Judith Russenberger

Proper 10, 7th Sunday after Trinity

19th July 2026

Reflection with readings below.

We have heard in previous weeks of Paul wrestling because, although he know what he should do, he does what he shouldn’t do. We have heard Jesus and the Pharisees puzzle why a ‘good’ person chooses to mix with ‘bad’ people – and that it is those who are ill who need the attention of the doctor. We have considered that sin might be ignoring – or being ignorant of – and pursuing the opposite of, God’s wisdom. And we have considered systemic sin – sin we are sucked into not by choice but because it is a sin that embraces the whole system or structure within which we live.

For example, God’s wisdom tells us to welcome the stranger but we in the UK live within a system where the current law makes many strangers unwelcome – and indeed turns them away. This system makes it impossible to fully fulfil God’s word. This is not to say we shouldn’t repent of the sin, nor that we shouldn’t try to do as best we can to welcome the stranger, nor that we shouldn’t try to change the system. However as individuals are ability will be limited.

The parable from today’s gospel may be one way of exploring the issue of systemic sin. We believe and trust that the world which God has entrusted to us, is inherently good.But we are also acutely aware that systems have grown up within our societies that are not inherently good. Systems that have different objectives from those desired by God. Think of our economic system. God’s desire is for the flourishing of all people alike, for the flourishing of the natural environment, for flourishing biodiversity. Our economic system is predicated on the objective of maximising profit. It is not concerned with who gets the profit but the systems bent is such that once someone has wealth they will tend to grow richer, whilst someone who hasn’t will start off from a disadvantage. The system is also bent in favour of things which have a clearly identifiable monetary value – it favours building houses which have a market determined price, rather than the value of family life. It favours things that can be bought and sold – it favours oil and gas which have a market determined price rather than clean air, for air is too fluid and uncontainable to be bought and sold.

It would be lovely to be able to completely uproot the economic system that we have and get rid of its systemic evil. But to do so would – at least in the short term – lead to loss of jobs and livelihoods; it would cause the collapse of shops and supply chains leading to theft and rioting; it would lead to power cuts, the failure of water supply and sewage systems, the collapse of social care infrastructure etc etc.

This stickiness should not prevent us from trying to prune and reshape – and overcome and replace – the economic system we have inherited.

Last week, members of synod debated a motion calling on the Church Commissioners to restore and protect 30% of the land they control for nature – for the restoration and conservation of biodiversity. The motioned failed even though it is clear to everyone that we have already lost so much biodiversity that it threatens the health and wellbeing of our future. Declining biodiversity will lead to more flooding, poorer soils, more disease, less protection from the elements, poorer harvests, less happiness.

The motioned failed because the way we farm the land is tied up within an economic system that can put a price on a tonne of wheat but not on sky full of swallows, that can put a price on a pint of milk but not on a stretch of clean river, that can put a price on a plank of wood but not on the life of an oak tree.

The motion failed because farm tenants are paid to grow crops, not to supply clean air; to rear cattle, not to maintain flood plains; to produce eggs, not to protect pollinators. The motion failed because farm tenants have to maximise profits to pay rents, and because the Commissioners have to maximise returns on investment to finance the Church. The motion failed because we as consumers want cheap food or – as is often the case – because the economic system does not pay us enough to pay a fair price for fairly produced food. The motion failed because we as consumers don’t want to pay for clean air, for fertile soils, for flood management etc. Or maybe because there is no way as consumers we can buy these life-giving products? The motion failed because as consumers we want to eat more meat and dairy rather than eating more plant based items – and therefore require a land-use pattern which allocates land for livestock rather than nature.

What then should we do? What then is the wisdom of God? The people of Ancient Israel took on board God-given laws that required that the land have time to rest and recover, that fields and trees should not be stripped to the bone, that the harvest should be shared with the vulnerable. The prophets passed on God’s wisdom about caring for the land, caring for the vulnerable, and being in a good relationship with God and with all that God has created. Jesus taught the importance of questioning the rules and traditions we grow up with, about sharing what we do have, about avoiding greed, about caring for the vulnerable and for those society despises. We have the radical example of the early church pooling and sharing their resources.

As Christians we have a wisdom that counters the systems we live within. It is not always a wisdom we can follow as individuals because we maybe so constrained by those systems – the degree of constraint depending upon personal circumstances – but as communities and as the Church we do have more scope to be counter-cultural. We could – surely – mandate the Church Commissioners to use funds to support tenants willing to restore and enhance nature on the land they farm. We could – surely – mandate that the Church Commissioners could accept a lower rate of return on farm investments. But at the same time we would have to accept a smaller distribution of funds for the Church and instead look to our own pockets to make up the shortfall (depending on our means as per the early church).

