Daily prayer in Christmas 2024-2025: 39, Saturday 1 February 2025

‘Leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him’ (Mark 4: 36) … boats at the jetty in Bako National Park, north of Kuching (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

These are the last days in the 40-day season of Christmas, which concludes tomorrow with Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (Sunday 2 February 2025). We have reached the end of a week and the beginning of a new month. The Church calendar today celebrates Saint Brigid of Kildare (ca 525), one of the three patrons of Ireland.

Later this morning I am hoping to be at Το Στεκι Μασ (Our Place), the Greek café that takes place every first Saturday of the month at the Swinfen Harris Church Hall beside the Greek Orthodox Church in Stony Stratford. In the afternoon, I hope to find somewhere appropriate to watch the two matches in the Six Nations competition, between Scotland and Italy, and then, more importantly, between Ireland and England. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, 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.

‘Let us go across to the other side’ (Mark 4: 35) … waiting gondolas near Saint Mark’s Square in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 4: 35-41 (NRSVA):

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

Punts on the Backs at Magdalene Bridge in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Reflection:

Chapter 4 in Saint Mark’s Gospel is the ‘parables chapter,’ recalling parables that make this chapter the central teaching section of this Gospel. Christ is in a boat beside the sea teaching a very large crowd who are listening on the shore (see Mark 4: 1-2). Now in this morning’s reading (Mark 4: 35-41), Christ and the disciples are leaving the crowd and crossing to the other side of the lake or sea. But a storm blows up, and the disciples show how weak they truly are, with all their doubts and fears.

As we work our ways through the storms of life, we have many questions to ask about the purpose or meaning of life. Often, we can feel guilty about putting those questions to God. Yet, should we not be able to put our deepest questions and greatest fears before God?

In this Gospel reading, the frightened disciples challenge Christ and ask him whether he cares that they are perishing (verse 38). But he offers them words of peace before doing anything to remedy the plight in which they have been caught, and goes on to ask them his own challenging questions: ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ (verses 40)? They, in turn, end up asking their own challenging question about who Christ is for them.

I enjoy being on boats, whether it is on punts in Cambridge or Oxford, island hopping in Greece, or cruising on rivers from the Shannon to the Seine or Sarawak. But I also recognise the fears of this disciples in this reading, having found myself in unexpected storms on lakes on the Shannon and on the waters of the Mediterranean. In retrospect, they were minor storms each time, but those memories give me some insights into the plight of refugees crossing choppy waters every day in the English Channel and in the Mediterranean.

The plight of the disciples in this reading seems like the working out of a constant, recurring, vivid dream of the type many of us experience at different stages: the feelings of drowning, floating and falling suddenly, being in a crowd and yet alone, calling out and not being heard, or not being recognised for who we are.

Christ is asleep in the boat when a great gale rises, the waves beat the side of the boat, and it is soon swamped by the waters.

Christ seems oblivious to the calamity that is unfolding around him and to the fear of the disciples. They have to wake him, and by then they fear they are perishing.

Christ wakes, rebukes the wind, calm descends on the sea, and Christ challenges those on the boat: ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ (verse 40).

Instead of being calmed, they are now filled with awe. Do they recognise Christ for who he truly is? They ask one another: ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’ (verse 31).

Even before the Resurrection, Christ tells the disciples not to be afraid, which becomes a constant theme after the Resurrection.

Do those in the boat begin to ask truly who Christ is because he has calmed the storm, or because he has calmed their fears?

Through the storms of life, through the nightmares, fears and memories, despite the failures of the Church, past and present, we must not let those experiences to ruin our trusting relationship with God.

Despite all the storms of life, throughout all our fears and nightmares, we can trust in God as Father and trust in the soothing words of Christ, ‘Peace! Be still! Be not afraid.’

The calming of the storm depicted in a window in the Chapel in Westminster College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 1 February 2025):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘A Reflection on 2 Timothy’. This theme was introduced last Sunday with a Programme Update by the Revd Canon Dr Nicky Chater, Chair of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches and Chaplain for these communities in the Diocese of Durham.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 1 February 2025) invites us to pray:

Lord, in these times, when we fear we are losing hope or feel our efforts are futile, let us see in our hearts and minds the image of your resurrection, and let that be our source of courage and strength. With that, and in your company, help us to face challenges and struggles against all that is born of injustice.

