Whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of
all, and especially for those of the family of faith.
Galatians 6.10
On this day we commemorate Nicholas Ferrar and his family. It is one of the few examples, in the church calendar, of a commemoration of a family, and therefore worthy of special attention. Nicholas Ferrar (22 February 1592 – 4 December 1637) was an English scholar, courtier, and businessman who was ordained a deacon in the church of England. Having lost much of his fortune, he retired to the manor of Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire in 1626 where he would restore a chapel that had been turned into a hayloft and together with his family founded an informal spiritual community of daily prayer. You can read more about Nicholas Ferrar here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Ferrar
Yesterday we celebrated the life of Francis Xavier, who travelled widely as a missionary. Today we celebrate a different kind of mission, that of making the place where you are a place of worship, prayer, and care. It demonstrates that the Christian life can take many forms. You may be called to take the gospel into a distant land, but you may also be called to turn your home into a place of beauty and devotion, and to care deeply and prayerfully for those around you.
Lord God,
you gathered Nicholas Ferrar and his kinsfolk
in the household of Little Gidding,
and shaped their life as a family
into an image of your heavenly commonwealth.
May we follow their example by seeking true wisdom
and studying perfection in Christ Jesus,
not as masters
but as partners and fellow students with one other;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever