Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 16 August 2020, Tenth Sunday after Trinity

The Syro-Phoenician or Canaanite Woman … a modern icon by Brother Robert Lentz, OFM

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 16 August 2020, is the Tenth Sunday after Trinity.

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two pairs, the Continuous Readings and the Paired Readings.

The Continuous Readings: Genesis 45: 1-15; Psalm 133; Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15: (10-20) 21-28.

There is a link to the continuous readings HERE.

The Paired readings: Isaiah 56: 1, 6-8; Psalm 67; Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15: (10–20) 21–28.

There is a link to the paired readings HERE.

Detail from the ‘Sarcophagus of the Crying Women,’ from Sidon, now in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum

Introducing the readings:

Can you recall a moment, a place, or an occasion when you felt rejected? To be rejected I do not need to be an outsider. We can be rejected by our own brothers or sisters, by those who live around us, by those who share our religious or cultural values. We can be rejected because of our lifestyle, our family background, our ethnic or religious backgrounds, our personal habits, our family circumstances … the list is endless.

Can you remember how you feel when you feel rejected, an outsider, sent away? And, have you found yourself blaming yourself rather than those who reject or marginalise you? If so, then you know when it is like to become a double victim: a victim of the prejudices of others, and a victim of the perceptions that are projected on to you.

Joseph has been rejected by his brothers and sold into slavery. But he refuses to accept that rejection. Instead, he prospers and attains the highest office in the land. When he eventually meets his brothers, he gives them an ugly lesson in what it is to be rejected. But then he reveals who he is, and lets them know that they are not rejected, not even for what they have done to him, but have always been part of God’s plans for future generations and for the future.

As the psalmist reminds us, it is good when the members of the same family can live in peace and unity.

Saint Paul reminds the Gentile Christians that they are in the same family of faith as the Jewish Christians and that – despite what they may think – God has never rejected his people. He reminds his readers that he is a descendant not only of Abraham, but of Benjamin – did those readers make a connection with Benjamin who was held hostage as the story of brother rejecting brother unfolded?

In the Gospel reading, once again, we encounter different types of rejection. Some of the Pharisees and scribes reject the disciples because they do not observe the newly-innovated but by now accepted tradition of washing hands before eating. It seems sensible in these Covid-19 days, but that is not the point here. There are other reasons for rejecting what people do: for example, the prejudices they hold in their own hearts.

Despite experiencing this rejection, the disciples still manage to reject the Canaanite woman who is pleading for help for herself and her daughter.

Saint Paul uses the verb ἀπώσατο (aposato) when he talks about being rejected, pushed away, driven away, repudiated, rejected.

When the disciples say, ‘send her away’ (verse 23), they use the word ἀπόλυσον (apoluson), from the verb ἀπολύω (apolúo). But there is a paradox in their rejection of her, for the same word can also mean to set free, to let go, to give liberty to, to release. The same verb is used to set a debtor free of debts, or to allow a woman to divorce her husband by setting her free from or loosening the bonds that tie husband and wife. In wanting to be free from her demanding calls, they – ironically – call for the woman and her daughter to be freed or liberated from their torments.

In our feelings of rejection and marginalisation, how do we find acceptance, liberation, and a place in God’s unfolding plan for his people, for all people?

And, when do we speak up for those who have been marginalised, rejected, boxed in, imprisoned by circumstances, by their background or by other people?

Joseph before Pharaoh … a stained-glass window by the Harry Clarke Studios in the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Genesis 45: 1-15:

This story tells us how God acts in history, through special people who may seem special or chosen to those around them.

Earlier in this story, Joseph has risen to power in Egypt. There is a famine in region, and Jacob, or Israel, has sent 10 of his sons to buy grain. However, Jacob has kept Benjamin, son of his favourite wife and full brother of Joseph, at home.

When the 10 brothers seek to buy grain, they are accused of spying. As surety that they will return with Benjamin, the brother they have left behind, they must leave Simeon behind in Egypt. To lose Benjamin would break Jacob’s heart. The old man agrees to his heir joining his brothers on the second journey to Egypt.

In Chapter 44, before the brothers leave for home with the grain, Joseph hides his silver cup in Benjamin’s pack., Joseph has them arrested for stealing: he has had h, where it is found, so Benjamin is detained. Judah pleads for Benjamin’s release, saying that he expects Jacob to die if Benjamin fails to return home, and he will bring his sorrow to the grave.

This provides the context and the setting for this first reading.

Joseph can no longer hide himself from his brothers. He dismisses his courtiers so that he can be alone with his family. He identifies himself and then asks whether their father is still alive. But they are unable to answer.

Joseph then explains to them how God has worked through what his brothers have done to him in the past. By selling him into slavery, he says, ‘God sent me before you to preserve life.’ Now it is Joseph’s management of Egypt’s grain in time of famine and that that will also keep Jacob’s family alive through the famine. His descendants Israel, ‘a remnant on earth’ will survive. God has even made Joseph ‘a father to Pharaoh,’ lord of all his house, and ruler of Egypt, the equivalent of Prime Minister or Vizier.

Joseph now says he is eager to see his father once again; they must hurry and bring him down to Egypt too. He offers them land in Goshen, the fertile area east of the Nile delta. Joseph’s brothers will be near him and he forgives them.

‘It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, Even on Aaron’s beard’ (Psalm 133: 2-3) … Moses and Aaron in a window in Saint Columba’s Church, Drumcliffe, Ennis Co Clare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Psalm 133:

This psalm is headed ‘A Song of Ascents.’ It is one of the shortest chapters in the Book of Psalms, being one of three psalms with three verses, the others being Psalm 131 and Psalm 134. The shortest psalm is Psalm 117, with two verses.

Psalm 133 is often known by its Latin title, Ecce Quam Bonum. It has many settings by composers from William Byrd to Leonard Bernstein, who uses verse 1 to conclude the text in Hebrew of the final movement of his Chichester Psalms, an extended work for choir and orchestra that begins with the complete text of Psalm 131.

The divisions being dealt with may be the divisions between the two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, with hope for their reunification.

We can imagine this psalm being sung by pilgrims as they came together on the journey up to Jerusalem or made their way up the steps of the Temple. It speaks of brotherly love among the people of God, exemplified in the brotherly love of Moses and Aaron.

The pilgrims came together from many tribes, with many tribal differences. But when they come together to worship God, verse 2 reminds them, it is like the anointing of the first high priest, Aaron, by his brother Moses. At that consecration, the high priest’s hair and clothes were saturated with oil (see Exodus 29: 7), signifying his total consecration to God and the abundance and generosity of God’s blessings.

Mount Hermon in the north was the highest mountain in the northern kingdom, Israel. It is blessed with copious rain, ‘the dew of Hermon’ (verse 3). If Jerusalem or Mount Zion, the sacred mountain in the southern kingdom, Judah, received the same abundance of rain, it would be a true blessing. God’s blessings are the inexhaustible source of life, and are for ever.

‘I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! … God has not rejected his people’ (Romans 11: 1-2) … the grave of an unknown Jew in Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32:

The Apostle Paul asks rhetorically, ‘Has God rejected his people?’ (verse 1). And he answers immediately, ‘By no means!’ Saint Paul points out that he too is an Israelite by birth, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin – who plays a key role in our first reading (Genesis 45: 1-15), and the story of the redemption of God's people at a time of great social and economic crisis.

