Today is the feast of St Anthony of Padua, the great thirteenth century Franciscan preacher and one of the most popular saints in the Church; his statue in our church (which replaces one which was smashed in an act of vandalism a few years ago) is shown here. While we
Continue readingEvelyn Underhill, the Catholic writer once said, “A lot of the road to heaven has to be taken at thirty miles an hour.” Sometimes we would like life to move much quicker and things to happen earlier than they do. Since the third week of March, when Covid19 invaded our
Continue readingThe final verse of this much-loved hymn, with the words ‘O still small voice of calm’ is a reference to today’s first reading at Mass from 1 Kings 19: 9- 16. Here God reveals himself to the prophet Elijah not in an earthquake, or in the wind, or in fire,
Continue readingToday is the feast of St Barnabas. A few weeks ago in the season of Eastertide we heard at Mass in our readings from Acts about his missionary journeys with St Paul. A reading not included I think is 15:36ff when we’re told basically that they have a row and
Continue readingAs you know it was announced at the weekend that the government is permitting churches and other places of worship to be open from next week. Your clergy team are working with others to ensure that this happens and details of the date when this can take place will be
Continue readingNot many deacons have been canonised or occur in the universal calendar of the Church. Ephraem the Syrian, whose feast day is today, was also a major theologian of the late 4th century – a contemporary of major Greek and Latin theologians like Basil and Ambrose, but much less well
Continue readingI have written about Trinity Sunday in our parish newsletter this weekend, available on our website HERE, and I don’t really want to add very much: I will be posting some recent reflections from CARJ which have been published following the recent tragic events in the United States. God bless and
Continue readingSome years ago on this day at Mass in St Edmund’s I commented in my homily that today’s saint reminded us of the Catholic Church’s commitment to European unity. A very faithful worshipper, who has now gone to his rest, was so offended by this remark that he asked to
Continue readingYesterday, and I am sorry I didn’t post a separate entry about the scripture readings, we broadened our coverage in the first readings at weekday Mass of the later parts of the New Testament, after only two readings from 2 Peter, to the Second Letter to Timothy. I will share
Continue readingToday’s gospel reading (Mark 12: 13-17) is well known, but at the same time a passage so often spectacularly misunderstood and distorted. The encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees and Herodians (two groups who loathed each other) about the payment of taxes to Caesar has always excited the imagination. In
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