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.

Collect on the Eve of The Presentation:

Almighty and ever-living God,
clothed in majesty,
whose beloved Son was this day presented in the Temple,
in substance of our flesh:
grant that we may be presented to you
with pure and clean hearts,
by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘Leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him’ (Mark 4: 36) … tourists on the Cherwell at Christ Church Meadow in Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)


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

Daily prayer in Christmas 2024-2025: 38, Friday 31 January 2025

‘The earth produces of itself’ (Mark 4: 28) … fields at Shutlanger Road in Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

This is the last week in the 40-day season of Christmas, which continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation on Sunday (2 February 2025). This week began with the Third Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany III, 26 January 2025).

The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship remembers John Bosco (1888), priest and founder of the Salesian teaching order. I hope to find somewhere appropriate this evening to watch the opening match of the Six Nations between France and Wales. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, 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 seed would sprout and grow’ (Mark 4: 27) … a mulberry tree in Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Mark 4: 26-34 (NRSVA):

26 He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’
30 He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

Willow trees by the Monastery Lakes in Shutlanger, Northamptonshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Reflection:

Chapter 4 in Saint Mark’s Gospel is the ‘parables chapter,’ recalling parables that make this chapter the central teaching section of this Gospel. Christ is in a boat beside the sea teaching a very large crowd who are listening on the shore (see Mark 4: 1-2). In this morning’s reading (Mark 4: 26-34), Christ describe the ‘kingdom of God’ by explaining the parable of sower scattering seed on the ground, which we read earlier this week, in the hope and expectation of the harvest (verses 26-29) and of the mustard seed that grows into a great tree (verses 30-32).

We may ask why Christ decides to talk about a mustard seed, or in Saint Luke’s Gospel about a mustard seed and a mulberry tree (Luke 17: 5-6), rather than, say, an olive tree. After all, as he was talking in the incident in today’s Gospel reading, he must have been surrounded by grove after grove of olive trees.

But, I can imagine, he is also watching to see if those who are listening have switched off their humour mode, if they have withdrawn their sense of humour. He is talking here with a great sense of humour, using hyperbole to underline his point.

We all know a tiny grain of mustard is incapable of growing to a big tree. So, what is Christ talking about here? Because, he not only caught the disciples off-guard with his hyperbole and sense of humour … he even wrong-footed some of the Reformers and many Bible translators who make mistakes about what sort of trees he is talking about in the Gospels.

Why did Christ refer to a mustard seed and a mulberry or sycamine tree, and not, say, an olive tree or an oak tree?

Christ first uses the example of a tiny, miniscule kernel or seed (κόκκος, kokkos), from which the small mustard plant (σίναπι, sinapi) grows. But mustard is an herb, not a tree. Not much of a miracle, you might say: tiny seed, tiny plant.

In Saint Luke’s Gospel, he then mixes his metaphors and refers to another plant. Martin Luther, in his translation of the Bible, turned the tree into a mulberry tree. The mulberry tree – both the black mulberry and the white mulberry – is from the same family as the fig tree.

As children, some of us sang or played to the nursery rhyme or song, Here we go round the mulberry bush. Another version is Here we go gathering nuts in May. The same tune is used for the American rhyme Pop goes the weasel and for the Epiphany carol, I saw three ships.

Of course, mulberries do not grow on bushes, and they do not grow nuts that are gathered in May. Nor is the mulberry a very tall tree – it grows from tiny seeds but only reaches the height of an adult person.

It is not a very big tree at all. It is more like a bush than a tree – and it is easy to uproot too.

However, the tree Christ names in Saint Luke’s Gospel (Greek συκάμινος, sikámeenos) is the sycamine tree, which has the shape and leaves of a mulberry tree but fruit that tastes like the fig, or the sycamore fig (συκόμορος, Ficus Sycomorus).