If, in the past, the children of Israel have been seen as unfaithful, they have not been forgotten. Saint Paul reminds his readers that the gifts of God are irrevocable, and the calling of God is irrevocable.

Those Christians who are Gentiles should remind themselves that in the past their ancestors too were unfaithful to God. But, through God’s mercy, they too are counted among God’s people today. God’s mercy is shown to both Jews and Gentiles.

‘These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile’ (Matthew 15: 20) … a copy of a classical statue of Hygieia in Vergina Restaurant in Platanias, near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 15: (10–20) 21–28:

This Gospel reading comes in two parts, verses 10-20 and verses 21-28. In planning Sunday’s readings, there are two options: to read just the second part of the reading (verses 21-28), or to read the full reading (verses 21-28).

Please note there is no option to simply read the first part alone (verses 10-20).

‘Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind’ (Matthew 10: 14) … the inscription above the door at the former Royal School for the Blind on Hope Street, Liverpool (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Part 1, verses 10-20:

The context or setting for this reading is provided by Pharisees and scribes who live in Jerusalem and come to Jesus asking why his disciples break the traditions they believe support Jewish law, and they ask him why they disciples do not wash their hands before eating? This is one of several Temple purity practices for priests that rabbinical tradition extended to the household.

The tradition of washing hands before eating bread signifies the sacred nature of a meal, the former Chief Rabbi, Lord (Jonathan) Sacks, explains. He says the table is then like the altar in the Temple, while the bread is like consecrated food, dipped in salt as was done with the meal offering in the Temple (see Leviticus 2: 13). In this way, he says, and food, one of the physical of needs, is invested with the charisma of holiness.

However, Jesus argues with his visitors, saying they give equality or even priority to traditions, such as washing your hands before eating, above the law itself, exemplified in commandments such as honouring father and mother (see Exodus 30: 17-21).

This reading then opens with Christ then calling together a crowd and telling them that it is easier to be defiled or made unclean by what comes out of the mouth, by what we say, than to be defiled by what goes into our mouth, such as found touched by unwashed hands. holiness is grasped not with our hands but in our hearts.

The disciples point out to Jesus that the Pharisees are offended by what he has said. But he is blunt, and tells the disciples not to follow them: they are like the blind leading the blind.

But still Peter does not understand, and he asks for an explanation. Christ then tells the disciples that what is eaten, even though it may be ritually clean, ends up unclean, in the sewer. But the mouth is the channel from the heart, the very seat of our emotions, desires and personalities. It is what is in our hearts, rather than what we put in our stomachs, that is in danger of defiling us, and showing how unclean we are.

‘The Phoenician Women’ by Euripides … sets the stage for the demands by Phoenician or Canaanite women on behalf of their daughters

Part 2, verses 21-28:

Some years ago, there was a fashion in wearing accessories with the simple initials ‘WWJD’ – ‘What Would Jesus Do?’

At first sight, this is an easy standard to look to when we need a yardstick for moral decisions and how to behave towards one another. But would you like to behave the way Jesus did when he first met the Canaanite or Syro-Phoenician woman in the district of Tyre and Sidon?

This Gospel reading, on first reading, seems to show us a Jesus who first rejects the pleas of a distressed woman, deeply worried about her daughter. One writer suggests that this is a Gospel story where Christ is caught with his compassion down. Even his disciples want to turn her away. They see her as a pest, a nuisance, a pushy woman breaking in to their closed space, their private area.

After a very trying and busy time, that included the beheading of John the Baptist, the feeding of the 5,000, the calming of the storm, and a major debate with leading Pharisees, the disciples and Jesus have arrived in the coastal area of Tyre and Sidon, an area of small villages, perhaps looking for a quiet break for a few days.

This is foreign territory, inhabited by a large number of Canaanites or Phoenicians, who were culturally Hellenised and mainly Greek-speaking. It was also the territory associated with Elijah, the prophet who raises the widow’s child from death (I Kings 17: 9-24) and who, in Father Kieran O’Mahony’s words, ‘was markedly, even offensively, open to foreigners.’

So Christ could expect to find himself among a large number of Greek-speaking ‘Gentiles’ in this area. Would the Disciples expect him to behave like Elijah and to break all the rules in being open to them, take miraculous care of a lone mother and her child?

If Christ was planning simply to get away for a quiet break with his friends and companions, then those plans were frustrated when a woman from this region comes to him with her very pressing demands.

In Saint Matthew’s account, she is a Canaanite woman (verse 22); in Saint Mark’s telling of the story (Mark 7: 27-31), she is a Greek or Syro-Phoenician woman (verse 26). Both mean the same thing, for Canaan in Hebrew and Phoenicia in Greek both mean the Land of Purple. She was a Gentile, a foreigner, a Greek-speaker and a woman. What right had she to invade their privacy? Could she not just accept life as it is?

In the classical world, Phoenician women were pushy women. About 400 years earlier, the great Greek playwright Euripides wrote his tragic play The Phoenician Women (Φοίνισσαι, Phoenissae), rewriting a similar story used by Aeschylus in his play, Seven Against Thebes, and dealing with tragic events following the fall of Oedipus.

The title of the play, The Phoenician Women, refers to the Greek chorus, which is composed of Phoenician women on their way to Delphi and who are trapped in Thebes by the war.

The two key women in the play by Euripides are Jocasta and her daughter Antigone, who have survived against all odds. They challenge the accepted concepts in Classical times of fate and free-will.

In the face of death, they refuse to accept what other people regarded as their destiny, they refused to be pushed aside, marginalised and dismissed as the men around then compete for power.

So, in the time of Jesus, educated, Greek-speaking people, including those around Tyre and Sidon, would expect a Greek-speaking Phoenician woman and her daughter to be pushy in the face of what appears to be a cruel fate, even if this involves confronting successful or ambitious men: they are prepared to stand up to kings and rulers, prepared to challenge them, and prepared to risk rejection and exile.

For their part, the disciples, who are probably without this cultural knowledge, would have dismissed the woman for what they saw her as: a Gentile, a stranger, a foreigner, a Greek-speaker and a woman. Her religion, language, nationality and gender put her beyond the compassion of the disciples.

But, faced with her daughter’s needs, the woman ignores the disciples: she is direct and aggressive in demanding healing and justice. And in demanding justice and healing for her daughter, she is, of course, demanding these for herself too.

The dialogue between this woman and Jesus must have sounded crude and aggressive to those who had gathered around to hear what was going on.

This pushy woman forces herself into the house, addresses Jesus in Messianic terms, and demands not that he should heal her daughter, but that he should show mercy. On whom? On her tormented daughter? On the distressed mother? The NRSV translation is clear, where the RSV is not: in the original Greek, she asks for mercy for herself (verse 22).

At first, Christ appears to treat her with contempt: at first he does not respond to her, he does not even utter one word. Instead, he turns away and tells his friends he is only here for the lost sheep of Israel (verse 24).

But she is persistent and – with a touch of melodrama – she throws herself at the feet of Jesus, the original Greek says she was worshipping him, saying ‘Lord, help me’ (verse 25).

