On Pentecost 20, St Matthew's celebrated the Feast of St Luke the Physician. Glynn Cardy looks at a tragic death this week of a young girl, Aisling Sumes, and explores the healing nature of relationship and community. It's not prayer itself to a rescuing God that saves us--the child died in spite of the prayer, it is the community's compassion and reaching out that makes all the difference.

"Well as neo-atheists like Dawkins and Hitchens would point out that God didn’t save the day. Aisling wasn’t miraculously found alive and well. Sure, maybe the outcome was better than the torture scenario or the never-finding-out scenario, but it still wasn’t what was being prayed for. God didn’t intervene and rescue her.

Were the prayers therefore pointless? I would empathetically say ‘No!"

Full text and video links at http://www.stmatthews.org.nz/nav.php?sid=498&id=974