‘He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets’ (Mark 1: 19) … a fishing boat in the harbour at Loughshinny, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)
Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday [24 January 2021] is the Third Sunday after the Epiphany (Epiphany III). This is Year B in the
Revised Common Lectionary, and the readings are mainly from Saint Mark’s Gospel.
Sunday’s readings in the
Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are:
The Readings: Jonah 3: 1-5, 10; Psalm 62: 5-12; I Corinthians 7: 29-31; Mark 1: 14-20.
There is a direct link to the readings
HERE.
On Sunday next you may prefer to reflect on the readings in the light of Holocaust Memorial Day, which falls this year on Wednesday, 27 January 2021. This day can be observed on Sunday and recalls the millions of people killed in the Holocaust, the Nazi Persecution and in later genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. The date was chosen because 27 January marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.
Part 2 of this posting provides resources and links to resources for marking Holocaust Memorial Day next Sunday.
A whale depicted in the Saint Brendan window in Saint Michael’s Church, Sneem, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)
Part 1: The Third Sunday after the Epiphany
The themes in the Gospel reading (Mark 1: 14-20) offer plenty of fruitful ideas. They include: the Good News, the coming of the Kingdom of God, repentance, belief, and call and following.
But we cannot just pluck themes out of a lectionary reading and use them to our own purpose and end. That would do no service either to those who are listening or to the Gospel message itself.
Although the current cycle of lectionary readings is mainly from Saint Mark’s Gospel, the Gospel reading for the previous Sunday [17 January 2021, the Second Sunday after the Epiphany] is John 1: 43-51. Saint Mark’s Gospel is so short it would be stretching it too far to provide readings for every Sunday for a full year.
Yet that reading from Saint John’s Gospel also helps to provide context and an introduction to the reading for the following Sunday, for it tells the story of the call of Philip and Nathanael.
Additional context for next Sunday’s Gospel reading (Mark 1: 14-20) is provided by the themes in the other readings.
In addition, this posting offers additional reflection on both the reading from the Book of Jonah, and on the Gospel reading.
The Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ‘Get up, go …’ (Jonah 3: 1-2) … sailing into a Mediterranean sunset in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Jonah 3: 1-5, 10
This is the only reading in the Lectionary, over the space of three years, from the Book of Jonah (apart from an alternative reading in Proper 20, Year A), and the only opportunity over the three-year cycle most people have to hear about the story of Jonah.
Yet, while many people undoubtedly associate Jonah with the whale, and the Gospel reading includes stories of fishermen who called to be ‘fishers of men,’ there is no mention of the big fish in this one reading they are going to hear from the Book of Jonah.
Jonah is the archetypal reluctant prophet. Earlier, God calls him to ‘Go at once to Nineveh … and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me’ (Jonah 1: 2). But Jonah tries to escape by sailing to the ends of the earth.
And for many people who hear this reading on Sunday, they will immediately associate Jonah with the fish, which may help make connections with the fishing scene that provides the setting for our Gospel reading.
But God is not going to let go of Jonah; and God now calls him a second time. This time, Jonah obeys, and he goes to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. But it seems Jonah is easily distracted and happy with half measures. He goes to the city, but after a day he has only got half-way into Nineveh. Even then, God works through Jonah. The people of Nineveh react positively: they believe, they acknowledge their godlessness, and later in this chapter the king repents.
We can see in that story the outward signs of repentance: a change of attitude to others, or turning away from evil and violence; and acknowledging God’s freedom in how God responds to our repentance.
Clearly, this is a story, but it is one that teaches; it is a parable. It illuminates an issue of its time, the waywardness of the people. God who is all-powerful can favour whoever he chooses, even those we see hated enemies of the past.
‘In God is my strength and my glory; God is my strong rock; in him is my refuge’ (Psalm 62: 7) … a rocky outcrop in the Ionian waters off the west coast of Paxos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Psalm 62: 5-12:
Psalm 62 is a psalm of trust, in which the psalmist invites others to place their trust in God too (verse 8).
In God, he finds his hope for deliverance, his reference point in life and his ‘refuge’ from his enemies.
This is a psalm of trust, and in this portion of the psalm, the psalmist invites others to follow his example. In God, he finds his hope for deliverance, his reference point in life and refuge from his enemies.
