09/12/2026
Readings and Prayers for the week September 13th-19th
CAROA/NAECC Cycle of Prayer
Day 13
Brotherhood of St. Gregory
Sisters of St. Gregory
Day 14
Worker Brothers of the Holy Spirit and Worker Sisters of the Holy Spirit
Day 15
Companions of St. Luke-Benedictine
Day 16
Order of St. Aidan & St. Hilda
Lindisfarne Community
Day 17
Northumbria Community
Community at the Crossing
Day 18
Society of St. John the Evangelist
Day 19
Community of Francis and Clare
Sunday 13th: The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. Proper 19 Week 24. Psalter Week IV
God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Today’s Gospel is Matthew 18 v21-35. What the teachings of Jesus about the relationships within the Christian community had been leading up to in past lections could be summed up in one word ‘forgiveness.’ We may note that in order for forgiveness to be needed there have to be standards and values that have been violated and much hurt felt. This to the point that it is often extremely difficult for forgiveness to be given. Christian forgiveness takes on the perpetrators, the victims and what happened very seriously. Forgiveness does not wipe out the sin but fulfils righteousness. Therefore, how often should we forgive? The Rabbis said three times, Peter suggested seven times, but Jesus didn’t want to keep score by saying ‘seventy times seven times.’ He was simply saying ‘always.’
The Anglican and Porvoo Cycle: The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia: Abp. Sione Uluilakepa, who is the Primate for Tikanga Pasefika and Bishop of Polynesia.
Ribe (Denmark): Bp. Elof Westergaard. The diocese has 219 churches and 200 parishes serving 295,860 members.
Bath and Wells (England): Bp. Michael Beasley with Bp. Fiona Gibson (Taunton). The diocese has 171 benefices containing 466 parishes and over 560 church buildings. The regular worshipping community is roughly 23,000 people.
Monday 14th: Holy Cross Day. This feast in honour of the Cross of Christ was originally called The Exaltation of the Cross and was to remember the exposition of the supposed true cross at Jerusalem by the Emperor Heraclius after he had recovered it from the Persians into whose hands it had fallen in 614. This event actually took place in the spring but at some point became linked to the annual commemoration of the dedication of the basilica built over the site of the crucifixion by the Emperor Constantine which was dedicated on this date in 335. Although the cross has a central place in our churches, we keep this as an extra special time to remember that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. So let us give thanks for the love of God, which knows no limits, and the sacrifice made by Jesus so that we may be reconciled to our Heavenly Father.
John 3 v13-17. From the beginning of his Gospel John prepared his readers for the eventual death of Jesus, and here in verse 14 John introduced the image of Jesus being lifted up “and just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” The image of Jesus being lifted up is used several times in this gospel. Verse 16 repeats the promise that “everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life,” and goes on to add “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
The Anglican Cycle: Blackburn (England): Bp. Philip North with Bp. Jill Duff (Lancaster) and Bp. Joe Kennedy (Burnley). The diocese has 170 benefices containing 225 parishes and 278 churches/ licensed worship centres. There are 163 full-time stipendiary clergy and others who serve on a voluntary basis.
Tuesday 15th: St. Cyprian of Carthage (c200- 258): Cyprian was a public orator, a teacher of rhetoric and a lawyer. He was converted to Christianity in his mid-twenties, became a disciple of Tertullian, and gave up all classical study, concentrating on the scriptures and the works of the early Fathers. He was ordained and was around the age of 48 when he was elected bishop of Carthage. He left his See during the persecutions of Decian but kept in touch through messengers. Upon his return he had to adjudicate about clergy who had sacrificed to Roman gods or produced false certificates to the authorities stating that they had done so to save their lives. Some Christians, knowing that their fellows had been martyred for refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods felt that those who had survived by denying their God should be excommunicated. Cyprian took a more moderate line, expecting them to confess their weakness and allowing them to be reconciled after penances and a suitable period of time. During the persecutions of Valerian, Cyprian was exiled for a time but returned to Carthage and was martyred in 258. We give thanks for all those who have, over the centuries, given up their lives rather than deny Our Lord.
Today is also a memorial to Our Lady of Sorrows.
Luke 7 v11-17. The mention of disciples and a large crowd in verse 11 informs us that not only did crowds gather around Jesus to hear him, but also followed him around. On this occasion as he and those with him were about to enter the gate to the town of Nain another crowd of people were coming out, these, however, were mourners. A sad gathering as the dead person was a young man, the only son of a widow. Not only had the woman lost her husband, but also her son, and thereby her means of support. Many women were rendered destitute if they had no close family to support them especially when in their old age. Unlike in other healing stories nobody asked Jesus to help, he did so out of compassion for the woman, and when he had revived the dead man Jesus gave him to his mother. Perhaps remembering how Elijah had raised the dead son of a widow, and gave him to his mother, or Elisha also reviving a woman’s son, the crowd glorified God and said “A great prophet has risen among us.” Word quickly spread about Jesus throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
The Anglican Cycle: Bo (West Africa): Bp. Solomon Scott-Manga. The diocese covers the southern and eastern parts of Sierra Leone. The City of Bo is the second largest in the country. The diocese runs schools, nursery programmes, agricultural initiatives for food security. Numbers of churches and clergy are not published.
