Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 72, Saturday 18 July 2026

The Prophet Isaiah depicted in the iconostasis in Arkadi Monastery in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and tomorrow is the Seventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VII, 19 July 2026). The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Elizabeth Ferard (1825-1883), first deaconess in the Church of England and founder of the Community of Saint Andrew.

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.

‘He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break’ (Isaiah 42: 2-3; see Matthew 12: 19) … a boat among reeds on the banks of the River Shannon, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 12: 14-21 (NRSVA):

14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

15 When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, 16 and he ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18 ‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not wrangle or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a bruised reed
or quench a smouldering wick
until he brings justice to victory.
21 And in his name the Gentiles will hope.’

The Prophet Isaiah (right) and Saint John the Baptist … a window in Saint John’s Church, Wall, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

As we continue our daily readings in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, we see how Jesus is becoming a figure of controversy. We saw yesterday how he was accused by Pharisees of condoning the disciples breaking the Sabbath on the part of his disciples (Matthew 12: 1-8). Immediately afterwards he went to a synagogue and, in spite of a challenge about healing on the Sabbath, he went ahead and cured a man with a ‘withered hand’ (Matthew 12: 9-13).

Following this, Matthew tells us that ‘the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him’ (Matthew 12: 14), because his is a severe threat to their authority.

Jesus, aware of this plotting, disappears from sight for a while. He does not go out of his way to confront people or to create trouble for himself and does not deliberately engineer his own suffering and death.

At this point, Saint Matthew compares Jesus’s behaviour with a Biblical and quotes a passage in Isaiah (42: 1-4) to portray Jesus as fulfilling of the Spirit of God campaigning for justice for peoples everywhere.

Second Isaiah, or Isaiah 40-55), often referred to as ‘Deutero-Isaiah’ or the Book of Consolation, was probably written during the Babylonian exile, between 540 and 515 BCE, offering comfort and hope to the exiled people. This section contains beautiful poetic passages, emphasising God’s mercy, faithfulness, and the promise of salvation. It foretells the coming of a ‘Suffering Servant’, the Messiah, who will bring salvation not only to Israel but to all nations.

This is the longest Old Testament citation in this gospel (verses 18-21), although it does not correspond exactly to either the Hebrew or the Septuagint reading of that passage.

Isaiah 42:1-4 describes God’s servant, chosen and empowered by God’s Spirit, who will bring justice to the nations. This servant will be gentle, not resorting to loud public displays, and will not extinguish even the smallest hope. He is going to establish justice on earth and be a light to the nations, guiding those in darkness:

1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

For Saint Matthew, Jesus is the servant whom God has chosen, ‘in whom my soul delights’. He is no demagogue and ‘will not cry out or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street’. Instead, he goes about quietly, tolerant and understanding of the weak, so gentle and kind in his behaviour that ‘a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.’

This reading, then, emphasises the meekness of Jesus, the Servant of the Lord, and foretells the extension of his mission to the Gentiles. His message, demanding thought it may be, does not crush people. Justice comes through compassion – like care for the bruised reed – not through the exercise of power and violence.

Christ will always intervene on behalf of the weak, and in a way that is sensitive to them, and that takes the limelight away from himself. His concern for justice will bring hope to all people.

In these days, we are so in need of this assurance that Christ will patiently bring justice to victory.

The Prophet Isaiah (left) and the Prophet Jeremiah (right) in a window in Saint Michael’s Church, Pery Square, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 18 July 2026):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 12 to 18 July 2026 (pp 18-19), is ‘The Land of the Highlanders’. This theme was introduced last Sunday with a reflection by the Most Revd Mark Strange, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

The USPG prayer diary today (Saturday 18 July 2026) invites us to pray

God, we hold before you the hope that the Highlands may once again be filled with Highlanders. Guide your Church to stand alongside its people and to trust in you.

The Collect of the Day:

Merciful God,
you have prepared for those who love you
such good things as pass our understanding:
pour into our hearts such love toward you
that we, loving you in all things and above all things,
may obtain your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
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:

God of our pilgrimage,
you have led us to the living water:
refresh and sustain us
as we go forward on our journey,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect

Creator God,
you made us all in your image:
may we discern you in all that we see,
and serve you in all that we do;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Trinity VII:

Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

‘He will not break a bruised reed’ (Matthew 12: 20), ‘a bruised reed he will not break’ (Isaiah 42: 3) … reeds in the breeze on the River Shannon at Carrick-on-Shannon (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: 53, Monday 29 June 2026, Saint Peter and Saint Paul

The Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul holding the church in unity … an early 18th century icon in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary time in the Church Calendar. The week began with Fourth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity IV, 28 June 2026) and today is the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (29 June). This time of the year is known sometimes as Petertide, because of the ordinations at this time of the year.

