The Feast of St Paul Miki and Companions | Tuesday 6 February 2024

Today is Tuesday the 6th of February, the feast of St Paul Miki and Companions, in the fifth week of Ordinary time.

Julia Shaw with We Are Bread And Wine sings, ‘God is With Us’.

From dust we are and shall return
Naked we came and shall return
Fullness of breath in our lungs
Was your first gift to us
So breathe again and we will live closer to love
Marvellous light flashed in your eyes as you hung the sky
Your world teemed with life branches and vine chaos refined
No eye has seen no ear has heard
How you make beauty with time
Teach us your ways
Teach us to die
So we may rise
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
God is with us




Today’s reading is from the first book of Kings.

1 Kings 8: 22-23, 27-30

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. He said, ‘O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart.

‘But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! Have regard to your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; that your eyes may be open night and day towards this house, the place of which you said, “My name shall be there”, that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays towards this place. Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray towards this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling-place; heed and forgive.

Today, we hear the public prayer of a rich, powerful king from a place of deep humility and reverence before God. That sounds like a winning formula. Where would you like to pray for this posture of ‘deep humility’ and ‘reverence’ to be seen in the world today?

Consider Solomon’s physical stance as he addresses God: ‘he stood before the altar of the Lord …… and spread out his hands to heaven’. How might attention to physical posture help us in praying? Does it help you?

Solomon pleads with God to “heed and forgive”. Where is there a need for God’s forgiveness today for you on a corporate level? On a personal level? Sometimes it’s glaringly obvious, sometimes it’s quite subtle, so notice what rises to the surface naturally for you…

Listen to the passage again. Notice what stands out for you…

As this time of reflection draws to a close, allow your vision to widen. Look to the world around you. “My name shall be there.”

Perhaps you might like to pray these words over somewhere in the world today: ‘Let God’s name be there’.

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.