Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for 6 August 2021, The Transfiguration

The Transfiguration depicted in a stained-glass window in the Collegiate Church of Saint Nicholas, Galway (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Friday 6 August 2021, is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The Book of Common Prayer allows Festival such as the Transfiguration to be celebrated on the Sunday in the same week (p 21), so some parishes may find these resources valuable for next Sunday [1 August 2021].

The appointed readings in the Revised Common Lectionary for the Feast of the Transfiguration, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are:

The Readings: Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14; Psalm 97; II Peter 1: 16-19; Luke 9: 28-36.

There is a link to the readings HERE.

The resources for Sunday 1 August 2021, the Tenth Sunday after Trinity, were posted earlier this morning (26 July 2021), and are available HERE.

The Transfiguration depicted in a stained-glass window in a church in Lucan, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introduction: The Transfiguration, the Biblical story

The Transfiguration is described in the three Synoptic Gospels (see Matthew 17: 1-9; Mark 9: 2-8; Luke 9: 28-36). In addition, there may be allusions to the Transfiguration in John 1: 14 and in the New Testament reading provided for the Feast of the Transfiguration (II Peter 1: 16-19), in which the Apostle Peter describes himself as an eyewitness ‘of his sovereign majesty’ (verse 16).

Of course, there is an obvious question: Why is there no Transfiguration narrative in Saint John’s Gospel?

But then, there is no Eucharistic institution narrative in the Fourth Gospel either.

Perhaps we could say that the Fourth Gospel is shot through with the Transfiguration and the light of the Transfiguration, from beginning to end, just as it is shot through with Eucharistic narratives from beginning to end.

But should we describe the Transfiguration as a miracle? If we do, then it is the only Gospel miracle that happens to Christ himself. On the other hand, Thomas Aquinas spoke of the Transfiguration as ‘the greatest miracle,’ because it complemented baptism and showed the perfection of life in Heaven.

None of the accounts identifies the ‘high mountain’ by name. The earliest identification of the mountain as Mount Tabor was made by Saint Jerome in the late fourth century.

But does it matter where the location is? Consider the place of Mountains in the salvation story and in revelation:

● Moses meets God in the cloud and the burning bush on Mount Sinai, and there receives the tablets of the Covenant (Exodus 25 to 31);

● Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (I Kings 18);

● Elijah climbs Mount Sinai and finds God not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire, but in the still small voice in the cleft of the Mountain (I Kings 19: 12);

● The Sermon, which is the ‘manifesto’ of the new covenant, is the Sermon on the Mount;

● The Mount of Olives is a key location in the Passion narrative;

● Christ is crucified on Mount Calvary;

● Saint John receives his Revelation in the cave at the top of the mountain on Patmos.

As for the cloud, as three Synoptic Gospels describe the cloud’s descent in terms of overshadowing (επισκιαζειν, episkiazein), which in the Greek is a pun on the word tents (σκηνάς skenas), but is also the same word used to describe the Holy Spirit overshadowing the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation (Luke 1: 35).

Earlier in the Bible, the pillar of cloud leads the people through the wilderness by day, just as the pillar of fire leads them by night. Moses entered the cloud on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24: 18), the Shekinah cloud is the localised manifestation of the presence of God (Exodus 19: 9; 33: 9; 34: 5; 40: 34; II Maccabees 2: 8).

At the Ascension, the cloud takes Christ up into heaven at the Ascension (Acts 1: 9-10).

Saint Paul talks about the living and the dead being caught up in the cloud to meet the Lord (I Thessalonians 4: 17).

The Transfiguration (Kirillo-Belozersk), anonymous, ca 1497 … the Transfiguration is also considered the ‘Small Epiphany’

The principal characters:

Christ is the focus of the Transfiguration, but who are the other principle characters in this story?

1, The Trinity: In Orthodox theology, the Transfiguration is not only a feast in honour of Christ, but a feast of the Holy Trinity, for all three Persons of the Trinity are present at that moment:

● God the Father speaks from heaven: ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him’ (Luke 9: 35).

● God the Son is transfigured;

● God the Holy Spirit is present in the form of a cloud.

In this sense, the Transfiguration is also considered the ‘Small Epiphany’ – the ‘Great Epiphany’ being the Baptism of Christ, when the Holy Trinity appears in a similar pattern.

2, Moses and Elijah: At the Transfiguration, Christ appears with Moses and Elijah, the two pre-eminent figures of Judaism, standing alongside him. Saint John Chrysostom explains their presence in three ways:

● They represent the Law and the Prophets – Moses received the Law from God, and Elijah was a great prophet.

● They both experienced visions of God – Moses on Mount Sinai and Elijah on Mount Carmel.

● They represent the living and the dead – Elijah, the living, because he was taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire, and Moses, the dead, because he did experience death.

Moses and Elijah show that the Law and the Prophets point to the coming of Christ, and their recognition of and conversation with Christ symbolise how he fulfils ‘the law and the prophets’ (Matthew 5: 17-19; cf Luke 16: 16). Moses and Elijah also stand for the living and dead, for Moses died and his burial place is known, while Elijah was taken alive into heaven in order to appear again to announce the time of God’s salvation.

It was commonly believed that Elijah would reappear before the coming of the Messiah (see Malachi 4), and the three interpret Christ’s response as a reference to John the Baptist (Matthew 17: 13).

3, The Disciples: Peter, James and John were with Christ on the mountain top.

Why these three disciples?

Do you remember how this might relate to Moses and Elijah? Moses ascended the mountain with three trusted companions, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, to confirm the covenant (Exodus 24: 1), and God’s glory covered the mountain in a cloud for six days (Exodus 25 to 31).

In some ways, Peter, James and John serve as an inner circle or a ‘kitchen cabinet’ in the Gospels.

They are at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17: 1, Mark 9: 2; Luke 9: 28), but also at the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mark 9: 2; Luke 6: 51), at the top of the Mount of Olives when Christ is about to enter Jerusalem (Mark 13: 3), they help to prepare for the Passover (Luke 22: 8), and they are in Gethsemane (Matthew 26: 37).

They are the only disciples to have been given nickname by Jesus: Simon became the Rock, James and John were the sons of thunder (Luke 5: 10). Jerome likes to refer to Peter as the rock on which the Church is built, James as the first of the apostles to die a martyr’s death, John as the beloved disciple.

They are a trusted group who also serve to represent us at each moment in the story of salvation.

The Ancient of Days (Ο Παλαιός των Ημερών) … a fresco in the Parish Church in Piskopianó in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

In today’s worldly ways, in our culture today, we may find it difficult to come to terms culturally with apocalyptic visions, and think they are only for people who have their heads in the clouds. But both the first reading (Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14) and the Gospel reading (Luke 9: 28-36) offer two visions that pull us in different directions.

The Prophet Daniel is caught up in an experience that is very much in the present, but that looks back to the past, and yet is full of promise for the future.

In his present predicament, Daniel has a vision of the Ancient One, the Ancient of Days (Ο Παλαιός των Ημερών). Most of the Eastern Church Fathers who comment on this passage interpret this figure as a revelation of the Son before his Incarnation.

Eastern Christian art sometimes portrays Christ as an old man, the Ancient of Days, to show symbolically that he existed from all eternity, that Christ is pre-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

In experiencing the Divine presence in the present, Daniel looks back to the past with the title the Ancient One or the Ancient of Days (verse 9). But he also looks forward to the future, when Christ is given dominion that is everlasting, that shall not pass away, that shall never be destroyed (verse 14).

In a similar way, the Transfiguration is a moment that brings the experience of the past and the promise of the future together in the moment of the present.

During holidays in Crete, I often see icons of the Transfiguration even in small village churches.

For example, a new church built in the village of Piskopianó in the mountains above the tourist resorts in Crete, an an icon of the Transfiguration was presented to the new church shortly after it opened in 2008.

Some years ago, I was invited to open a summer exhibition in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, of icons by Adrienne Lord. The poster for this exhibition, and one of the principal exhibits, was an icon of the Transfiguration.