Neither poverty nor power can last. Extortion and robbery are means of acquiring rank, but we should depend on wealth, for it too is worth little.
The psalmist has heard and has learnt well that power and steadfast love belong to God. God does reward everyone based on their actions.
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‘Let even those who … buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it’ (I Corinthians 7: 30-31) … sale signs at a wedding venue and hotel in Ballybunion, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)
I Corinthians 7: 29-31
In this Epistle reading, the Apostle Paul writes from Ephesus to the Christians of Corinth, calling on them to live a life of repentance, for ‘the time we live in will not last long,’ and ‘the present time is passing away.’
He reminds us that we live between Christ’s first coming and Christ’s second coming, a time in which the Church is called to bring as many as possible to believe in him and to follow his ways.
And so, this epistle reading too is an important preparation for hearing the story of the call of the first disciples, and for being reminded of our own call too.
Saint Paul’s advice to married men (verse 29b) – to behave as though they have no wives – must be taken in context. In the verses that follow, he explains what he has written: ‘I want you to be free from anxieties … the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided’ (I Corinthians 7: 32-34).
Saint Paul is saying that, at what he sees as a very critical time in history, when all effort is needed to bring people to faith, some need to devote some effort to other matters.
In earlier verses in this chapter, he has already said that marriage is important. He is not denying this now, but instead is emphasising the importance of the mission of the Church. It is so important we need to devote as much effort as possible to God’s work. What we do in the world is of transitory value, and we need to focus on preparing for Christ’s second coming.
‘He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets’ (Mark 1: 19) … a fisherman takes care of his nets in a harbour on the Greek island of Samos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Mark 1: 14-20:
In the Gospel reading, we move from being told of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness to his return to Galilee. His message begins with ‘the time is fulfilled’ (verse 15): the time appointed by God, the decisive time for God’s action, has arrived. ‘The kingdom of God has come near.’
Saint Mark began his Gospel with ‘the good news of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.’ Now, in verse 15, we hear what that Good News is: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news’ (verse 15).
There are four important verbs in this Good News. The first two proclaim deeds that God is doing; the last two call for specific responses from us:
1, ‘The time is fulfilled’: the meaning here is difficult to convey fully in English because such experiences of time are rare. This is an epoch-making time, a defining-moment time. A long held dream is about to start taking shape.
2, ‘has come near’ or ‘is at hand’: this located the Kingdom of God in both time – this defining moment; and in space – at hand. But the verbs also indicate a deed or action that has now begun but is not yet unfinished.
3, to ‘repent’ does not mean to feel badly or guilty. It does mean to change my behaviour, to re-align it with new principles, new beliefs, new understandings, new insights, new objectives, new goals and new values. The feelings that accompany repentance can range from sorrow over past deeds, to joy for new options; from anger over past false hopes, to confidence in now finding firm ground.
4, ‘Believe in the good news’ could also be translated as ‘Trust into the Good News.’ This is not a call to belief in terms of having an opinion about the factual accuracy of Good News. Instead, Christ is calling for a radical, total, unqualified response in which I base my life no matter what the risks may be.
Now we too are called to adopt God’s way, to ‘believe in the good news’ we hear about the very beginning of the Gospel. It could be said that the whole of Saint Mark’s Gospel is a working out of the meaning and implication of this verse.
In verses 16-20, the first four disciples are called: they immediately leave their previous occupations, and follow Christ. Once again, we might note how immediacy of response is a mark of this Gospel. These disciples owned nets (verse 19), and they had employees (‘hired men,’ verse 20), so they were people of rank. They gave up security and family to follow Christ and to devote themselves to his mission.
Did you notice too how one of the first things Christ does is to recruit followers? We could say that proclaiming the Good News and that the Kingdom of God is near, is not a one-man show. Instead, it involves building up communities, and creating relationships that embody the Good News.
Fishing was carried out at night so that the freshly caught fish could be sold as soon as possible in the morning. So, being out at night – and smelling of fish – made fishing a disreputable occupation.
Christ sees Simon and Andrew at night, or just before dawn, as they are actively fishing. He then sees James and John after dawn – they have finished their night’s work and are in their boat, mending their nets.
How do you think it must have appeared in those days that Christ was out alone at night and that the first four people he calls are engaged in a dirty and demanding occupation, and that all four leave their families to follow him?