Jesus then shockingly describes his fellow Jews as ‘little children,’ and compares the Gentiles with dogs, little dogs (verse 26). Today, it would sound like Jesus is calling this woman a bitch, and her daughter a little bitch.

But there is something even more shocking here: at that time, dogs were regarded as unclean animals. They were kept outside the city gates, and it was an indication of how low Lazarus had sunk that outside the gates the dogs licked his sores (Luke 16: 19-31, see especially verse 21).

Despite the title of Don Bluth’s animated movie, All Dogs go to Heaven (1989), it was a popular teaching at the time that dogs were not only kept outside the city gates, but also that they were the only animals to be excluded with certainty from heaven (see Revelation 22: 15).

It is language that is deeply offensive, culturally and theologically, unless Jesus is engaging in humorous banter with this woman.

For just one moment try to imagine the body language of the conversation, imagine you were trying to stage it as drama, to put it on stage. You would have Jesus talking face-to-face with this pleading, pushy woman. But the disciples are standing behind him and can see her facial reactions … but not the face of Jesus.

If, by now, Christ has engaged with this woman face-to-face, she now knows it is worth pushing her demands for mercy and help.

So, who is Jesus looking for a response from? The woman has already shown both her compassion and her faith. But can the disciples also show compassion and faith.

The woman not only has compassion and faith, but she also shows humour when, in her response to Jesus she engages in banter with him, telling him that even puppy dogs, when they are away from adult view, play under the table. Could Jesus, when he is away from the view of Jewish crowds, not engage with those he doesn’t sit at table with but who nevertheless are in his presence, those he had dismissed as dogs?

Jesus appreciates this encounter: her insistence on meeting him face-to-face, her refusal to be oppressed on the grounds of ethnicity, religion, language or gender, her forthright way of speaking and her subliminal but humorous comparisons are all part of the drama in this story.

And this combination, when it all combines to show that she is a woman of faith, produces results. In Saint Mark’s Gospel, Christ responds to her demands, and when she returns home, she finds her child has been healed (Mark 7: 30). In Saint Matthew’s account, Christ goes further – he commends her for her faith (verse 28) and her daughter is healed instantly.

Iokasti, a restaurant in Koutouloufari in Crete … are there comparisons between Iocasta and her daughter in ‘The Phoenician Women’ and the Greek-speaking Syro-Phoenician or Canaanite woman in the Gospels? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A reflection of the Gospel reading:

Nothing is said in the second part of this Gospel reading about the response of the disciples to the woman. They had been trying to push her away, despite her crying, her tears, her distress, her plight over her daughter.

Perhaps nothing is said about the response of the disciples … because we are the disciples. How do you and I respond to encounters like this?

As a social response, for example, we might consider that the confrontation is an illustration of how we might respond to the needs of strangers and foreigners.

Do we find them pushy and demanding?

How do we respond when the foreign woman in our society wants the same treatment in hospital as Irish-born children?

How do we respond when foreigners who are more open and joyful in conversation, appear to be encroaching on our privacy on the bus, on the street or in a shop?

Are we like the Disciples, and want to send them away? Or are we like Jesus, and engage in conversation with them?

Do we think we have some privileges that should not be shared with the outsider and the stranger?

How do we respond to people who are pushy and continue to demand care for their children in the face of society’s decision to say no?

The parents who want teaching support for children with learning disabilities, the parents who want to know why children’s hospitals are so badly funded that they have to raise funds with charity events while their children wait for treatment.

But this Gospel story also raises questions at a personal, spiritual level too, when it comes to matters of faith.

How many people do you know who give up when they turn to God in prayer and find those who are supposed to represent Jesus appear to turn them away?

How many times have I dismissed the needs and prayers of others because they appear to be outside the community of faith as I understand it?

And, at a personal level, how many times have I gone to God in prayer, and given up at what appears to be the first refusal?

This woman never asks for healing for her daughter. She first asks Jesus for mercy. She has a difficult situation back at home and may be finding it difficult to deal with. And she gets no answer.

She asks again for help, not for her daughter, but for herself. And she is rebuffed.

But she is insistent, she is persistent. She refuses to accept what other people regard as her fate and destiny.

And in the end, she receives the mercy and help she asks for, and much, much more … for she is commended in front of the disciples for her faith, and her daughter is healed, healed instantly.

We do not have to accept misery in our family life, even if others see it as our fate or our destiny. And, in simple prayers, we may find more in the answer than we ever ask for.

The Theatre of Dionysus, beneath the slopes of the Acropolis … the tragedies and comedies of the great playwrights, Euripides, Aeschylus and Sophocles were first performed here (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 15: (10–20) 21–28 (NRSVA):

[10 Then he [Jesus] called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’ 12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?’ 13 He answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.* And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.’ 15 But Peter said to him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ 16 Then he said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’]

21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ 23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ 24 He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ 26 He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 27 She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ 28 Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.

The Canaanite Woman ... an image in Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Folio 164r (The Musée Condé, Chantilly)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Ordinary Time, Year A)

The Collect of the Day:

Let your merciful ears, O Lord,
be open to the prayers of your humble servants;
and that they may obtain their petitions,
make them to ask such things as shall please you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Collect of the Word:

Almighty God,
you have given your only Son
to be for us both a sacrifice for sin
and also the example of godly life:
give us grace that we may always thankfully receive
the benefits of his sacrifice,
and also daily endeavour
to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life;
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

O God,
as we are strengthened by these holy mysteries,
so may our lives be a continual offering,
holy and acceptable in your sight;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! … God has not rejected his people’ (Romans 11: 1-2) … a window in the synagogue in Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Suggested Hymns:

Genesis 45: 1-15:

563, Commit your ways to God
649, Happy are they, they that love God
522, In Christ there is no east or west
525, Let there be love shared among us
527, Son of God, eternal Saviour
531, Where love and loving–kindness dwell

Psalm 133:

518, Bind us together, Lord
522, In Christ there is no east or west
525, Let there be love shared among us
438, O thou who at thy Eucharist didst pray
507, Put peace into each other’s hands
661, Through the night of doubt and sorrow

Isaiah 56: 1, 6-8:

522, In Christ there is no east or west
342, Sweet is the solemn voice that calls
285, The head that once was crowned with thorns
343, We love the place, O God

Psalm 67:

695, God of mercy, God of grace

Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32:

218, And can it be that I should gain
9, There’s a wideness in God’s mercy

Matthew 15: (10-20) 21-28:

324, God, whose almighty word
716, Kyrie eleison
433, My God, your table here is spread
104, O for a thousand tongues to sing
514, We cannot measure how you heal

She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table’ (Matthew 15: 27) (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 hymns 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 theatre in Epidavros … ‘The Phoenician Women’ by Euripides was performed here regularly in recent years (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 9 August 2020, Ninth Sunday after Trinity

‘I líonta Dé go gcastar sinn, May we meet in God’s nets’ … a modern stained-glass window in Saint Maur’s Church, Rush, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on images for full-screen viewing)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 9 August 2020, is the Ninth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity IX).

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two pairs, the Continuous Readings and the Paired Readings.

The Continuous readings: Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28; Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b; Romans 10: 5-15; Matthew 14: 22-33.

There is a link to the continuous readings HERE.