We could at the same time, look to our own lifestyles – choosing a diet that is compatible with the restoration of more land for nature. We could reprioritise our spending to support nature.

As a Church – as a significant land owner and as a prophetic voice – we could challenge the system that allows the degradation of nature at the expense of profit. We could challenge the system that doesn’t provide every citizen with a fair wage. We could challenge the system that doesn’t ensure every citizen has access to affordable healthy food. We could challenge the system that doesn’t protect the environment for the wellbeing of generations to come.

As individuals and as a Church, we are called to speak out and act to bring in the reign – the rule – of God so that God’s will is done on Earth as in Heaven.

Isaiah 44:6-8

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.

Who is like me? Let them proclaim it,
let them declare and set it forth before me.

Who has announced from of old the things to come?
Let them tell us what is yet to be.

Do not fear, or be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
You are my witnesses!

Is there any god besides me?
There is no other rock; I know not one.

Psalm 86:11-17

11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
and I will walk in your truth; *
knit my heart to you that I may fear your Name.

12 I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, *
and glorify your Name for evermore.

13 For great is your love toward me; *
you have delivered me from the nethermost Pit.

14 The arrogant rise up against me, O God,
and a band of violent men seeks my life; *
they have not set you before their eyes.

15 But you, O Lord, are gracious and full of compassion, *
slow to anger, and full of kindness and truth.

16 Turn to me and have mercy upon me; *
give your strength to your servant;
and save the child of your handmaid.

17 Show me a sign of your favour,
so that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed; *
because you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Romans 8:12-25

Brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ– if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

Jesus put before the crowd another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!”

Tending the earth for all

18th July 2026

Trust in the Lord and be doing good; dwell in the land and be nourished with truth.
Let your delight be in the Lord and he will give you your heart’s desire.
Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, and he will bring it to pass.

Psalm 37:3-5

You Lord are the bread of life;

feed us with your wisdom.

Our meat is to do the Father’s will.

guide us in all we do

Whenever we eat or drink

Let it be to the glory of God.

A Reading – Mark 4:3-8

“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

Pause for reflection

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,

So may we store water for when and for whoever needs it,

and safeguard those living with the threat of flooding.

As the earth brings forth and sprouts,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

So may we harvest what is needed,

sharing the bounty so no one goes hungry.

So shall God’s word be that goes forth; it shall not return empty,
but it shall accomplish that which is purposed
and succeed in the thing for which it is sent.

May we pay attention to God’s word,

following the ways of wisdom that God desires

for the wellbeing of all creation.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

May we protect the fertility of the soil,

not polluting it with chemicals nor stripping it of nourishment.

And as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

May we treasure those who tend and farm the land,

paying fair wages and sharing profits.

So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations:

May we welcome God’s kingdom with all our being,

following God’s law with hands, hearts and voices.

Based on Isaiah 55:10,11 and 61:11

The Grace

Green Tau: the bigger picture

16th July 2026

One of the things I like about the creation story in Genesis 2 is the way it draws in so many different strands. At the centre – or maybe it’s at the perimeter on the edge of the curve – is God. God creates the Earth (and heaven). But the Earth needs water to produce vegetation. So God provides water – not just an initial splash but a stream of water that encompasses the whole Earth – and we now understand how the water cycle keeps that life-giving water flowing. God uses the stuff of Earth to form the first human, and plants together the human and a garden. The former is to serve and watch over the latter; the latter to provide all manner of seeds and fruit for the former. God then uses more of the stuff of Earth to create a multitude of other beings to work alongside the human, and another human as a partner.

This is a story that tells of the interconnectedness and interdependence of all that makes up creation. As the story then unfolds, we see how by separating the different strands, the humans cause the degradation of what has been created. Eve separates what she knows to be God’s will from her consideration of the attractiveness of the fruit. She separates the word of the snake from the the word of God. Both Eve and Adam separate their undertaking to God from their action in eating the fruit. And when called to account both try and separate their responsibility for from the outcome of their actions.

When we separate the interconnectedness of nature (and our own connectedness within that) and rather view things in separate silos, we are bound to make mistakes.

When we separate maximising what we can harvest from the land from the need to care for the soil including all its multiple organisms, we end up depleting the fertility of the soil and destroying our means of growing food.

When we separate the intricacies of the water system from the use of the land, and seek to sap and constrain the former to increase our use of the latter, we end up exacerbating the impacts of flood and droughts to our detriment.

When we separate bugs and weeds from the menu of biodiversity, killing off the latter with pesticides and herbicides, we diminish the robustness of the ecosystem in which plants grow.