Their friends and neighbours must have reacted with alarm and suspicion, and probably talked about how their response was breaking up their families and breaking down the social fabric of their community.
Are you finding your calling to follow Christ difficult when it comes to family relationships and maintaining your relationship with your community, with those you work with or those who are your neighbours?
Sometimes, like Jonah, do you feel like taking another journey, or just going half-way?
A reconstruction of the gates of an Assyrian palace in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
A reflection on the first reading:
Jonah is one of the ‘Minor Prophets,’ and one of the brief prophets too: the Book of Jonah totals a mere 48 verses, the tenth shortest book in the Bible and shorter than many chapters or psalms.
But Jonah is also one of the best-known characters in the Bible. Who does not have memories of Sunday school stories about him being swallowed by a whale?
For many commentators too, Jonah stands alongside Isaiah and Ezekiel, and his Hebrew name, יונה (
Yonah) means ‘Dove,’ bringing some Jewish commentators to find a word association with the dove of Noah’s Ark, and so with the waters of the flood.
In Jewish tradition, Jonah is the son of the widow who nursed Elijah and who is revived by Elijah (see I Kings 17); other traditions identify Jonah with the prophet who joined Jehu and told him about the Lord’s promise to maintain on the throne of Israel four generation of his heirs.
Unlike other prophets, Jonah’s mission is not to the kingdoms of Judah or Israel. Jeremiah warns of the impending Babylonian captivity; Isaiah speaks of the suffering servant and the suffering people; Hosea condemns the cults of Baal and Asherah; Joel laments the invasions of grasshoppers; Haggai and Zechariah plead for the rebuilding of the Temple; Malachi condemns the prevailing, cold spiritless, formalism; Micah announces a coming Messiah; Zephaniah invites the Kingdom of Judah to acknowledge its faults. But Jonah is called to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria.
Nineveh is a large and sinful powerful city, and Jonah is called to go there and call the people to repentance so that Nineveh is not punished.
But Nineveh is no mere capital among many foreign capitals: it is
the city, indeed
the great city. It stood on the banks of the Tigris, close to present-day Mosul, and was famed for its splendid palaces and impregnable walls; it was a city of artists and artisans, and its library was one of the richest in the world, with tens of thousands of tablets devoted to astronomy, poetry, history, medicine and agriculture, as well as the arts or crafts of divination and exorcism.
The
Midrash emphasises time and again that there never was a city as great as Nineveh.
However, Nineveh was also the most corrupt, depraved and decadent city of the day. More than 120,000 people lived there, and they could not tell the true from the false, the good from the evil, ‘their right hand from their left’ (Jonah 4: 11).
For generations, Nineveh had been one of the great enemies, and is now waiting and watching the internecine feud between Judah and Israel, waiting to destroy the northern and southern kingdoms. It was a greater threat than Egypt or Babylon might ever be.
Why would any right-thinking person in Israel or Judah want to save Nineveh from divine wrath and certain destruction? Surely Nineveh’s destruction would save the people from war, defeat and exile? And, surely, any prophet who ventured into Nineveh, declaiming both king and people, would face certain death?
Jonah’s reluctance to respond to this call is wholly understandable. Other prophets were reluctant too: Moses questioned his eloquence; Jeremiah believed he was too young, Isaiah thought himself impure; even Ezekiel was sent into exile, yet still had to fulfil his mission.
The survival of Jonah’s people hangs in the balance, and, in the social and political climate of the day, he would prefer that God rained down destruction on his enemies and their city. He is torn between his loyalties to God and to his people. His dialogue is not just with God but also with his inner self.
Carried away by this inner torment, Jonah heads off – but in the opposite direction, to Tarshish, which is identified with the Straits of Gibraltar. But God frustrates his plans to flee, a great storm blows up, the ship is close to sinking, and finally he is thrown overboard by the crew in a bid to save their own lives, and is swallowed by a ‘large fish.’
Nowhere in the text is the word ‘whale’ used; the Hebrew text uses the word
tannin, meaning a ‘big fish’; in the Greek text of the Septuagint, it becomes a ‘sea dragon.’ Jonah is swallowed up for three days, inevitably drawing comparisons from later Christian commentators with Christ’s three days in the grave (see Matthew 12: 39-41).