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

1, reading today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the paired niches above the south porch in Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, Buckingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 16: 13-19 (NRSVA):

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ 14 And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ 15 He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16 Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 17 And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’

The statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the porch of the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul on Queen Street, Singapore (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

Last week I was marking the 25th anniversary of my ordination as priest (24 June 2001) and the 26th anniversary of my ordination as deacon, on both occasions by Archbishop Walton Empey in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin In recent days, many of ordained colleagues have been posting photographs on social media celebrating the anniversaries of their ordinations too.

Today is the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles (29 June), and this time of the year is known in Anglican tradition as Petertide, one of the two traditional periods for the ordination of new priests and deacons – the other being Michaelmas, in the days close to 29 September.

The Cambridge poet-priest Malcolm Guite has said on his blog that Saint Peter’s Day and this season are appropriate for ordinations because Saint Peter is ‘the disciple who, for all his many mistakes, knew how to recover and hold on, who, for all his waverings was called by Jesus “the rock,” who learned the threefold lesson that every betrayal can ultimately be restored by love.’

Saint Peter argues with Saint Paul at Antioch, and Paul rebukes Peter for seemingly trying to insist that Gentiles must become Jews if they are to convert to Christianity (see Galatians 2: 11-13). But if Saint Peter gets it wrong in Antioch, he goes on to get it right at the first Council of the Church in Jerusalem (see Acts 15: 7-20). He later refers to Saint Paul as ‘our beloved brother’ and his letters as ‘scripture,’ even when they may be difficult to understand (see II Peter 3: 16-17).

A later Church tradition says Saint Peter and Saint Paul taught together in Rome, founded Christianity in the city, and suffered martyrdom at the same time, so that an icon of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, standing side-by-side, is a popular icon of Church unity and ecumenism in the Orthodox Church.

In the Orthodox Church, Saint Peter and Saint Paul are seen as figures of Church Unity, sharing a common faith and mission despite their differences. They are often seen as paired, flanking images at entrances to churches, and the icon of Christian Unity in the Orthodox tradition shows the Apostles Peter and Paul embracing each other – signs of the early Church overcoming its differences and affirming its diversity.

As they embrace each other in these icons, Peter and Paul are almost wrestling, arms around each other, beards so close they are almost intertwining. This icon reminds me of Psalm 133:

How very good and pleasant it is
when [brothers] live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
life for evermore.

So, despite many readings of the New Testament, especially the Acts of the Apostles, that see Peter and Paul in conflict with each other rather than complementing each other, they can be models for Church Unity.

We may rejoice in the Church that our differences may complement each other. Pope Francis marked the feast of Saint Peter and Paul in 2020 by stressing the importance of unity in the Church and allowing ourselves to be challenged by God, urging people to spend less time complaining about what they see going wrong, and more time in prayer.

He noted that Saint Peter and Saint Paul were two very different men who ‘could argue heatedly’ but who ‘saw one another as brothers, as happens in close-knit families where there may be frequent arguments but unfailing love.’

God, he said, ‘did not command us to like one another, but to love one another. He is the one who unites us, without making us all alike.’

Saint Peter and Saint Paul depicted in the window commemorating William Cowper in Saint Peter and Saint Paul Churh, Olney (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 29 June 2026, Saint Peter and Saint Paul)

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 28 June to 4 July 2026 (pp 14-15), is ‘Living Stones’. This theme was introduced yesterday with a reflection by the Very Revd Lydia Kelsey Bucklin, President and Dean of Episcopal Divinity School.

The USPG prayer diary today (Monday 29 June 2026, Saint Peter and Saint Paul) invites us to pray:

Gracious God, you called apostles to proclaim a love that disrupted power and turned the world upside down. Help us, as living stones, to support one another in courageous truth-telling and bearing witness against empire.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul
glorified you in their death as in their life:
grant that your Church,
inspired by their teaching and example,
and made one by your Spirit,
may ever stand firm upon the one foundation,
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever..

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
by the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Saint Peter and Saint Paul depicted in statues on the west front of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

Daily prayer in Lent 2026: 37, Thursday 26 March 2026

‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am’ (John 8: 58) … ‘Abraham, our Father in Faith’ by Sean Rice (1931-1997), in the west apse of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the last two weeks of Lent, and this week began with the Fifth Sunday in Lent (Lent V), sometimes still known as Passion Sunday. The Church Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers the life and witness of Harriet (O’Brien) Monsell (1811-1883), the Limerick-born founder of and first Superior of the Community of Saint John the Baptist or Clewer Sisters.