In these icons, we see on the left, Christ leading the three disciples, Peter, James and John, up the mountain; in the centre, we see these three disciples stumbling and falling as they witness and experience the Transfiguration; and then, to the right, Christ is depicted leading these three back down the side of the mountain.

In other words, we are invited to see the Transfiguration not as a static moment but as a dynamic event. It is a living event in which we are invited to move from all in the past that weighs us down, to experience the full life that Christ offers us today, and to bring this into how we live our lives as Disciples in the future, a future that begins here and now.

The Transfiguration is both an event and a process. The original Greek word for Transfiguration in the Gospels is μεταμόρφωσις (metamorphosis), which means ‘to progress from one state of being to another.’ Consider the metamorphosis of the chrysalis into the butterfly. Saint Paul uses the same word (μεταμόρφωσις) when he describes how the Christian is to be transfigured, transformed, into the image of Christ (II Corinthians 3: 18).

This metamorphosis invites us into the event of becoming what we have been created to be. This is what Orthodox writers call deification. Transfiguration is a profound change, by God, in Christ, through the Spirit. And so, the Transfiguration reveals to us our ultimate destiny as Christians, the ultimate destiny of all people and all creation – to be transformed and glorified by the majestic splendour of God himself.

The Transfiguration points to Christ’s great and glorious Second Coming and the fulfilment of the Kingdom of God, when all of creation shall be transfigured and filled with light.

According to Saint Gregory Palamas, the light of the Transfiguration ‘is not something that comes to be and then vanishes.’ It not only prefigures the eternal blessedness that all Christians look forward to, but also the Kingdom of God already revealed, realised and come.

The Transfiguration by Adrienne Lord … an icon in an exhibition in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

In a lecture in Cambridge ten years ago [2011], Metropolitan Kallistos [Ware], the pre-eminent Orthodox theologian in England, spoke of the Transfiguration as a disclosure not only of what God is but of what we are. The Transfiguration looks back to the beginning, but also looks forward to the end, to the final glory of Christ’s second coming, because through the incarnation Christ raises our human nature to a new level, opens new possibilities.

The Incarnation is a new beginning for the human race, and in the Transfiguration we see not only our human nature at the beginning, but as it can be in and through Christ at the end, he told us.

But with the Transfiguration comes the invitation to bear the cross with Christ. Peter, James and John are with Christ on Mount Tabor, and they are with him in Gethsemane. We must understand the Passion of Christ and the Transfiguration in the light of each other, not as two separate mysteries, but aspects of the one single mystery. Mount Tabor and Mount Calvary go together; and glory and suffering go together.

If we are to become part of the Transfiguration, we cannot leave our cross behind. If we are to bring the secular, fallen world into the glory of Christ, that has to be through self-emptying (κένωσις, kenosis), cross-bearing and suffering. There is no answer to secularism that does not take account of the Cross, as well as taking account of the Transfiguration and the Resurrection.

The Transfiguration provides a guideline for confronting the secular world, he said. And Metropolitan Kalistos reminded us of the story from Leo Tolstoy, Three Questions. The central figure is set a task of answering three questions:

What is the most important time?

The most important time is now, the past is gone, and the future does not exist yet.

Who is the most important person?

The person who is with you at this very instant.

What is the most important task?

‘This task is, to do him good, because for that purpose alone was man sent into this life!’

The light that shone from Christ on the mountaintop is not a physical and created light, but an eternal and uncreated light, a divine light, the light of the Godhead, the light of the Holy Trinity.

The experience on Mount Tabor confirms Saint Peter’s confession of faith which reveals Christ as the Son of the Living God. Yet Christ remains fully human as ever he was, as fully human as you or me, and his humanity is not abolished. But the Godhead shines through his body and from it.

In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. But at other points in his life, the glory is hidden beneath the veil of his flesh. What we see in Christ on Mount Tabor is human nature, our human nature, taken up into God and filled with the light of God. ‘So, this should be our attitude to the secular world,’ Metropolitan Kallistos said.

Or, as the Revd Dr Kenneth Leech (1939-2015) once said: ‘Transfiguration can and does occur “just around the corner,” occurs in the midst of perplexity, imperfection, and disastrous misunderstanding.’

Metropolitan Kallistos spoke that day of the Transfiguration as a disclosure not only of what God is but of what we are. The Transfiguration looks back to the beginning, but also looks forward to the end, opening new possibilities.

The Transfiguration shows us what we can be in and through Christ, he told us.

In secular life, there is a temptation to accept our human nature as it is now. But the Transfiguration of Christ offers the opportunity to look at ourselves not only as we are now, but take stock of what happened in the past that made us so, and to grasp the promise of what we can be in the future.

The Transfiguration is not just an Epiphany or a Theophany moment for Christ, with Peter, James and John as onlookers. The Transfiguration reminds us of how God sees us in God’s own image and likeness, sees us for who we were, who we are and who we are going to be, no matter how others see us, no matter how others dismiss us.

The Transfiguration is a challenge to remember always that we are made in the image and likeness of God. And, no matter what others say about you, how others judge you, how others gossip or talk about you, how others treat you, God sees your potential, God sees in you God’s own image and likeness, God knows you are beautiful inside and loves you, loves you for ever, as though you are God’s only child. You are his beloved child in whom he is well pleased.

A modern icon of the Transfiguration by Alexander Ainetdinov … in Orthodox icons of the Transfiguration, we have drama and a moment full of movement

Luke 9: 28-36 (NRSVA):

28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ 36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

The Transfiguration … an icon in the parish church in Piskopianó on the Greek island of Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical colour: White.

Penitential Kyries:

Your unfailing kindness, O Lord, is in the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Your righteousness in like the strong mountains,
and your justice as the great deep.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

For with you is the well of life,
and in your light shall we see light.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Collect:

Father in heaven,
whose Son Jesus Christ was wonderfully transfigured
before chosen witnesses upon the holy mountain,
and spoke of the exodus he would accomplish at Jerusalem:
Give us strength so to hear his voice and bear our cross in this world,
that in the world to come we may see him as he is;
where he is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Introduction to the Peace:

Christ will transfigure your human body,
and give it a form like that of his own glorious body.
We are the Body of Christ. We share his peace.
(Philippians 3: 21, I Corinthians 11: 27; Romans 5: 1)

Preface:

Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
whose divine glory shone forth upon the holy mountain
before chosen witnesses of his majesty;
when your own voice from heaven
proclaimed him your beloved Son:

Post Communion Prayer:

Holy God,
we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
May we who are partakers at his table
reflect his life in word and deed,
that all the world may know his power to change and save.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing:

The God of all grace,
Who called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus,
establish, strengthen and settle you in the faith:

The Transfiguration depicted in Saint Mary Aldermary Church, Watling Street, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Suggested hymns:

Daniel 7: 9-10, 1314

6, Immortal, invisible, God only wise
125, Hail to the Lord’s anointed
468, How shall I sing that majesty
130, Jesus came, the heavens adoring
132, Lo! he comes; with clouds descending
34, O worship the King, all-glorious above
196, O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness 678, Ten thousand times ten thousand
73, The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended
323, The God of Abraham praise

Psalm 97:

34, O worship the King all–glorious above
281, Rejoice, the Lord is King!
8, The Lord is King! Lift up your voice

II Peter 1: 16-19:

501, Christ is the world’s true light
52, Christ, whose glory fills the skies
613, Eternal light, shine in my heart
654, Light of the lonely pilgrim’s heart

Luke 9: 28-36:

325, Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is he
643, Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
501, Christ is the world’s true light
205, Christ upon the mountain peak
52, Christ, whose glory fills the skies
331 God reveals his presence
209 Here in this holy time and place
101, Jesus, the very thought of thee
195, Lord, the light of your love is shining
102, Name of all majesty
60, O Jesus, Lord of heavenly race
449, Thee we adore, O hidden Saviour, thee
112, There is a Redeemer
374, When all thy mercies, O my God

The Transfiguration by Aidan Hart … in the Transfiguration, we see both the humanity and the divinity of Christ

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 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)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

The Church of the Transfiguration in Sneem, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 1 August 2021, Ninth Sunday after Trinity

‘I am the Bread of Life’ (John 6: 35) … an image from Saint Luke’s Episcopal Cathedral, Orlando (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 1 August 2021, is the Ninth Sunday after Trinity (Proper 13B).