Wednesday 16th: St. Ninian. Born around the year 360, the son of a Cumbrian chieftain who had converted to Christianity, according to tradition. He received training in the Christian faith in Rome, returning to Britain bringing back a relic of St. Martin. It is claimed that he established a monastery at Candida Casa, the White House, in Southern Scotland, then the land of the Picts, and became the bishop of the province of Bernicia where he established many churches. The region later bearing the name was south of the border and later still called Northumbria. He and his monks engaged in missionary journeys as far as Stirling and Perth. He died around the year 432. The cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal diocese of St. Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane is named after him and is in Perth. As we give thanks for St. Ninian’s life, let us pray for the Scottish Episcopal Church today, and especially for St. Ninian’s Cathedral and all other churches dedicated to him.
Luke 7 v31-35. This section is addressed to people who rejected both John the Baptist and Jesus for opposite reasons. Jesus called them ‘the people of this generation,’ namely the Pharisees and ones who had refused John’s baptism and were using every opportunity to discredit Jesus. They were like children playing at festivals and funerals who accuse John and Jesus for not joining in the dances – John because in the critics view he was always fasting and Jesus because he was always feasting and that often with those whom society had marginalised. In spite of the scoffing words of those who clung to the ways of “this generation” wisdom would have many children. In them God’s wise plan would be vindicated as it reached fulfilment.
The Anglican Cycle: Boga (Democratic Republic of Congo): Bp. William Bahemuka Mugenyi. The diocese is situated in the eastern region with Boga in its southern part. This is a volatile area which faces humanitarian challenges including conflicts with armed militia and ADF rebels, population displacement and Ebola outbreaks. Numbers of clergy, members etc are not centrally published. This is an area that we should keep in our prayers.
Thursday 17th: St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 1179) Hildegard was the tenth and last child of Hildebert of Bemersheim and his wife Mechtild. At the age of eight she was sent to be taught by Jutta of Disibodenberg, who also became her spiritual guide. When fifteen Hildegard became a nun, with her and Jutta forming the beginnings of a religious community. Over the course of time other women joined them. When Jutta died in 1136 Hildegard became the prioress of the community. She had a number of visions, and a monk called Volmar helped her to understand them and write them down. She wrote at length, including a natural history and a medical compendium. She also wrote hymns and motets, which are still sung and enjoyed by many today, also many letters of advice and counsel to prominent people, including popes and emperors. She wrote to Henry II of England, before the murder of Becket, warning him about the abuse of power. Her monastery grew greatly in numbers, and she moved them to Bingen. Let us give thanks for her music, and also pray for all church musicians of our own time.
Luke 7 v36-end. The discussion with the Pharisees continued with Jesus accepting a meal at the house of one of them. Whereas the NRSV says Jesus took his place at the table, the Greek text says he reclined, which makes more sense of the woman being able to anoint his feet as they would be up on a couch. She said no words but her action of washing his feet with her tears and drying them with her hair and anointing them with expensive perfumed ointment. The Pharisee complained that if Jesus was really a prophet he should have recognised what kind of woman she was for she was a sinner. Jesus responded with a story about two people whose debts were cancelled by a creditor, one for 500 denarii and the other for fifty. Jesus asked Simon, the Pharisee, which of the debtors would love the creditor more? Simon replied that he supposed the one who was forgiven more. Jesus then told Simon that although he had not offered to wash his feet (a usual custom in a hot country when taking off the outdoor sandals) but the woman had, and she had kissed him and anointed him. Her sins which were many were forgiven, as he told her, adding “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Those at the table said among themselves “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Who is this… will become a repeated theme.
The Anglican Cycle: Bolivia (South America): Following the death of Bp. Walter Martinez in April there is a vacancy in See. The Roman Catholic and Evangelical/Pentecostal churches are in a majority in Bolivia. The Anglicans are spread thinly, numbering in the hundreds to low thousands and based mainly in the four cities Santa Cruz, Cristo Luz del Mundo, Cochabamba and Tarija.
Friday 18th: Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800 – 1882). From the age of 28 he was Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford University and a leading member of the Tractarian Movement for forty years. He wrote two of the tracts, on fasting and on baptism, and his sermon on the Eucharist got him suspended from public preaching for two years. However, this gained him much publicity and sales of the tracts increased and became increasingly influential. In the great cholera epidemic of 1866, he did outstanding work in caring for the sick. Two years after his death his friends and admirers established Pusey House in Oxford, a library and study centre. Let us pray for the Principal, the Revd. Dr. George Westhaver, the staff and their work today. (England has Pusey on their calendar for Tuesday as well as Ninian and ECUSA has him for today, as England has a blank for today I am siding with ECUSA)
Luke 8 v1-3. Jesus continued journeying around the country proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God. At this point the twelve were learning from Jesus by accompanying him, but soon they would be ready to be sent out on their own. Along with them were also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities and were giving practical and financial assistance. They included Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna, who would continue to follow Jesus for the rest of his ministry and be the ones who witnessed his entombment and in the case of Mary Magdalene, his resurrection.
The Anglican Cycle: Bondo (Kenya): Bp. Prof. David Kodia. The diocese was inaugurated in 2000 with 19 parishes. It now has 50. Bp. David has spent much of his working life as an academic, and was Principal of St. Philips Theological College, Maseno in the 1990s, then of Bishop Okullu College at the Great Lakes University of Kisumu, becoming the Acting Vice Chancellor until elected bishop in 2017. The diocese runs a wide range of social, economic and spiritual programmes aimed at community development, economic self-reliance, and youth empowerment. Including St. Timothy Children’s Hope Centre which provides training in the use of computers, training for various occupations, and guiding and counselling. It also runs savings schemes and loan associations. They also coordinate emergency responses to give food, meals and clothing to vulnerable households and single parent families during times of drought or economic strain. Their 500 seat cathedral is now too small and are overseeing a massive community-funded construction project to build a new 1,500 seat cathedral.
Saturday 19th: St. Theodore of Tarsus (602 -90) We know little of Theodore’s early life, except that he came from St. Paul’s city of Tarsus and studied there and in Athens. He was a refugee from Islam when he moved to Rome and then Naples as a Greek scholar. In an extraordinary move Pope Vitalian appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury in 668. Theodore, aged sixty-six, was a Greek monk who spoke no English and knew very little about the country, but the pope sensed something very special about him, and he was recommended by abbot Adrian. The state of the English church following the Synod of Whitby, four years earlier, was shambolic. There was still dissension between the Celtic and Latin monks, plague had decimated the episcopate and many of the people had relapsed into their former pagan beliefs. Theodore was a lay monk, so had to be ordained quickly through the orders to archbishop. He had to let his hair grow in order to take the tonsure. It took him a year to reach Canterbury, during which time he learnt to speak the English of the day. He established a cathedral school in Canterbury, under the African abbot, Adrian, who had come with him from Rome, and placed Benedict Biscop, who also came with him, as abbot of the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul. Theodore set off on a journey taking in most parts of the country, and in 672 called an episcopal synod at Hertford which, among other decrees, confirmed the Latin date for Easter and specified that bishops should only carry out missionary journeys and preachments in their own dioceses. A further synod in 679 was called to ratify changes which Theodore had made at the previous one, which had been poorly attended. During the intervening years he had appointed bishops to the vacant sees and created new ones. East Anglia was split in two, as was Mercia. Northumbria, which had been administered from York was divided into three. Wilfrid was annoyed at being given the smallest see and complained to the pope. Theodore ignored the pope’s order to restore Wilfrid. When Biscop was made Bishop of Worcester, Adrian was made abbot of the monastery in Canterbury. Theodore was ruthless and not very tactful, but he managed to turn the chaos he found when he became archbishop into a manageable church for the whole country, and for that the English owe him a debt of gratitude! He died in 690 at the age of eighty-eight.
Luke 8 v4-15. The parable of the Sower must be one of the best known of the parables and through it Jesus was warning his followers and the crowds that gathered around him that simply listening to him was not enough. The word would only effective if it could take root and the hearers become doers. That required them to hold it fast in an honest and good heart, so that they could bear fruit with patient endurance.
The Anglican Cycle: Bor (South Sudan): Abp. Moses Anur Ayom, who is diocesan bishop and Archbishop of the Jonglei Internal Province. Anglicans make up over 90% of the local population. The diocese is in some disarray as the previous bishop Rubin Akurdit was removed from office for canonical disobedience. He rejected his removal and remains living in Bor with a large group of supporters.
Pray each day for the men and women that God is drawing to the Religious Life.
For Monastic and Religious Orders and Vocations
O Lord Jesus Christ, you became poor for our sake, that we might be made rich through your poverty: Guide and sanctify, we pray, those whom you call to follow you under the vows of religious life and community, that by their prayer and service they may enrich your Church, and by their life and worship may glorify your Name; for you reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
