Praying Together 15th March 2026

So the commandment is a challenge. To love those who betray you. Those who jeer. Those who wield the whips embedded with flint, hammer in the nails, pierce your side.

Mothering Sunday 2026

Collect

Heavenly Father, you chose the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of our Lord, your only begotten Son, and to suffer with him. Help us too to bear the cross so that we may share with her in your life for ever. This we ask through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Luke 2:25 – 35

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother marvelled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Reflection

…the consolation of Israel…

There are several annoying pieces of advice that have been around for centuries when people are looking for help and reassurance. ‘It’s always darkest just before dawn’ ‘it is what it is’. The technological version of helpful (not) suggestions is ‘Try switching it off and on again’.

Having said which, sometimes a complete reset is indeed the only option.

Since the beginning of time, God has given Israel plenty of opportunity to turn away from sin and obey His Commandments. They don’t; they follow their own way. And every time, disaster follows.

An impatient god would get sick of being ignored and leave humanity to it. The true God who created us isn’t about to do that – He loves His creation too much. He resorts to the only option that can work – the total reset that allows the world to start again. He sends His only Son to be the ‘consolation’ of Israel.

“Consolation” in this context refers to comfort or solace, pointing to the long-awaited hope of deliverance and restoration, rooted in the promises of the Hebrew Scriptures. This hope identified a person (the Messiah) who would bring redemption to Israel and, ultimately, to the world.

Isaiah spoke about it and prophesied.

40:1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

Unfortunately, no-one listened. They refused to believe, relying on strict (and impossible) adherence to the Law for their salvation. Prophets came and went with the same outcome, but you have to wonder whether the Jewish authorities actually wanted a Messiah at all. They worried about the risk of not being able to use the Law as leverage to exert their power as judge and jury over the people.

They denied the voice of the Holy Spirit by failing to trust those prophesies; but ordinary people like Anna and Simeon heard and believed.

Simeon, though, didn’t just hear about the Messiah being incarnate in the child – he also knew that the child’s destiny would involve pain and suffering in order to fulfil His mission. And Mary knew too. The consolation of Israel – of the world – would cost her the life of her child. And that gives additional meaning to the song in Luke’s Gospel we know as the Magnificat and Mary’s acceptance of her role. ‘Let it be to me according to Thy Word’