Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 137, Tuesday 22 September 2026

‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it’ (Luke 8: 21) … Who is my brother? … the Seven Brothers Taverna at the Old Harbour in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVI, 20 September).

I got home from Oxford late last night after an MRI scan in the John Radcliffe Hospital as part of the follow-up care following my stroke over four years ago (March 2022) and hospital procedures in Milton Keynes, Oxford and Sheffield. Now I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it’ (Luke 8: 21) … an interesting reminder in a café in Greystones, Co Wicklow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 8: 19-21 (NRSVA):

19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.’ 21 But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’

Leo Tolstoy offers a challenging understanding of happy and unhappy families in ‘Anna Karenina’

Today’s Reflections:

Leo Tolstoy’s opening sentence in Anna Karenina is often quoted in analyses of family life: ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’

His observation is most quoted when family relationships are being discussed. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a Russian mystic and novelist, and he took another 900 pages or so to describe three generations of unhappy family members who torment and torture each other and themselves. Although he never used the term, Tolstoy demonstrates what therapists today call the ‘intergenerational transmission of trauma.’

Tolstoy means that for a family to be happy, several key aspects must be in place, such as good health of all family members, acceptable financial security, and mutual affection. If there is a deficiency in any one or more of these key aspects, the family will be unhappy. The ‘Anna Karenina principle’ is used as a concept to explain success in many other fields, including, for example, in science.

The opening sentence of Anna Karenina seems to have a ring of truth to it. But do you think it is true at all? Are all happy families alike? And is it so that each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way?

Is the family of Jesus a happy family or an unhappy family?

What helps you to discuss this: the behaviour of his family members? Or his response to them?

Defining families, let alone defining happy families or unhappy families, is not as easy a task as appears when we first accept the challenge.

Deciding who is in, and who is out, through our behaviour, may be the first indication of whether a family is happy or not.

We all know families where one brother or one sister is the last to hear family notices, the last to hear about births, marriages or deaths, to hear about family parties and celebrations, to be counted in on family news and gossip. Indeed, there are some families where I imagine each individual sibling thinks he or she is the brother or sister who is always the last to be counted in.

In other families, the definition of family can be surprisingly narrow or surprisingly broad. Do you count second cousins as family members? Do I see everyone who shares my family name as, in some way, a member of some extended family?

Despite the fictional idyllic family life of the Waltons in Little House on the Prairie, there is no ideal family or ideal family life, and no one single agreed definition of family.

What we do know is that we cannot chose our families, even if we think we would like to. We may ignore, marginalise or isolate other family members, but they remain members of the same family.

Why is it acceptable only in families to speak to one another in ways that are unacceptable in the workplace and that would lead to sanctions, discipline or even dismissal?

None of us had any choice when it comes to our family members – parents, siblings, still less remote ancestors. And if we could, we would probably make no better – and no worse – a choice than the one we live with. Indeed, researching a family tree often produces surprises when it comes to finding new family members.

Nor can we chose on God’s behalf who is in and who is out, who is part of God’s family, who is truly my brother and sister. For, in reality, we are all God’s children, and in a very real way our shared baptism makes us, truly, brothers and sisters.

I often feel that the Church is truly like a family, but not because we treat each other like we are the children of God; rather, the way we speak to each other about divisive issues such as sexuality, gender, marriage and divorce shows the Church is an unhappy family as understood by the ‘Anna Karenina principle’.

Which makes it even more difficult to pose my question: Is the family of Jesus a happy family or an unhappy family?

To paraphrase the conclusion of today’s Gospel reading: ‘My parents and my brothers and sisters are those who hear the word of God and do it.’

Drafting a family tree for a family spread across nine generations and five or six countries … researching family trees often produces surprises when it comes to finding new family members (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 22 September 2026):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 20 to 26 September 2026 (pp 40-41), is ‘For God and Country’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by Rosie Dawson, USPG Trustee and freelance journalist.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 22 September 2026) invites us to pray:

Heavenly Father, for the peoples of the earth and the lands they inhabit, especially those displaced by war, occupation, land grabs, and ecological destruction, we pray. May the earth be honoured as a gift, not exploited as a possession.

The Collect of the Day:

O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers
of your people who call upon you;
and grant that they may both perceive and know
what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

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

Additional Collect:

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

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

‘His mother and his brothers … could not reach him because of the crowd’ (Luke 8: 19) … a sculpture in central Milton Keynes (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

‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it’ (Luke 8: 21) … Who is my brother? … the Three Brothers Taverna in Chora Sfakion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Remembering my eldest brother, Stephen Comerford (1946-1970), on what is his 80th birthday today

My eldest brother Stephen Edward Comerford was born 80 years ago on 22 August 1946

Patrick Comerford

Today would be the eightieth birthday of my eldest brother, Stephen Edward Comerford, who was born in Dublin on 22 August 1946 and died in Durham, North Carolina, at the age of 24 on 18 December 1970.

Now that I am in my mid-70s, five or six years is hardly an age gap between people of my generation. But they create a major chasm when you are a child, and that gap was compounded by the fact that he was the eldest child in a family of six and I was the fourth.

Steve was born in Dublin on 22 August 1946. He was named after our father, Stephen Edward Comerford (1918-2004), who in turn was named after our grandfather, also named Stephen Edward Comerford (1867-1921). The name Stephen had come into the Bunclody branch of the family because our grandfather was born on 28 December, three days after Christmas Day and two days after Saint Stephen’s Day.

As small children, we were all separated, going to different members and friends of the extended family: Steve was packed off to our grandmother Maria (Crowley) Murphy (1882-1957) and aunt Margaret (Murphy) Barrett (1920-2014) in Millstreet, Co Cork, while I went to George and Peggy Kerr in Dublin and the extended Hallinan family in Cappoquin, Co Waterford.