The Paired readings: I Kings 19: 9-18; Psalm 85: 8-13; Romans 10: 5-15; Matthew 14: 22-33.

There is a link to the continuous readings HERE.

‘Peace. Be still’ … Christ calming the storm in the upper half of the Cameron window in the north chancel of Saint Seiriol’s Priory Church, Penmon, Anglesey, with Saint Seiriol, Saint Cybi and the Priory buildings below … see Matthew 14: 22-33 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the Readings:

Over the past few months, as we tried to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, many of us and many parishioners may have descended to social, spiritual and psychological depths that we rarely experience, and usually come to know only at times of great and intimate crises, such as family tragedies.

Indeed, in recent months, as isolation seemed to bring us lower to become deeper, many people must have asked: Where is God in all this?

Joseph is thrown into the deepest depths and abandoned by his family when first he is rejected by his brothers who plot to murder him, then thrown into a deep pit and left to die, and finally sold into slavery.

We do not reach the point of this story in Sunday’s reading. But, with the benefit of hindsight, we know that God is in this story, working not only for the liberation of Joseph, but the liberation of his brothers too, of their descendants, and – indeed – of all people.

Joseph’s experiences are recalled by the Psalmist as he ponders his own plight, but he too sees God’s hand at work, knowing that all who seek the Lord can rejoice.

Saint Paul cites both Deuteronomy 30 and Psalm 107 when he asks, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (Romans 10; 7; see Deuteronomy 30: 13; Psalm 107: 26). The word abyss (ἄβυσσος, abussos, ‘bottomless’), refers in classical Greek to the depths of the sea. In the Septuagint, it replaces the Hebrew Sheol, where the Greek Hades might have been used. Indeed, in Deuteronomy 30, the reference is to crossing the seas.

Saint Paul, as he ponders Christ ascending into heaven and descending into the abyss, knows that we can be saved from that pit, that abyss, in our faith, in calling on God no matter what our background is, in not just hearing the good news, but listening to and responding to the good news.

In the Gospel reading, the disciples feel abandoned as they face their worst fears and face the abyss in the sea, the fear of drowning in the storms of life, of falling into the pit.

But Christ tells them, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ And they respond with faith, bow down and worship him, and proclaim him the Son of God.

‘Go unto Joseph’ … Joseph’s brothers in a stained-glass window by the Harry Clarke Studios in the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28:

Jacob, who received the name Israel in the previous Sunday’s reading (Genesis 32: 22-31), has settled in the land of Canaan, and we are now introduced to story of the family of Jacob, the house of Israel, with the story of Joseph and his brothers.

Joseph was born when Jacob was in his old age. The old man, who has particular affection for his youngest son, shows it by having a special coat made for him with long sleeves or many colours.

Joseph reports back to his father of the way his brothers are mistreating their half-brothers and their stepmothers. But the other sons are jealous of Joseph and plot against him. In the meantime, in the intervening verses (5-11), Joseph has two dreams which are interpreted as showing that his brothers and his parents will bow down to him.

Now, Jacob, or Israel, sends Joseph after his brothers, who are looking after the family sheep at Shechem. When he arrives, Joseph cannot find his brothers and is told they have moved on to other pastures. But even before Joseph arrives his brothers see him and plot the fall of the ‘dreamer.’ At first, they think of killing him, but Reuben warns them to share no blood. Perhaps we might recall that when Cain killed Abel he ended up living the life of a nomad.

So, instead, these brothers strip Joseph of his elegant robe, throw him into an empty pit, without water, and abandon him as they sit to eat together.

Joseph is then sold to some Ishmaelite nomads on their way to Egypt, lifted out of the pit by Midianite traders, and sold to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver.

We might reflect on how another Joseph, in the Gospels, is also a dreamer, and takes Mary and the Christ Child to Egypt, and how 20 pieces of silver compare to a later figure of 30 pieces of silver.

‘They shackled his feet with fetters; his neck was ringed with iron’ (Psalm 105: 18) … the former prison cells in the Guildhall in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b:

This Psalm calls on the ‘children of Jacob’ and descendants of Abraham (verse 6) – not just Joseph and his brothers, but all people in the community of faith – to give thanks to God, to call upon him, to sing to him, to recall his mighty works, to give him glory and to rejoice (verses 1-4).

We are to search for God with all our strength, and to recall his great deeds (verses 5-6).

As they sing this psalm, however, the people are reminded that Joseph was sold into slavery, and that the people were afflicted by famine (verses 16-19). Yet, when Pharaoh set Joseph free, he became a wise teacher, and this is worth recalling and celebrating, for its shows God’s hand in history (verses 20-22). And for this we give praise to God (verse 45b).

‘Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law’ (Romans 10: 5) … Moses, with Jeremiah, David and Isaiah, in a stained-glass window by the Harry Clarke Studios in the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Romans 10: 5-15:

In this reading, Saint Paul refers to Moses, the Prophets, including Isaiah and Joel, and the Psalms as he discusses how God’s plans unfolded through the Law and the Prophets.

He writes here in language that is similar to the books Leviticus and Deuteronomy, which were believed to have been written by Moses, as he discusses the differences of living by the law (or works) and by faith. He is not arguing for the abolition of the Torah, but rather sees Christ as its fulfilment.

The Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of Saint Paul, used similar arguments to discuss similar topics, including proclamation to the nations or the Gentiles.

Saint Paul urges his readers to respond in their heart to God’s unfolding revelation and to the work of Christ, placing their trust in God.

Throughout these verses, he plays a word game with the Greek words ᾰ̓κούω (akoúō, hear) and ᾰ̓κοή (akoḗ, what is heard), drawing on the Hebrew word Shema (שְׁמַע), signifying obedient listening.

The former Chief Rabbi, Lord (Jonathan) Sacks translates the word Shema as ‘Listen’ rather than ‘hear’ and speaks of a ‘supreme act of faith-as-listening: to the voice that brought the universe into being, created us in love and guides us through our lives.’

Dr Sacks describes two key, dramatic phrases in Jewish prayer life: ‘Listen, Israel’ (Shema Israel, שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל) and ‘Listen to our voice’ (Shema Koleinu, שמע קולינו). ‘These two phrases frame the great dialogue of study and prayer. Faith lives in these two acts of listening: ours to the call of God, God’s to the cry of humankind.’

In a similar way, the opening words in the prologue to Rule of Saint Benedict is the key to understanding it: ‘Listen carefully to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.’

To listen carefully is to obey. But to listen and obey, the message needs a messenger, one who is sent to call us to listen.

They got into the boat and went on ahead to the other side (Matthew 14: 22) … boats at Messonghi in Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Matthew 14: 22-33:

Christ has just fed the large crowd of 5,000 to 20,000, with the multiplication of five loaves and two fish, the miracle story recalled in the previous Sunday’s Gospel reading (Matthew 14: 3-21).

Now, in this reading, Christ tells the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of to the other side of the lake while he sends the crowd home.

Then, instead of using another boat to follow the disciples, or walking around the shoreline, he goes up a mountain by himself, and he spends the evening and much of the night in prayer.

The Sea of Galilee is shallow, but storms can rise suddenly. Early in the morning, before dawn, the boat is far from the shore when it is battered by waves and the wind.

