St James's Church, Sussex Gardens

16/06/2026

16/06/2026

TODAY'S READING
1 Kings 21:17-29
After the death of Naboth the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite:
"Start down to meet Ahab, king of Israel,
who rules in Samaria.
He will be in the vineyard of Naboth,
of which he has come to take possession.
This is what you shall tell him,
'The LORD says: After murdering, do you also take possession?
For this, the LORD says:
In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth,
the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.'"
Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me out, my enemy?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the LORD's sight,
I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you
and will cut off every male in Ahab's line,
whether slave or freeman, in Israel.
I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat,
and like that of Baasha, son of Ahijah,
because of how you have provoked me by leading Israel into sin."
(Against Jezebel, too, the LORD declared,
"The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.")
"When one of Ahab's line dies in the city,
dogs will devour him;
when one of them dies in the field,
the birds of the sky will devour him."
Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil
in the sight of the LORD as did Ahab,
urged on by his wife Jezebel.
He became completely abominable by following idols,
just as the Amorites had done,
whom the LORD drove out before the children of Israel.

When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments
and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh.
He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued.
Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite,
"Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?
Since he has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his time.
I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son."

REFLECTION
Like the story of David and Bathsheba, the story of Naboth's vineyard is not just one of injustice and the abuse of power.
It's also about repentance and mercy.
In both stories it is the intervention of a third party - Elijah here, Nathan to David - that brings about that 'moment' when the full realisation in the penitent of what they have done.
Sometimes we need an outside observer to show us the reality of the actions our own hubris cannot or will not see.
This is God working through that person.
It's never going to be comfortable: no-one likes being told they're in the wrong!
But often it's only that outsider who can help us to see what we cannot see ourselves.
What a wondrous gift that is.
To be the person who brings another back to God!

15/06/2026

Low Mass on Monday of Trinity II

15/06/2026

Join us, tonight, for this concert at St James's with our local Paddington Community Choir !

Join us on Monday 15th June at 7.45pm as our local Paddington Community Choir offers a sparkling variety of summer music, sacred and secular, here at St James's. Free entry, with wine purchases to the Friends of St Mary's Charity here in Paddington.

15/06/2026

TODAY'S READING
1 Kings 21:1-16
Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel
next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.
Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden,
since it is close by, next to my house.
I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or,
if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.”
Naboth answered him, “The LORD forbid
that I should give you my ancestral heritage.”
Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answer
Naboth the Jezreelite had made to him:
“I will not give you my ancestral heritage.”
Lying down on his bed, he turned away from food and would not eat.

His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him,
“Why are you so angry that you will not eat?”
He answered her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite
and said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or,
if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.’
But he refused to let me have his vineyard.”
His wife Jezebel said to him,
“A fine ruler over Israel you are indeed!
Get up.
Eat and be cheerful.
I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.”

So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and,
having sealed them with his seal,
sent them to the elders and to the nobles
who lived in the same city with Naboth.
This is what she wrote in the letters:
“Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.
Next, get two scoundrels to face him
and accuse him of having cursed God and king.
Then take him out and stone him to death.”
His fellow citizens—the elders and nobles who dwelt in his city—
did as Jezebel had ordered them in writing,
through the letters she had sent them.
They proclaimed a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people.
Two scoundrels came in and confronted him with the accusation,
“Naboth has cursed God and king.”
And they led him out of the city and stoned him to death.
Then they sent the information to Jezebel
that Naboth had been stoned to death.

When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned to death,
she said to Ahab,
“Go on, take possession of the vineyard
of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you,
because Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way
down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,
to take possession of it.

REFLECTION
Along with the story of David and Bathsheba, today's reading from the First Book of Kings is a text book exposition on the abuse of power: on the injustice meted by the powerful on the powerless.
Naboth is sacrificed on the altar of the hubris of King Ahab.
Ahab gets what he wants - albeit through the machinations of his Macbethean wife, Jezebel - at the highest price imaginable: the life of Naboth.
One question this story poses will always be about the power that we weild over others: and we DO all weild power over others.
An example:
When we go to a shop, we, the customer, wield power over the person behind the counter. They can also wield power over us.
In every interaction, there is a balance between rights and responsibilities.
In JB Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls', the abuse of power a family has wielded over the same person is ruthlessly unveiled by the mysterious inspector: "We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other."
It should remind us of the words of Jesus: "Who is my neighbour?"
The answer is: everyone.

14/06/2026

Trinity II

14/06/2026

PRAYER FOR THE SECOND SECOND AFTER TRINITY

Lord, you have taught us
that all our doings without love are nothing worth:
send your Holy Spirit
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues,
without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

13/06/2026

TODAY'S READING
1 Kings 19:19-21

Elijah set out, and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat,
as he was ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen;
he was following the twelfth.
Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him.
Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said,
"Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,
and I will follow you."
Elijah answered, "Go back!
Have I done anything to you?"
Elisha left him and, taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them;
he used the ploughing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh,
and gave it to his people to eat.
Then he left and followed Elijah as his attendant.

REFLECTION
As I have said before, these Old Covenant readings should make us remember stories of Jesus: they point towards Him, prepare us for Him.
Jesus may well have had this story in mind when he spoke about the reality of discipleship.
Not just the command to 'Come, follow me', but what that means to those who hear those words.
As he says in St Luke's Gospel: "“No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
It may also remind us of the would-be disciples of Jesus:
“I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
And the reply of the Lord.
"No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Following Jesus - if done anything like seriously - has never been easy and never will be.
But those of us who have the heard the call - "Come, follow me" - can do nothing but try.
With the help of God's grace, obvs!

12/06/2026

PRAYER FOR THE FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART

O most holy heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore you, I love you, and with lively sorrow for my sins I offer you this poor heart of mine. Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient to your will. Grant, Good Jesus, that I may live in you and for you. Protect me in the midst of danger. Comfort me in my afflictions. Give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs, your blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death. Amen.