The accent Steve acquired in Millstreet brought him the nickname ‘Corky’ in his primary school when he returned to Dublin. By the time I was going to primary school, he was already at boarding school, so we never in the same school at the same time.

The Wexford historian Brendan Culliton, who has been the President of both the Wexford Historical Society and Wexford Wanderers Rugby Club, once recalled for me how they were friends throughout their shared years in primary school. ‘In those days, we were two to a desk and I had the privilege of sharing a desk with Stephen for the whole of that year.’

He told me, ‘Stephen was very well read and was a pleasure to sit beside. He was one of the quieter members of the class, but I can remember the interesting chats we had on every subject under the sun. Before Christmas that year, we had shared what present we hoped to get. I am sure my interests at the time didn’t move far from Meccano and Just William. Stephen told me he had asked for books on history. That struck me as a bit odd, but if that was what he wanted, then that was him.

‘After Christmas, he brought in two bound copies of Carty’s History of Ireland to show me. I remember the covers were green, and plain. Other classmates would have been dismissive of books like these as a ‘Christmas present’. What, after all, was wrong with Dan Dare or Billy Bunter? But what struck me most was that Stephen was thrilled to show off these treasures. He was genuinely happy and, to me that was the important thing.’

Brendan Culliton was a year younger and stayed back a year. ‘So, when I went to Gormanston, Stephen was a year ahead of me. He was also in a different Clann / House, so our paths didn’t cross that often. However, when we did meet, a short greeting was never enough. I always recall there being real substance to the conversation.’

Stephen and I both went to school in Gormanston but he had left by the time I arrived (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Stephen and I both went to school in Gormanston, Co Meath. But the five- or six-year gap was so wide that by the time I arrived, although there were teachers who remembered him, no-one in my year had ever come across him. We too were in different houses or clanns, and so any memories were few and rarely shared.

Yet, he was remembered for his achievements in maths and sciences, his fluency in the Irish language and in French, and for his interests in chess, swimming and, to a lesser degree, golf. He taught himself the harmonica. I remember his efforts to teach me to play chess – a pleasure that remains – but our academic and sporting interests seldom overlapped.

While I was at Gormanston, he was studying at University College Galway and at University College Dublin. When Brendan Culliton arrived in UCD, he recalled, they ‘encountered each other now and then around Earlsfort Terrace and, when we did, it was always cause for surprisingly lengthy conversations … There is no question that he was very intelligent and hugely talented. He was also genuine and sincere.’

By the time I left Gormanston in 1969, Stephen had completed his BSc and MSc degrees. We spent some time together that summer, sometimes going for meals together in Rathmines. I remember how we sat up together to watch the first moon landing on the night of 20 July 1969.

But by then he was moving to the US and Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, where he became a PhD candidate. He visited cousins in the Linders family in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and sent home a photograph of himself at the ‘Swords into Ploughshares’ sculpture by Yevgeny Vuchetich in the North Garden of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. But I cannot recall that we ever met again. I was training to be a chartered surveyor with Jones Lang Wootton and working on a BSc in estate management with the College of Estate Management, then part of the University of Reading.

He died at 5 pm on 18 December 1970, aged 24, at 114 Buchanan Boulevard, Durham, close to the campus of Duke University. His death certificate gives the cause of death as ‘anoxia sustained during epileptic seizure.’ It mistakenly gives his date of birth as 12 August and misses my mother’ maiden name. Interestingly, it also says he was a US citizen, but perhaps it was a condition of becoming a graduate student at Duke that he also became a US citizen. He is buried in Maplewood Cemetery, Durham.

114 Buchanan Boulevard, Durham, close to the campus of Duke University, where Steve Comerford died on 18 December 1970

The news of his death came in a chilling ’phone call in the middle of the night, seven days before Christmas, just days after my father’s birthday. His carefully and individually wrapped Christmas presents for his parents and each of his brothers and sisters arrived in the post a few days later. But by then the Christmas tree and the decorations had come down, and the Christmas lights had gone off. It seems Christmas was cancelled that year.

The depths of a mother’s grief are unfathomable, I never fully understood or appreciated the ways in which my parents continued to suffer ever after, and at the time I never found ways to explain to friends and colleagues how I felt.

A colleague from his post-graduate days in Duke spoke of Stephen as ‘unfailingly courteous, and inclined to dress in jacket and tie … He gave the dining room a touch of class … dressed to the nines and carrying a rolled up umbrella.’ Perhaps he had retained a hint of that Cork accent he picked up in Millstreet as a child. ‘ We all had accents, but Stephen’s was a delight.’

Brendan Culliton told me some years ago that when he heard of Stephen’s death over 55 years ago, it ‘was sad news then. It’s still sad news today.’

The Annals of Irish Mathematics and Mathematicians includes his name in the Gallery of Irish Mathematicians. He would have been 80 on his birthday today, 22 August 2026.

May his memory be a blessing ז״ל

A Christmas-time photograph of Steve visiting Santa as a child

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 75, Tuesday 21 July 2026

‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother’ (Matthew 12: 49-50)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and this week began with the Seventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VII, 19 July 2026).

I got back from Cambridge late last night. Now, as a new 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.

While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside (Matthew 12: 46) … the crowd on Good Friday in Tsesmes near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 12: 46-50 (NRSVA):

46 While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, ‘Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.’ 48 But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ 49 And pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’

While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him (Matthew 12: 46) … a crowd on the streets at a Ukrainian religious celebration in Budapest (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

In this morning’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist (Matthew 12: 46-50), Christ is challenged to think about what his family thinks about what he is doing (Mark 3: 32).