But Jonah does not wallow in being swallowed; instead, he prays for deliverance in words that echo the psalms.
When Jonah is thrown up on dry land, God calls him once again; it is a call on the shore, and it is a call that is not going to go away. So Jonah sets out, and it takes him three days from arriving at Nineveh to walk through the city – once again, the three-day period is significant.
Jonah serves 40 days’ notice on the city. These are the years of wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus, the days and nights Moses spends on Mount Sinai, the days the spies spend in the land of Canaan, the days Ezekiel spends repenting for the sins of Judah, the days Elijah spends without food or water on his way to Mount Horeb, the days Jesus spends fasting in the wilderness, the days between the Resurrection and the Ascension …
To Jonah’s dismay, the people of Nineveh take his words to heart; even the king puts on sackcloth and ashes and prays for God’s redemption. They turn from their evil ways, and God changes his mind about the calamity they had faced.
But, instead of being pleased with a mission accomplished, Jonah is not only displeased but is angry. He is convinced that the king and the city are not sincere about their repentance. Is he fearful that, having survived, they are now going to turn their attention to his people? This is the Jonah who, only some time earlier, had faced drowning and being devoured, but now he is so angry he would prefer to be dead. And when he survives, he goes away, separating himself from God and people, and sulks.
Even then, when he might have been saved from the harsh weather and climate only to find his shelters destroyed, he is angry with God yet again.
The story of Jonah ends not with an answer to Jonah’s complaints, or a solution to Israel’s conflict with Assyria, or even an indication of whether the king and people of Nineveh remained faithful, but with a question from God: should God not be concerned for the lives of people – even their animals – no matter how immoral or sinful I may see them as being, not knowing their right hand from their left?
It is a salutary lesson for the Church when we think at times that we think we have heard God’s word, think we are following God’s ways, but are reluctant to share with others – whether they are outside our parish, outside our society or culture, outside our country.
Are there times when we limit God’s salvation to those we regard as saved, and resent prophetic calls to recognise that God loves others beyond our circle or circles of faith?
No matter how threatening we see outsiders to be, does this justify putting limits on our outreach to them and our compassion for them?
Mending the nets on a fishing boat in the harbour in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
A reflection on the Gospel reading:
I do not know which was a more difficult and demanding task: being a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, or being a Disciple of Christ … especially when the call comes from someone who has withdrawn to Galilee after the arrest of his cousin, the one who publicly baptised and acclaimed him, John the Baptist.
Either way, the four first disciples were going to have no lazy day by the shore or the river bank, or as followers of Christ. Becoming ‘fishers of men,’ ‘fishing for people,’ is going to bring these Galilean fishers into a relationship not only with Jesus, with their families, with their neighbours, with the tax collectors, with Pharisees, Sadducees and Zealots, with the powers of this world, with Gentiles, with the people who sat in darkness and in the region of the shadow of death.
Sometimes in the Church, we do not cast our nets far enough or deep enough. No wonder then that most of the time, when we pull in those nets, we find them empty.
There is a saying that fish come in three sizes, small ones, medium ones and the ones that got away. Too often in the Church, in ministry and in mission we know about the small ones, we are good with the medium ones, but we pay little attention to going after the ones that get away.
Many years ago, while I hitchhiking and youth-hostelling in peaks on the borders of Staffordshire and Derbyshire in my late teens, and staying in Ilam Hall, I came across the work of that great Anglican writer, Izaak Walton (1593-1683), known not only for his biographies of John Donne, George Herbert and Richard Hooker, but also as the author of
The Compleat Angler.
In
The Compleat Angler, Izaak Walton points out that fishing can teach us patience and discipline. Fishing takes practice, preparation, discipline; like discipleship, it has to be learned, and learning requires practice before there are any results. And sometimes, whether it is fishing in a river or fishing in the sea, the best results can come from going against the current.
Walking along the pier in small Greek fishing villages, I sometimes watch the careful early morning work of the crews in the trawlers and fishing boats. It is a lesson that good fishing does not come about by accident. It also requires paying attention to the nets, moving them carefully, mending them, cleaning them after each and every use, hanging them out to dry.
And fishing is also about noticing the weather, watching the wind and the clouds. Good fishing takes account of contexts … it is incarnational.