The disciples have lost control and are frightened. They see Jesus walking on the sea, and are terrified even more, thinking they are seeing a ghost. They cry out in their fears, but Jesus seeks to calm their fears: ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’

Saint Matthew describes three miracles here:

1, Christ walks on the water (verses 25-27)

2, Peter walks on the water (verses 28-30)

3, The wind ceases abruptly (verse 31-32)

Both frightened humanity and disorderly nature listen to the word and obey. In their response, the disciples acknowledge Christ as ‘the Son of God’ (verse 33). He is in control of their fears and of the created order, offering to bring a new creation out of chaos and darkness.

An icon of the Church as a boat, including Christ, the Apostles and the Church Fathers (Icon: Deacon Matthew Garrett, www.holy-icons.com)

Matthew 14: 22-33 (NRSVA):

22 Immediately [after feeding the crowd with five loaves and two fish,] he [Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’

28 Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ 29 He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

A pair of rowers on the River Liffey at Islandbridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

A reflection on the Readings:

Since arriving in Askeaton over three years ago, I have enjoyed spending time by the River Deel, watching the comings and goings at Desmond Rowing Club.

It is over 50 years since I first went rowing as a teenager on Lough Ramor in Virginia. In more recent years, I have enjoyed walking along the Backs in Cambridge, watching sculling and rowing on the River Cam. I have even had the pleasure of one college boat club asking to use one of my photographs in a fundraising drive.

But I had long thought that I would be left regretting that I had arrived in Cambridge as a student too late in life to learn, or to re-learn how to row.

I had come to enjoy rowing as a sport and an activity, but in a very passive way.

Then one evening, as I was standing casually at the slipway at Askeaton, I was suddenly and unexpectedly invited to get into a boat and started to row.

I was fearless. It was a pleasure I had often hoped for and wished for. And for almost an hour, three of us rowed upstream, under the bridge at Askeaton, and as far as the castle, and then downstream past the factory, although not as far as the estuary.

When I suggested that I might be too old to learn, I was told brusquely and with humour, that once I stopped learning I had stopped living.

Since then, I have watched children and teenagers hop in and out of boats, freely and fearlessly, confident of their own ability and the ability of those who are training them.

Fearlessly. But as we were messing about on boats in Crete during a recent holiday, hopping on and off boats in the sun as we visited smaller islands and lagoons off the coast, I thought of how this was a pleasure that I was paying for, but how many refugees were full of fear as they boarded boats in the dark trying to arrive on Greek islands, having paid exorbitantly for the risk and the dangers.

Fearlessly. What are your worst fears?

At present, many of us have continuing fears about the Covid-19 pandemic; others have fears about the decisions the Trump presidency is capable of as we move closer to the US Presidential election.

As we grow up and mature, we tend to have fewer fears of the outside world, and as adults we begin to cope with the fears we once had as children, by turning threats into opportunities.

The fears I had as a child – of snakes, of the wind, of storms at sea, of lightning – are no longer the stuff of the recurring nightmares they were when I was a child. I have learned to be cautious, to be sensible and to keep my distance, and to be in awe of God’s creation.

But most of us have recurring dreams that are vivid and that have themes that keep repeating themselves. They fall into a number of genres, and most psychotherapists identify a number of these types of dreams that most of us deal with in our sleep at various stages in adult life.

They include dreams about:

● Drowning.

● Finding myself unprepared for a major function or event, whether it is social or work-related.

● Flying or floating in the air, but then falling suddenly.

● Being caught naked in public.

● Missing a train, a bus or a plane.

● Caught in loos or lifts that do not work, or that overwork themselves.

● Calling out in a crowd but failing to vocalise my scream or not being heard in the crowd or recognised.

● Falling, falling into an abyss.

There are others. But in sleep the brain can act as a filter or filing cabinet, helping us to process, deal with and put aside what we have found difficult to understand in our waking hours, or to try to find ways of dealing with our lack of confidence, feelings of inadequacy, with the ways we confuse gaining attention with receiving love, or with our needs to be accepted, affirmed and loved.

In the first reading (Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28), Joseph is both dismissed by his brothers and seen by them as a threat, because he is a ‘dreamer.’ His perhaps naïve behaviour in his youth is threatening them as the older brothers, the adults.

But rather than confronting their fears and dealing with them, they decide to get rid of Joseph – it is another play-out of the constant theme of shooting the messenger rather than listening to the message.

We sometimes think of the idealists in our midst as dreamers or day-dreamers. They imagine that things can be done another way, they point to potentials or possibilities, they confront us with our greatest fears. But, like Joseph’s brothers, we often confuse dreams that help us deal with our worst fears and the worst fears themselves.

Saint Peter’s plight in the Gospel reading (Matthew 14: 22-33) seems to be the working out of a constant, recurring, vivid dream of the type many of us experience at some stage: the feelings of drowning, floating and falling suddenly, being in a crowd and yet alone, calling out and not being heard, or not being recognised for who we are.

Peter sees Christ walking on the lake or floating effortlessly above the water. At first, he thinks he is seeing a ghost. But then Christ calls to him, and Saint Peter responds.

Once he recognises Christ, Saint Peter gets out of the boat, starts walking on the water, and comes towards Christ. But he loses his confidence when he notices the strong wind, he is frightened, and he begins to sink.

He cries out: ‘Lord, save me.’ Christ immediately reaches out his hand and catches him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’

They get back into the boat, the wind ceases. And those in the boat worship him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

Was the sight of Christ walking on the water an illusion?

Was Peter’s idea that he could walk on the water the product of an over-worked mind while it was sleeping?

Did he realise he was unprepared for the great encounter?

Did the wind cease when he woke from the dream?

All of these questions are over-analytical and fail to deal with the real encounter that takes place.

Even before the Resurrection, in his frailty, in his weakness, in his humble humanity, Saint Peter calls out to Christ: ‘Lord, save me’ (verse 30).

Do the others in the boat fall down at Christ’s feet and worship him because he can walk on water? Because he can lift a drowning man out of the depths? Or because they recognise that in Christ they can find the end to all their worst dreams and nightmares?

Saint Paul almost chides us for these questions, reminding us that people have a variety of experiences that help them to grow in faith (see Romans 10: 10).

As seasoned boat-handlers, the Disciples know not to try walking on water. They know the risk of sudden storms and swells, and they know the safety of a good boat, as long as it has a good crew.

But since the early history of the Church, the boat has symbolised the Church.

The bark (barque or barchetta) symbolises the Church tossed on the sea of disbelief, worldliness, and persecution but finally reaching safe harbour. Part of the imagery comes from the ark saving Noah’s family during the Flood (I Peter 3: 20-21). Christ protects Saint Peter’s boat and the Disciples on the stormy Sea of Galilee (see also Mark 6: 45-52; John 6 16-21). The mast forms the shape of the Cross.

It is an image that appears in Apostolic Constitutions and the writings of Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria. We still retain the word nave for the main part of the church, which, architecturally often looks like an up-turned boat.

None of us should risk walking on water, or risk play stupidly in boats on the river or in choppy waters or storms. But if we are to dream dreams for our parish, for the Church, for the Kingdom of God, we need to be aware that it comes at the risk of feeling we are being sold out by those we see as brothers and sisters, and risk being seen as dreamers rather than people of action by others: for our dreams may be their nightmares.