The Gospels name the brothers of Jesus as James, Jude, Simon and Joses or Joseph (Matthew 13: 55; Mark 6: 3; see also Galatians 1: 19).

Saint James is described in the New Testament as a ‘brother of the Lord.’ Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities (20.9.1) describes James as ‘the brother of Jesus who is called Christ.’ In the Liturgy of Saint James in the Orthodox Church, he is described as ‘the brother of God’ (Iάκωβος ο Αδελφόθεος, Iácobos ho Adelphótheos).

Some say Jesus and James could have been cousins, saying ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ in the Aramaic spoken by Jesus also applied to cousins, and that the Greek words ἀδελφός (adelphos) and ἀδελφή (adelphe) were not restricted to their literal meaning of a full brother or full sister. However, in the classical Greek from the time of Homer on, these words convey an idea about being ‘from the same womb.’

The Letter of James can be compared with some of the wonderful Wisdom Literature in the Hebrew Scriptures, with, for example, its challenging words of wisdom on true worship (James 1: 19-20), on discrimination and respect for the poor (2: 1-13), on the false dichotomy of faith and works (2: 14-26), on truth and careful speech (3: 1-12), on godliness and worldliness (4: 1 to 5:6), on putting love at the heart of all our relationships in the Christian community … and so on.

They are words of wisdom that we can all take to heart in any community or society – how we speak about one another, how we respect one another, how we hold up one another, how we love each other, in spite of our failings towards one another.

We are to value one another, but not because of wealth or status or intellect. We are to listen to one another, to be slow to speak and equally slow to anger; to bridle our tongues and not to speak loosely about one another. We are not just called to be Christians, but we must do Christianity too.

How many of us would like to be so close to Christ that we could be called brothers or sisters of the Lord, still more ‘the brother of God’ (Iάκωβος ο Αδελφόθεος, Iákobos o Adelphótheos)?

To be a real brother or sister of Christ, to be a real brother or sister of God, is to be brothers and sisters to one another in Christ. And when we do that we are true brothers and sisters of Christ, true witnesses to the Risen Christ, and worthy to share the name ‘Christian.’

Saint James the Brother of the Lord … an icon written by Tobias Stanislas Haller, BSG, for Saint James Episcopal Church, Parkton, Maryland

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 21 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 19 to 25 July 2026 (pp 20-21), is ‘Flood Relief in Mozambique’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a programme update from the Revd Mauricio S Mugunhe, Executive Director Anglican Social Action, Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola (the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola).

The USPG prayer diary today (Tuesday 21 July 2026) invites us to pray:

Almighty God, strengthen the Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola, especially the Dioceses of Lebombo, Maciene, Inhambane, and Rio Pungue. Guide all who serve those affected with compassion and wisdom.

The Collect of the Day:

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.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Lord God, whose Son is the true vine and the source of life,
ever giving himself that the world may live:
may we so receive within ourselves
the power of his death and passion
that, in his saving cup,
we may share his glory and be made perfect in his love;
for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Additional Collect

Generous God,
you give us gifts and make them grow:
though our faith is small as mustard seed,
make it grow to your glory
and the flourishing of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Saint Mary Magdalene

Almighty God,
whose Son restored Mary Magdalene
to health of mind and body
and called her to be a witness to his resurrection:
forgive our sins and heal us by your grace,
that we may serve you in the power of his risen life;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

The crowds at the Good Friday processions in Thessaloniki (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: 2, Wednesday 4 February 2026

‘Is not this the carpenter?’ (Mark 6: 3) … ‘Christ in the House of His Parents’ (1850) by John Everett Millais

Patrick Comerford

Since the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (2 February 2026) or Candlemas on Monday, we have been in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar; the liturgical colour is now green, and it just two weeks from today until Ash Wednesday (18 February 2026) and the beginning of Lent.

Today, the calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship remembers Saint Gilbert of Sempringham (1189), founder of the Gilbertine Order. Later today, I hope to take part in the choir rehearsals in Saint Mary and Giles Church in Stony Stratford. But, before my 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.

‘Is not this the carpenter?’ (Mark 6: 3) … ‘The Shadow of Death’ (1870-1873) by William Holman Hunt

Mark 6: 1-6 (NRSVA):

1 He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. 2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.

‘Is not this … the son of Mary?’ (Mark 6: 3) … a recital poster on railings in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Mark 6: 1-6), Jesus returns to his home town. He has been acclaimed throughout Galilee as a teacher, a rabbi, he has even been called Lord. But in his own home town, those who think they know better are unwilling to acknowledge who he really is.

Instead they try to put him down, reminding him of where he comes from, who is family are, and telling him he is getting above himself.

Instead of confronting the leaders of the community, he turns to those they have marginalised … the sick, the maimed, and those in need of healing.

When we marginalise and demean people, when we only value them for the ways they are useful to us and enhance our own lifestyles, we sow the seeds of eventual disaster.

I am reminded of Leona Helmsley who said many years ago: ‘We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes’ (New York Times, 12 July 1989). Her dismissive ‘Only little people pay taxes’ was one way of saying ‘let them eat cake’, and has found political expression in the Trump administration.

She eventually became the author of her own misfortune, and Forbes came to list her at the top of the 10 greatest tax fraudsters in the US.

The little people matter little to the village elders in the town who look down on Jesus at his homecoming. Yet there is a simple Gospel message with that the little people matter … ‘for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs’ (Mark 10: 14).