And all of these apply to the work of the Church within society.
Time and again in the Gospels, the Kingdom of God is compared to a huge net cast over different numbers of people and species. We are the ones called to cast that net, but to do so we need to attend to our own discipline, endurance, and patience.
Being a Christian is not passive following of Christ. We cannot hang any sign outside on our church doors saying: ‘Gone Fishin’.’
Nor can we passively stand by the bank or on the shore, content with two sizes of fish. We are called to go after the one that others let get away, not just those who come to Church regularly, but their families, their neighbours, the tax collectors, the Pharisees, Sadducees and Zealots of our age, the powers of this world, the Gentiles, and especially with those people who sit in darkness and in the region of the shadow of death.
‘Immediately they left their nets’ (Mark 1: 18) … fishing nets and a boat at the harbour in Loughshinny (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)
Mark 1: 14-20 (NRSVA):
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake – for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
Fishing boats on the quays at Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)
Liturgical resources:
Liturgical colour: White.
The Penitential Kyries:
God be merciful to us and bless us,
and make his face to shine on us.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
May your ways be known on earth,
your saving power to all nations.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
You, Lord, have made known your salvation,
and reveal your justice in the sight of the nations.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
The Collect of the Day:
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 our Lord.
Introduction to the Peace:
Our Saviour Christ is the Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there shall be no end. (
Isaiah 9: 6, 7)
Preface:
For Jesus Christ our Lord
who in human likeness revealed your glory,
to bring us out of darkness
into the splendour of his light:
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Almighty Father,
your 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 with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Blessing:
Christ the Son be manifest to you,
that your lives may be a light to the world:
Other, appropriate liturgical and preaching resources are available through
this link.
A fishing boat with its nets on deck at the harbour in Panormos on Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)
Suggested hymns:
Jonah 3: 1-5, 10:
381, God has spoken – by his prophets
Psalm 62: 5-12:
381, God has spoken – by his prophets
668, God is our fortress and our rock
557, Rock of ages, cleft for me
I Corinthians 7: 29-31:
353, Give to our God immortal praise
646, Glorious things of thee are spoken
Mark 1: 14-20:
549, Dear Lord and Father of mankind
460, For all your saints in glory, for all your saints at rest (verses 1, 2
s, 3)
219, From heav’n you came, helpless Babe
584, Jesus calls us! O’er the tumult
395, When Jesus taught by Galilee
605, Will you come and follow me
Reflections on the water at the Fish and Eels at Dobbs Weir, near Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Part 2: Holocaust Memorial Sunday
The National Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration in Ireland takes place every year on the Sunday nearest to 27 January in the Mansion House, Dublin. It is organised under the auspices of Holocaust Education Trust Ireland in association with the Department of Justice and Equality and Dublin City Council.
This year, the commemoration takes place on 24 January 2021 at 6 pm, but due to Covid-19 restrictions is being hosted online.
The Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration cherishes the memory of all who perished in the Holocaust. It recalls six million Jewish men, women and children and millions of others who were persecuted and murdered by the Nazis because of their ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliations or their religious beliefs. The ceremony includes readings, survivors’ recollections, candle-lighting and music. It is attended by people from all walks of life and is a moving and dignified event.
There is no charge for attending HMD. To register, please register online at this
LINK.
Hope against adversity … a fading rose on the fence at Auschwitz-Birkenau; behind is one of the concentration camp watchtowers and a train wagon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) has produced a resource designed for use by Christians in a worship setting on or around Holocaust Memorial Day. It includes commentaries, readings, prayers, poems and testimonies.
In the resource you will find suggested liturgy for an act of commemoration within Christian worship.
Download the resource here
The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2021 is ‘Be the light in the darkness’. It encourages us to reflect on the depths humanity can sink to, but also the ways individuals and communities lit the darkness before, during, and after genocide.
The resources include:
● What is Holocaust Memorial Day?
● Foreword and notes for using this resource in 2021
● Outline of an act of worship, including stone painting
● A survivor’s testimony
● Reflections on the readings
● Further resources
Children of the Kindertransport … Frank Meisler’s bronze sculpture at Liverpool Street Station in London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
In the foreword to these resources, Siriol Davies, National Presence & Engagement Programme Coordinator, Mission & Public Affairs, Church of England, writes:
‘The theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is ‘Be the light in the darkness’. This speaks to the heart of our faith as Christians. Jesus, the light of the world, invites us to come to him and live in the light. Having been brought into his light we are called to bring that light to others.