When we separate what we choose to eat – beef and dairy by the bucket load, strawberries in January and asparagus in August – from the limitations of the natural environment, we diminish the robustness of the environment which sustains our food supply. And invariably the ones who go hungry are those who are poor and powerless.

Even when we try and address these problems, we typically do so with a blinkered approach. We don’t see the interconnectedness.

Cutting down tropical forests to grow animal fodder for cattle in Europe may provide cheaper meat in the UK but reduces the water levels of the River Amazon, increases local temperatures and releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere further driving temperatures upwards, accelerating climate change and exposing people both in the tropics and in Europe to ever more extreme weather events.

Draining peatlands, clearing trees and hedgerows, and straightening rivers may expand arable fields, but when rains come the water will first quickly flood and then quickly disappear, damaging crops first with too much and then with too little water. And not only crops. Households too will face winter flooding and summer water shortages.

Only when we see and acknowledge the interconnectedness and the interdependency of the creation and respond attentively, will we reverse the ecological disaster that has been years in the making. Only then will we understand the intricacies and depth of our part in serving and watching over the garden in which, for our wellbeing, we have been planted.

This week we have seen the Church of England – its governing synod and its Commissioners – fail to understand what is at stake if we do not care for our land holistically rather than seeing it as just a source of income.

This week we have seen the Government issues its own response to the loss of biodiversity, and failing to embrace the needs of the farmer for income, the land for good care, the people for food security, and the Government’s own role in leadership.

This week we continue to see whole swathes of people not having the information that informs about what makes a healthy diet, nor having the necessary income for and access to healthy food, nor having knowledge, or hands-on experience, of how the natural and the farming worlds work.

Can we be part of a move to tell and explore the bigger picture?

Mindful Sauntering – Belonging to God

There is a suggestion that a saunterer is a person walking to the Holy Land, coming from the French ‘à la sainte-terre’. So let’s consider sauntering to be a form of holy or blessed walking.

I’ve been wandering through the pages of my life

Not knowing where to turn

It’s like standing on the edge of a knife

I don’t know, which way am I to go…

I’ve been to places far and wide,

Witnessing lives of different kinds.

I’ve seen faces living a happy song,

But I still don’t know where I belong…

Searching every nook and corner,

For a place that is meant for me.

I took long, to realise that, my question

Should be, ‘With whom do I belong? ‘

Reshma Joy – https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/where-do-i-belong-14/

The Lord is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Psalm 95:7

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.” John 17:20

The same stream of life

that runs through my veins night and day

runs through the world

and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy

through the dust of the earth

in numberless blades of grass

and breaks into tumultuous waves

of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked

in the ocean—cradle of birth

and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious

by the touch of this world of life.

And my pride is from the life-throb

of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

Rabindranath Tagore – https://www.poetryverse.com/rabindranath-tagore-poems/stream-of-life#google_vignette

Proper 10, sixth Sunday after Trinity,

12th July 2026

Reflection with readings below

Most parables come without an explanation thus prompting the listener to ponder and explore the underlying message – or indeed – messages, for parables do not necessarily have only one meaning but lend themselves to multiple interpretations which may change according to circumstances or overtime. So for the purposes of today’s reflection I am going to set aside the second half of the gospel and ponder the parable’s meaning without that guide.

If the sower is God, it suggests that God’s behaviour is one of rashness, scattering the seed not just where the soils may be good but everywhere. And it suggests a generosity that comes from an overflowing fount of love.

It also recalls the conversation from a few weeks ago between Jesus and the Pharisees when he points out that it is the sick who need a doctor.

The parable is reflective of what happens in nature. Seeds are sown randomly by the wind, by birds and animals, by water, and even by explosions orchestrated by the plants themselves. Where the seeds land is a lottery, with each seed doing its best to sprout wherever it falls. And yes, often seeds will end up as food for someone else before they have a chance to take root.

The people gathered on the lake side are almost certainly hungry for food and hungry for the transformative knowledge of God. Jesus’s words reassure them that seed time and growing seasons are followed by a good chance of successful harvest, for such is the world that God has created. His words would have reminded them of the work the farmer can do in preparing and caring for the soil, and in protecting the crops from damage.

What Jesus’s parable doesn’t make explicit is that not everyone who grows the food gets to eat it. Both then and now, the reality of a good harvest does not guarantee that everyone gets fed. Unjust systems, poverty and corruption, all gouge out chunks from God’s generosity such that whilst some have way more than enough, others do not even have a bare sufficiency.