Saint Mark tells us that Christ is faced with rejection in his own hometown. He has returned to Galilee, where he is spoken of in ways that, put together, amount to a very public rejection. He is spoken of as ‘the carpenter’, ὁ τέκτων (ho tékton). Now, as we know, 1, being a carpenter is a very positive, beautiful craft exercise; and 2, the word τέκτων in the New Testament describes a variety of people with interesting skills, including architects, planners, singers and poets.

But in a way that any of us who has lived in a small community, or in a small town, knows only too well, they are looking down on him. Other people are describing him as Rabbi, Teacher … even Lord. But never let him get above himself … let him always remember that he began his working life at the lathe and with the saw and hammer, wood and nails … the very way he is going to end his life too.

And he is described as ὁ υἱὸς τῆς Μαρίας (ho uios tis Marias), ‘the son of Mary.’

In a small community or a small town in Ireland, people can always tell you when you return: ‘We know who your people are.’

They know Jesus is the son of Joseph the Carpenter, they know where he was brought up, they know where he got his first haircut, where he went to school, they know his mother, his family, as they say in some Irish villages, they know his ‘seed, breed and generation.’

Unlike the two other synoptic Gospel writers, Saint Matthew and Saint Luke, Saint Mark provides no lengthy genealogy for Jesus, back through David, the Prophets and the Patriarchs (see Matthew 1: 1-17; Luke 3: 23-38).

But to refer to Jesus as ‘the son of Mary’ is be dismissive, is to rob him of his legitimacy.

Christ already has had a difficult homecoming in this Gospel (see Mark 3: 19-35). So we are presented with a stark homecoming story where he is teaching in his home synagogue and is robbed of his reputation, his role and his legitimacy.

His healing and teaching ministry in Capernaum, on the seashore, throughout Galilee, is already well-known. But back home, in his own synagogue, he is rejected.

How do we respond to rejection?

Sometimes, we take stock, readjust, and move on.

Sometimes, we walk away in anger – the ‘I’ll-never-come-back-here-again’ attitude.

Sometimes, our desire for acceptance is so strong that we buckle under and accept what others say, so that we become quiescent, conforming, uncritical operatives.

Sometimes, we seek comfort – comfort in parental figures, or inappropriate comfort in alcohol, distracting hobbies or even in inappropriate relationships.

Sometimes, we accept the images others project onto us, so we remain imprisoned and never become ourselves fully and holistically.

Sometimes, we stand and fight … we stand on our dignity and aggressively assert ourselves, setting ourselves up for another put-down.

And sometimes we draw on a little bit of each of these defensive responses. We each know that we have responded with a little of one and a little of the other responses at different times, in different situations, to different people.

We say things to family members that we would never say to neighbours or employers; we say things to fellow employees that we would never say to our own family members.

What does Jesus do this morning?

His response is often quoted but seldom understood. He actually understands where the people of Nazareth are. It is difficult for them, but it is not difficult for him.

It is passage which in the Greek has four poetic openings to phrases in the space of three verses: οὐχ οὗτός εἰσὶν … οὐκ εἰσὶν … οὐκ ἔστιν … οὐκ ἐδύνατο … (verses 3-5). No, no, no, no way.

In the face of this strong negativity, Jesus does nothing, apart from laying his hands on a few people and healing them, apart from treating as fully human those who are on the margins and rejected in the community.

There are people in the Church today who are rejected and marginalised. Why, who do they think they are?

And there are people who sit in judgment on them, who believe they alone have access to a secret knowledge that permits them to make exclusive claims not only for Christ, but for their interpretation of the Church and the Bible.

They boast of exclusive revelations; they claim to speak for the only true Anglicans; they play power games in contrast to the self-emptying of Christ and the weakness of Saint Paul; they reject and deride any other interpretations of the Bible but their own; and they boast of their success based on filling pews and holding large conferences.

But size and numbers seem to disguise and excuse negativity and bigotry. None of this matches the self-emptying Christ displays in the Gospel reading today.

‘Is not this … the son of Mary?’ (Mark 6: 3) … Sir Jacob Epstein’s sculpture of the Madonna and Child above the entrance to Dean’s Mews on the north side of Cavendish Square, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 4 February 2026):

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: ‘Serving the Lord with Dignity’ (pp 24-25). This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by the Revd Mauricio Mugunhe, Executive Director of Acção Social Anglicana, Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola.



The USPG Prayer Diary today (Wednesday 4 February 2026) invites us to pray:

Heavenly Father, we give thanks for the ‘Serving the Lord with Dignity’ project. May the vestments and uniforms they create glorify your name and bring encouragement to all who wear them.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
by whose grace alone we are accepted
and called to your service:
strengthen us by your Holy Spirit
and make us worthy of our calling;
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,
we have seen with our eyes and touched with our hands the bread of life:
strengthen our faith
that we may grow in love for you and for each other;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:
God of our salvation,
help us to turn away from those habits which harm our bodies
and poison our minds
and to choose again your gift of life,
revealed to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘Is not this … the son of Mary?’ (Mark 6: 3) … the west door 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 Christmas 2025-2026: 34, Tuesday 27 January 2026

‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother’ (Mark 3: 34-35)

Patrick Comerford

This is the last week in the 40-day season of Christmas, which continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation next Monday (2 February 2026). This week began with the Third Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany III, 25 January 2026), and today is Holocaust Memorial Day. this year's Holocaust Memorial Day event in Milton Keynes takes place this morning at the MK Rose at 11 am, and the theme is: ‘Building generations’.

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.