Others think the tree being referred to there is the sycamore fig (συκόμορος, Ficus Sycomorus), the big tree that little Zacchaeus climbs in Jericho to see Jesus (Luke 19: 1-10).

The sycamine tree is not naturally pollinated. The pollination process is initiated only when a wasp sticks its stinger right into the heart of the fruit. In other words, the tree and its fruit have to be stung in order to reproduce. There is a direct connection between suffering and growth, but also a lesson that everything in creation, including the wasp, has its place in the intricate balance of nature.

Whether it is a small seed like the mustard seed, a small, seemingly useless and annoying creature like the wasp, or a small and despised figure of fun like Zacchaeus, each has value in God’s eyes, and each has a role in the great harvest of gathering in for God’s Kingdom.

Put more simply, it is quality and not quantity that matters when it comes faith and love.

The Sower and the Seed … an image in the East Window by Mayer & Co in Saint Michael’s Church, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Friday 31 January 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 ‘A Reflection on 2 Timothy’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by the Revd Canon Dr Nicky Chater, Chair of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches and Chaplain for these communities in the Diocese of Durham.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 31 January 2025) invites us to pray:

Holy God, we pray for people who cannot make use of many good things a society can offer because of our systems. We think of people who cannot prove their identity, or understand the necessary language, or fill in forms.

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 Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘World’s Smallest Seed,’ 40”x30” oil/canvas, by James B Janknegt

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 2024-2025: 37, Thursday 30 January 2025

‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?’ (Mark 8: 21) … lamplight at night in the Market Square, Stony Stratford (Photographs: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

This is the last week in the 40-day season of Christmas, which continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation on Sunday (2 February 2025). This week began with the Third Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany III, 26 January 2025).

The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Charles, King and Martyr (1649). But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, 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 a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?’ (Mark 4: 21) … a lighting lamp in the Boot and Flogger in Southwark (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 4: 21-25 (NRSVA):

21 He said to them, ‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23 Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ 24 And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. 25 For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’

Lichnos in Piskopianó stood out as a light on a hill in Crete, visible for miles below and out to sea (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

Chapter 4 in Saint Mark’s Gospel is the ‘parables chapter,’ recalling parables that make this chapter the central teaching section of this Gospel. Christ is in a boat beside the sea teaching a very large crowd who are listening on the shore (see Mark 4: 1-2). In this morning’s reading (Mark 4: 21-25), he compares speaking out with ensuring a light is used to its best purpose (verses 21-22) .

When I was back in Piskopianó in Crete last Spring, I was disappointed to see that one of my favourite tavernas, Lichnos, has been closed for some time now.

The name Lichnos comes from the Greek word λύχνος (lychnos), meaning a lamp or a light. The restaurant stood on a precipice on the north side of the village, close to Mika Villas, where I stayed regularly in the 1990s. Lichnos was perched on the edge of the hill, and from its balcony and roof garden there were panoramic views across Hersonissos below and out to the Mediterranean. At night, Lichnos stood out as a light on a hill, visible for miles below and out to sea.

The parable of the lamp under a bushel is told all three Synoptic Gospels (see Matthew 5: 14-15, Mark 4: 21-25; Luke 8: 16-18). In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, this parable continues the discourse on salt and light in the Sermon on the Mount. But Saint Mark and Saint Luke connect it with Jesus’s explanation of the Parable of the Sower.

The word λύχνος (lychnos) means a light, lamp or candle. But it is also used figuratively for a distinguished teacher, as when Jesus describes Saint John the Baptist as ‘a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light’ (John 5: 35).

This parable is also the source of the aphorism about hiding one’s light under a bushel.

The original Greek in Matthew (5: 15) and Mark (4: 21) is μόδιος (modios), usually translated as ‘basket.’ A modius was a Roman measure for dry things such as grain and equivalent to about a peck 8.75 litres.

However, Saint Luke uses the word σκεῦος (skeuos), meaning a vessel or utensil for containing anything. Saint Paul uses the same word when he refers to σκεύη ὀργῆς and σκεύη ἐλέους, vessels of wrath or vessels of mercy, when referring to individuals visited by punishment or visited by divine favour (see Romans 9: 22-23). This word is also used to describe the vessel or frame of the human individual (I Thessalonians 4: 4; I Peter 3: 7). Saint Luke also uses the word κλίνη (klinē) for a couch or bed.