I have been on a 24-hour fast in preparation for an appointment this morning for blood tests as part of the continuing monitoring of my post-stroke condition, my sarcoidosis and my low levels of Vitamin B12. But, before the day 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 Sacrifice of Abraham depicted in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 8: 51-58 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 51 ‘Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.’ 52 The Jews said to him, ‘Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.” 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?’ 54 Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, “He is our God”, 55 though you do not know him. But I know him; if I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ 57 Then the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ 58 Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.’ 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Abraham depicted in a stained glass window in Saint John’s Church, Wall, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders in Jerusalem continues in the Gospel reading at the Eucharist (John 8: 51-58) today. Today’s reading opens with Jesus promising that ‘whoever keeps my word will never see death’ (verse 51), but ends with him being threatened with death himself as his interlocutors picked up stones to throw at him (verse 59), threatening him with the very same form of execution that faced the woman who had been caught in adultery and was brought before Jesus by scribes and Pharisees at the beginning of this chapter (John 8: 1-11), which we read about on Monday (23 April 2026).

That woman escaped being stoned to death when Jesus challenged her accusers, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her’, and then wrote on the ground (verse 7-8).

Jesus escapes death this time, hiding himself and going out of the temple (verse 59). But we know his death is inevitable, and we shall focus on his passion and his death, not by stoning but on the Rock of Golgotha, next week throughout Holy Week.

Harriet Monsell (1811-1883), who is remembered today, is one of the few Irish-born women in the Calendar of Saints in Common Worship in the Church of England. She was the daughter of Sir Edward O’Brien (1773-1826) of Dromoland Castle, Co Clare, and a sister of the Irish patriot William Smith O’Brien (1803-1864).

Harriet and her Irish-born husband Canon Charles Henry Monsell (1815-1850) were closely identified with the Oxford Movement. After he died in 1850, she began working in the railroad and army village of Clewer among former prostitutes and unmarried mothers at a House of Mercy. The house had been founded some years earlier by Mrs Mariquita Tennant, who was a Spanish refugee, a convert to Anglicanism and a clergyman’s widow.

Harriet Monsell moved to Clewer with her sister Catherine and her husband, Canon Charles Harris, later Bishop of Gibraltar. Harriet Monsell professed religious vows with two other women, and became Mother Superior of one of the first Anglican religious orders since the Reformation 300 years earlier.

The women lived according to a rule attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo. At first, they were called the Sisters of Mercy. They later changed their name to reflect their inspiration from Saint John the Baptist’s call to penitence. During the order’s first five years, it expanded from assisting about 30 marginalised women to dedicating a building to serve about 80 women.

The foundation of the sisterhood was viewed with alarm, but the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, despite his misgivings, acted as Visitor to the Community until he moved to Winchester in 1869.

As the Community of Saint John Baptist, the nuns were guided by Mother Harriet, with her energy and humour. They extended their original mission to running about 40 institutions, including mission houses in parishes, as well as orphanages, schools and hospitals. Mother Harriet retired to Folkestone, Kent, in 1875 for health reasons, although she was occasionally able to visit the communities she founded.

She died in Folkestone on the morning of 25 March 1883, which that year was both the Feast of the Annunciation and Easter Day. Because of this coincidence, her commemoration in the Calendar of the Church of England has been moved to the following day, 26 March.

So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself (John 8: 59) … stones and pebbles on the beach in Portrane, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 26 March 2026):

The theme this week (22-28 March 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Myanmar Earthquake: One Year On’ (pp 40-41). This theme was introduced on Sunday with a programme update by the Revd Davidson Solanki, the USPG Senior Regional Manager for Asia and the Middle East.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 26 March 2026) invites us to pray:

Lord, we thank you for those who have provided support over the past year; church workers, volunteers, aid workers, and faithful supporters.

The Collect:

Most merciful God,
who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
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 Jesus Christ,
you have taught us
that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters
we do also for you:
give us the will to be the servant of others
as you were the servant of all,
and gave up your life and died for us,
but are alive and reign, now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

Gracious Father,
you gave up your Son
out of love for the world:
lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion,
that we may know eternal peace
through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Mother Harriet Monsell (1811-1883), founder of the Community of Saint John Baptist, the ‘Clewer Sisters’

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 Advent 2025: 10, Tuesday 9 December 2025

‘If a shepherd has a hundred sheep … does he not … go in search of the one that went astray?’ (Matthew 18: 12) … Christ as the Good Shepherd in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the Season of Advent and the week began with the Second Sunday of Advent (Advent II, 7 December 2025). Later this afternoon, I am speaking to Wolverton and District Archaeological Society in Stony Stratford Library on the work of the architect Edward Swinfen Harris.