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted in the Church of Ireland, for next Sunday are:

The Continuous readings: II Samuel 11: 26 to 12: 13a; Psalm 51: 1-13; Ephesians 4: 1-16; and John 6: 24-35.

The Paired readings: Exodus 16: 2-4, 9-15; Psalm 78: 23-29; Ephesians 4: 1-16; and John 6: 24-35.

There is a link to readings HERE.

Friday next, 6 August 2021, is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The Book of Common Prayer allows a Festival such as the Transfiguration to be celebrated on the Sunday in the same week (p 21), so some parishes may wish to celebrate the Transfiguration. The resources for the Transfiguration [6 August] are available from later today HERE.

‘Through your goodness we have this bread to offer’ … preparing bread for the Eucharist in the Rectory, Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the Readings:

Although Saint Mark’s Gospel provides the main Gospel readings in the cycle of readings in Year B, for five successive Sundays, from 25 July (Proper 12) to 22 August (Proper 16), we are reading from Saint John’s Gospel and his description in Chapter 6 of the feeding of the multitude.

These readings began on Sunday 25 July 2021 (John 6: 1-21), and continue next Sunday (8 August 2021), with Saint John’s commentary on the feeding of the multitude (John 6: 24-35), with his image of ‘bread from heaven’ (John 6: 32) and the first of the seven ‘I AM’ sayings in Saint John’s Gospel, ‘I am the bread of life’ (John 6: 35).

This reading brings together in one so many aspects: the Creator and the Creation; God and humanity; food and drink; agriculture and industry. Food and drink – both are dependent on God’s gifts and on human labour.

The work of the past sustains us in the food of the present and brings us the promise of the future. And so, the three Eucharistic prayers in the Book of Common Prayer, in their opening addresses to God as Father, first praise him and thank him for all his work in creation.

In the Cathedral Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, in some Eucharistic texts in the Church of England and other traditions, there is an adaptation of traditional Jewish table-blessings, drawn in turn from the Bible, at the Taking of the Bread and Wine:

Priest: Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation:
through your goodness we have this bread to offer,
which earth has given and human hands have made (Ecclesiastes 3: 13-14).
It will become for us the bread of life (John 6: 35).

All: Blessed be God forever (Psalm 68: 36).

Priest: Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation:
through your goodness we have this wine to offer,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
It will become our spiritual drink (Luke 22: 17-18).

All: Blessed be God forever (Psalm 68: 36).

[See also Common Worship (Church of England), p 291.]

‘He was loath to take one of his own flock or herd … but he took the poor man’s lamb’ (II Samuel 12: 4) … the Lamb of God depicted in a window in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

II Samuel 11: 26 to 12:13a:

While David’s troops were away fighting the Ammonites, he has seduced Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, and she is pregnant. When Uriah is home on leave, David tries to trick Uriah, so that he will think he is the father of the child. However, when this ruse fails, David ensures that Uriah is killed in battle.

David gains a wife and a son, but his actions earn him God’s displeasure (II Samuel 11: 27). The Prophet Nathan courageously tells David a simple parable designed to appeal to David’s sensibilities (II Samuel 12: 1-5).

David falls into the trap, and Nathan then identifies the rich man as David (12: 7) and gives him a message from God, warning of the consequences of his deceit and his deeds.

But God pardons David partially. He will live, but the son he has with Bathsheba will die. The son dies (12: 18), but God shows his lasting love for David by giving him another son with Bathsheba, Solomon (12: 24).

Food and Water are provided by God to the Israelites during the Exodus … Dieric Bouts (1410-1475)

Exodus 16: 2-4, 9-15:

The people of Israel have travelled into the wilderness east of the Nile delta. Finding the water undrinkable, they complain to Moses. Now the entire community complains, or grumbles, ‘against Moses and Aaron’ because of the food.

The people tell Moses and Aaron’ would prefer to have died in Egypt where they had their fill of bread, rather than die of hunger in the wilderness.

But, in complaining to their leaders, the people are, in fact, complaining against God, who gives authority to the leaders. In the days before Sinai and receiving the Law, God simply grants their request, granting them ‘bread from heaven’ or manna ‘in the morning.’ But God tests them again.

Moses and Aaron tell the people God has heard their complaining, and the ‘glory of the Lord’ appears ‘in the cloud’ (verse 10). God now also gives them quails to eat in the evening.

Verse 14 describes manna. It is a honey-like excretion from insects that infest tamarisk trees in this area. When it drops from the leaves it becomes almost solid, but in the heat of the day it melts, so it must be collected in the morning. There was sufficient food to feed all, and this is seen as a miracle, a special intervention by God.

Verse 15 tells us the name manna comes from the words ‘What is it?’ or man hu in Hebrew.

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading (John 6: 31, also John 6: 49), manna is seen as a forerunner of Eucharist, given freely to sustain life. In Exodus, through food and water, the people are transformed, as they grow from adolescence to adulthood, into being God’s people, obedient to him.

‘Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow’ (Psalm 51: 8) … snow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 51: 1-13:

This psalm speaks of rebuilding Jerusalem (verse 18), so we know that it was written during, or shortly after, the Exile. The emphasis is on an individual’s sin, and prayers for personal pardon and restoration. The psalmist seeks cleansing from ‘iniquity’ (verses 2 and 9) and ‘sin[s].’ Traditionally, this psalm is said to have been written after Nathan brings David to admit his guilt in his seduction of Bathsheba.

The psalmist seeks cleansing from iniquity and sin, which have made him ill. He even asks God to hide his ‘face from my sins,’ to be so gracious and compassionate. He asks God to restore him, bring him back to godliness, give him a clear conscience, a ‘clean heart,’ a ‘new … spirit’ and joy and sustenance through his holy spirit.

The idea of life-long sinfulness (verse 5) is also found in Genesis 8: 21: ‘… for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth’ (although the psalmist may simply be confessing that he has been thoroughly sinful). In verse 6, he knows that God will seek truth in his very being; this is where he will receive understanding (‘wisdom’).

Perhaps verse 8b says the Psalmist is ill – because of his sin. He even asks God to hide his face from his sins (verse 9), to be so gracious and compassionate as to turn a blind eye.

May God restore him, bring him back to godliness, give him a clear conscience, a ‘clean heart’ (verse 10), a ‘new’ and a ‘right’ (God-oriented) ‘spirit.’ Only God can purify. May God give him joy and sustenance, through his ‘holy spirit’ (verse 11).

‘Mortals ate the bread of angels; he sent them food in abundance (Psalm 78: 25) … a mosaic in Saint Matthew’s Church, Great Peter Street, Westminster (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 78: 23-29:

Psalm 78 tells the story of God’s great deeds and the faithlessness of his people.

It was probably written for use at a major festival. It recites the history of God’s dealings with Israel, and tells of ‘the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done’ (verse 4).

In this portion, the gift of manna is mentioned, ‘bread of angels’ (verse 25), as is the gift of quail, ‘rained flesh’ (verse 27). But, even though the people were ‘well filled’ (verse 29), they wanted more.

The Library of Celsus in Ephesus (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Ephesians 4: 1-16:

The Apostle Paul has told his readers in Ephesus of the present exalted state of Christ and the Church, the new unity of God’s people. The Church as an established growing structure where God dwells.

Now Saint Paul tells us the obligations of being members of this new humanity. He has spent time in prison in connection with preaching Christ. He now urges his readers ‘to lead a life worthy of’ their calling as Christians. Unity is paramount, and is to be fostered by the virtues of humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, love, unity and peace (verses 2-3).

He then lists the ways in which Christians live in unity (verses 4-7).

This portion of the text draws clearly on Deuteronomy 6: 4 (‘Hear, O Israel … the Lord alone’), which in this period became the central rabbinic statement of faith. This repetitive formula is also reminiscent of the received rabbinic Sabbath afternoon prayer: ‘You are one and your name is one, and who is like your people Israel, one nation on earth?’

