We begin the season of Advent this Sunday to commence our preparation for the birth of our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ. It is a season to prepare ourselves spiritually to welcome Jesus into our lives and our homes. The catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us of a two-fold
Continue readingPius XI, shown here, was pope from 1922 until 1939. He’s unusual for a number of reasons; before being made a Vatican diplomat during the Great War Achille Ratti had spent most of his priestly ministry as a librarian and archivist in Milan and Rome. Such folk are not to
Continue readingRecently I spent several days in Walsingham with three friends. Like me they needed time away from work to recharge their batteries. Unlike me they had suffered rejection and disappointment and saw this as an opportunity to seek God’s healing and His guidance as to the way forward. You may
Continue readingThis picture (and I can’t remember who the artist was) is a representation of the peaceful death of the old man in St John Henry Newman’s poem The Dream of Gerontius, beautifully set to music by Edward Elgar. The man’s friends and relatives are around his bedside, praying for him
Continue reading“Over the summer, a group of us travelled to Worth Abbey in Sussex for a three day silent retreat led by our group leader. The theme of the retreat was Living in the Presence of God. Our timetable was carefully structured to gently initiate us into deeper silence. We had
Continue readingONE OF THE REALLY GREAT THINGS about being a Roman Catholic is that our faith guides us about virtually every area of life. In terms of political or social issues, it can never be acceptable for us to claim that our faith has nothing to do with whatever the matter
Continue readingTwenty six pilgrims returned from Poland late last Saturday in the rain. We were delayed at Heathrow and then again on the coach journey to Beckenham. The rain was still relentless when we finally arrived in Village Way in the early hours of Sunday morning. It wasn’t ideal of course
Continue readingI AM FORTUNATE to have been, forty years ago, a student at the Oxford college where John Henry Newman had been a Fellow and Tutor for over twenty years in the early 19th century. For anyone with even a vague knowledge of the history of Christianity in this country this
Continue readingI have always been comforted by the soothing sound of people praying the rosary when I enter St Edmund’s church to celebrate the 10 am Mass. Above all it comforts me to know the efficacy of such a powerful weapon of intercession and protection. As you may know we have
Continue readingTHE SPEECH by the young Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg at the United Nations last week, together with her powerful glance at the man who thinks he’s the leader of the free world, made a dramatic impression. The UN conference came days after the Climate change protests here last
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