The word bushel , meaning a bowl, was used in William Tyndale’s translation: ‘Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it lighteth all them which are in the house.’

The key idea in this morning’s parable is that light or truth is not to be hidden or concealed. This light has been understood as Jesus, as his message, and as the believer's response to him and to his message.

In their writings, Hilary, Ambrose, and Bede understood that the light of the Gospel was not to be confined to Judaea, but to illuminate all nations.

But to hide one’s light under a bushel has come to mean saying little about one’s own skills and abilities, one’s own core values and beliefs, instead of being confident and telling others about them.

When do we hide our lights under bushels, or under a bowl?

When are we reluctant to be beacons in the darkness, shining out for true values when light is needed?

Do I speak up often enough about injustice, oppression and violence and racism, war and prejudice?

Or do I keep my views to myself at those crucial moments, hiding my light under a bushel?

The view from Lichnos in Piskopianó across Hersonissos and out to the north coast of Crete and the Mediterranean (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 30 January 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 ‘A Reflection on 2 Timothy’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by the Revd Canon Dr Nicky Chater, Chair of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches and Chaplain for these communities in the Diocese of Durham.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 30 January 2025) invites us to pray:

Lord, grant us compassion for people who have no secure place to live, including Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers. Help us to understand how much our wellbeing rests on knowing somewhere as home, and how participating in healthcare, employment and education relies on where we live.

The Collect:

King of kings and Lord of lords,
whose faithful servant Charles
prayed for those who persecuted him
and died in the living hope of your eternal kingdom:
grant us by your grace so to follow his example
that we may love and bless our enemies,
through the intercession of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God our redeemer,
whose Church was strengthened by the blood of your martyr Charles:
so bind us, in life and death, to Christ’s sacrifice
that our lives, broken and offered with his,
may carry his death and proclaim his resurrection in the world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?’ (Mark 4: 21) … lit candles in the Church of the Four Martyrs in Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?’ (Mark 4: 21) … evening in a restaurant in York (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayer in Christmas 2024-2025: 36, Wednesday 29 January 2025

‘And these are the ones sown on the good soil’ (Mark 4: 20) … the garden in the cloisters in Arkadi Monastery in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

This is the last week in the 40-day season of Christmas, which continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation on Sunday (2 February 2025). This week began with the Third Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany III, 26 January 2025).

We celebrated the Chinese New Year and the beginning of the Year of the Snake last night. I have a medical consultation later this morning. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, 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 Sower and the Seed … an image in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 4: 1-20 (NRSVA):

1 Again he began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land. 2 He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ 9 And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

10 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; 12 in order that

“they may indeed look, but not perceive,
and may indeed listen, but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven”.’

13 And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. 20 And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’

‘These are the ones on the path where the word is sown’ (Mark 4: 14) … spring growth on the pathway to the beach at Platanias in suburban Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Reflection:

Chapter 4 in Saint Mark’s Gospel is the ‘parables chapter,’ recalling parables that make this chapter the central teaching section of his Gospel. Christ is in a boat beside the sea teaching a very large crowd who are listening on the shore (see Mark 4: 1-2), and in this morning’s reading (Mark 4: 1-20), he describe the ‘kingdom of God’ using images of a sower scattering seed on the ground in the hope and expectation of growth and the harvest.

I am not good at sowing, not good at growing plants or trees, and certainly not good at growing them from seed.

I like to explain this away by excuses such as heavy hay fever since childhood or claiming I do not have green fingers. But to tell the truth it may be because of a combination of faults: because I expect quick results and because I expect perfection.

I enjoy sitting in the garden, reading, eating in the open, listening to the fountain, but not wedding the flower beds, tending the plants or mowing the lawn. In short, I don’t do gardening, I don’t do garden centres.

But some years ago visiting both the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin and the Lavender Field at Avoca in Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow, on the same weekend I found myself unexpectedly appreciating gardens and growing and growth. In both cases, these are places where people with vision did not expect immediate results.

