Today is the feast of St Mark the Evangelist – normally in Venice, where his relics are held, this would be a great festival. The author of the earliest and shortest gospel is usually depicted with or by a lion. We don’t know much about his life except that he
Continue readingAs it happens today we can honour four saints – four exceptional saints of Europe. Their lives help us understand our shared Christian culture in this continent, important in these challenging times. St Adalbert is honoured on 23 April in most places, but the feast is transferred to today in
Continue readingThe gospel readings from John’s gospel in the Easter season are designed to show us how the risen Christ was experienced among early Christians in their reception of accounts of the life of Jesus which takes form in the fourth Gospel. We look at familiar events sometimes through the new
Continue readingToday is the Solemnity of St George, Patron Saint and Protector of England. One good thing about the current crisis is that we’re spared some of the tabloid flag-waving which has become popular today, divorced from the Christian importance of this feast day and of this saint. The Catholic Church
Continue readingToday’s first reading from Acts (5:17-26) describes the miraculous prison escape by Peter and John. Note that the author doesn’t concentrate on the miracle itself – rather, all the emphasis is on what the apostles are expected to do in response to be free, that is, go back to
Continue readingAn important statement has been issued in the name of the Bishops Conference in relation to Covid-19 and access to treatment: “With the escalation of the Coronavirus, demand on NHS resources is outstripping supply and those responsible for our care and well-being are facing challenging decisions. What may well be
Continue readingThe first proper saint’s day for some weeks is the feast day of one of the great saints and teachers of early medieval England and Europe – Anselm of Canterbury (1033 -1109). Apart from anything else he shows the truly pan-European character of Christian life in this period: he was
Continue readingIn Easter week we covered at daily Mass all the appearances of the risen Christ in the gospels. For the rest of the season of Easter, for the next six weeks or so, our gospel readings are all from John’s gospel. This is because John was formed over a number
Continue readingThe image in the post I put up last night, as we began to celebrate this Sunday, was of doubting Thomas by Caravaggio; the image here is described as by ‘Martin Schongauer and workshop’. In Beckenham this Sunday, which as I noted earlier has several names, it is a beautiful
Continue readingOur first reading today from Acts (4:13-21) continues yesterday’s account of the apostles Peter and John before the council of priests and elders known as the Sanhedrin. We’re told that the priests look down on them because ‘they were uneducated laymen’: this is a warning to all of us not
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