If we are going to dream dreams for our parish, for the Church, for the Kingdom of God, we may need to step out of our safety zones, our comfort zones, and know that this comes with a risk warning.

And if we are going to dream dreams for our parish, for the Church, for the Kingdom of God, we need to keep our eyes focussed on Christ, and to know that the Church is there to bring us on that journey.

Let us dream dreams, take risks for the Kingdom of God, step outside the box, but let us keep our eyes on Christ and remember that the boat, the Church, is essential for our journey, and let us continue to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

A gondolier on the Grand Canal in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Ordinary Time, Year A).

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.

The Collect of the Word:

Mighty God and ruler of all creation,
give new strength to our faith,
that we may recognise your presence even when all hope seems lost.
Help us to face all trials with serenity
as we walk with Christ through the stormy seas of life
and come at last to your eternal peace.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and 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 fullness of your peace,
gather people of every race and language
to share in the eternal banquet
of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Boats tied up at Custom House Quay in Limerick, below Saint Mary’s Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Suggested Hymns:

Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28:

647, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah

Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b:

353, Give to our God immortal praise
361, Now thank we all our God
708, O praise ye the Lord! Praise him in the height
365, Praise to the Lord, the almighty, the King of creation

I Kings 19: 9-18:

325, Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here
549, Dear Lord and Father of mankind
593, O Jesus, I have promised
624, Speak, Lord, in the stillness
387, Thanks to God, whose Word was spoken

Psalm 85: 8-13:

695, God of mercy, God of grace
539, Rejoice, O land, in God thy might
140, The Lord will come and not be slow

Romans 10: 5-15:

501, Christ is the world’s true light
478, Go forth and tell! O Church of God, awake!
91, He is Lord, he is Lord
129, How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him
92, How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
522, In Christ there is no east or west
94, In the name of Jesus
211, Immortal love for ever full
335, Jesus calls us here to meet him
96, Jesus is Lord! Creation’s voice proclaims it
425, Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts
303, Lord of the Church, we pray for our renewing
106, O Jesus, King most wonderful
306, O Spirit of the living God
71, Saviour, again to thy dear name we raise
597, Take my life and let it be
117, To the name of our salvation
491, We have a gospel to proclaim

Matthew 14: 22-33:

612, Eternal Father, strong to save
648, God be with you till we meet again
28, I sing the almighty power of God
553, Jesu, lover of my soul
584, Jesus calls us! O’er the tumult
587, Just as I am, without one plea
652, Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
588, Light of the minds that know him
18, Lord, I come before your throne of grace
593, O Jesus, I have promised
34, O worship the King all–glorious above
366, Praise, my soul, the King of heaven
365, Praise to the Lord, the almighty, the King of creation
527, Son of God, eternal Saviour
110, Tell me the stories of Jesus
47, We plough the fields and scatter
680, Will your anchor hold in the storms of life
22, You shall cross the barren desert

Some forward planning:

The Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) has been offering recorded sermons as a Sunday resource for parishes throughout these islands.

The next recorded sermon from USPG will be available for Sunday 9 August (Trinity IX), and has been recorded by the Canon Patrick Comerford, who is a Trustee of USPG.

The Gospel passage (Matthew 14: 22-33) for next Sunday recounts Christ’s calming of the storm. On what will be the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki – which was home to one of the largest and oldest Christian communities in East Asia – Patrick asks, ‘Where do we find calm in the storms of the world today?’

USPG, one of the oldest Anglican mission agencies, sends out these sermons on the Thursday prior to the Sunday involved.

You can order this sermon for your church or parish by emailing Gwen Mtambirwa, USPG Mission Engagement Co-ordinator, gwenm@uspg.org.uk. In the email, include the name of your church (if it is for a church service), the time of the service, and if you have one, attach a high-resolution photograph of your church attached to your email as a jpeg.

‘When they got into the boat, the wind ceased’ (Matthew 14: 32) … Rabelo flat boats on the Douro River in Porto (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

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 hymns 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.

Boats by the banks of the River Deel at Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 2 August 2020, Eighth Sunday after Trinity

The miracle of the loaves and fishes in a fresco in Analipsi Church in Georgioupoli, Crete … there are only two fish, but the loaves of bread have already been multiplied (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 2 August 2020, is the Eighth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VIII).

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two pairs, the Continuous Readings and the Paired Readings.

The Continuous Readings: Genesis 32: 22-31; Psalm 17: 1-7, 16; Romans 9: 1-5; Matthew 14: 13-21.

There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.

The Paired readings: Isaiah 55: 1-5; Psalm 145: 8-9, 15-22; Romans 9: 1-5; Matthew 14: 13-21.

There is a link to the Paired Readings HERE.

Loaves and fishes … from a mosaic on the floor of the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, on the north-west shore of the Sea of Galilee, the earliest known example of a figured pavement in Palestinian Christian art (Photograph: Berthold Werner / Wikipedia)

Introducing the Readings:

In the first reading, Jacob is alone at night when he wrestles – with a man, with an angel, or, perhaps, even with God – until daybreak. Has he had a face-to-face encounter with God?

At daybreak, Jacob asks the wrestler for his name, but instead he receives a new name, Israel, ‘for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.’

In the Psalm, the psalmist cries out in the middle of the night to God in his quest for vindication, and seeks to see God’s face.

In the Epistle reading, Saint Paul wrestles with his own relationship with the children of Israel in God’s plan, and their unique place in God’s covenants.

In the Gospel reading, Christ wrestles with the disciples’ unwillingness to share their food and to feed the crowds who have followed them into the wilderness. He calls forth a great miracle and in feeding the multitude offers not only a lesson in generosity, but also a foretaste of the heavenly banquet and an object lesson in mission and outreach.

How do we face up to the unknown? And in doing so, are we surprised to find ourselves faced with God’s plans rather than our own?

Where do we encounter God – both in darkness and in light – where are we fed, both physically and spiritually?

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, Rembrandt, in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Wikimedia/Rijksmuseum)

Genesis 32: 22-31:

The story of Jacob wrestling with the angel has inspired great artists down the centuries, from Rembrandt and Gustave Doré to Marc Chagall and Sir Jacob Epstein. The story is much richer in the original Hebrew: there is wordplay, allusion, and vivid symbolism. Much of that is lost to us when we read it in English.

At a first reading, Jacob’s struggle with a mysterious being seems abrupt and vague. But this story sheds light on perennial aspects of the human condition: fear, dishonesty, destiny and integrity.

The angel in this episode is referred to as both ‘man’ (אִישׁ) and ‘God’ in Genesis, while the Book of Hosea (Hosea 12: 4) refers to an ‘angel’ (מַלְאָךְ). In this reading, Jacob is given a new name, Israel (verse 28), which means ‘contends-with-God.’

In the narrative in Genesis, Jacob is on the journey back to Canaan, and he spends the night alone on a riverside. There he meets a ‘man’ who wrestles with him until daybreak. In the end, Jacob is given the name ‘Israel’ and blessed, while the ‘man’ refuses to give his own name. Jacob then names the place where they wrestle Penuel (פְּנוּאֵל), meaning ‘face of God’ or ‘facing God.’