The Botanic Gardens were founded in Glasnevin in 1795 by people with vision such as the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, John Foster. But it was another 40 years or more before the basic shape of the gardens was established by 1838.

David Moore, who was appointed curator that year, had the vision to develop the glasshouse accommodation, and he commissioned Richard Turner, the great Dublin ironmaster, to provide an iron house to replace the previous wooden house.

Work on the main curvilinear glasshouse started in 1843. It was a vision for the future and a gift to the future. Those who planned it and devoted their energy to building those glasshouses in Glasnevin had no idea of the pleasure they were bequeathing to future generations, and today the glasshouses in the Botanic Gardens stand as a great achievement of Victorian engineering, planning and vision.

In many ways, the buildings they planned and the seeds sown in them have brought forth not just thirtyfold, but sixtyfold, a hundredfold, and perhaps even more. Today, the living collections at the National Botanic Gardens include over 300 endangered species from around the world, and six species already extinct in the wild. These are a vital resource, and the staff there speak of them like a ‘Noah’s Ark’ for the future.

In those glasshouses, Victorian architecture, engineering, art and science come together. Without careful, measured, timing and proper planning we would not see the results today.

The Lavender Field in Kilmacanogue, outside Bray, is a more recent example of planning carefully and reaping the benefits in measured ways over the years.

The Lavender Farm owes its origins to Brian Cox and Donald Pratt, who had the idea in 1983 of starting an Irish perfume company, and moved to Kilmacangoue in 1987. Some of their fragrances are sourced from lavender from their own field, across the road from their offices in Kilmacanogue.

Forty years or so later, this ‘field of dreams,’ nestling between the two Sugarloaf mountains, is producing top quality lavender oil and provides the inspiration for many of the company’s ideas. The lavender is harvested every summer and the Lavender Harvest Party celebrates nature’s amazing gift of the golden oil from the lavender.

Some of the lavender is actually growing along the roadside, even on the rocky waste left on the margins of the motorway. But without the seed that had fallen by the roadside and the rocky places, I might never have noticed the lavender that is growing on the deep, rich soil, and producing this abundant harvest.

Nonetheless, this lavender field has taken a generation to reach the maturity that is its glory today.

Too often we expect immediate results. And too often we judge whether a project is a success or a failure by asking whether it is producing immediate, measurable, visible apparent results. If not, we dismiss that project as an immediate failure.

Just because something works now does not mean it is right for the future. Just because something does not work now does not mean it is wrong for the future. Like the Victorian engineers who had vision in Glasnevin almost two centuries ago, we may not see the growth that follows our work today. Like a sower scattering seed, I sometimes think of God sowing seeds in the minds of many people that eventually grow into full bloom.

In one of his less well-known poems, ‘The Last Laugh’ (1974), John Betjeman wrote:

I made hay while the sun shone.
My work sold.
Now, if the harvest is over
And the world cold,
Give me the bonus of laughter
As I lose hold.

The Victorian glasshouses in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, are a visible lesson in planting seeds with hope for the future (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 29 January 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 ‘A Reflection on 2 Timothy’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by the Revd Canon Dr Nicky Chater, Chair of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches and Chaplain for these communities in the Diocese of Durham.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Wednesday 29 January 2025) invites us to pray:

Bless all who work to offer shelter and security to marginalised and vulnerable people and grant us generosity in supporting them.

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 Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

A sign seen in the Happy Pear restaurant in Greystones, Co Wicklow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

The Lavender Field, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow … an example of planning carefully and reaping the benefits over the years (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayer in Christmas 2024-2025: 34, Monday 27 January 2025

‘But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property (Mark 3: 27) … Kilkenny Castle at night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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 Sunday (2 February 2025). This week began with the Third Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany III, 26 January 2025), and today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January 2025).

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.

‘If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand’ (Mark 3: 24) … confusing road signs in Tsesmes near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 3: 22-30 (NRSVA):

22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’ 23 And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

28 ‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’ – 30 for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’

‘Time present and time past / Are both perhaps present in time future / And time future contained in time past’ (TS Eliot) … the clock on Rathmines Town Hall depicted in street art on Mountpleasant Avenue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Reflection:

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.