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

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

Christ the Good Shepherd (see Matthew 18: 12-14) … a window in Christ Church, Leamonsley, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 18: 12-14 (NRSVA):

Jesus said: 12 ‘What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’

Sheep grazing by the Balancing Lakes near Wolverton Mill last week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Today’s Reflections:

In my experience, most people warm to the Gospel readings in which Christ is depicted as the model of pastoral care as the Good Shepherd. It iss a popular image, filling stained-glass windows in churches of every tradition, surpassed in popularity only by windows showing the Crucifixion or the Last Supper.

But sometimes I have problems with our cosy, comfortable image of the Good Shepherd. Christ is so often portrayed in clean, spick-and-span, neatly tailored, nicely dry-cleaned, red and white robes, complete with a golden clasp to hold all those robes together.

And the lost sheep is one-in-a-hundred, a huggy, lovable, white fluffy Little Lamb, a little pet, no different from the Little Lamb that Mary had in the nursery rhyme and that followed her to school.

But shepherds and sheep, in real life, are not like that.

I remember once, on Achill Island, hearing about a shepherd who went down a rock-face looking for a lost sheep, and who lost his life. Local people were shocked – lambs don’t fetch a price in the mart that makes them worth losing your life for.

The sheep survived. But as you can imagine, in the process of being lost, it had been torn by brambles, had lost a lot of its wool, was bleeding and messy. Any shepherd going down after a lost sheep will get torn by brambles too, covered in sheep droppings, slip on the rocks, risk his life.

And all for what?

And yet Jesus compares himself the Good Shepherd who seeks out the lost sheep, in the face of great risks from wolves and from the terrain, and against all common wisdom, as the hired hands would know.

Christ, against all the prevailing wisdom, identifies with those who are lost, those who are socially on the margins, who are smelly and dirty, injured and broken, regarded by everyone else as worthless, as simply not worth the bother.

God sees us – all of us – in our human condition, with all our collective and individual faults and failings, and in Christ totally identifies with us.

And how should we respond to that?

Christ the Good Shepherd … a window in Saint John’s Church, Wall, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 9 December 2025):

The theme this week (7 to 13 December 2025) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Divine Sufficiency’ (pp 8-9). This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections from the Revd Neli Miranda, Vicar at Saint James the Apostle in Guatemala City and Professor of Theology at the University Mariano Gálvez of Guatemala.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 9 December 2025) invites us to pray:

We pray for the daily resilience of believers and for all Christians living in Guatemala. May the Spirit strengthen, correct and equip all who believe in order that Christ’s glory may be known.

The Collect:

O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power
and come among us,
and with great might succour us;
that whereas, through our sins and wickedness
we are grievously hindered
in running the race that is set before us,
your bountiful grace and mercy
may speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honour and glory, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

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.

Additional Collect

Almighty God,
purify our hearts and minds, that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again
as judge and saviour
we may be ready to receive him,
who is our Lord and our God.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Christ the Good Shepherd … the Hewson Memorial Window in Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick (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: 71, Saturday 19 July 2025

The Prophet Isaiah depicted in the iconostasis in Arkadi Monastery in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and tomorrow is the Fifth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity V, 20 July 2025). The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Gregory (ca 394), Bishop of Nyssa, and his sister, Saint Macrina (ca 379), Deaconess, Teachers of the Faith.

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.

‘He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break’ (Isaiah 42: 2-3; see Matthew 12: 19) … reeds at the small lake by the North Beach in Arklow, Co Wicklow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 12: 14-21 (NRSVA):

14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

15 When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, 16 and he ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18 ‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not wrangle or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a bruised reed
or quench a smouldering wick
until he brings justice to victory.
21 And in his name the Gentiles will hope.’

The Prophet Isaiah (right) and Saint John the Baptist … a window in Saint John’s Church, Wall, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

As we continue our daily readings in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, we see how Jesus is becoming a figure of controversy. We saw yesterday how he was accused by Pharisees of condoning the disciples breaking the Sabbath on the part of his disciples (Matthew 12: 1-8). Immediately afterwards he went to a synagogue and, in spite of a challenge about healing on the Sabbath, he went ahead and cured a man with a ‘withered hand’ (Matthew 12: 9-13).

Following this, Matthew tells us that ‘the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him’ (Matthew 12: 14), because his is a severe threat to their authority.

Jesus, aware of this plotting, disappears from sight for a while. He does not go out of his way to confront people or to create trouble for himself and does not deliberately engineer his own suffering and death.