God as Father of all (verse 6), brings us together as brothers, and sisters, but with diverse gifts, including those of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers (verse 11), so that the Church can be built up in unity and faith (verses 12-13), sharing a common faith, speaking in truth and love, and respecting each other’s gifts and skills in that unity (verses 14-16).

‘The bread of God … gives life to the world’ (John 6: 33) … fresh bread in the window of Hindley’s Bakery in Tamworth Street, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 6: 1-21:

Sunday’s Gospel reading is set on the shores of the Lake of Galilee, and after many accounts of rowing on the lake, this reading opens with an interesting question from the crowd on the lake shore: ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ (verse 25).

In between all the rowing backwards and forwards, between Tiberias and Capernaum, the people in the crowd were so busy with eating their fill, with their own small world, that they have missed the bigger picture – they have taken their eyes off Jesus.

The question they now put to him is very similar in its thrust, in its phrasing, in its direction, to another set of questions in another Gospel story. In the parable of the Goats and Sheep, or the Judgment of the Nations, in Saint Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 25: 31-46), the righteous ask:

‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry, and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you to drink. And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ (Matthew 25: 44).

And again, the condemned ask:

‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ (Matthew 25: 37-39).

Sometimes we can be so focussed on our own agenda, our own practices of religion, we can be in danger of losing sight of who Christ should be for us.

Those questions in this reading and that parable of the Goats and Sheep are very disturbing.

‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’

When did I last see Christ among the strangers and the unwelcome, among the ragged children and refugees, among the sick who have their medical cards taken from them, among those isolated in rural poverty and loneliness, prisoners in their own homes? When did I last see you drowning in the sea off the coasts of the Mediterranean?

‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’

When did I see to it that they not only received the crumbs from my table, but the Bread of Life?

In this Gospel reading, we hear how God still wants to provide for us, no matter how we behave, no matter what our circumstances may be.

Christ’s words are addressed not to the Disciples, who later are going to find his teachings difficult (see John 6: 60, Sunday 22 August), but to the crowds, the multitude, the many, those who are on the margins and the outside, the very people the disciples first thought of sending away.

First, Christ feeds the many, the crowds, the 5,000, with bread on the mountainside that is multiplied for the multitude (John 6: 1-21, Sunday 25 July). And then in this passage, even though they took their eyes off him, Christ now continues to promise them real food, he promises them ‘the true bread from heaven’ (verse 33) and tells them:

‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty’ (verse 35).

Care for the body and care for the soul go together to the point that they are inseparable.

The Samaritan Woman at the Well … an icon in the Monastery of Arkadi, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The promise Christ gives to the crowds on the shores of the lake re-echo the promises he gives earlier in this Gospel to the Samaritan woman at the well (see John 4: 5-42).

The promise of the ‘the true bread from heaven,’ the promise of the ‘Bread of Life,’ come immediately after the promise to the Samaritan woman of ‘Living Water’ (see John 4: 10, 11, 14). We can even link those promises with the promise of the banquet of life in the Miracle at the wedding in Cana (see John 2: 1-11).

Jesus is the Bread of Life, the Living Water, the best wine, the true vine.

So often Christ talks about himself in Saint John’s Gospel in terms of food and drink, bread and water and wine. We are invited to the banquet that follows the harvest, we are invited to the wedding with the Bridegroom.

But so often too, he emphasises that his invitation is to the outsider: those in the highways and the byways who are invited to the wedding banquet (see Matthew 22: 1-14; Luke 14: 15-24).

The Gospel message is especially for those in the wilderness. Where do you think the wilderness places are today in our society, on our island, in the world? For it is there that God seeks to provide the blessings that come with his manna from heaven, and seeks to give life, not just to us but to the world: ‘For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’ (John 6: 33).

The Samaritan woman at the well – marginalised because of her religion, her ethnicity and prejudices about her marital or sexual status – is brought to a wholeness of life. And, as a consequence, she becomes one of the most effective missionaries in the New Testament, bringing the Good News of Christ to her town.

‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ (John 6: 25) … the question has parallels with the questions the people put to Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, see Exodus 16: 2-4 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Looking at the Gospel reading:

Verse 25:

The title rabbi is used at least nine times throughout this Gospel as a way of addressing Jesus (see John 1: 38, 49; 3: 2, 26; 4: 31; 6: 25; 9: 2; 11: 8; 20: 16). In Second Temple Judaism, this title does not indicate a religious functionary in the synagogue, but conveys respect towards a person who has teaching authority. As a title, it does not appear before the Midrash, so it is only later that the title Rabbi came to describe a person qualified to pronounce on Jewish law and practice.

Verse 26:

Here we have the characteristic Johannine mode of address for Christ: Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν (Amen, Amen). This is translated ‘Amen, Amen,’ in the RSV, but in the NRSV and NRSVA as: ‘Very truly.’ In Hebrew, Amen, Amen, ‘It is so,’ or ‘It is true,’ is used as double emphasis, and its use in the Dead Sea Scrolls may have a liturgical function.

In a characteristic Johannine play on words, Christ will tell them in the following Sunday’s reading that he came here from heaven (see John 6: 41-42).

Verses 27-34:

But at this stage, we should notice how the conversation that unfolds parallels the earlier conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4: 5-42:

● Verse 27 parallels John 4: 13;

● Verses 30-31 parallel John 4: 12;

● Verse 33 parallels John 4: 14.

● Verse 34 parallels John 4: 15.

As always, the aspirations of the crowd are on the material level only. They see the miraculous level of the sign, but they fail to grasp its meaning. Once again in this Gospel, we have a contrast between seeing and believing.

When Christ tries to raise them above this materialistic outlook, he is met by their persistent inability to understand.

Verse 31:

They then introduce the theme of the Passover and the feeding in the wilderness with the Manna. The feast of the Passover was near (verse 6), but rabbinic literature also speaks of the expected Messiah repeating the miracle of the manna.

Verses 32-33:

However, these Galileans do not recognise that the Messianic Manna is the word of God, divine teaching and wisdom (see Deuteronomy 8: 3; Proverbs 9: 2-5). It is not the bread of the desert that was given by Moses but Christ who is the bread now given by the Father.

Verses 35-50:

In response to their request for bread, Christ begins his great discourse on the Bread of Life. This discourse is in two parts: (a) verses 35-50, what Raymond Brown describes as ‘the Sapiential theme,’ in which the nourishing heavenly bread is presented as the revelation or teaching of Christ; (b) verses 51-58, what Raymond Brown calls ‘the Sacramental theme,’ in which the nourishing heavenly bread is the Eucharist.

These two themes are complementary, and we see here the basic substance of our liturgy for the past 2,000 years: the proclaimed Word and the Word in the Sacrament. Perhaps this accounts for Saint John’s omission of an institution narrative in the Fourth Gospel.

Verses 35-50 could be described as Wisdom material. However, unlike the Wisdom writings in the Old Testament, Christ’s teaching nourishes forever.

Verse 35:

This is the first of the seven I AM (Ἐγώ εἰμι) sayings in Saint John’s Gospel, and is repeated in verse 48 in the reading for the following Sunday. These seven I AM sayings are traditionally listed as:

1, I am the Bread of Life (John 6: 35, 48);
2, I am the Light of the World (John 8: 12);
3, I am the gate (or the door) (John 10: 7);
4, I am the Good Shepherd (John 10: 11 and 14);
5, I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11: 25);
6, I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14: 6);
7, I am the true vine (John 15: 1, 5).

These I AM sayings are statements that give us a form of the divine name as revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai before the first Passover (see Exodus 3: 14).

In fact, Christ says ‘I am’ (Ἐγώ εἰμι) 45 times in this Gospel, including those places where other characters quote Christ’s words. Of these, 24 are emphatic, explicitly including the pronoun ‘I’ (Ἐγώ), which would not be necessary grammatically in Greek.

‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves’ (John 6: 26) … (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A closing reflection and some questions:

In this Gospel reading next Sunday (John 6: 24-35), we follow the multitude after they have been fed by Christ, a Gospel story that we heard the previous Sunday (John 6: 1-21). The crowds get into the boats, and the people follow Christ from Tiberias to Capernaum on the other side of the lake.

The symbolism of the boat would not have been lost on those who heard this story for the first time in the Early Church: the boat was often used as a symbol of the Church, the community of faith.

And these people, having embarked on a journey of searching that ought to lead to faith, having been fed physically, are now looking for something more. They want to have their deeper, inner needs fed.

The symbolism of Capernaum would also have been obvious in the Early Church. At one time, this town had been the home of Christ. And so these people were leaving their own homes and going home truly to be in the family of God.

Going to the other side is also like turning around, finding a new sense of direction, being converted, setting out with a new set of priorities.

These are people who are hungry. Having already been fed by Jesus, they are now hungry for spiritual feeding and knowledge, and instead are challenged to accept the offer of new life. All that Jesus asks them to do is to believe in God the Father who has sent him. And they can accept Christ in a number of ways.

1, Firstly, Christ offers himself to them, and to us, he makes himself present, in the words he speaks.

The Word of God has become flesh, and his arrival is the Good News that we know as the Gospel.

2, Secondly, he offers himself to them, and to us, sacramentally. Christ is present when he feeds them and us in the Eucharist, symbolised by the feeding of the multitude and the desire of the crowd now to be fed again.

This sacramental presence is found throughout Saint John’s Gospel:

● For example, as you will recall, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well that he is the Water of Life.

● The waters of the lake that the people pass over not only recall the Exodus story of passing through the waters of the Red Sea from slavery to freedom, but symbolise too the waters of baptism that incorporate us into the body of Christ, that makes the many one.

● And, at the wedding feast of Cana, there is an interplay between the sacramental symbolism and significance of the water of baptism and the wine of the Eucharist.

3, But, thirdly, Christ also makes himself present to us when we become his disciples truly, when the people who have been baptised into and incorporated into the Body of Christ at baptism become his disciples by living out our faith in discipleship.

It is not just enough to believe – that belief must find expression in how we live as Christians.

If we believe and accept Christ’s promise that the ‘bread of God … that … comes down from heaven … gives life to the world’ (John 6: 33), then how do we show that?

How do we give practical expression to that?

How do we, as those who have been baptised and invited to the Eucharistic banquet, show that those who are invited to come to him, that the whole world which is invited into the Kingdom of God, ‘will never be hungry, and … will never be thirsty’?

Would it make any difference if the world was truly called into the kingdom?

If we believe that it would make, literally, a world of difference, then how do we show it?

Or would things just go on as they are going on?

As the Church we seek not new members, but new disciples.

Perhaps there was no point in the people crossing the water from Tiberias to Capernaum, there was no point in them asking to continue to be fed on the bread that Christ offers, there was no point in them listening to what Christ had to tell them, unless they believed in it all to the point of putting it into practice.

Christ is the bread of life and the life of the world, and we must see that bread not as some arcane, insiders-only rite. We must also offer the life that he offers us to the world.

Would it make any difference if the Church not only preached what it believes, but worked actively to see these beliefs put into practice?

Our response to the love we receive from God – a risky outpouring that is beyond all human understanding of generosity – can only be to love. In the Epistle reading the Apostle Paul begs us to lead a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called, bearing with one another in love (verse 2).

That call to love is not just to love those who are easy to love. It is a call to love those who are difficult to love too, to love all in the world … and to love beyond words.

‘Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness’ (John 6: 31) … in the mountain passes above Preveli on the south coast of Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 6: 24-35 (NRSVA):

24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ 26 Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ 28 Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ 29 Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ 30 So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat”.’ 32 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ 34 They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’

35 Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’

‘They found him on the other side of the lake’ (John 6: 25) … a summer scene on the Lakes of Killarney (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Ordinary Time, Year B)

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
who sent your Holy Spirit
to be the life and light of your Church:
Open our hearts to the riches of his grace,
that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
in love and joy and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect of the Word:

Living God,
whose Son Jesus fed the hungry
with the bread of his life
and the word of his kingdom:
renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us with your true and living bread,
Jesus Christ our Lord;
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Holy Father,
who gathered us here around the table of your Son
to share this meal with the whole household of God:
In that new world where you reveal the fulness of your peace,
gather people of every race and language
to share in the eternal banquet
of Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘Bread of the world in mercy broken’ (Hymn 403) … bread marked with crosses in the Rectory in Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Suggested Hymns:

II Samuel 11: 26 to 12: 13a:

548, Drop, drop, slow tears
550, ‘Forgive our sins as we forgive’
652, Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
385, Rise and hear, the Lord is speaking

Psalm 51: 1-13:

397, Alleluia! Alleluia! Opening our hearts to him
297, Come, thou Holy Spirit, come
614, Great Shepherd of your people, hear
208, Hearken, O Lord, have mercy upon us
553, Jesu, lover of my soul
305, O Breath of life, come sweeping through us
638, O for a heart to praise my God
557, Rock of ages, left for me

Exodus 16: 2-4, 9-15:

325, Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here
52, Christ, whose glory fills the skies
549, Dear Lord and Father of mankind
647, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
425, Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts
588, Light of the minds that know him
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
589, Lord, speak to me that I may speak
445, Soul, array thyself with gladness

Psalm 78: 23-29:

549, Dear Lord and Father of mankind
435, O God, unseen, yet ever near

Ephesians 4: 1-16:

518, Bind us together, Lord
86, Christ is the King! O friends, rejoice
501, Christ is the world’s true light
519, Come, all who look to Christ today
294, Come down, O Love divine
408, Come, risen Lord, and deign to be our guest
318, Father, Lord of all creation
413, Father, we thank thee, who hast planted
298, Filled with the Spirit’s powder, with one accord
520, God is love, and where true love is, God himself is there
614, Great Shepherd of your people, hear
523, Help us to help each other, Lord
521, I am the Church! You are the Church!
522, In Christ there is no east or west
438, O thou who at thy eucharist didst pray
440, One bread, one body, one Lord of all
441, Out to the world for Jesus
507, Put peace into each other’s hands
308, Revive your Church, O Lord
526, Risen Lord, whose name we cherish
527, Son of God, eternal Saviour
369, Songs of praise the angels sang
528, The Church’s one foundation
313, The Spirit came, as promised
661, Through the night of doubt and sorrow
529, Thy hand, O God, has guided
530, Ubi caritas et amor
531, Where love and loving–kindness dwell

John 6: 24-35:

398, Alleluia! sing to Jesus
401, Be known to us in breaking bread
403, Bread of the world in mercy broken
379, Break thou the bread of life
408, Come, risen Lord, and deign to be our guest
411, Draw near and take the body of the Lord
647, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
418, Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face
420, ‘I am the bread of life’
581, I, the Lord of sea and sky
422, In the quiet consecration
425, Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts
588, Light of the minds that know him
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
435, O God unseen, yet ever near
443, Sent forth by God’s blessing, our true faith confessing
445, Soul, array thyself with gladness
624, Speak, Lord, in the stillness
451, We come as guests invited

‘I am the Bread of Life’ … a modern icon of the Communion of the Apostles

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 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)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

‘I am the Bread of Life’ … bread in a restaurant in Bologna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for 25 July 2021, Saint James the Apostle

Saint James the Great … an icon in the Chapel at Saint Columba’s House, Woking (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

In the Calendar of the Church, 25 July is the Feast of Saint James, the son of Zebedee and one of the Twelve Disciples.

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are:

The Readings: Jeremiah 45: 1-5; Psalm 126; Acts 11: 27 to 12: 2; Matthew 20: 20-28.

Today is also the Eighth Sunday after Trinity. Resources for today as Trinity VIII are available HERE.

Saint James’ Church, Dingle, Co Kerry … local tradition links the mediaeval church with Spaniards and the Camino (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Introducing Saint James the Apostle:

The English name James comes from Italian Giacomo, a variant of Giacobo, which is derived from Iacobus in Latin and Ἰάκωβος in Greek. It is the same name as Jacob in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. In French, the name is Jacques, in Spanish it is Jaime, and in Catalan it is Jaume. Variations include Diego in Spanish, giving us San Diego and Santiago, and Diogo in Portuguese.