Becket was murdered at the behest of King Henry II, and 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 tempter offers him power, riches and fame in serving the king so that he can disarm the powerful and help the poor. The third tempter 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 his 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 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.

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 us not deceive ourselves, these are real temptations. For those 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 Gospel reading (Mark 3: 22-30) and in tomorrow’s reading (Mark 3.31-35), 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).

In recent years, Ireland benefitted from economic growth and social and legislative changes that made it a modern European nation, like its neighbours. But ambition turned to greed, and greed then turned to economic collapse. The Irish economy and Irish society seemed to have given in to the temptation to do what appeared to be the right thing for the wrong reason.

Too often when I am offered the opportunity to do the right thing, to make a difference in the lives of others and in this world, I ask: ‘What’s in this for 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 oppressed, but to me.

How often have I seen what is the right thing to do, but have found 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 or please my neighbours?

How often do I use the Bible to justify not extending civil rights to 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.

Today is International Holocaust Memorial Day. The Revd Martin Niemöller (1892-1984), a prominent German Lutheran pastor and an outspoken opponent of Hitler, spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. He once said:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.

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:

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future
And time future contained in time past (‘Burnt Norton’).

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 must depend on those two great commandments – to love God and to love one another.

Martin Niemöller’s cell in Sachsenhausen (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 27 January 2025, International Holocaust Remembrance 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 ‘A Reflection on 2 Timothy’. This theme was introduced yesterday with a Programme Update by the Revd Canon Dr Nicky Chater, Chair of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches and Chaplain for these communities in the Diocese of Durham.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 27 January 2025, International Holocaust Remembrance Day) invites us to pray:

Forgive us when we give space to fear, negativity, and hatred of others, simply because they are different from us. Through our prayers and actions, help us to stand together with people and communities who are suffering, so that light may banish all darkness, love will prevail over hate and good will triumph over evil.

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 Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day … a fading rose on the fence at Auschwitz-Birkenau; behind is one of the concentration camp watchtowers and a train wagon (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 2024-2025: 33, Sunday 26 January 2025, the Third Sunday of Epiphany

‘He went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom’ (Luke 4: 16) … inside La Scuola Greca Synagogue in Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford

Patrick Comerford

The 40-day season of Christmas continues for another week until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation next Sunday (2 February 2025). Today is the Third Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany III, 26 January 2025), and the Gospel reading recalls the beginning of Christ’s public ministry when Jesus reads and teaches in the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4: 14-21).

Later this morning, I hope to sing with the choir at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford. In afternoon, I plan to attend the Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations in Milton Keynes. The ceremony, which has been moved to the Church of Christ the Cornerstone due to the adverse weather conditions this weekend, will include readings, songs, silence and the use of candles to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on 27 January 1945.

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

1, 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 stood up to read and … he unrolled the scroll’ (Luke 4: 18-19) … a scroll in the Jewish Museum in the Ghetto in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 4: 14-21 (NRSVA):

14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18 ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

Jesus in the Synagogue, as imagined by the Northern Ireland-born artist Greg Olsen

Today’s Reflection:

Today is the Third Sunday Epiphany (Epiphany III, 26 January 2025). The Gospel reading today (Luke 4: 14-21) is set in in an in-between time in the Church Calendar, between the Christmas and Epiphany stories and the beginning of Christ’s public ministry in Galilee.

The Epiphany stories over the last three weeks or so were telling us who Christ is, as priest, prophet and king. Those Epiphany moments are brought together in today’s Gospel reading.

Instead of succumbing to the temptations of a dramatic but false start to his ministry (Luke 4: 1-14), Christ begins his ministry in a very slow, thoughtful and considerate way. We are told that it was habit in the first stage of his ministry for Jesus to attend the synagogue on a Saturday, and we are told too that he taught in the synagogues regularly (verse 15).

Regular worship, scripture reading and teaching are the foundations of this ministry and for all his actions.

In the synagogue in those days, there were two readings in Hebrew, with a running translation into the vernacular, perhaps in Aramaic or in Greek.

