Today is Sunday the 22nd of September, beginning the 25th week of Ordinary Time. Moira Smiley sings, ‘Keep Me Safe’, a setting of Psalm 16 by Steven Faux. As you listen, can you make these words your own, turning this song into your own prayer? Today’s reading is from the Book of Wisdom. Wisdom 2:12,17-20 ‘Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.’ Disturbing words today from what sounds like a group of trap-setters, a gang of bullies, lying in wait for an opportune moment to catch their prey, here ‘the righteous man’. Do the words remind you of any other part of Scripture? Or of any other events or characters? Perhaps you are subjected to testing of this kind. Let God hold you very close in this moment. Spend some time, right now, praying for followers of Christ - the world over - who are being persecuted for what they believe. As you hear the passage again, immerse yourself in the darkness of it. It might help you to understand the kind of trouble that people who are persecuted today are going through. It might give you a window into the very testing that Jesus himself experienced. As this prayer time comes to a close, on this Sunday, a day when many can worship God in freedom, ask God to renew your prayers for those who are persecuted. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Sunday 22 September 2024