At this point, Saint Matthew compares Jesus’ behaviour with a Biblical and quotes a passage in Isaiah (42: 1-4) to portray Jesus as fulfilling of the Spirit of God campaigning for justice for peoples everywhere.

Second Isaiah, or Isaiah 40-55), often referred to as ‘Deutero-Isaiah’ or the Book of Consolation, was probably written during the Babylonian exile, between 540 and 515 BCE, offering comfort and hope to the exiled people. This section contains beautiful poetic passages, emphasising God’s mercy, faithfulness, and the promise of salvation. It foretells the coming of a ‘Suffering Servant’, the Messiah, who will bring salvation not only to Israel but to all nations.

This is the longest Old Testament citation in this gospel (verses 18-21), although it does not correspond exactly to either the Hebrew or the Septuagint reading of that passage.

Isaiah 42:1-4 describes God’s servant, chosen and empowered by God’s Spirit, who will bring justice to the nations. This servant will be gentle, not resorting to loud public displays, and will not extinguish even the smallest hope. He is going to establish justice on earth and be a light to the nations, guiding those in darkness:

1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

For Saint Matthew, Jesus is the servant whom God has chosen, ‘in whom my soul delights’. He is no demagogue and ‘will not cry out or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street’. Instead, he goes about quietly, tolerant and understanding of the weak, so gentle and kind in his behaviour that ‘a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.’

This reading, then, emphasises the meekness of Jesus, the Servant of the Lord, and foretells the extension of his mission to the Gentiles. His message, demanding thought it may be, does not crush people. Justice comes through compassion – like care for the bruised reed – not through the exercise of power and violence.

Christ will always intervene on behalf of the weak, and in a way that is sensitive to them, and that takes the limelight away from himself. His concern for justice will bring hope to all people.

In these days, we are so in need of this assurance that Christ will patiently bring justice to victory.

The Prophet Isaiah (left) and the Prophet Jeremiah (right) in a window in Saint Michael’s Church, Pery Square, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 19 July 2025):

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

The USPG prayer diary today (Saturday 19 July 2025) invites us to pray

Lord God, we pray for Bishop Vicentia and Bishop Dalcy within the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. Thank you for their passionate leadership and trust in you. May many be blessed by their ministry.

The Collect:

Lord of eternity, creator of all things,
in your Son Jesus Christ you open for us the way to resurrection
that we may enjoy your bountiful goodness:
may we who celebrate your servants Gregory and Macrina
press onwards in faith to your boundless love
and ever wonder at the miracle of your presence among us;
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:

God of truth,
whose Wisdom set her table
and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine
of the kingdom:
help us to lay aside all foolishness
and to live and walk in the way of insight,
that we may come with Gregory and Macrina to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Trinity V:

Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

‘He will not break a bruised reed’ (Matthew 12: 20), ‘a bruised reed he will not break’ (Isaiah 42: 3) … reeds in the breeze in Killarney, Co Kerry (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

It is such a good place, spell it out in big block letters on the walls and in the parks of LICHFIELD

The sign in Beacon Park was made by Staffordshire Signs for Lichfield District Council and has the spires of Lichfield Cathedral as a backdrop (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

Two new works of public art in Lichfield are spelling out the name of the cathedral city in capital letters in their own way: one is a work of street art in a hidden alleyway off a car park, the other is in Beacon Park, with the three spires of the cathedral as a backdrop; both are becoming popular as locations for ‘selfies’ among visitors and local people alike.

The name of Lichfield appears in block capital letters in the new colourful mural on the side of the Iceland supermarket that stretches for 30 metres along the first stage of the alleyway running from the Bird Street car park to Market Street.

The artist Nacho Welles seeks to capture Lichfield’s heritage and history in a work that features many local buildings and people, including Lichfield Cathedral, Samuel Johnson, Anna Seward, the Sandfields Pumping station, and the Lichfield-born Olympic cycling champion Sophie Capewell, who was one of the patrons of the Sheriff’s Ride in Lichfield this year (2025). There too are the terrapin that sunbathes at Minster Pool, a playful rabbit and a fox, the Roman ruins at Wall and, at the suggestion of local historian and tour guide Jonathan Oates of Jono’s Tourism, the Minster Pool heron.

This colourful piece of street art by Nacho Welles was commissioned by Lichfield District Council and was completed in recent weeks. At an early stage, the council invited residents, communities and businesses to take part in shaping the new mural, which has been funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Nacho Welles is a Spanish urban artist based in London who also goes by the name Core246. He has painted in street and graffiti art festivals across Europe, has painted murals all over the world, is the author of a sold-out series of books on graffiti, Not4 Profit, and paints with the graffiti crews Ghost Writers (GW) and Smile More Often (Smo).

His paintings on canvas reflect a mix of classic street art aesthetics, pop art and realistic portraiture, using vibrant colours and referencing popular movies, comics and videogames. He has taken part in street art festivals in Antwerp, Athens, Kosovo, Leicester, London, Madrid, Nara, Wiesbaden and Zagreb.

He began painting in oils at the age of 8, and soon moved on to spray painting in abandoned factories and tunnels, creating murals with friends for fun. After studying fine art at the University of Cuenca in Spain, he moved to London in 2011, and he continues creating freehand aerosol graffiti in situ, in addition to his studio practice.

Nacho Welles created the colourful mural that stretches for 30 metres along the alleyway running from the Bird Street car park to Market Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

When the mural was being planned earlier this year, Councillor Richard Holland, Cabinet Member for High Street and Economic Development on Lichfield District Council, said the alleyway would be ‘transformed into a vibrant area that our residents can be proud of’ and that the mural would contribute ‘to our work to improve our high streets and will be an important contribution to our vibrant economy.’

Councillor Janice Silvester-Hall, Cabinet Member for Visitor Economy, Ecology and Climate Change, said: ‘This mural should represent everything that makes Lichfield the place it is; the people that live here, landmarks that shape our streets and famous figures that represent our heritage.’

Residents, communities and businesses were asked for their views on themes, colour schemes and key elements to bring the mural together. Alongside this, Nacho held workshops with students from Lichfield College in street art and involving them to create the final artwork.

L: Samuel Johnson in the new mural by Nacho Welles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), often called Dr Johnson, was born in Lichfield. He was a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor, and compiler of one of the most important lexicographer. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says he is ‘arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history’.

I: the Sandfields Pumping Station and life on Stowe Pool or Minster Pool in the new mural by Nacho Welles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Sandfields Pumping Station, a disused pumping station in Lichfield, was built in 1873 to supply clean water from Minster Pool and Stowe Pool to towns in the Black Country, and is a Grade II* listed building. The historian, photographer and filmmaker David Moore, former chair of Lichfield Waterworks Trust, worked for several years to save this site, which he describes as a ‘magnificent cathedral to the industrial revolution’. He made four short video interviews with me in Saint John’s Hospital 10 years ago (2015), talking with me about my links with Lichfield.

C: a fox and the Lichfield-born Olympic cycling champion Sophie Capewell in the new mural by Nacho Welles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Sophie Ellen Capewell was born in Lichfield and is a British professional racing cyclist. She won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the team sprint, and has won numerous national, Commonwealth, European and world medals. She was one of the patrons of the Sheriff’s Ride in Lichfield this year.

H: Anna Seward, the ‘Swan of Lichfield’ and Lichfield Cathedral in the new mural by Nacho Welles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Anna Seward (1742-1809), a Romantic poet known as the ‘Swan of Lichfield’, was the daughter of Thomas Seward, a prebendary of Lichfield Cathedral. She lived in the Bishop’s Palace in the Cathedral Close and was part of the literary circle that included Erasmus Darwin, Samuel Johnson and James Boswell. She is buried under the choir stalls in Lichfield Cathedral.

F: the poems of Priscilla Pointon and Mrs Pickering and the Five Gables of Bore Street in the new mural by Nacho Welles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Priscilla Pointon (1740-1801) was born in Lichfield and lost her eyesight at the age of 13. She published Poems on Several Occasions’ in 1770. She married James Pickering in 1780, and after his death she published a second volume, Poems by Mrs Pickering (1794). Her name may have been suggested for inclusion in the mural by the local historian Katie Cardigan of Lichfield Discovered.

I: Erasmus Darwin and the Guildhall in the new mural by Nacho Welles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), a doctor, natural historian, inventor and poet, and a founding member of the Lunar Society, lived in Lichfield for much of his life. He was one of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment and the grandfather of Charles Darwin.

E: Francis Barber between the Guildhall and the Friary Clocktower in the mural by Nacho Welles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Francis Barber (1742-1801) was the Jamaican-born manservant and assistant of Samuel Johnson from 1752 until Johnson died 1784. Johnson left him a generous income, his books and papers, and a gold watch on the condition that Barber move to Lichfield. Barber, who had married a local woman, moved to Lichfield, opened a draper’s shop, and was an important source for James Boswell when he was writing about Johnson. Some of Barber’s descendants still live near Lichfield.