‘A crowd was sitting around him … And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers!’ (Mark 3: 32-35) … the crowd on Good Friday in Tsesmes near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 3: 31-35 (NRSVA):

31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.’ 33 And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’

A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you’ (Mark 3: 32) … a crowd on the streets at a Ukrainian religious celebration (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

Saint Mark’s Gospel is very sparse in its account of the story of Christ’s temptations in the wilderness – just two verses (see Mark 1: 12-13). In the much fuller accounts given by Saint Matthew (Matthew 4: 1-11) and Saint Luke (Luke 4: 1-13), Christ is tempted to do the right things for the wrong reason.

In our recent Gospel readings, Christ is challenged in two fundamental ways: he is challenged about whether his work is the work of God or the work of the Devil (Mark 3: 22); and he is challenged to think about what his family thinks about what he is doing (Mark 3: 32).

The Gospels name the brothers of Jesus as James, Jude, Simon and Joses or Joseph (Matthew 13: 55; Mark 6: 3; see also Galatians 1: 19).

Saint James is described in the New Testament as a ‘brother of the Lord.’ Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities (20.9.1) describes James as ‘the brother of Jesus who is called Christ.’ In the Liturgy of Saint James, he is described as ‘the brother of God’ (Iάκωβος ο Αδελφόθεος, Iácobos ho Adelphótheos).

Some say Jesus and James could have been cousins, saying ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ in the Aramaic spoken by Jesus also applied to cousins, and that the Greek words ἀδελφός (adelphos) and ἀδελφή (adelphe) were not restricted to their literal meaning of a full brother or full sister. However, in the classical Greek from the time of Homer on, these words convey an idea about being ‘from the same womb.’

The Letter of James can be compared with some of the wonderful Wisdom Literature in the Hebrew Scriptures, with, for example, its challenging words of wisdom on true worship (James 1: 19-20), on discrimination and respect for the poor (2: 1-13), on the false dichotomy of faith and works (2: 14-26), on truth and careful speech (3: 1-12), on godliness and worldliness (4: 1 to 5:6), on putting love at the heart of all our relationships in the Christian community … and so on.

They are words of wisdom that we can all take to heart in any community or society – how we speak about one another, how we respect one another, how we hold up one another, how we love each other, in spite of our failings towards one another.

We are to value one another, but not because of wealth or status or intellect. We are to listen to one another, to be slow to speak and equally slow to anger; to bridle our tongues and not to speak loosely about one another. We are not just called to be Christians, but we must do Christianity too.

How many of us would like to be so close to Christ that we could be called brothers or sisters of the Lord, still more ‘the brother of God’ (Iάκωβος ο Αδελφόθεος Iákobos o Adelphótheos)?

To be a real brother or sister of Christ, to be a real brother or sister of God, is to be brothers and sisters to one another in Christ. And when we do that we are true brothers and sisters of Christ, true witnesses to the Risen Christ, and worthy to share the name ‘Christian.’

Saint James the Brother of the Lord … an icon written by Tobias Stanislas Haller, BSG, for Saint James Episcopal Church, Parkton, Maryland, in 2008

Today’s Prayers (27 January 2026):

The theme this week (25-31 January 2026) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Connections That Last’ (pp 22-23). This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections from Paula de Mello Alves, a Brazilian lawyer and theologian, Executive Secretary of the Southern Diocese, and former co-leader of the Anglican Communion Youth Network (ACYN).

The USPG Prayer Diary today (27 January 2026) invites us to pray:

We pray for the Anglican Communion Youth Network, that it may continue to nurture young leaders and foster understanding across cultures and communities.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
whose Son revealed in signs and miracles
the wonder of your saving presence:
renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your mighty power;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Almighty Father,
whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ is the light of the world:
may your people,
illumined by your word and sacraments,
shine with the radiance of his glory,
that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed
to the ends of the earth;
for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

God of all mercy,
your Son proclaimed good news to the poor,
release to the captives,
and freedom to the oppressed:
anoint us with your Holy Spirit
and set all your people free
to praise you in Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

The crowds at the Good Friday processions in Rethymnon (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 Christmas 2025-2026: 31, Saturday 24 January 2026

‘And the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat’ (Mark 3: 20) … the crowd at the Battle of Cable Street 90 years ago in a mural in the East End (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The 40-day season of Christmas continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February). Tomorrow is the Third Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany III, 25 January 2026), and is also the Festival of the Conversion of Saint Paul, although this may be transferred to Monday (26 January).

The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622), Bishop of Geneva and Teacher of the Faith. Today too is the seventh day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, from 18 to 25 January. This year’s theme is ‘One Body, One Spirit’ – from Ephesians 4: 1-13 – which was prepared by the Armenian Apostolic Church, along with the Armenian Catholic and Evangelical Churches.

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.

Saint Thomas Becket in the Saint Thomas Window in All Saints’ Church, York … TS Eliot’s ‘Murder in the Cathedral’ is based on the murder of Thomas Becket (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 3: 20-21 (NRSVA):

[Then Jesus went home;] 20 and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. 21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’

‘Time present and time past / Are both perhaps present in time future / And time future contained in time past’ … a sundial in Church Street, Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Today’s Reflections:
TS Eliot’s play Murder in the Cathedral is based on the events leading up to the murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 29 December 1170 at the behest of King Henry II. The play focuses on Becket’s internal struggles. As he reflects on the martyrdom he faces, his tempters arrive, like Job’s comforters, and they question the archbishop about his plight, echoing in many ways Christ’s temptations in the wilderness.

The first tempter offers Becket the prospect of physical safety. The second offers him power, riches and fame in serving the king so that he can disarm the powerful and help the poor. The third suggests the archbishop should form an alliance with the barons and seize a chance to resist the king. Finally, the fourth tempter urges Thomas to look to the glory of martyrdom.

