My home church is Oxford’s cathedral at Christ Church. We gather there every morning and evening for prayers, just as people have come together daily in that great building for almost a thousand years.

We pray each day for the needs of our world, the needs of this city and diocese of Oxford and for ourselves in our daily walk with God. We are blessed by a wonderful choir who sing almost every evening at 6pm.

Anyone is welcome to come, with access from the main gate on St Aldates after 5.45pm. People come from all over the world to share evensong with us, so if you live more locally, make sure you don’t miss out.

We were joined this week by the High Sheriff, judges, barristers and solicitors for the annual Court Sermon. A great civic occasion, and a chance to pray for all those who seek to uphold the rule of law in our land in a way that is honest and just. The preacher was a senior solicitor, John Rees, who is also an ordained clergyman. He reflected on the passage in the Bible where Jesus is approached by a young lawyer. You can find it in Luke, Chapter 10: “Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ “He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’”

In front of all the erudite and eminent people in the cathedral that evening, the preacher made a very helpful point – that we should try to keep things simple. To start with, the key building blocks of how to lead a good life.

According to Jesus these are to love God with all that we have, with heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. The first reminds us that we are not the centre of the universe, but God is.

The second reminds us that if we say that we love God but do not love our neighbour, we do not know what we are talking about. Love, however holy, is not just a feeling, it has to be put into action. “Do this,” says Jesus, “and you will live.”

This is a guard against any kind of religious fanaticism, for example. To love God with all that we have is to be commended, but not if ‘loving God’ seems to make us despise or, worse, actively harm other people.

This can never be right as Jesus in this passage makes clear.

Tomorrow at 6pm we will celebrate St Frideswide – Oxford’s patron saint– in the cathedral.

School children are coming from Wootton Primary School, along with people from all over our city and county.

The Saxon name, Frideswide, means ‘Peace – Strong.’ We will be praying for peace, and a peace that is strong in our world, our county and city and in our homes and our lives.

Leading members of Oxford’s Christian, Muslim and Jewish congregations will together light a peace candle during the service, close to the shrine of St Frideswide.

We pray that at this time of international conflict, we may not import conflict, but export peace.

Neighbours coming together to light a candle, and to show love and respect for one another. Jesus said, “Do this, and you will live.”