What does the word of God say to us about justice? What does the word of God say to us about caring for the poor? What does God’s word say to us about speaking truth to power?

Thinking of Paul’s words, we might pause and reflect how easily we can get sucked into systems and ways of thinking that ignore the word of God – systems and ways of thinking that are sinful and destructful of life. Consider how quickly refugees have become illegal migrants. Consider how quickly the expansion of private car ownership has diminished public transport. Consider how quickly air flights have shifted the perception that holiday means an overseas holiday.

The words from Isaiah and the Psalmist describe Nature in all its rich diversity of rain and snow, hills and mountains, seeds and trees, grazing land and flocks, as beings in their own right with the capacity to honour and praise God. Nature is not a passive participant in creation but one that is active and ordained by God. When we failed to acknowledge this and instead treat Nature as a commodity to use and abuse as we wish, we sin. And sin has consequences.

When we mistreat the soil, over-working it with intensive cropping, fouling it with pollutants, killing off its biodiversity with pesticides and herbicides, then the soil will become lifeless dust, crops will fail and starvation will ensure. Even now we are repeating the mistakes that led to the dust bowl in the USA.

When we unhinge the climate with excessive amounts of carbon dioxide, we damage the weather patterns that heretofore ensured rain in due season and warmth for ripening – and instead find ourselves at the mercy of droughts and heatwaves, floods and storms, events that decimate crops and destroy livelihoods.

When we draw too much water from the rivers and aquifers, when we consume water at a faster rate than rainfall can replenish; when we allow climate change to consume glaciers diminishing rivers downstream to a trickle, we suffer. And not just we humans, but the we that is all of Nature, includes plants and birds, animals and insects.

When we fail to cherish the earth, to care for and protect it as God commanded, we destroy the good ground in which the seed should be growing. Now we must open our ears to hear the word of God, now we must open our eyes to see the wisdom of God’s word. We must repent of our sins – those sins against the earth and those sins against our neighbour – and make recompense. We must renew our methods of agriculture, we must curb our wasteful overuse of resources, we must end our consumption of fossil fuels, we must restore Nature, and we must establish systems of justice that benefit everyone.

To echo the words of Pope Francis we must, Hear the cry of the Earth and hear the cry of the Poor.

PS You might like to find out more about – and support – the Nature’s Rights Bill going through the House of Lords: https://greenchristian.org.uk/natures-rights/

Isaiah 55:10-13

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Psalm 65: 1-14

1 You are to be praised, O God, in Zion; *
to you shall vows be performed in Jerusalem.

2 To you that hear prayer shall all flesh come, *
because of their transgressions.

3 Our sins are stronger than we are, *
but you will blot them out.

4 Happy are they whom you choose
and draw to your courts to dwell there! *
they will be satisfied by the beauty of your house,
by the holiness of your temple.

5 Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness,
O God of our salvation, *
O Hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the seas that are far away.

6 You make fast the mountains by your power; *
they are girded about with might.

7 You still the roaring of the seas, *
the roaring of their waves,
and the clamour of the peoples.

8 Those who dwell at the ends of the earth will tremble at your marvellous signs; *
you make the dawn and the dusk to sing for joy.

9 You visit the earth and water it abundantly;
you make it very plenteous; *
the river of God is full of water.

10 You prepare the grain, *
for so you provide for the earth.

11 You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges; *
with heavy rain you soften the ground and bless its increase.

12 You crown the year with your goodness, *
and your paths overflow with plenty.

13 May the fields of the wilderness be rich for grazing, *
and the hills be clothed with joy.

14 May the meadows cover themselves with flocks,
and the valleys cloak themselves with grain; *
let them shout for joy and sing.

Romans 8:1-11

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law– indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!”

“Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Bread for sharing

11th July 2026

Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Matthew 7:9

You Lord, are the source of all good things:

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation:

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:

May we live together in peace.

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. Genesis 8:22

Heavenly Parent, mother and father of us all,

May you be ever honoured by your children.

For you are the one who caused the earth to bring forth seed bearing plants –

wheat and barley, oats and rye and all manner of grains.

You are the one who provides the staff of life.

Hallowed be your name!

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55: 10 -11

Heavenly God, creator of soul and body,

May you be ever honoured by your creation.

From you comes wisdom and insight

so that we may learn how to love you and our neighbour.

You are the one who provides the staff of life.

May your kingdom come!

Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. Matthew 14:19-20

Heavenly Redeemer, sustainer of life,

May you be ever honoured by your people.

You provided manna for the long years in the wilderness,

And the harvests of the earth are sufficient to feed the whole world,

such that all should have the means to thrive and flourish.

May your will be done!

So we pray: