Wednesday 19 November
Faith is not defeated by suffering; it is refined by it. In the noise of the streets and the clamour of the marketplace, courage takes shape in hidden hearts. Love endures when comfort fades. Even here, among the pavements and towers, holiness grows in quiet defiance.
2 Maccabees 7: 1, 20–31 (NRSV)
Thursday 20 November
There are moments when the city’s heart seems hardened, when truth feels unwelcome. Yet some still withdraw to the margins, to alleys of prayer and fields of conscience. In their refusal to conform, the sacred begins again, like dawn rising over roofs of indifference.
1 Maccabees 2: 15–29 (NRSV)
Friday 21 November
Renewal begins with the clearing of space. In the city’s restless rhythm, where habit dulls vision, we are called to restore the altar of our hearts. Worship is not confined to temple or cathedral; it is built in the daily offering of our lives.
1 Maccabees 4: 36–37, 52–59 (NRSV)
Saturday 22 November
The great empires crumble; their noise fades into dust. The avenues of power echo with regret. Yet even in failure, God’s mercy stirs beneath the concrete of despair. The soul that repents becomes a new foundation; the broken skyline is not the end but a beginning.
1 Maccabees 6: 1–13 (NRSV)
Sunday 23 November
All creation finds its harmony in Christ. The city, with its traffic and tension, is not outside this divine order but held within it. The streets belong to him; the crowds, the workers, the wanderers. Christ reconciles every neighbourhood into one peace.
Colossians 1: 12–20 (NRSV)
Monday 24 November
Faithfulness can thrive in exile. Even amid the neon and noise of strange streets, wisdom keeps its quiet strength. The faithful heart learns to live differently, discerning what nourishes and what defiles. In the midst of confusion, integrity becomes its own sanctuary.
Daniel 1: 1–6, 8–20 (NRSV)
Tuesday 25 November
The vision of God breaks through the city’s iron skyline. Towers and empires rise and fall, but the stone not cut by human hands endures. Hope rests not in the architecture of power but in the Kingdom quietly taking root among us.
Daniel 2: 31–45 (NRSV)