This account gives us several plays on the meaning of Hebrew names – Penuel and Israel – as well as similarity to the root of Jacob’s name, which sounds like the Hebrew for ‘heel’ and its compound.

The limping of Jacob (Yaʿaqob), may mirror the name of the river, Jabbok (Yabbok, יַבֹּק, sounds like ‘crooked’ river). The mediaeval Jewish scholar Nahmanides says the name Jacob means ‘one who walks crookedly.’

Jacob is a foundational figure in the Biblical narratives, but that does not mean he is a great leader. He is a follower, a bit of a sneak, all hinted at in the pronunciation of his name. He lies to his father Isaac, he is manipulated by his mother Rebecca, he steals his brother Esau’s blessing, he runs for his life, and then ends up under the thumb of Laban, his father-in-law, for many years.

Now Jacob has earned and accumulated many possessions, and is on his way to visit his estranged brother Esau, hoping to be reconciled with him. He is crossing the Jabbok, the boundary into Canaan, we might say he is crossing ‘his Rubicon.’ But, what man, still fearing the vengeance of his brother, would send the women and children in his family ahead of himself, unprotected, while he stays behind on his own?

Who wrestles with Jacob?

The Hebrew text of Genesis states that Jacob wrestles with a ‘man’ (אִישׁ). The Septuagint (LXX) renders this as ἄνθρωπος (Anthropos), the Vulgate as vir. But later Jacob identifies this ‘man’ with God (Elohim).

Later Jewish versions read ‘because I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face’ (Targum of Onkelos) and ‘because I have seen the Angels of the Lord face to face’ (Targum of Palestine).

Hosea 12:3-4 refers to the event, but is just as unclear. Verse 3 says Jacob ‘strove with God’ (NRSVA), while verse 4 says that Jacob ‘strove with the angel.’

In Hosea 12: 4, Jacob’s opponent is described as malakh (מַלְאָךְ), ‘angel’: ‘He strove with the angel and prevailed, he wept and sought his favour; he met him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him’ (Hosea 12: 4, NRSVA).

The relative age of the text of Genesis and of Hosea is unclear, as both are part of the Hebrew Bible as redacted in the Second Temple Period. It has been suggested that malakh may be a late emendation of the text, and could represent an early Jewish interpretation of the episode.

The mediaeval French rabbinical scholar Rashi (1040–1105) believed Jacob wrestled with the guardian angel of Esau, his elder twin brother. Maimonides (1138–1204) insisted angels are metaphors for the natural forces of the divine. In his Guide for the Perplexed (2: 42), he argues that Jacob never wrestled an angel, and instead said this was ‘a vision of prophecy.’

The interpretation that ‘Jacob wrestled with God’ (glossed in the name Isra-’el) was accepted by both Luther and Calvin, although Calvin believed the event was ‘only a vision.’

Other commentaries interpret the expression that Jacob had seen ‘God face to face’ as a reference to the Angel of the Lord as the ‘Face of God.’ Others suggest an encounter with the pre-existent, eternal Christ. The Zohar describes Jacob’s battle with the angel as symbolic of humanity’s struggle with our darker side.

Rabbi Shmuel Klitsner, a lecturer in Bible and Biblical Exegesis at Lindenbaum College, Jerusalem, and the author of Wrestling Jacob: Deception, Identity, and Freudian Slips in Genesis (Teaneck, NJ: Ben Yehuda Press, 2009), says this episode opens us to those things that keep us awake at night.

‘The things that you’re wrestling with are the things you’ve relegated to darkness. You can wrestle with things in the dark, but when the rise of dawn comes, that enlightenment is the most threatening part of this,’ Rabbi Klitsner told CBC Radio last year [17 September 2019]. ‘Our ways of prevaricating, of lying to ourselves or deceiving others don’t withstand the light of day.’

After he prevails in his fight with the ‘angel’ and receives his desired blessing, Jacob is injured at the hip. The sun rises, and he is given a new name, Israel, which means ‘he who wrestles with God.’ The new name reflects not only his personal struggle, but the destiny of an entire people, says Rabbi Klitsner.

Professor Tracy Lemos of Huron University College in London, Ontario, and the author of Violence and Personhood in Ancient Israel and Comparative Contexts (Oxford University Press, 2017) says this story ‘gets at the difficulty of reaching transcendence and reaching understanding.’

‘It’s not arrived at easily,’ says Dr Lemos. ‘And even in our moment of victory, we are just left limping toward transcendence. We are still wounded.’

‘This struggle of Jacob’s is so intensely human,’ says Rabbi Klitsner. ‘He needs his identity to evolve the same way I need my identity to evolve: Over time and through struggle.’

Jacob struggled with God and is given a new name, Israel. This change signifies a new era in Jacob’s life, and gives meaning to his future. Jacob is no longer cunning, he now has a mission, he is now divinely commissioned Israel and he is the father of God’s chosen people. Just as he has struggled with God, so does the nation. He is now protected by God, and God’s people now have a role in the unfolding story of salvation.

‘My footsteps hold fast in the ways of your commandments’ (Psalm 17: 5) … footsteps in the sand at Ballybunion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Psalm 17: 1-7, 16:

Psalm 17 is described as ‘a prayer of David.’ Verses 1-7 can be described as a prayer for God’s intervention on behalf of the righteous, and the concluding verse, verse 16, as a response of faith and hope.

The psalmist prays for deliverance from his accusers who behave deceitfully. May God show them that I am innocent. ‘Visit me by night,’ when I am asleep and defenceless. You will find me godly in action and word. I keep the Law and I have always been peaceful, unlike others. I have kept to God’s ways and never slipped. I am sure that God will hear me, and hear me now.

He asks God to show his love and mercy, already made known in God’s covenant with the people. Through his power, or with his right hand, God has saved those who seek refuge in God. The God who is asked to use his eyes to behold what is right (verse 2) is the God who will keep me as the apple of his eye (verse 8).

And so the psalmist is confident that he will see God’s face (see Jacob’s experience in our first reading) and be in the presence of God.

‘To … them belong … the covenants, the giving of the law … the patriarchs’ (Romans 9: 4-5) … Moses and the Law, a sculpture on the steps of the Palais de Justice in Perpignan (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Romans 9: 1-5:

The Apostle Paul writes in this reading about his great sorrow and unceasing anguish, as he switches his focus from Gentiles to his own people, the Jews. In a pun on his own circumcision, his lasting physical mark that he is a Jew, he would rather be cut off from Christ than to be cut off from his own flesh and blood.

He reminds his readers, who are in danger of counter-posing Jews and Gentiles that Jews or Israelites are God’s chosen people, with a name given to Jacob in our first reading. As such are the recipients of seven great religious gifts from God:

● Adoption: being chosen as children of God and members of God’s family
● Glory: God’s presence in the Sinai and in the Temple
● The Covenants: between God and the patriarchs
● The giving of the Law: the covenant on Mount Sinai and the Torah
● The worship: the worship of the one God in the Temple
● The promises: to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and David
● The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob)

There is an eighth gift too, he points out: the Messiah, who is born a Jew.

Feeding the 5,000 … a modern Greek Orthodox icon

Matthew 14: 13-21:

The feeding of the multitude is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels (see Mark 6: 30-44; Luke 9: 12-17; John 6: 1-15), with only minor variations on the place and the circumstances.