This Saint James, traditionally regarded as the first apostle to be martyred, is said to have been a son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of Saint John the Evangelist. He is also called Saint James the Great to distinguish him from Saint James, son of Alphaeus, and Saint James, the brother of the Lord, or Saint James the Just.

His father Zebedee was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, and probably lived in or near Bethsaida in present Galilee, perhaps in Capernaum. His mother Salome was one of the pious women who followed Christ and ‘ministered unto him of their substance.’ But James and John are also known as ‘the Sons of Thunder’ (see Mark 3: 17).

This Saint James is one of the first disciples. The Synoptic Gospels say James and John were with their father by the seashore when Christ called them to follow him (see Matthew 4: 21-22; Mark 1: 19-20). James was one of the three disciples, along with Saint Peter and Saint John, who witnesses to the Transfiguration, which we celebrate on Friday 6 August 2021.

Saint James and Saint John, or their mother, ask Christ to be seated on his right and left in his glory. They also want to call down fire on a Samaritan town, but they are rebuked for this (see Luke 9: 51-6).

The Acts of the Apostles records that Herod (probably Herod Agrippa) had Saint James executed by sword, making him the only apostle whose martyrdom is recorded in the New Testament (see Acts 12: 1-2).

The site of his martyrdom is said to be marked by the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral of Saint James in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem, where his head is said to be buried under the altar, marked by a piece of red marble and surrounded by six votive lamps.

The silver reliquary in the crypt in Santago de Compostela is said to hold the relics of Saint James and two of his disciples (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint James and the Camino:

Saint James is linked with the Camino, a mediaeval pilgrimage that has become popular in recent decades with people seeking spiritual rootings that are relevant to the demands of modern life. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain is the reputed burial place of Saint James the Great.

where they landed at Padrón on the coast of Galicia, and took it inland for burial at Santiago de Compostela. But these legends date from the eighth or ninth century and no earlier.

According to Spanish legends, Saint James spent time preaching the Gospel in Iberia, but returned to Jerusalem after seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary on the bank of the Ebro River. One version of the legends says that after his death, his disciples shipped his body to the Iberian Peninsula, to be buried in what is now Santiago. Off the coast of Spain, a heavy storm hit the ship, and the body was lost in the ocean. After some time, however, it washed ashore undamaged, covered in scallops.

A second version of the legend says that after Saint James died his body was transported by a ship piloted by an angel, back to the Iberian Peninsula to be buried in Santiago. As the ship approached land, a wedding was taking place on the shore. The young groom was on horseback, and on seeing the ship approaching, his horse took fright and horse and rider were plunged into the sea. Through miraculous intervention, both horse and rider emerged from the water alive, covered in seashells.


Saint James became the patron saint of Spain, and Santiago de Compostela became the end point of the popular pilgrim route known as the Camino. The emblem of Saint James is the scallop, which has become a general symbol of pilgrims and pilgrimage. The name Santiago is a local Galician form of the late Latin name Sancti Iacobi, Saint James.

The history of the Camino de Santiago dates back to the early ninth century and the discovery of the tomb of Saint James in the year 814. Since then, Santiago de Compostela has been a destination for pilgrims from throughout Europe.

The Way of Saint James became one of the most important pilgrimages in the Middle Ages, alongside those to Rome and Jerusalem. With the Muslim occupation of Jerusalem and later during the Crusades, the Camino became a safe and popular alternative to pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and one of the pilgrim routes on which a plenary indulgence could be earned.

The flow of people along the Camino brought about a growth in the number of hostels and hospitals, churches, monasteries and abbeys along the pilgrim route.

The scallop shell has long been the symbol of the Camino de Santiago. Along the Camino, the shell is seen frequently on posts and signs to guide pilgrims, and the shell is commonly worn by pilgrims too. Most pilgrims receive a shell at the beginning of the journey and either sew it onto their clothes, wear it around their necks or keep it in their backpacks.

In Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick, the South Transept was known as the Chapel of Saint James and Saint Mary Magdalene – the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene is celebrated three days earlier (22 July). The chapel was probably built along the lines of the cruciform design favoured by the Cistercians, and seems to have been strongly influenced by the design of Mellifont Abbey in Co Louth.

Camino pilgrim shells on the gate piers of Saint James’ Church, Dingle, Co Kerry, are a reminder of past links between the church and the Camino and Santiago de Compostela.

The pilgrim shell on the gate piers at Saint James’ Church, Dingle, Co Kerry … a reminder of links with the Camino and Santiago de Compostela (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Matthew 20: 20-28 (NRSVA):

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favour of him. 21 And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’ She said to him, ‘Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.’ 22 But Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?’ They said to him, ‘We are able.’ 23 He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.’

24 When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 26 It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

A pilgrim marker, with a pilgrim shell – the symbol of Saint James – and a bright arrow, on the streets of Porto (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Red (apostles and martyrs)

Penitential Kyries:

Lord, you are gracious and compassionate.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

You are loving to all,
and your mercy is over all your creation.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Your faithful servants bless your name,
and speak of the glory of your kingdom.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Collect:

Merciful God,
whose holy apostle Saint James,
leaving his father and all that he had,
was obedient to the calling of your Son Jesus Christ
and followed him even to death:
Help us, forsaking the false attractions of the world,
to be ready at all times to answer your call without delay;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Introduction to the Peace:

We are fellow citizens with the saints
and the household of God,
through Christ our Lord,
who came and preached peace to those who were far off
and those who were near (Ephesians 2: 19, 17).

The Preface:

In the saints
you have given us an example of godly living,
that rejoicing in their fellowship,
we may run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
and with them receive the unfading crown of glory …

Post-Communion Prayer:

Father,
we have eaten at your table
and drunk from the cup of your kingdom.
Teach us the way of service
that in compassion and humility
we may reflect the glory of Jesus Christ,
Son of Man and Son of God, our Lord.

Blessing:

God give you grace
to share the inheritance of Saint James the Apostle and all his saints in glory …

The Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, the destination on the Camino, is dedicated to Saint James (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Suggested Hymns:

Jeremiah 45: 1-5:

No suggested hymns

Psalm 126:

567, Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go
356, I will sing, I will sing, a song unto the Lord
712, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord 373, To God be the glory! Great things he has done!

Acts 11: 27 to 12: 2:

494, Beauty for brokenness
460, For all your saints in glory, for all your saints at rest (verses 1, 2m, 3)
527, Son of God, eternal Saviour
314, There’s a spirit in the air

Matthew 20: 20-28:

319, Father, of heaven, whose love profound
219, From heav’n you came, helpless babe
417, He gave his life in selfless love
419, I am not worthy, holy Lord
135, [O come, O come, Emmanuel]
366, Praise, my soul, the King of heaven
244, There is a green hill far away

Also suitable:

459, For all the saints, who from their labours rest
461, For all thy saints, O Lord
471, Rejoice in the saints, today and all days!

The former Church of Ireland parish church of Saint James in Nantenan, near Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

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)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

Saint James’ Well, Nantenan, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 25 July 2021, Eighth Sunday after Trinity

Feeding the 5,000 … a modern Greek Orthodox icon

Patrick Comerford

Sunday next, 25 July 2021, is the Eighth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VIII). The appointed readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are:

The Continuous readings: II Samuel 11: 1-15; Psalm 14; Ephesians 3: 14-21; John 6: 1-21;

The Paired readings: II Kings 4: 42-44; Psalm 145: 10-19; Ephesians 3: 14-21; John 6: 1-21.

There is a link to the readings HERE.

This day (25 July) is also the Feast of Saint James the Apostle. Resources for celebrating this feast are available in a separate posting later today HERE.

Baptisms and weddings … we all enjoy a good party, and have been waiting a long time (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the readings:

We all love parties and anniversaries.

Since the churches opened after the latest easing of pandemic lockdown restrictions, I have had a number of funerals, but I have also been blessed with a number of requests for baptisms and weddings in my group of parishes.