In accordance with Jewish practice, on this particular Saturday, Jesus may have been the third person called on to read, after the priests and the Levites. Indeed, he may even have been further down the list.

The scroll of Isaiah was given to him to read and he returns the scroll when he is finished reading (verse 20).

The portion Christ reads from (verse 18-19) is actually three verses, and they do not come in sequence (Isaiah 61: 1, part of Isaiah 61: 2 and a portion of Isaiah 58: 6). So, even if he had been handed a pre-selected portion of Scripture to read – perhaps following in sequence from two or more previous readers – he makes a deliberate choice to roll back the scroll and to insert a portion of an earlier, extra verse (Isaiah 58: 6).

Christ tells the congregation in the synagogue that morning that the Scripture has been fulfilled in their hearing. Scripture has not been read that morning just to comply with part of the ritual; it actually has immediate meaning, significance and relevance that day. Christ is not merely reading the words, he is promising to see them put into action, to transform hope into reality.

It is as though these verses become his inauguration address or his campaign promises. He sets out his priorities, his hopes, his expectations. He tells those who are listening what is at the heart of everything he does and everything he asks us to do:

• to bring good news to the poor
• to proclaim release to the captives
• to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind
• to let the oppressed go free
• to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

These are the core values of Christ’s ministry and these are the core values shared by the Church, no matter what our differences are today.

We need to respond to the challenge Christ poses in his choice of reading this morning. Who are the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed in our midst today? Compassion for them is at the heart of Christ’s ministry and mission, and is at the very core of why we should be actively working for ecumenism and the unity of the Church.

Those values and those priorities were not reflected in one single sentence in Donald Trump’s inauguration address last Monday, but informed every point in Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s homily in Washington the following day.

The next four years are going to be difficult in the US and throughout the world, for the world’s economy, for the world’s climate, for the world’s poor, marginalised, violated and war-weary. Will they know we are Christians by our love? Who will show them that the priorities of Christians are supposed to be:

• to bring good news to the poor
• to proclaim release to the captives
• to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind
• to let the oppressed go free
• to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

‘And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down’ (Luke 4: 20) … Torah scrolls in the Jewish Museum in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 26 January 2025, Epiphany III):

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 ‘A Reflection on 2 Timothy’. This theme is introduced today with a Programme Update by the Revd Canon Dr Nicky Chater, Chair of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches and Chaplain for these communities in the Diocese of Durham:

Read 2 Timothy 1: 7

Monday 27 January is the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. We particularly remember the six million Jews deliberately killed. Less well known, at least 500,000 Gypsies and Roma lost their lives; 2-3 August is commemorated as the night the remaining Gypsy and Roma people, over 4,000, were killed in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Genocide requires fear of people who we identify as different, belief that such people threaten us, and encouragement to unthinkingly act on our beliefs.

We know that God does not want us to act unthinkingly from fear. For example, from 2 Timothy 1:7 ‘God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline’. Gypsy, Roma and Traveller peoples stay marginalised and disadvantaged in all countries and many are Christians with a living faith. In the UK Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches works to challenge negative stereotypes and help church congregations welcome, support and learn from people of these communities.

Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches seek to challenge prejudice and work for harmony, understanding and co-operation between communities, churches and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people. There is a wide network of ministers and volunteers working with these communities worldwide.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 26 January 2025, Epiphany III) invites us to pray reflecting on these words:

‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer’ (Psalm 19: 14).

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 Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

Jesus Unrolls the Book in the Synagogue (Jésus dans la synagogue déroule le livre), James Tissot (1831-1902), Brooklyn Museum (see Luke 4: 14-21)

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 2024-2025: 32, Saturday 25 January 2025, the Conversion of Saint Paul

A statue of Saint Paul at Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, Singapore (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

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), with the Gospel reading recalling the beginning of Christ’s public ministry when Jesus reads and teaches in the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4: 14-21).

Today is the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul and the Eighth Day and closing day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. 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 Peter and Saint Paul … a fresco in the Church of the Four Martyrs in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 19: 27-30 (NRSVA):

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

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)

Today’s Reflection:

Today is the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul [25 January]. The Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Matthew 19: 27-30) talks about abandoning everything from the past for the sake of following Christ in apostolic ministry.

