Electric See Chapel
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October 2026

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The Chapel archive contains Daily Office readings and reflections that have already been delivered.

October 4, 2026

Morning Prayer

The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (Green)

Psalms: Psalm 105, Pt 1

King James Version

1 O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. 2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works. 3 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. 4 Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore. 5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; 6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. 7 He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth. 8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 9 Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; 10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: 11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: 12 When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. 13 When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; 14 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; 15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. 16 Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread. 17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: 18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: 19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. 20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. 21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: 22 To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

First Lesson: Ezekiel 34:1-16

King James Version

1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. 4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. 5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. 7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 8 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; 9 Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. 11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

Second Lesson: Luke 11:37-end

King James Version

37 And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat. 38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. 39 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. 40 Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? 41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. 42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. 44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them. 45 Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. 46 And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. 49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. 52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. 53 And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things: 54 Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.

Reflection

The readings today give us two searching pictures: the shepherd and the cup. The shepherd asks whether those entrusted with God’s people are truly feeding them. The cup asks whether our outward religion is matched by a clean heart. In both cases, God is concerned not merely with appearance, but with what is actually taking place within.

Ezekiel’s word is first addressed to the shepherds of Israel. They have used their office for themselves. They have eaten the fat, clothed themselves with the wool, and ruled with force, while neglecting the weak, the sick, the broken, and the lost. Their sin is not simply that they have made mistakes. It is that they have treated God’s flock as though it belonged to them.

That warning belongs particularly to those who hold spiritual office. A shepherd is not appointed to enjoy the sheep, but to feed them; not to gather honour, but to seek the wandering; not to increase his own importance, but to strengthen those who are weak. The Lord says, “I will require my flock at their hand.” Holy office is therefore a solemn trust. It is not a platform, nor a possession, nor a means of self-advancement.

But this reading is not only for bishops, priests, and other ministers. Every Christian has some form of care entrusted to him: a household, a friendship, a neighbour, a duty, or a place within the Church. We may either use such responsibilities for ourselves, or receive them as opportunities to serve. The question is always the same: are those within our reach helped by us to draw nearer to God, or made to carry burdens while we remain comfortable?

The good news in Ezekiel is that when human shepherds fail, the Lord does not abandon his flock. “Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.” He will gather the scattered, bring back the driven away, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick. He himself will feed his flock and cause them to lie down in good pasture.

This promise finds its fulfilment in our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Shepherd of the sheep. He does not merely condemn bad shepherds from a safe distance. He comes among the flock, bears its wounds, and gives himself for its life. In him we see that divine authority is never cold domination. It is holy love, exercised for the salvation of those who are entrusted to it.

Then, in the Gospel, our Lord sits at table with a Pharisee. His host is astonished that he has not first washed according to the customary religious practice. Jesus does not teach that outward order, reverence, or discipline are unimportant. The worship of God ought indeed to be marked by order and beauty; the Church’s inherited forms are not a burden to be despised, but a treasury to be used faithfully. Yet no outward observance can substitute for an inward heart turned towards God.

“You make clean the outside of the cup,” Jesus says, “but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.” The danger is not that we worship visibly, but that our visible worship becomes a mask. We may say the right prayers, occupy the right places, and observe the smallest religious details, while neglecting judgment and the love of God. We may even honour the prophets of the past while resisting the word God speaks to us today.

Our Lord’s remedy is striking: “Give alms of such things as ye have.” Mercy exposes the heart. A person who has received the mercy of God cannot remain wholly closed to the needs of others. Generosity, justice, and love are not decorations added to religion; they are evidence that religion has reached the heart.

The Psalm gives us the right posture: “Remember his marvellous works,” “seek the LORD, and his strength,” and give thanks for his covenant. We do not make ourselves clean by our own effort. We return to the God who has remembered us, and we ask him to cleanse what lies within. Then our outward life may become truthful: our prayers supported by charity, our doctrine joined to obedience, and our service shaped by the Shepherd who seeks the lost.

May the Lord deliver us from empty appearance, make us faithful in every trust, and form in us the merciful heart of Christ, who feeds his flock and never forsakes it.

Evening Prayer

The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (Green)

Psalms: Psalm 105, Pt 2

King James Version

23 Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. 24 And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies. 25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants. 26 He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. 27 They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. 28 He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. 29 He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. 30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. 31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. 32 He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. 33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts. 34 He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number, 35 And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. 36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. 37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. 38 Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them. 39 He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night. 40 The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. 41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river. 42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. 43 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: 44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people; 45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.

First Lesson: Philippians 2:1-18

King James Version

1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. 17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.

Reflection

The appointed psalm gives us a broad view of God’s dealings with his people. Israel goes down into Egypt as a small family; there, under the providence of God, they increase and grow strong. Then Egypt turns against them. God sends Moses and Aaron, displays his mighty acts, brings his people out, feeds them in the wilderness, gives them water from the rock, and leads them into the promised land.

The psalm tells us why God did all this: “For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.” God is faithful to his covenant. His people are not carried by their own strength or cleverness, but by the constancy of God. Yet the psalm ends with a duty: “That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws.” Deliverance is not an escape from obedience. God brings his people out in order that they may belong to him and live according to his will.

That is the setting for St Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians. They have received consolation in Christ, comfort from divine love, fellowship in the Spirit, and the mercies of God. Therefore they are to be “likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” Christian unity is not produced by everyone having the same temperament, opinions, or natural preferences. It is produced by everyone being brought under the one mind of Christ.

And what is that mind? “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” This is not a command to pretend that falsehood is truth, or that evil is good. It is a command to put away the proud spirit which must always win, always be noticed, and always have its own way. The Christian asks not merely, “What do I want?” but, “What serves my brother? What builds up the peace and holiness of Christ’s people?”

St Paul then directs our eyes to the Lord himself. Christ Jesus, being in the form of God, did not cling to his glory, but made himself of no reputation, took the form of a servant, and humbled himself unto death—even the death of the cross. Here is the pattern and foundation of Christian humility. We are not asked to descend into some emptiness of our own making. We are asked to follow the Son of God, who descended for us in love.

But the cross is not the end of the passage. “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him.” The Father raises and vindicates the Son, and the day comes when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Christian humility is therefore not despair or self-contempt. It is freedom from the anxious need to establish our own importance, because God is the judge and Christ is Lord.

So Paul says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” This does not mean that we purchase salvation by our works. The same apostle immediately gives the reason: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” We work because God is at work. His grace does not make obedience unnecessary; it makes obedience possible. The life of faith is the grateful answering of those whom God has already called, redeemed, and gathered to himself.

For that reason, we are to do all things “without murmurings and disputings.” Complaining and quarrelling are not small matters when they poison the common life of Christ’s people. We are called to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse nation, holding forth the word of life. The Church’s witness is not strengthened by loud self-importance, but by a holy people whose conduct makes the gospel visible.

The psalm and the epistle meet here. The God who remembered his promise to Abraham has fulfilled his greatest promise in Jesus Christ. He has brought us out of darkness into the light of the risen Lord. Let us therefore receive his grace with humility, serve one another with patience, and rejoice that our obedience rests upon God’s own work within us. Then, whether our service is public or hidden, it will not be in vain, for it will bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father.