Daily Devotion for Monday 2nd June 2025

Reflection

Most of us, thankfully, don’t know what it is to be circumspect about our faith.  When I worked in Manchester I knew Christians, mainly  from Iran, who had to leave their homeland in order to freely follow Christ.  I know Christians from Pakistan where following Christ is difficult, if legal, with the ever present threat of being accused of blasphemy.  In March 2015  a young Catholic, Akash Bashir, sacrificed himself when he blocked a suicide bomber from entering his church in Lahore saying  “I will die but I will not let you go in.”  Christians have to submit to the control of the state in China to have a modicum of freedom and, in many countries around the world, we meet in secret for fear of the authorities. 

In today’s snippet from John’s Gospel we see Jesus choosing to practice his faith secretly.  It’s not clear if he wanted to avoid making a fuss and over exciting the crowds or if he feared arrest.  Either way fear leads to circumspection.  

In the UK we have no fear in practising our faith.  We may be seen as odd, old fashioned, or deemed intolerant but no one is really bothered by the Church; this can lead us to be somewhat apathetic.  My Iranian friends took a long time to realise that freedom to flourish didn’t necessarily mean large churches.  Having the ability to worship when we will, to pop into a church and pray, to speak to others about the difference Christ makes in our lives is all possible but, somehow odd.  

Pray today for those who are persecuted for their faith, who have to be circumspect in their discipleship, who have to live with fear that they may be both safe, and make a difference.  Pray too for the Church in the West, tired, out of touch, fearful of change and needing the vitality that refugees bring to stir us up.

Prayer

Holy God,
holy and strong,
holy and immortal,
have mercy on us.
Amen.