‘Light reveals the truth and on HMD that light will reveal and remember the incomprehensible horror of the Holocaust; a darkness of what took place in those years and a darkness when humans fail to live in the light of God’s love. The Holocaust was fuelled by an antisemitism which had been spread by European churches. Indeed, for the last two thousand years European Christians have been a significant element in the development of anti-Jewish ideas and at times have participated in anti-Jewish violence. The light reveals uncomfortable truths. How as Christians can we respond to this failure to live in the light of Christ? How is it possible for us to be the light in the darkness?
‘Since the Holocaust, many Christians have rejected antisemitic teaching and sought new understanding of the relationship with Judaism. There is an acceptance of the need for repentance. For example, the Faith and Order Commission of the Church of England in 2019 published
God’s Unfailing Word: Theological and Practical Perspectives on Christian-Jewish Relations, which states, ‘Repentance, in this as in any other context needs to identify and name what is sinful, letting it be seen for what it is in the light of God’s righteousness’. The call to be the light in the darkness creates a genuine opportunity to reflect on and express our repentance for Christian involvement in spreading antisemitism. I hope for a multitude of lights in churches across the country on 27 January shining God’s light into this darkness.
‘Be the light in the darkness and take time to remember the millions of people, of all faiths and none, murdered during the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution and in the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
‘During this Covid-19-shaped year the ease with which different faiths have come together and responded to need has been uplifting. All over the country local initiatives have sprung up inspired by faith; churches working alongside others, reflecting God’s love for each person. Building connected communities is one way of resisting the darkness that can take hold when we fail to honour every individual as made in God’s image. Let’s be a light in the darkness by continuing to build up connected communities as well as by using this resource to mark HMD in churches across the country.’
The train tracks in Birkenau (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Nathan Eddy, Interim Director, CCJ, writes:
‘Every Holocaust Memorial Day is unique, but our commemoration in 2021 is especially so.
‘First, HMD 2021 is the first commemoration since the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 2020. That anniversary was marked by international observances in Israel and Poland, and a CCJ event at the House of Lords in Westminster. It was the last major anniversary at which survivors of the Holocaust will likely be present; we stand on the threshold of a new era of Holocaust education and commemoration in which we won’t have the living witness of survivors. Second, the Covid-19 pandemic has magnified inequalities and social tensions, and enabled a worrying spike in racism and antisemitism in many countries.
‘Partly in response to these two features of HMD 2021, this resource encourages you to incorporate a creative activity into your commemorations: stone painting to remember individual victims of the Holocaust or other genocides. The Foundation Stones project is a government-backed initiative to gather painted stones from across the country to incorporate into the foundations of the future UK Holocaust memorial and learning centre – literally forming the foundation for a new era of Holocaust education. We encourage you to consider painting stones in your local community group, church, interfaith gathering, or CCJ branch.
‘This resource also assumes commemorations will take place on Zoom or other platforms. Please consider current government guidance when planning your HMD observance.
‘The way we commemorate the Shoah in particular is changing, but one aspect remains the same: the imperative to remember, to stand together, and to ‘be a light in the darkness’, wherever we live. Your role is crucial in this, even if it is just placing a single lit candle in your window. Thank you for taking part.’
The resource from CCJ can be adapted as necessary for your own context, and it will provide inspiration and guidance so that church communities can remember the Holocaust, Nazi persecution, and subsequent genocides, as a fundamental part of their Christian witness and discipleship.
The Jewish Holocaust Memorial on Platia Eleftherias near the port in Thessaloniki … in July 1942, all the men in the Jewish community aged from 18 to 45 were rounded up in this square for deportation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Additional hymns:
Additional hymns that might be appropriate for Holocaust Memorial Day include:
323, The God of Abraham praise
361, Now thank we all our God.
347, Children of Jerusalem
599, ‘Take up thy cross,’ the Saviour said
‘Arbeit macht frei’ … the sign at the entrance gate to Auschwitz. It is appropriate next Sunday to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (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
Material from the
Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
The hymn suggestions are provided in
Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s
Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000).