Becket responds to all four tempters and specifically addresses the immoral suggestions of the fourth tempter at the end of the first act:

Now is my way clear, now is the meaning plain:
Temptation shall not come in this kind again.
The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.

Saint Mark’s Gospel is sparse in its account of the story of Christ’s temptations in the wilderness – just two verses (see Mark 1: 12-13). In the much fuller accounts (see Matthew 4: 1-11, Luke 4: 1-13), Christ is tempted to do the right things for the wrong reasons.

What would be wrong with Christ turning stones into bread (see Matthew 4: 3; Luke 4: 3-4) to feed the hungry?

What would be wrong with Christ showing miraculous powers (see Matthew 4: 3; Luke 4: 9) to point to the majesty of God (see Matthew 4: 4; Luke 4: 10-11)?

What would be wrong with Christ taking command of the kingdoms of this world (see Matthew 4: 9; Luke 4: 5-7) to usher in justice, mercy and peace?

Let me not deceive myself, these are real temptations. For all who are morally driven there is always a real temptation to do the right thing but to do it for the wrong reason.

In today’s reading in Saint Mark’s Gospel, we are at the point where Christ is about to be challenged in two fundamental ways: about whether his work is the work of God or the work of the Devil (Mark 3: 22), and to think about what his family thinks about what he is doing (Mark 3: 32). In today’s short reading of two verses, immediately before these challenges the family of Jesus came to one of his gatherings and try to distract him and prevent him from teaching, perhaps hoping to preserve their own reputation.

Christ brings hope and the boundless goodness of God into people’s lives. For that to happen, a certain degree of openness is needed on the part of the onlookers. Without that sincerity, growth in body, mind and spirit is unlikely to occur. But those who know Jesus well seem to be surprised by how he lives and acts. I pray for the freedom that I need not to be hemmed in by my habits or by the expectations of others.

To live freely is to challenge those who accept constraints and it needs courage to be led by the spirit of God.

The family members ask whether Jesus ‘has gone out of his mind.’ The melée around Jesus embarrasses them, they feel he is making a show of them, and they want to take control of him.

Can you think of those times in your life when you are drawing aware of your family’s embarrassment, disapproval or concern?

His family does not like what is happening to Jesus and seem to be embarrassed. He is breaking conventions, both religious and cultural. Perhaps they feel they are in danger or under suspicion because of him. People like Jesus who dare to be different cause suspicion, embarrassment and general unease for those who are close to them.

It is true to say that wounds from a friend can be trusted but it is true too that insults from close family members can bite bitterly.

How often do parents compare siblings with one another in a way that becomes belittling rather than encouraging?

How many children hear that their goodness, instead of being in-born, innate and God-given, is defined by their parents’ assent and approval?

How often has a child who says s/he is doing her/his best hears the critical response of a parental figure: ‘But your best is simply not good enough!’

It is heart-breakingly sad but so often true, as I have come to know, that too many adults who had a sibling die realise that one or both parents have thought it would have been preferable that a surviving child had died instead.

Sweet words bring gentle healing but insults from those closest sting hardest.

Some things in life are irretrievable, such as the opportunity to do another good being let go because it is inconvenient or because of fear that a close family member would express bewilderment or question your motivations.

Growing up without appropriate affirmation and independent decision-making can leave some people, when they are offered the opportunity to do the right thing or to make a difference in this society in this world, asking instead: ‘What’s in this for me?’ or: ‘What would my parents think of me?’

When I am asked to speak up for those who are marginalised or oppressed, this should be good enough reason in itself. But then I wonder how others are going to react – react not to the marginalised or the oppressed, but to me.

How often do I see what is the right thing to do, but find an excuse that I pretend is not of my own making?

How often do I think of doing the right thing only if it is going to please my family members – perhaps even a dead parent – or to please the neighbours?

How often do I use the Bible to justify not caring about the pain of others or ignoring or devaluing justice for others?

How often do I use obscure Bible texts to prop up my own prejudices, forgetting that any text in the Bible, however clear or obscure it may be, depends, in Christ’s own words, on the two greatest commandments, to love God and to love one another.

We can convince ourselves that we are doing the right thing when we are doing it for the wrong reason. A wrong decision taken once, thinking it is doing the right thing, but for the wrong reason, is not just an action in the present moment – it forms habits and it shapes who we are, within time and eternity.

Sophia Scholl (1921-1943), a German student who was active in the White Rose nonviolent resistance to the Nazis, was first arrested by the Gestapo when she was 16, and was beheaded in prison in Munich on 22 February 1943 at 21. She once wrote:

The real damage is done by those millions who want to ‘survive.’ The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonising their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves – or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honour, truth and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.’

How many protesters on the streets of Minneapolis and other cities across the US are thinking bravely in similar ways today?

What we do today or refuse to do today, even if we think it is the right thing to do but we do it for the wrong reasons, reflects how we have formed ourselves habitually in the past, is an image of our inner being in the present, and has consequences for the future we wish to shape.

As TS Eliot writes in ‘Burnt Norton’:

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future
And time future contained in time past

How is the Church to recover its voice and speak up for the oppressed and the marginalised, not because it is fashionable or politically correct today, but because it is the right thing to do today and for the future?

Surely all our actions ought to depend on those two great commandments – to love God and to love one another.

As the Post-Communion Prayer today asks, ‘help us to lay aside all foolishness and to live and walk in the way of insight, that we may come … to the eternal feast of heaven.’

