Ordinary Time
Friday 17 October 2025
Psalm 55
1 Maccabees 2. 29-48
or 2 Chronicles 14. 2-end
Mark 14. 53-65
Reflection for today is on Mark 14. 53-65
‘But he was silent and did not answer’ (v.61)
Because of the intervention of the Feast of Luke the Evangelist tomorrow, we will not read the closing verses of chapter 14, so you might want to take the time either now or later on to read those final eight verses. They matter to the story because what we find in these accounts of the events of the night of Jesus’ betrayal is all sorts of people saying all sorts of things, while Christ remains largely silent. Lots of ‘testimony’ is given, some of it apparently ‘false’, and lots of it contradictory. In those verses that we will miss tomorrow, we find Peter outside by the fire being challenged by the servant girl, and he is motivated out of fear, embarrassment, or a sense of self-preservation to deny that he knows Jesus.
Jesus, however, remains silent, not engaging in the games and posturing. When he does speak, he quotes words from the prophet Daniel, with which the high priest would have been familiar.
We might reflect today on how we use our gift of language, on our natural instincts when we engage in conversation, and whether there are moments when we use the gift of communication to be unnecessarily combative, manipulative, or cowardly. And we might thank God for the words of scripture, and commit once again to giving them primacy in our lives.
COLLECT
Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Reflection by Tom Clammer