 1-10; I Thessalonians 3: 9-13; Luke 21: 25-36.

Collect:

Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

God our deliverer,
Awaken our hearts
to prepare the way for the advent of your Son,
that, with minds purified by the grace of his coming,
we may serve you faithfully all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Continued tomorrow.

Great Saint Mary’s Church has been at the heart of life in Cambridge for 800 years

Inside Great Saint Mary’s, the University Church in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

When I stay in Cambridge, I regard Saint Bene’t’s Church on Bene’t Street, opposite the Eagle, as my parish church. It is a short, brisk walk from Sidney Sussex College, and I am welcomed regularly at both the Sunday Parish Eucharist and at the early morning weekday celebrations.

But there are many churches and college chapels in Cambridge where I feel welcome. In the past, I have preached in the chapels of both Sidney Sussex College and Christ’s College, I have been at both the Sunday Eucharist and Choral Evensong in King’s College, and at the mid-week Eucharist in Westcott House. I have visited the chapels of most Cambridge colleges, and have attended the Sunday Eucharist in Little Saint Mary’s, Trumpington Street, the best-known Anglo-Catholic church in Cambridge.

The High Altar and choir stalls in Great Saint Mary’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

However, I had only occasionally visited the University Church or Great Saint Mary’s Church. So, it was interesting to spend some extra time in this church during visits to Cambridge this summer, on the way to and from the USPG conference.

Saint Mary the Great stands on Senate House Hill, opposite the Senate House and close to both King’s College and Gonville Caius College. It is known locally as Great Saint Mary’s or simply GSM to distinguish it from Little Saint Mary’s on Trumpington Street.

Parish church and university church

The entrance to the Tower in Great Saint Mary’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Cambridge is part of the Diocese of Ely and has no cathedral. So, Great Saint Mary’s serves not only as a parish church but also as the university church and has a role in the city similar to that of a cathedral.

Great Saint Mary’s is one of the 55 churches in the Greater Churches Group in the Church of England, which includes churches that have a cathedral-like ministry. They include Bath Abbey, Saint Martin in the Bullring, Birmingham, Saint Martin-in-the Fields, London, Christ Church, Spitalfields, and Saint Mary the Virgin, Saffron Walden, the largest parish church in Essex.

Looking out from Great Saint Mary’s to the Senate House, which was built in 1730 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Great Saint Mary’s, a Grade I listed building, was designed in the Late Perpendicular style and has been at the heart of Cambridge life for over 800 years.

The first mention of the church is in 1205, when King John presented Thomas de Chimeleye to the rectory, and the first church on the site was built that year. Four years later, Great Saint Mary’s was the first home of Cambridge University when scholars fled Oxford in 1209, and here lectures were given, degrees were conferred and celebrations took place.

The church was mostly destroyed by fire on 9 July 1290. At the time, the fire was blamed on the Jewish population in Cambridge. The synagogue was closed, all 5,000 Jews were expelled from England. The old synagogue in the centre was given to the Franciscans, who had their main house of Cambridge on the site of Sidney Sussex College.

Great Saint Mary’s was rebuilt, and in 1303 the University ordered that a special sermon should be preached at Great Saint Mary’s four times a year. The tradition of the University Sermon continues to this day.

During its early years, Great Saint Mary’s was the property of the crown. But in 1342 the land passed to King’s Hall, founded in 1317 and one of the predecessors of Trinity College Cambridge. Ever since, the site has been owned by Trinity College.

The new church was consecrated in 1351, and since 1352 it has been known as Great Saint Mary’s. In the Middle Ages, the church became an official gathering place for meetings and debates for Cambridge University.

The present church was built between 1478 and 1519, and the building costs were met largely by King Richard III and King Henry VII. King Henry VII donated 100 oak beams for the roof. The oaks came from Chesterford Park, near Cambridge, which belonged to the Abbott of Westminster, John Islip, and Henry VII had to apologise to the Abbott for cutting down his oaks.

Reformation role

An Icon of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child in Great Saint Mary’s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Great Saint Mary’s played a leading part in the English Reformation. Many leading figures of the day preached here, including Erasmus, Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley. Martin Bucer (1491-1551), who was Regius Professor of Divinity in Cambridge from 1549 and who influenced Cranmer’s writing of the Book of Common Prayer, was buried here when he died in 1551 as a reaction to the damp fen climate.

During the reign of Queen Mary I, Bucer’s corpse was burned publicly in the marketplace. Great Saint Mary’s was condemned for harbouring the body of a heretic, and the churchwardens had to buy frankincense, sweet perfumes and herbs for a ceremony of reconciliation before the church could be used for services again.

However, in Elizabeth I’s reign, the dust from the place where Bucer was burned was replaced in the church in 1560 and now lie under a brass floor plate in the south chancel.

Great Saint Mary’s at the end of King's Parade (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

After the Reformation, Great Saint Mary’s became an important centre of preaching, and galleries were erected on all four sides to accommodate members of the university who were required to listen to formal sermons. The church tower was completed in 1608, and the font dates from 1632.

A Trinity don flew into a ‘greate rage’ when the Puritan churchwardens removed the altar steps in 1641. Royalist academics complained that Cromwell watched as his soldiers ripped up the Book of Common Prayer in the church, and Cromwell’s ‘multitudes of enraged soldiers’ vandalised the elaborate choir screen.

For the next 200 years, the Puritan faction dominated at Great Saint Mary’s, and galleries turned the church into a hall for preaching, centred on an imposing triple-decker pulpit.

The University Organ, bought from Saint James’s Church, Piccadilly, in 1698, was built by the renowned organ builder ‘Father’ Bernard Smith (ca 1630-1708).

The bells were replaced in 1722, and the Society of Cambridge Youths, formed in 1724, claims to be the oldest bell-ringing society in Britain and the second oldest at any church in the world with a continuous ringing history.

The church continued as a venue for meetings and debates in Cambridge until 1730, when the Senate House was built across the street. In 1732, Great Saint Mary’s became the datum point from which the first English milestones were measured.

Transformation and restoration

Great Saint Mary’s became the datum point from which the first English milestones were measured in 1732 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

During the 18th century, the whole church interior was transformed, and the church was restored by James Essex in 1766. When Henry VII’s oak roof showed signs of decay in 1783, a supplementary one was built a few feet above the original and the two were tied together.

The architect Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) carried out restoration work in 1850-1851, and soon after was involved in restoring Little Saint Mary’s on Trumpington Street. He was followed at Great Saint Mary’s in 1857 by Anthony Salvin (1799-1881).

From the 1860s, stained glass and a raised High Altar returned to Great Saint Mary’s, bringing colour and ritual back into the Anglican worship there. The interior was re-arranged with a new carved choir stalls and fixed pews, and the north and south galleries were removed, although the west gallery still stands.

The East Window depicting the Nativity of Christ is the work of the Chance Brothers partnership in Birmingham (1869) (Photograph: courtesy Great Saint Mary’s Church, Cambridge)

The stained glass in the east window depicting the Nativity of Christ was installed in 1869 and is the work of the Chance Brothers in Birmingham, who specialised in adapting the colouring techniques used by mediaeval glaziers. Other stained glass by Hardman was added in 1867-1869. The south porch was rebuilt in 1888, and there was further restoration work in the 20th century.

The clerestory windows, based on the canticle ‘Te Deum’, were inserted in 1902-1904 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Each window in the clerestory is based on a verse in Te Deum and they were inserted in 1902-1904. Sixty figures are portrayed, running east to west along the north side of the Church and then west to east along the south. They depict the ‘glorious company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of prophets and the noble army of martyrs.’

Christ in Majesty

Alan Durst created the scene of ‘Majesty of Christ’ in gilded wood for Great Saint Mary’s, and it was installed as a reredos in 1960 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The golden sculpture above the High Altar, the Majestas Christi, the Majesty of Christ, was made in gilded wood by Alan Durst in 1959 and was installed in 1960. Its imagery draws on the Book of Revelation. Christ stands in front of the cross as the tree of life, his hands and feet are marked by the wounds of the crucifixion and around him are the lion, ox, man and eagle, symbolising the four evangelists, while Christ treads on a serpent. The Latin inscription on the book in Christ’s left hand means, ‘The leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations’ (Revelation 22: 2).

The sculpture of the ‘Majesty of Christ’ by Alan Durst draws on imagery in the Book of Revelation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Great Saint Mary’s continues to play a role in the life of the University of Cambridge. University officers must live within 20 miles of Great Saint Mary’s, undergraduates within three miles, and the church hosts the University Sermons and is home to the University Organ and the University Clock.

Saint Mary the Great is unusual in housing two self-contained pipe organs, a Parish Organ in the chancel, built in 1991, and the University Organ in the West Gallery. The University Organ was rebuilt by William Hill in 1870. Great Saint Mary’s is one of the few churches were a double organ concerto can be performed.

The University Clock chimes the ‘Cambridge Quarters,’ later used by Big Ben. The old ring of bells was replaced in 2009 with a new ring of 13 bells cast by Taylors Eayre and Smith. Some of the original bells have been retained to continue sounding the Cambridge Chimes.

The funeral of Stephen Hawking (1942-2018), the theoretical physicist, was held in Great Saint Mary’s earlier this year before his ashes were interred in Westminster Abbey.

A living tradition

A Sculpture of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child on the side of Great Saint Mary’s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Great Saint Mary’s stands in the Liberal Catholic tradition of the Church of England, and it is a member of Inclusive Church. The mission of Great Saint Mary’s includes the Michaelhouse Centre and Chaplaincy in Trinity Street and the chaplaincy to the non-collegiate members of the University.

Past Vicars of Great Saint Mary’s include Mervyn Stockwood, later Bishop of Southwark, Hugh Montefiore, later Bishop of Kingston and of Birmingham, Stanley Booth-Clibborn, later Bishop of Manchester; Michael Mayne, later Dean of Westminster Abbey. David Conner, later Bishop of Lynn and then Dean of Windsor; and John Binns (1994-2017), now a Research Associate at the Centre of World Christianity at SOAS in London. John Binns was a founding director of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge, where he remains a Visiting Professor, and has strong links with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Canon Adrian Daffern has moved from Woodstock and Bladon in the Diocese of Oxford as the new been Vicar of the University Church of Saint Mary the Great with Saint Michael, Cambridge. He was instituted and inducted to his new post on 5 September 2018.

Great Saint Mary’s continues to play a role in the life of the University of Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

This feature was first published in October 2018 in the ‘Church Review’ (Dublin and Glendalough) and the ‘Diocesan Magazine’ (Cashel, Ferns and Ossory).

Bicycles chained to the railings of Great Saint Mary’s in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

‘Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness’

‘Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home’ … harvest time in the fields beside the Rectory in Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford,

Sunday 6 October 2018,

The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XIX)

11.30 p.m.: Harvest Thanksgiving Service, Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin (Tarbert), Co Kerry.

Readings: Joel 2: 21-27; Psalm 126; Matthew 6: 25-33.

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

Before I came to this group of parishes at the beginning of last year [January 2017], I had lived for more than 40 years in the suburbs of south Co Dublin.

So, for these past two years, my time here has rekindled the pleasures of being in the countryside, being in touch with the cycle of life and growth, sowing and harvest.

I spent important parts of my childhood on my grandmother’s farm in Cappoquin, Co Waterford, and then went to school in the middle of the countryside in Co Meath.

So, these past two years have awoken many childhood and school-day memories and images. For example, the Feast of Saint Michael fell last weekend [29 September 2018], and I realised how late autumn actually has been this year.

Like many people who grew up in the countryside, I was aware of the old belief that we should not pick blackberries after Michaelmas, Saint Michael’s Day, 29 September. But a week later, the blackberries are still ripening on the brambles in the fields behind the rectory in Askeaton and on the laneways around this church.

I know that for many farmers, this has been a mixed summer, but the interesting sunshine we had in recent weeks provided many farmers with some compensation at harvest time.

The weather these past few weeks has compensated for the heavy rains earlier in the year that threatened the summer harvests. The fields are still green and gold after a second cutting and in some places even a third cutting.

Despite living in Dublin all those years, I still yearned for those fields of green and gold that give that sense of belonging that many of us get when we move out of the city and return to provincial and rural life.

It is as though, psychologically and spiritually, we need to take stock of what is in the barn, be aware of the riches and blessings we have from God in the past and in the present, so that in faith we can move forward.

Autumn seems a good time to take stock in all those ways. The summer holidays are over, the children are back at school, colleges and universities have reopened. Before the clocks go back and the winter evenings begin to close in, now is the time to take a few steps back and just see where we are going.

It is time to take stock of the riches we have been blessed with, to realise what we have and what we no longer need, what we have been blessed with and what we can bless others with, what is there and what is missing.

Sometimes it is good to count our blessings. As the Prophet Joel says in our Old Testament reading this morning: ‘Be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things’ (Joel 2: 21).

Earlier this summer, I spent the best part of a week [2 to 4 July 2018] in England at a residential conference at the High Leigh Conference Centre, near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire. There I heard about exciting and fresh new things that are being done by the Anglican mission agency that I am a trustee of, USPG, the United Society Partners in the Gospel.

This is an exciting time for USPG, as we take a fresh look at the meaning of mission not only for USPG, but for Anglicans around the world.

I chaired one of the conference sessions, when the Revd Dr Pervaiz Sultan, the Principal of Saint Thomas’s Theological College in Karachi, spoke of what it is like to live as a Christian and as part of a tiny minority in Pakistan, which is an overwhelmingly Muslim-majority country.

The new general secretary of USPG, the Revd Duncan Dormor, presented us with a new vision, a new strategy, for 2018-2021. He spoke of sharing in God’s mission worldwide, and he challenged us not to forget if the Church forgets mission we become a club: a nice club, with nice members, but just another club.

We are a pilgrim church, a pilgrim people, sent out into the world, like the disciples in this morning’s Gospel reading.

Duncan reminded us that the story of Jesus is a story of constantly crossing ethnic and religious divisions. We discover who we are through the other, and we find ourselves transformed and humbled when we listen to the stories of others and their faith.

USPG is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential and champion justice.

The agency has four core values. Duncan’s strategic vision says that in mission USPG is faithful, radical, stands in solidarity and respects context.

He outlined three broad strategic aims: to rethink mission, to energise Church and community, and to champion justice.

One way USPG carries through on these visions and delivers on these aims is through the large number of volunteers who go where they are sent, and then come back and share their experiences and their journey in faith.

Bishop Donald Jute of Kuching, in Malaysia, spoke of the way our concepts of mission, our ways of doing mission as a church, have changed in recent decades. He identified the move from paternal to fraternal relations in mission, and from divisive concepts of donors and receivers to the concept of partnership.

And he used the word partnership in a witty way when he pointed out that the word partnership is made up of the words ‘partners’ and ‘hip.’

When Churches are partners in mission, it is like we are joined at the hip. He could have been drawing on this morning’s Gospel when he told us: ‘Together we are called and together we are sent.’

A few weeks ago, I was at a meeting in London where the trustees heard how USPG has become a partner and a supporting agency in appointing a chaplain to work among refugees stranded in Calais, amid concern about the rising number of migrants settling around ports in northern France.

Canon Kirrilee Reid is moving from her present post as the rector of a rural church in Perth and Kinross in Scotland to become part of the Anglican chaplaincy team in Pas-de-Calais.

Her appointment is going to boost co-ordination between both sides of the Channel, to ensure migrants and their families receive the care and support they need.

Every part of the Church is supposed to be both sending and receiving. We are joined at the hips as partners. We cannot exist as isolated, individual Christians on our own. Parishes and dioceses cannot exist without giving and receiving, without sending and welcoming. All this work goes to show how relevant mission is in the world today.

A mission agency that is over 300 years old is meeting the most contemporary and the most pressing needs in our world today.

These people are like the birds of the air, unable to sow or reap or gather for themselves. But by caring for them, by responding to their needs, the Church is showing that God still cares for them, that we know they are loved by God and so are worth caring for ourselves.

Taking stock of what we have in our barns, and giving thanks for the harvest are important ways of celebrating and of praising God. But in giving thanks mission agencies like USPG are showing on behalf of the Church that the Kingdom of God spreads beyond the boundaries of borders of our own parish and our own diocese.

May we continue to rejoice in the harvest so that others may know of the love of God, and so that we may express this in our love for others.

As Christ tells us in our Gospel reading this morning: ‘Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’ (Matthew 6: 33).

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

‘The tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and the vine their full yield’ (Joel 2: 22) … grapes ripening on the vines in Platanes, near Rethymon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Matthew 6: 25-33:

[Jesus said:] 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Liturgical Colour: Green

The Harvest Collect:

Eternal God,
you crown the year with your goodness
and give us the fruits of the earth in their season:
Grant that we may use them to your glory,
for the relief of those in need
and for our own well-being;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Collect of the Day:

O God,
without you we are not able to please you;
Mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hymns:

37, Come, ye thankful people, come (CD 3),

47. We plough the fields and scatter (CD 3),

365, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (CD 22).

A harvest of lemons this summer in Platanes near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

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