The real damage is done by those millions who want to ‘survive’ (Sophie Scholl, 1921-1943)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 24 January 2026):

The theme this week (18-24 January 2026) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘Freedom Theologies’ (pp 20-21). This theme was introduced last Sunday with Reflections from Dr Thandi Gamedze, poet, theologian, and senior researcher at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 24 January 2026) invites us to pray:

Gracious God, we thank you for the power of education. We pray especially for those who face barriers to education – open doors, remove obstacles, and give every child and young person the chance to grow, flourish, and contribute to a more just world.

The Collect:

Holy God,
who called your bishop Francis de Sales
to bring many to Christ through his devout life
and to renew your Church with patience and understanding:
grant that we may, by word and example,
reflect your gentleness and love to all we meet;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
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 Francis de Sales to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Collect on the Eve of the Conversion of Saint Paul:

Almighty God,
who caused the light of the gospel
to shine throughout the world
through the preaching of your servant Saint Paul:
grant that we who celebrate his wonderful conversion may follow him in bearing witness your truth;
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 Collect on the Eve of Epiphany III:

Almighty God,
whose Son revealed in signs and miracles
the wonder of your saving presence:
renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your mighty power;
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

‘The Temptation of the Lord’ … an icon in the Lady Chapel in 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

Memories of my eldest brother, Stephen Comerford, who died a week before Christmas, 55 years ago

Stephen Edward Comerford, born on 22 August 1946, died 55 years ago on 18 December 1970

Patrick Comerford

Tomorrow (18 December) marks the fifty-fifth anniversary of the death of my eldest brother, Stephen Edward Comerford, who died in Durham, North Carolina, at the age of 24 on 18 December 1970.

Now that I am in my mid-70s, five or six years is hardly an age gap between people of my generation. But they mark a major chasm when you are a child, and that gap was compounded by the fact that he was the eldest child in the family and I was the fourth of six.

Steve was born in Dublin on 22 August 1946. He was named after our father, Stephen Edward Comerford (1918-2004), who in turn was named after our grandfather, also named Stephen Edward Comerford (1867-1921). The name Stephen had come into the Bunclody branch of the family because our grandfather was born on 28 December, three days after Christmas Day and two days after Saint Stephen’s Day.

As small children, we were all separated, going to different members and friends of the extended family: Steve was packed off to our grandmother Maria (Crowley) Murphy (1882-1957) and aunt Margaret (Murphy) Barrett (1920-2014) in Millstreet, Co Cork, while I went to George and Peggy Kerr in Dublin and the extended Hallinan family in Cappoquin, Co Waterford.

The accent Steve acquired in Millstreet brought him the nickname ‘Corky’ in his primary school when he returned to Dublin. By the time I was going to primary school, he was already at boarding school.

The Wexford historian Brendan Culliton, later the President of both the Wexford Historical Society and Wexford Wanderers Rugby Club, has remembered him as his friend throughout their shared years in primary school. ‘We were two of the ‘brainboxes’,’ he recalled some years ago. ‘In those days, we were two to a desk and I had the privilege of sharing a desk with Stephen for the whole of that year.’

He told me, ‘Stephen was very well read and was a pleasure to sit beside. He was one of the quieter members of the class, but I can remember the interesting chats we had on every subject under the sun. Before Christmas that year, we had shared what present we hoped to get. I am sure my interests at the time didn’t move far from Meccano and Just William. Stephen told me he had asked for books on history. That struck me as a bit odd, but if that was what he wanted, then that was him.

‘After Christmas, he brought in two bound copies of Carty’s History of Ireland to show me. I remember the covers were green, and plain. Other classmates would have been dismissive of books like these as a ‘Christmas present’. What, after all, was wrong with Dan Dare or Billy Bunter? But what struck me most was that Stephen was thrilled to show off these treasures. He was genuinely happy and, to me that was the important thing.’

Brendan Culliton was a year younger and stayed back a year. ‘So, when I went to Gormanston, Stephen was a year ahead of me. He was also in a different Clann / House, so our paths didn’t cross that often. However, when we did meet, a short greeting was never enough. I always recall there being real substance to the conversation.’

Stephen and I both went to Gormanston, but the five- or six-year gap was so wide that by the time I arrived, although there were teachers who remembered him, no-one in my year had ever come across him. We are also in different houses or clanns, and so any memories were few and rarely shared.

Yet, he was remembered for his achievements in maths and sciences, his fluency in the Irish language, and for his interests in chess, swimming and, to a lesser degree, golf. He taught himself the harmonica, and I remember his efforts to teach me to play chess – a pleasure that remains. But our academic and sporting interests seldom overlapped.

While I was at Gormanston, he was studying at University College Galway and at University College Dublin. When Brendan Culliton arrived in UCD, he recalled, they ‘encountered each other now and then around Earlsfort Terrace and, when we did, it was always cause for surprisingly lengthy conversations … There is no question that he was very intelligent and hugely talented. He was also genuine and sincere.’

By the time I left Gormanston in 1969, Stephen had completed his BSc and MSc degrees. We spent some time together that summer, sometimes going for meals together in Rathmines. I remember how we sat up together to watch the first moon landing on the night of 20 July 1969.

But by then he was moving to the US and Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, where he was a PhD candidate. I cannot recall that we ever met again. I was training to be a chartered surveyor with Jones Lang Wootton and working on a BSc in estate management with the College of Estate Management, then part of the University of Reading.

A colleague from his post-graduate days in Duke spoke of Stephen as ‘unfailingly courteous, and inclined to dress in jacket and tie … He gave the dining room a touch of class … dressed to the nines and carrying a rolled up umbrella.’ Perhaps he had retained a hint of that Cork accent he picked up in Millstreet as a child. ‘ We all had accents, but Stephen’s was a delight.’