The return of congregations to our parish churches and cathedrals seems to add extra context and relevance to any sermon based on the Gospel story of the feeding of the multitude.

Birthdays, baptisms, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, retirements – we all enjoy a good party. Why, if we allow ourselves to admit the truth, we may, in time, return to even enjoying the ‘afters’ at funerals.

Parties affirm who we are, where we fit within the family, and mark the rhythm of life and the continuity of community.

It is not only the eating or the drinking. It is very difficult to sit beside someone at the same table after a funeral, or to stand beside someone at the bar at a wedding, and not to end up getting to know them and – as we say in Ireland – ‘their seed, breed and generation.’

King David (left) and King Solomon (right) in a window by Heaton, Butler and Bayne in Saint Michael’s Church, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

II Samuel 11: 1-15:

Leonard Cohen’s popular song and poem Hallelujah begins by evoking King David composing a song that ‘pleased the Lord’ and draws on the stories of Bathsheba and Samson.

When we come to this reading from II Samuel, David has enjoyed military success over most of the neighbouring nations. This time, he sends Joab, his commander, with even his officers and the whole army to besiege Rabbah (present-day Amman in Jordan).

However, David stays behind in Jerusalem. While Uriah the Hittite is with the army, David lusts after Uriah’s wife Bathsheba. She was a gentile – a Gilonite and the wife of a Hittite; she was the wife of another man; the law said a woman was ritually unclean for seven days after menstruation; and the text is not clear whether Bathsheba consents, or whether this is rape.

Bathsheba conceives, and so David tries to hide what he has done, hoping he can deceive Uriah into thinking Bathsheba’s child is his own. But Uriah abides by the ritual laws, he refuses to break the ritual purity of the warrior, and he sleeps outside. David now schemes with Joab so that Uriah is in a vulnerable place in the front line of battle and is killed.

David’s sin costs Uriah his life. We hear of further consequences the following week.

David married Bathsheba, but the child dies soon after birth. Later, Bathsheba and David are the parents of Solomon, who becomes king instead of David's elder surviving sons by his other wives, and who builds the Temple that David imagined but never built.

But the unforeseen consequence of this story is that Bathsheba is the fourth of the four marginalised and despised women beside Mary from whom Jesus is descended, according to the genealogy in Saint Matthew’s Gospel: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. The Son of God is the Son of Man, he is truly human and truly divine (see Matthew 1: 1-17).

‘A man came … bringing … twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain’ (II Kings 4: 42) … bread on a supermarket shelf in Knocklyon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

II Kings 4: 42-44:

This reading, offered as an alternative in the paired readings, tells the story of a man who arrives at Gilgal when there is a famine in the land, bringing an offering of 20 loaves and fresh grain.

Elisha tells an incredulous servant to use this bread to feed 100 hungry people.

Despite the incredulity of Elisha's servant, all are fed, and some bread is left over.

‘The evildoers … eat up my people as they eat bread (Psalm 14: 4) … bread in a shop window in St Ives in Cornwall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 14:

Psalm 14 laments the breakdown of the moral order. For the psalmist, the world is full of ‘fools’ who deny that God is concerned with human behaviour, people who are corrupt and do terrible things. God sees no one who seeks to follow God’s ways, so do these wicked people not understand God at all?

But God is in the community of those who follow his ways, and God will protect them and deliver the oppressed from the ungodly. When he does, all Israel, Jacob’s descendants, will rejoice.

‘You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing’ (Psalm 145: 16) … ‘Healing Hands,’ a sculpture by Shane Gilmore in grounds of the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Ennis, Co Clare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 145: 10-19

Psalm 145 is only psalm that actually identifies itself as a psalm: ‘David’s Psalm of praise.’ This psalm is a hymn, summarising the characteristics of God.

The Jewish Sages saw this psalm as the paradigm of praise, firstly because it is constructed as an alphabetic acrostic – with the exception of the letter (נ) – thus praising God for his blessings and his love with all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; secondly because it contains the verse ‘You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing’ (verse 16), encapsulating the idea that God not merely created the universe, but also daily sustains it and the life it contains, hoping for a future in which all will bless God’s holy name for ever.

This psalm is constructed of three groups of seven verses: Verses 1-7 are about God’s praise throughout the generations; verses 8-14 depict God’s kingship and compassion; and verses 15-21 are about prayer and how God hears it. The psalm is also built on numerical structures (3, 7, 10) that closely resemble the Creation narrative in Genesis 1: 1 to 2: 3.

To this have been added two verses from other psalms at the beginning, that use the word Ashrei (happy) three times, and one at the end. We could say, then, that this psalm epitomises the Book of Psalms as a whole, which begins with the word Ashrei and ends with the word Halleluyah.

It is a curiosity of this psalm that, despite its structure, there is no verse beginning with the letter nun (נ), which would come between verses 13 and 14 in this reading. This missing verse has since been supplied through other sources, including the Vulgate and the Dead Sea Scrolls:

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations. (NRSVA)

The version of this restored verse in the Book of Common Prayer 2004 (p 761) is:

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The ruins of the Basilica of Saint John the Evangelist on the slopes of the Hill of Ayasuluk and looking down on the ruins of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Ephesians 3: 14-21:

Even though Saint Paul alludes in this passage to the fact that there are different families, he reminds us that there is a unique way in which we, as Christians, are members of the same family, a particular family, the Church, the family of God.

Families share names, share stories, share memories, share identities, share anniversaries. And that is not all in the past. These celebrations allow us to express and share our hopes for the future too … is that not what baptisms and weddings are about in every family – hope for the future, hope for life itself?

Earlier in this chapter, Saint Paul has insisted on the equality in the Church of Gentiles and Jews in the Church. He has written: ‘Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise of Christ Jesus in the Gospel (Ephesians 3: 6).

Saint Paul now prays on bended knees to God the Father (πατήρ, pater), the source of life itself and every family (πατριά, patria). This is an explicitly Trinitarian passage in its scope, understanding and application. He prays:

● that they may have inner strength through the Holy Spirit;

● for the Christ may make them rooted and grounded in love;

● that they may the universal scope, capacity and totality of Christ’s love for all humanity;

● that this love rooted in Christ will fill them with fullness of God.

Saint Paul’s prayer concludes with a doxology that gives praise to God, for whom there are no limits to what can be achieved and whose actions we cannot limit.

‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ (John 6: 5) … bread on sale in a bakery in Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 6: 1-21:

The stories of the feeding of the 5,000 and of Christ walking on the water are familiar to us from the other gospels. But Saint John presents these stories in a slightly different way. For example, he refers to the Sea of Tiberias. This was the official Roman name for the Sea of Galilee. Saint John is concerned to locate the events precisely, in place and in time.

The setting is at the time of the Passover (verse 4), so we can expect stories that have a Eucharistic context, if we are reading it in the time of the Johannine community, and we can expect Exodus resonances if we are thinking of the significance of the Passover for the first readers: these would include an Exodus of large number of people (see verse 2), crossing water to new freedom (verses 1 and 17), feeding with bread in the wilderness (verses 5 to 14), climbing a mountain (verses 3 and 15) and the giving of new commandments of a covenantal relationship. The 12 baskets represent both the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 disciples, and Philip and Andrew relate to Jesus as Aaron relates to Moses.

When the people belice Jesus to be ‘the prophet,’ we are invited to recall how God tells Moses that he will raise a prophet like Moses who will speak what God commands (Deuteronomy 18: 18). When Christ says ‘It is I’ (verse 20), the phrase Ἐγώ εἰμι (ego eimi) uses the words God uses to identify himself to Moses in the Greek translation of Exodus 3: 14. It also precedes the first of the seven ‘I AM’ sayings in Saint John’s Gospel (‘I am the bread of life,’ John 6: 35).

The feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle – apart from the Resurrection – recorded in all four Gospels (see also Matthew 14: 13-21; Mark 6: 32-44; Luke 9: 10-17), with only minor variations on the place and the circumstances.

The story of the multiplication of the loaves as Saint John alone tells it has a number of key details, such as a Passover context, that are there to remind us of our feeding at the Eucharist and of Messianic hope for the future.

Christ lifts up his eyes. Earlier in this Gospel, when the disciples came back to Christ at the well in Sychar, they found him talking with the Samaritan woman. He told them to ‘lift up their eyes’ and to see the ‘harvest’ of the seed he had been sowing.

Now in this story, just as at Jacob’s Well, the disciples have failed to buy or produce enough bread for a meal. In this story, Christ responds not by sympathising but by demanding great generosity, so great that it would take six months’ wages to be so generous.

Barley loaves were the food of the poor, and so the boy’s offering symbolises the poverty of the people, while the disciples fail to offer from the riches of the kingdom.

Christ, who has told the woman at Sychar that she shall no longer thirst, is now going to tell the people he feeds, and the disciples too, that he is the bread of life, and that whoever comes to him will never be hungry, whoever believes in him will never be thirsty (see John 6: 35).

The feeding with the fish looks forward too to a later meal by the shores of Tiberias … that breakfast with the disciples when the Risen Christ feeds them with bread and fish. The fish is an early symbol of faith in the Risen Christ: Ichthus (ἰχθύς, ΙΧΘΥC) is the Greek word for fish, and can be read as an acrostic, a word formed from the first letters of words spelling out ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ (Iēsous Khristos Theou Huios, Sōtēr), ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.’

Christ asks the disciples to make the people sit down – well, not so much to sit down as to recline. They are asked to recline on the grass as they would at a banquet or at a feast – just as Christ does with the disciples at the Last Supper.

And then, in a Eucharistic sequence, he takes the bread, blesses or gives thanks, breaks it and gives it. John here uses the word εὐχαριστήσας (eucharistisas, verse 11), from the verb εὐχαριστέω (eucharisteo), ‘to give thanks,’ the very word from which we derive the word Eucharist in the liturgy.

Saint John alone tells us that Christ later tells the disciples to gather up the fragments lest they perish. Gathering is an act of reverential economy towards the gifts of God; but gathering also anticipates Christ gathering all to himself (John 6: 39; see also John 17: 12).

Look at the amount that is left over in the outpouring of God’s generosity. There are 12 baskets – one for each tribe of Israel and one for each of the 12 disciples. God’s party, the Eucharist, is a looking forward to the new Israel, not the sort of earthly kingdom that the people now want but the Kingdom of God.

In the next chapter, when the crowds follow Christ to Capernaum, he tells them: ‘I am that bread of life’ (John 7: 48). In this way, the Feeding of the Multitude connects with the feeding of the freed slaves in the wilderness and the coming of freedom, and with the heavenly banquet and the coming of the kingdom.

The earlier food miracle in this Gospel is the Wedding in Cana (John 2: 1-12), when Christ turns the water into wine. Now we have a miracle with bread. The Eucharistic connection of bread and wine is so obvious.

Saint John’s account of the multiplication of the loaves has a number of key details that remind us of the Eucharist.

When Christ asks the disciples to gather up the fragments, he uses the word συνάγω (synago, to gather up) – the same as the word συναγωγή (synagogue) for the assembly of faith, and as the word σύναξις (synaxis) for the gathering or first part of the Liturgy.

Christ puts no questions of belief to the disciples or to the crowd when he feeds them on the mountainside. They did not believe in the Resurrection – it had yet to happen. But he feeds them, and he feeds them indiscriminately. The disciples wanted to send them away, but Christ wants to count them in. Christ invites more people to the banquet than we can fit into our churches.

When we invite people into the Church, we have so much to share – must more that the meagre amount people may think we have in our bags.

Saint John the Evangelist with the poisoned chalice above the main gate at Saint John’s College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Connecting the Readings:

For me, the readings from the Letter to the Ephesians and Saint John’s Gospel make a connection with another story about Saint John and the Church in Ephesus.

This recalls the legend that Saint John was tested by the high priest of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, who gave him a poison chalice to drink. Saint John blessed the chalice, the poison escaped in the form of a winged dragon, and Saint John then drank safely.

But there is another poison that can damage the church today – we can fail to love.

Saint Jerome tells us that Saint John continued preaching in Ephesus even when he was in his 90s. He was so enfeebled in his old age that the people had to carry him on a stretcher into the Church in Ephesus, on the hill above the Temple of Artemis. And when he was no longer able to preach, he would lean up on one elbow and say simply: ‘Little children, love one another.’

This continued on, even when the ageing John was on his deathbed. Then he would lie back down and his friends would carry him back out. Every week, the same happened, again and again. And every week it was the same short sermon, with the same message: ‘Little children, love one another.’

One day, the story goes, someone asked: ‘John, why is it that every week you say exactly the same thing, “little children, love one another”?’ And he replied: ‘Because it is enough.’

There we have the basics of living as a Christian in a nutshell. All we need to know is ‘Little children, love one another.’ If we want to know the rules, there it is: ‘Little children, love one another.’

In his old age, that is all Saint John preached in Ephesus, week after week.

And if we live by that, then all those Christ wants to feed, all those Christ wants to gather into his family, into the Church, into the Kingdom of God, will be fed and gathered and become one with us at his banquet in the kingdom.

That is why we build churches and cathedrals, that is why as a church we celebrate and have parties, why we celebrate anniversaries, why we are gathered in to share the Word and to share the Sacrament.

And so, in Saint Paul’s words in the epistle reading:

I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3: 16).

‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish’ (John 6: 9) … fish on a stall in the market in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 6: 1-21 (NRSVA):

1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ 10 Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’

15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 got into a boat, and started across the lake to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The lake became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20 But he said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ 21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going.

‘Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands that holy things have taken’ (Post-Communion Prayer) … Communion vessels in the chapel of Westcott House, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical resources:

Liturgical colour: Green

The Collect of the Day:

Blessed are you, O Lord,
and blessed are those who observe and keep your law:
Help us to seek you with our whole heart,
to delight in your commandments
and to walk in the glorious liberty
given us by your Son, Jesus Christ.

Collect of the Word:

Gracious God, you have placed within the hearts of all your children
a longing for your word and a hunger for your truth:
grant that, believing in the one whom you have sent,
we may know him to be the true bread of heaven
and the food of eternal life,
Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be glory and honour for ever and ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Strengthen for service, Lord,
the hands that holy things have taken;
may the ears which have heard your word
be deaf to clamour and dispute;
may the tongues which have sung your praise be free from deceit;
may the eyes which have seen the tokens of your love
shine with the light of hope;
and may the bodies which have been fed with your body
be refreshed with the fulness of your life;
glory to you for ever.

A variety of bread in a shopfront in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Suggested Hymns:

II Samuel 11: 1-15:

551, How can we sing with joy to God

Psalm 14:

649, Happy are they, they that love God

II Kings 4: 42-44:

44, Praise and thanksgiving, Father, we offer
497, The Church of Christ in every age

Psalm 145: 10-19

24, All creatures of our God and King
42, Good is the Lord, our heavenly King
80, Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father
125, Hail to the Lord’s anointed
321, Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty
73, The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended
492, Ye servants of God, your master proclaim

Ephesians 3: 14-21:

294, Come down, O Love divine
454, Forth in the peace of Christ we go
3, God is love: let heaven adore him
616, In my life, Lord, be glorified
589, Lord, speak to me that I may speak
168, Lord, you were rich beyond all splendour
621, O Love divine, how sweet thou art
105, O the deep, deep love of Jesus
307, Our great Redeemer, as he breathed
341, Spirit divine, attend our prayers
313, The Spirit came, as promised
373, To God be the glory! Great things he has done

John 6: 1-21

665, Ag Críost an síol (The seed is Christ’s)
612, Eternal Father, strong to save
39, For the fruits of his creation
647, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
584, Jesus calls us! O’er the tumult
587, Just as I am, without one plea
652, Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
428, Let us break bread together, we are one
657, O God of Bethel, by whose hand

‘Let us break bread together, we are one’ (Hymn 428) … bread in the window of Hindley’s Bakery and Café, Tamworth Street, Lichfield (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 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)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

A variety of fish on sale on a stall in Bologna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)