L: David Garrick in the mural by Nacho Welles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

David Garrick (1716-1779) was an actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer, and was a pupil and friend of Samuel Johnson. He built his career on his appearance in the title role of Shakespeare’s Richard III. He gives his name to the Garrick theatre in Lichfield.

D: between David Garrick and the Minster Pool heron and the Roman site at Wall in the mural by Nacho Welles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Meanwhile, a new city sign spelling out the name of Lichfield in giant white block letters is becoming a popular photo opportunity and a location for ‘selfies’ for visitors and residents alike, and is often used as a backdrop for local presentations.

The sign in Beacon Park was unveiled in April and sits against the backdrop of Lichfield Cathedral. It was crafted by Staffordshire Signs, a Burntwood-based company, for Lichfield District Council and it too was funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund as part of a broader High Street Vibrancy initiative.

It is interesting to notice how 3D city signs have become popular features around the world – in recent months, I have noticed them in places as far apart and as diverse as Kuching in Sarawak, Rethymnon in Crete, and Watford in Hertfordshire – and in the age of social media they offer branding opportunities for small cities.

Lichfield District Council has invested almost £100,000 in enhancing public spaces in Lichfield and Burntwood. Additional improvements under the scheme include colourful new planters, festive bunting, decorative bollard covers and enhanced street cleaning.

In Anglo-Saxon times, I suppose we could say Lichfield was a capital of sorts, with Tamworth the political capital of Mercia and Lichfield the ecclesiastical capital. But the capital letters in Nacho Welles’s street art in the centre of the city and the large block letters in Beacon Park are making Lichfield a ‘capital’ city this summer.

The mural by Nacho Welles … spelling out pride in the cultural and literary history of Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Daily prayer in Lent 2025: 37, Thursday 10 April 2025

‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am’ (John 8: 58) … ‘Abraham, our Father in Faith’ by Sean Rice (1931-1997), in the west apse of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the last two weeks of Lent, and this week began with the Fifth Sunday in Lent (Lent V), sometimes still known as Passion Sunday. The Church Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers the life and witness of William Law (1686-1761), priest and spiritual writer; and William of Ockham (1347), friar, philosopher and teacher of the faith.

I have an appointment early this morning for my regular B12 injection. But, as the day 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 Sacrifice of Abraham depicted in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 8: 51-58 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 51 ‘Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.’ 52 The Jews said to him, ‘Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.” 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?’ 54 Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, “He is our God”, 55 though you do not know him. But I know him; if I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ 57 Then the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ 58 Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.’ 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Abraham depicted in a stained glass window in Saint John’s Church, Wall, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders in Jerusalem continues in the Gospel reading at the Eucharist (John 8: 51-58) today. Today’s reading opens with Jesus promising that ‘whoever keeps my word will never see death’ (verse 51), but ends with him being threatened with death himself as his interlocutors picked up stones to throw at him (verse 59), threatening him with the very same form of execution that faced the woman who had been caught in adultery and was brought before Jesus by scribes and Pharisees at the beginning of this chapter (John 8: 1-11), which we read about on Monday (7 April 2025).

That woman escaped being stoned to death when Jesus challenged her accusers, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her’, and then wrote on the ground (verse 7-8).

Jesus escapes death this time, hiding himself and going out of the temple (verse 59). But we know his death is inevitable, and we shall focus on his passion and his death, not by stoning but on the Rock of Golgotha, next week throughout Holy Week.

How we understand the life, death and resurrection of Christ, and live out the consequences of that understand, is one of the primary concerns of the writings of William Law (1686-1761), who is commemorated in the Church Calendar today (10 April).

Law was born in King’s Cliffe, Northamptonshire, and educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. After ordination as a deacon, he became a fellow of Emmanuel College in 1711. When George I came to the throne in 1714, Law declined to take the Oath of Allegiance. He became a non-juror and lost his fellowship, but was ordained priest in 1728.

Barred from the pulpit and the lecture hall, Law preached through his books. These include Christian Perfection, The Spirit of Love, The Spirit of Prayer, and best-known of all, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1728). His writings stress the moral virtues, a personal prayer life and asceticism, and strongly influenced people such as Samuel Johnson and John and Charles Wesley.

Law returned to King’s Cliffe in 1740, where he led a life of devotion and simplicity and caring for the poor. He remained there for the rest of his life and died on 10 April 1761.

According to Law’s theology, God is an ‘infinity of mere love.’ God is love and love is God. Therefore, nothing in God’s character can be contrary to love. Although as humans we cannot see God’s essence, that God exists is self-evident because we bear the stamp of divine nature. Any positive ability or quality we have in ourselves is a reflection of God’s essence. We form our idea of God by ‘adding Infinite to every perfection that we have any knowledge of.’

The love of God is the basic premise upon which Law’s theology is based. Because God is total love, e his completely good. God’s desire to communicate God’s love and goodness is the ultimate purpose behind creation. Consequently, it is the perfect will of God that humans experience his love and goodness.

We are all in the image of God, and, according to Law, Christ entered the human race, participating with us in our human nature in order that through his life, death and resurrection, he could restore the fallen faculties of human nature to the state God intended. In short, for Law the atonement is simply the reclaiming of human nature.

So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself (John 8: 59) … stones and pebbles on the beach in Portrane, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 10 April 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 ‘Healthcare in Bangladesh.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by Suvojit Mondal, Programme Director for the Church of Bangladesh Community Healthcare Programme in Dhaka.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 10 April 2025) invites us to pray:

Pray for the ongoing provision of resources, partnerships, and support that will enable the programme to expand its services to reach more villages and communities in need.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
who called your servant William Law
to a devout and holy life:
grant that by your spirit of love
and through faithfulness in prayer
we may find the way to divine knowledge
and so come to see the hidden things 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:

God of truth,
whose Wisdom set her table
and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine
of the kingdom:
help us to lay aside all foolishness
and to live and walk in the way of insight,
that we may come with William Law to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

William Law’s writings stress the moral virtues, a personal prayer life and asceticism

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 Advent 2024: 10, Tuesday 10 December 2024

‘If a shepherd has a hundred sheep … does he not … go in search of the one that went astray?’ (Matthew 18: 12) … Christ as the Good Shepherd in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are more than a week into the Season of Advent, the real countdown to Christmas has gathered pace. The week began with the Second Sunday of Advent (Advent II, 8 December 2024).

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

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

Christ the Good Shepherd (see Matthew 18: 12-14) … a window in Christ Church, Leamonsley, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 18: 12-14 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 12 ‘What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’

Christ the Good Shepherd, depicted on the reredos in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s reflection:

In my experience, most people warm to the Gospel readings in which Christ is depicted as the model of pastoral care as the Good Shepherd. It iss a popular image, filling stained-glass windows in churches of every tradition, surpassed in popularity only by windows showing the Crucifixion or the Last Supper.

But sometimes I have problems with our cosy, comfortable image of the Good Shepherd. Christ is so often portrayed in clean, spick-and-span, neatly tailored, nicely dry-cleaned, red and white robes, complete with a golden clasp to hold all those robes together.

And the lost sheep is one-in-a-hundred, a huggy, lovable, white fluffy Little Lamb, a little pet, no different from the Little Lamb that Mary had in the nursery rhyme and that followed her to school.

But shepherds and sheep, in real life, are not like that.

I remember once, on Achill Island, hearing about a shepherd who went down a rock-face looking for a lost sheep, and who lost his life. Local people were shocked – lambs don’t fetch a price in the mart that makes them worth losing your life for.

The sheep survived. But as you can imagine, in the process of being lost, it had been torn by brambles, had lost a lot of its wool, was bleeding and messy. Any shepherd going down after a lost sheep will get torn by brambles too, covered in sheep droppings, slip on the rocks, risk his life.

And all for what?

And yet Jesus compares himself the Good Shepherd who seeks out the lost sheep, in the face of great risks from wolves and from the terrain, and against all common wisdom, as the hired hands would know.

Christ, against all the prevailing wisdom, identifies with those who are lost, those who are socially on the margins, who are smelly and dirty, injured and broken, regarded by everyone else as worthless, as simply not worth the bother.

God sees us – all of us – in our human condition, with all our collective and individual faults and failings, and in Christ totally identifies with us.

And how should we respond to that?

Christ the Good Shepherd … a window in Saint John’s Church, Wall, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 10 December 2024, Human Rights Day):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Peace – Advent’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections by the Revd Nitano Muller, Canon for Worship and Welcome, Coventry Cathedral.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 10 December 2024, Human Rights Day) invites us to pray:

This Human Rights Day we celebrate the fundamental rights we share and safeguard the rights of our fellow human beings. We pray for our partners the Iglesia Filipina Independiente as they continue to advocate for the human rights of Indigenous people.

The Collect:

O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power
and come among us,
and with great might succour us;
that whereas, through our sins and wickedness
we are grievously hindered
in running the race that is set before us,
your bountiful grace and mercy
may speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honour and glory, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

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.

Additional Collect:

Almighty God,
purify our hearts and minds,
that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again
as judge and saviour
we may be ready to receive him,
who is our Lord and our God.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

Christ the Good Shepherd … the Hewson Memorial Window in Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick (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