He died on 18 December 1970, aged 24, and is buried in Maplewood Cemetery, Durham, North Carolina. The news of his death came in a chilling ’phone call in the middle of the night, seven days before Christmas, just days after my father’s birthday. Steve’s wrapped Christmas presents for his parents and each of his brothers and sisters arrived in the post a few days later, but by then the Christmas tree and the decorations had come down, and the Christmas lights had been switched off. It seems Christmas was cancelled that year.

The depths of a mother’s grief are unfathomable, I never fully understood or appreciated the ways my parents continued to suffer ever after, and at the time I never found ways to explain to friends and colleagues how I felt.

Brendan Culliton told me five years ago that when he heard of Stephen’s death it ‘was sad news then. It’s still sad news today.’

The Annals of Irish Mathematics and Mathematicians includes his name in the Gallery of Irish Mathematicians. He would have been 80 at his next birthday on 22 August 2026.

May his memory be a blessing ז״ל

A Christmas-time photograph of Steve visiting Santa as a child

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 134, Tuesday 23 September 2025

‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it’ (Luke 8: 21) … Who is my brother? … the Seven Brothers Taverna at the Old Harbour in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XIV, 21 September). Today is Rosh Hashanah, the first of the High Holidays and the Jewish New Year, which began at sunset last night.

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

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it’ (Luke 8: 21) … an interesting reminder in a café in Greystones, Co Wicklow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 8: 19-21 (NRSVA):

19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.’ 21 But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’

Leo Tolstoy offers a challenging understanding of happy and unhappy families in ‘Anna Karenina’

Today’s Reflections:

Leo Tolstoy’s opening sentence in Anna Karenina is often quoted in analyses of family life: ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’

His observation is most quoted when family relationships are being discussed. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a Russian mystic and novelist, and he took another 900 pages or so to describe three generations of unhappy family members who torment and torture each other and themselves. Although he never used the term, Tolstoy demonstrates what therapists today call the ‘intergenerational transmission of trauma.’

Tolstoy means that for a family to be happy, several key aspects must be in place, such as good health of all family members, acceptable financial security, and mutual affection. If there is a deficiency in any one or more of these key aspects, the family will be unhappy. The ‘Anna Karenina principle’ is used as a concept to explain success in many other fields, including, for example, in science.

The opening sentence of Anna Karenina seems to have a ring of truth to it. But do you think it is true at all? Are all happy families alike? And is it so that each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way?

Is the family of Jesus a happy family or an unhappy family?

What helps you to discuss this: the behaviour of his family members? Or his response to them?

Defining families, let alone defining happy families or unhappy families, is not as easy a task as appears when we first accept the challenge.

Deciding who is in, and who is out, through our behaviour, may be the first indication of whether a family is happy or not.

We all know families where one brother or one sister is the last to hear family notices, the last to hear about births, marriages or deaths, to hear about family parties and celebrations, to be counted in on family news and gossip. Indeed, there are some families where I imagine each individual sibling thinks he or she is the brother or sister who is always the last to be counted in.

In other families, the definition of family can be surprisingly narrow or surprisingly broad. Do you count second cousins as family members? Do I see everyone who shares my family name as, in some way, a member of some extended family?

Despite the fictional idyllic family life of the Waltons in Little House on the Prairie, there is no ideal family or ideal family life, and no one single agreed definition of family.

What we do know is that we cannot chose our families, even if we think we would like to. We may ignore, marginalise or isolate other family members, but they remain members of the same family.

Why is it acceptable only in families to speak to one another in ways that are unacceptable in the workplace and that would lead to sanctions and discipline?

None of us had any choice when it comes to our family members – parents, siblings, still less remote ancestors. And if we could, we would probably make no better – and no worse – a choice than the one we live with. Indeed, researching a family tree often produces surprises when it comes to finding new family members.

Nor can we chose on God’s behalf who is in and who is out, who is part of God’s family, who is truly my brother and sister. For, in reality, we are all God’s children, and in a very real way our shared baptism makes us, truly, brothers and sisters.

I often feel that the Church is truly like a family, but not because we treat each other like we are the children of God; rather, the way we speak to each other about divisive issues such as sexuality, gender, marriage and divorce shows the Church is an unhappy family as understood by the ‘Anna Karenina principle’.

Which makes it even more difficult to pose my question, Is the family of Jesus a happy family or an unhappy family?

To paraphrase the conclusion of today’s Gospel reading, ‘My parents and my brothers and sisters are those who hear the word of God and do it.’

Drafting a family tree for a family spread across nine generations and five or six countries … researching family trees often produces surprises when it comes to finding new family members (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 23 September 2025):

The theme this week (21 to 27 September) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is been ‘Malayiaha Jesus: The Co-Sufferer’ (pp 40-41). This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections from the Revd Rajendran Ruben Pradeep, Vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Nuwara Eliya, Diocese of Colombo, Church of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 23 September 2025) invites us to pray:

Let us pray for the female plantation workers, burdened by the hardship and long days. May God heal, restore dignity, and bring hope.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
whose only Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence:
give us pure hearts and steadfast wills
to worship you in spirit and in truth;
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, the source of truth and love,
keep us faithful to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,
united in prayer and the breaking of bread,
and one in joy and simplicity of heart,
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Merciful God,
your Son to save us
and bore our sins on the cross:
may we trust in your mercy
and know your love,
rejoicing in the righteousness
that is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘His mother and his brothers … could not reach him because of the crowd’ (Luke 8: 19) … a sculpture in central Milton Keynes (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

‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it’ (Luke 8: 21) … Who is my brother? … the Three Brothers Taverna in Chora Sfakion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)