In the verses immediately before this reading, Saint Matthew tells of the beheading of Saint John the Baptist, who was executed after he denounced Herod Antipas for marrying his brother Philip’s wife, while Philip was still alive (see Matthew 14: 1-11).

The disciples of Saint John the Baptist took his body and buried it – a foreshadowing of how his disciples are going to desert Christ at his own death and burial – and they then go to Christ to tell him the news (verse 12).

When Jesus hears this, he takes a boat and withdraws to a deserted place. But the crowds follow him on foot around the shore and find him, and when he comes ashore there is a great crowd waiting for him. He has compassion for them, and he cures the sick among them (verses 13-14).

But a greater miracle is about to unfold – perhaps even two greater miracles.

This is a story of a miracle, but which miracle?

The multiplication of the five loaves and two fish is a miracle in itself, of course. But we might consider how there is another miracle here too.

Saint Matthew places this story in a section in his Gospel about training the disciples for their mission. So, perhaps, Christ is teaching them about how they can do this.

Christ tells the people to sit down – well, not so much to sit down as to recline (ἀνακλίνω, anaklíno, verse 19). 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.

In verse 19, we have a reminder of the feeding of the people in the Wilderness (see Exodus 16), but also a foretaste or anticipation of the Last Supper (see Matthew 26: 20-29), the Eucharistic feast, and of the Messianic banquet at the end of time.

Christ takes bread, looks up to heaven, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them to distribute it among the people.

The feeding with the fish also looks forward to the Resurrection. 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.’

In verse 20, we are told all ate and were filled (see Exodus 16: 15-18, Numbers 11: 31-32; Elisha’s food miracles, II Kings 4:42-44; cf John 6: 31-33, Revelation 2: 17). In Apocryphal writings, II Baruch 29: 8, a Jewish pseudepigraphical text thought to date from the late 1st century AD or early 2nd century AD, also connects the feeding in the wilderness in Exodus 16 with the Messianic age.

There is yet another level to the story in verse 20. The disciples get everyone to work together with a common purpose. All are filled, and yet much is left over: a basket for each disciple. Each of them has a mission, telling the good news of the infinite abundance of God's love and the kingdom in which all can eat.

A variety of bread gathered in a basket in a restaurant in Panormos, near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A reflection on the Gospel reading:

Whether they are Birthdays, baptisms, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, retirements, or parish celebrations, we all enjoy a good party. Parties affirm who we are, where we fit within the family, and mark the rhythm of life and the continuity of families and communities.

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 is said in Ireland – getting to know ‘their seed, breed and generation.’

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?

In this story, the disciples have failed to buy or produce enough bread for a meal. Christ responds not by sympathising but by demanding great generosity (see verse 18).

The disciples gather up what is left over. Gathering is an act of reverential economy towards the gifts of God; but gathering also anticipates Christ gathering all to himself. The amount that is left over is a sign of 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, looks forward to the new Israel, not the sort of earthly kingdom that the people now want but the Kingdom of God.

Christ puts no questions of belief to the disciples or to the crowd when he feeds them on the mountainside. They do not believe in the Resurrection – it has yet to happen. But he feeds them, and he feeds them indiscriminately. The disciples wanted to send them away (verse 15), but Christ wants to count them in. Christ invites more people to the banquet than we can fit into our churches.

We often describe this story as the Feeding of the Multitude, or the Feeding of the Five Thousand. But how many people are there?

Verse 21 tells us that there were ‘about five thousand men,’ but adds also, ‘besides women and children.’

We often describe this story as the Feeding of the Multitude, or the Feeding of the Five Thousand. But how many people are there?

Verse 21 tells us that there were ‘about five thousand men,’ but adds also, ‘besides women and children.’

If there were 5,000 men there that day, and one woman and two children for each couple, we are then talking about the feeding of 20,000 people, or the population of a town like Wexford, Celbridge or Mullingar.

Sir Colin J Humphreys of Selwyn College Cambridge, former Professor of Materials Science, in his analysis of the number of people in the Exodus suggests the number of Israelite men over the age of 20 in the census following the Exodus 5,000, and not 603,550. He attributes the apparent error to an error in interpreting or translating the Hebrew word ’lp (אלף), and he goes on to suggest the number of men, women and children at the Exodus was about 20,000. Both of his figures correlate with the figures for the feeding of the multitude in this Gospel reading.

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

As we enjoy the feast, enjoy the banquet, enjoy the party, share the Eucharist, are we prepared to be open to more being brought in to enjoy the banquet and the party than our imagination allows us to imagine.

The miracle of the five loaves and two fish … a modern Ethiopian painting in Mount Saint Joseph Abbey, Roscrea (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Matthew 14: 13-21 (NRSVA):

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ 16 Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ 17 They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ 18 And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

‘Send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves’ (Matthew 14: 15) … bread on sale in a bakery in Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Year A, Ordinary Time).

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.

The Collect of the Word:

O God, giver of life and health,
whose Son Jesus Christ has called us to hunger and thirst for justice,
refresh us with your grace,
that we may not be weary in well-doing,
for the sake of him who meets all our needs,
Jesus Christ our Saviour;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for 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 fullness of your life;
glory to you for ever.

‘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)

Suggested Hymns:

Genesis 32: 22-31:

418, Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face
226, It is a thing most wonderful
592 , Love that wilt not let me go

Psalm 17: 1-7, 16:

635, Lord, be my guardian and my guide
620, O Lord, hear my prayer

Isaiah 55: 1-5:

646, Glorious things of thee are spoken
576, I heard the voice of Jesus say
557, Rock of ages, cleft for me
448, The trumpets sound, the angels sing

Psalm 145: 8-9, 15-22:

42, Good is the Lord, our heavenly King
365, Praise to the Lord, the almighty, the King of creation

Romans 9: 1-5:

303, Lord of the Church, we pray for our renewing
545, Sing of Eve and sing of Adam
323, The God of Abraham praise

Matthew 14: 13-21:

379, Break thou the bread of life
39, For the fruits of his creation
647, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
428, Let us break bread together, we are one
435, O God unseen, yet ever near

Some forward planning:

The Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) has been offering recorded sermons as a Sunday resource for parishes throughout these islands.

The next recorded sermon from USPG will be available for Sunday 9 August (Trinity IX), and is being recorded by the Canon Patrick Comerford, who is a Trustee of USPG.

The Gospel passage (Matthew 14: 22-33) that Sunday recounts Christ’s calming of the storm. On what will be the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki – which was home to one of the largest and oldest Christian communities in East Asia – Patrick asks, ‘Where do we find calm in the storms of the world today?’

USPG, one of the oldest Anglican mission agencies, sends out these sermons on the Thursday prior to the Sunday involved.

You can order this sermon for your church or parish by emailing Gwen Mtambirwa, USPG Mission Engagement Co-ordinator, gwenm@uspg.org.uk. In the email, include the name of your church (if it is for a church service), the time of the service, and if you have one, attach a high-resolution photograph of your church attached to your email as a jpeg.

‘Let you eye behold what is right … Keep me as the apple of your eye’ (Psalm 17: 2, 8) (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 hymns 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.