The Vatican's newspaper has published a very personal reflection on Pope Francis' encyclical Fratelli Tutti by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a self-described feminist writer from Nigeria who has become one the world's most prominent young Anglophone authors. "Dreaming as a single humanity," was featured in the July 5 edition of L'Osservatore Romano, the Holy See's Italian-language daily. In her article,…
Author: Fr Michael Campion
In Britain we keep trying to ignore the whiff of corruption
Sean O’Neill in THE TIMES, 3 August 2021 To the litany of words used to describe questionable conduct in the upper echelons of public life we must now add “access capitalism”. This is the phrase used by the hitherto little-known telecoms millionaire Mohamed Amersi to describe his ability to leverage his wealth (with the assistance…
Homily 18th Sunday (B) 2021
The recent heavy rains that caused such damage in parts of the UK and Europe reminds me of the story of a man who believed he would be saved from an impeding flood because he prayed to God to save him. When the rains flooded his basement and the whole street where he lived, he…
Confessions of an Exhausted Catholic
by John Gehring, National Catholic Reporter (USA), 23 July 2021 Media coverage of the Catholic Church can sometimes feel like a bad weather system that settles over my soul. Those hopeful days in March of 2013, when Pope Francis' election signaled a season of opportunity and renewal for Catholicism —a "springtime" for the church — can feel…
Homily, 17th Sunday (B) 2021
When running for election or trying to become more popular when in office, some politicians like to present themselves as being in touch with the lives of ordinary people. So, for instance, they might take part in an easy interview for a popular magazine and carefully staged photographs of taking part in or helping with…
MESSAGE OF POPE FRANCIS FOR THE FIRST WORLD DAY FOR GRANDPARENTS AND THE ELDERLY
(25 July 2021) “I am with you always” Dear Grandfathers and Grandmothers, Dear Elderly Friends, “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20): this is the promise the Lord made to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. They are the words that he repeats to you today, dear grandfathers and grandmothers, dear elderly friends. “I am…
Homily, 16th Sunday of the Year (B) 2021
Just before the Israelites are invaded and forced into captivity in Babylon in 587, the Prophet Jeremiah in our First Reading looks back at the leadership of recent kings and condemns them, comparing them to bad shepherds who have misruled their flock. His denunciation ends in our reading today with the promise that a “virtuous…
Homily, 15th Sunday of the Year (B) 2021
For the past six weeks or so and on every Sunday until the end of November, we are reading at Sunday Mass the unfolding story of the public life of Jesus as presented in St Mark’s Gospel. This is the first of the four Gospels to be written and is dated some 35-45 years after…
The sourdough won’t fit the toaster! Oh do give the middle classes a break
From Carol Midgley in THE TIMES, 1 July 2021 I hesitate to raise this since we’ve suffered enough lately, but there is bad news on the artisan bread front. Sourdough is too big for conventional toasters. Basic. Nightmare. The slices are too long, wide and thick to fit a conventional-sized slot. And no, that wasn’t…
Homily, 14th Sunday of the Year (B) 2021
Today’s Second Reading (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) is part of a somewhat tearful letter from St Paul written at a time of controversy, if not crisis, in his life. Other teachers had followed him into Corinth and were undermining what Paul had taught the church members there. These preachers were more charismatic than Paul in their…
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