IN LAST SUNDAY’S GOSPEL, Luke’s account of the temptation of Our Lord in the desert, the second temptation which the Devil puts before Jesus is when he shows him ‘in a moment all the kingdoms of the world’; he then says ‘I will give you all this power and the
Continue readingWhen writing this article I came across a word I had not encountered before – ‘nurdling’. According to the website – click here – this is the process of trying to remove discarded plastic from beaches by means of a sieve, as shown on the website. Nurdling is an urgent
Continue readingTHIS PICTURE is of St Cajetan, an early sixteenth century Italian priest and religious reformer who is venerated as the patron saint of those who are unemployed – because of what he did to help poor people who were being exploited by greedy banks. The Sunday before Lent has been
Continue readingLAST THURSDAY was the (optional) feast day of St Peter Damian, shown here. He was a Benedictine monk active in Italy in the 11th century, about the time of the Battle of Hastings; somewhat reluctantly he was made a bishop and a cardinal. He was renowned as one who tried
Continue readingTHERE IS CONSIDERABLE EVIDENCE that the rise in popular nationalism all over the world has given some people space to express racist views in ways which until recently would have been unacceptable. Politicians and others who promote such divisiveness in society capitalise on poverty and economic uncertainty: when people find
Continue readingThe Holy Father’s recent visit to the United Arab Emirates, which was the first by any Pope has drawn a lot of attention from people across the world. It was much anticipated and the world was eagerly waiting to hear what the Holy Father would say, or would not say.
Continue readingSOME OF YOU may have seen this picture, Bellini’s Presentation of Christ in the Temple, in the recent and stunning Mantegna and Bellini exhibition at the National Gallery. This Saturday, at the morning Masses, we kept the feast which commemorates this event, known in England for centuries as Candlemas. St
Continue readingLAST WEEKEND’S edition of the Catholic newspaper The Tablet included an interview with Pat Gaffney, who for 29 years has been Secretary General of Pax Christi and is about to retire from this post at Easter. In this time Pat has done a great deal to raise the profile of
Continue readingToday when we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord, we are offered an opportunity to reflect upon the grace/s of our baptism. The Baptism of Our Lord is the beginning of his public ministry. While, Christmas could be perceived as the revelation of Jesus to the Jews, Epiphany could be
Continue readingIn many parts of the world it is the custom today, the feast of the Epiphany, for adults and children to dress up as the Magi (the photo in our Newsletter shows an Epiphany procession in Poland). The rich symbolism of the story in Matthew’s gospel of the coming of
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