The account of the Apostle Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus is provided in one of the other readings today (Acts 9:1-22).

Because I was born a day after this feast day, my mother wanted to call me Paul. The uncle and aunt who brought me to be baptised – my father’s half-brother Arthur and his wife Kathleen – had other ideas. Another of my father’s brothers was also called Patrick, named after his maternal grandfather, Patrick Lynders. But my mother often continued to call me Paul. I am more than comfortable with the name Patrick, yet there is a way in these two days – the Conversion of Saint Paul (25 January) and my birthday (26 January) – come together for me as one celebration.

The Apostle Paul’s entire life is explained in terms of one experience – his meeting with Christ on the road to Damascus. Although he had a zealot’s hatred for Christ, who was just a few years older than him, Saint Paul probably never saw Jesus before the Ascension. Yet he was determined in chasing down the followers of Christ: ‘entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment’ (Acts 8: 3b).

But, on the road to Damascus, Christ enters Saint Paul’s own inner home, seizes possession of him, takes command of all his energy, and harnesses it so that Saint Paul becomes a slave of Christ in the ministry of reconciliation as a consequence of one simple sentence: ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting’ (Acts 9: 5b).

Saint Paul, who was blind in his prejudice, is blinded so that he can have a new vision. He is imprisoned so that he can bring his great message to the world. And the magnitude of his sins, including his attempts to wipe out Christianity completely, show us clearly that no matter how terrible the sin may be any sinner may be forgiven.

In the same way, the Apostle Peter’s denial of Christ – three times during his Passion – did not put him beyond the forgiveness and love of Christ. Saint Peter too, in an effort to save his own skin, denied he knew the prisoner, but became a prisoner himself and a martyr for Christ.

No matter what our failings and our weaknesses, no matter where our blind spots may be, Christ calls us – not once but constantly – to turn around, to turn towards him, to turn our lives around, to turn them over to him.

Instead of his persecution, Saint Paul is remembered as the first and greatest missionary.

Instead of his three denials, Saint Peter is remembered for his confession of faith, his acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah or the Christ, recorded in the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew 16: 13-20; Mark 8: 13-20; Luke 9: 18-20). That Confession of Saint Peter was marked many Church calendars last Saturday [18 January 2025], and marked the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Today, the Conversion of Saint Paul is celebrated throughout the Church – in the Anglican, Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Orthodox traditions. This day also marks the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – or rather, the Octave of Christian Unity – from 18 to 25 January, linking those two feasts, was first suggested in 1908 by an American Episcopalian or Anglican monk, Father Paul Wattson, who was the superior of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, and who reintroduced Franciscan life to the Anglican Communion.

Appropriately, the icon of Christian Unity in the Eastern Orthodox tradition shows Peter and Paul embracing – almost wrestling – arms around each other, beards so close they are almost inter-twining. Every time I see this icon, I think 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 Saint Peter and Saint Paul in conflict with each other rather than complementing each other, they can be models for Church Unity.

Without that unity in the Early Church, its mission would have been hamstrung and hampered. For without unity there can be no effective mission, as the great Edinburgh Missionary Conference realised in 1910. And so the modern ecumenical movement has real roots in the mission of the Church.

As we come to the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, I pray that we may rejoice in the fact that differences can complement each other, and that we will see the diversity and unity that Saint Peter and Saint Paul wrestled with but eventually rejoiced in as models for our own unity today and in times to come.

Saint Peter (left) and Saint Paul (right) among the carved figures on the west front of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 25 January 2025, the Conversion of Saint Paul):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘Whom Shall I Send?’ This theme was introduced last Sunday with a Programme Update by Rachael Anderson, Senior Communications and Engagement Manager, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 25 January 2025) invites us to pray:

O Lord, we thank you for the conversion of Paul and the power of your grace to transform lives. Give us the courage to follow your call, spreading the gospel with love and boldness. Like Paul, may we be faithful witnesses to your redeeming power.

The Collect:

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 to 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 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 Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

A modern icon of the Conversion of Saint Paul

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