Each of the four Gospels tells us that Jesus' empty tomb was first discovered by a woman. This is notable because in first-century Jewish society women could not serve as legal witnesses. In the case of John's Gospel, our text for today, the only person attending the tomb of the crucified Jesus is Mary of…
Author: Fr Michael Campion
Welcome to the north, BBC folk! I have a rusty fridge for your garden
Carol Midgley in THE TIMES, 24 March 2021 Have a care for the BBC employees who have been told that their jobs are being relocated — brace your stomachs — outside London. Do take a moment if you’re feeling queasy. Some jobs are moving to Birmingham and Cardiff, others to Leeds, Glasgow, Salford and doubtless…
Faith will thrive but worship will never be the same
By Dr Jonathan Romain in THE TIMES, 20 March 2021 One year on since the first national lockdown in March 2020, when government handling of the pandemic is under scrutiny, what is the verdict on faith and the role it has played? We have witnessed an extraordinary range of scenarios we would never have imagined…
Pastoral Letter from Bishop Robert Byrne
Fifth Sunday of Lent 21st March 2021 My dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ, We will soon be celebrating Holy Week and thankfully this year we will do so as a worshipping community gathered in our various churches. Holy Week is a special time of grace. By reliving through the liturgy the events of…
Editorial: Vatican’s decree on gay unions risks making Francis into a hypocrite
by the Editorial Staff of THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER (USA), 19 March 2021 There are many laudatory words and phrases we might use to describe the Pope Francis the world has come to know over these past eight years. Genuine. Pastoral. Open-minded. Concerned for the poor, humanity, the environment. Friend of the marginalized. But the…
Meghan and Harry – the British original sin is snobbery, not racism
by Clifford Longley in THE TABLET American commentators, often Afro-Americans, have piled into the attack on the British royal family in the wake of the Oprah Winfrey interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The consensus among them, largely devoid of nuance, is that the royal family is racist. They are making the common mistake,…
Homily, Fourth Sunday of Lent (B) 2021
If you had to pick a piece of Scripture to be read at your funeral or even written on the headstone on your grave, what would you choose? In today’s Gospel we have a verse which is a favourite of many Christians: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so…
Expansion of the Detention Estate by the UK Government – Medomsley
From Vin Totton ~ The Diocesan Justice and Peace Council has been responding with great concern to the proposal to re-use Medomsley Detention Centre for people seeking asylum. I, a member of Holy Name, visited the infamous Yarls Wood Detention Centre in Bedford and found it soulless and depressing. Detention is regarded by those operating…
The contradictions of Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview
by Matt Malone, S.J. in 'America' (The Jesuit Review), 8 March 2021 In the summer of 1999, after a hot and stuffy train trip from London, I boarded a hovercraft and crossed the Solent, the strait that separates Great Britain from the Isle of Wight, the largest and second-most populous island off the coast of…
George Harrison’s coronavirus comeback – what’s on your pandemic playlist?
By William Bole in The National Catholic Reporter (USA), 6 March 2021 If you happened to be inside a hospital early in the pandemic, you might have heard these words floating through the corridors — "The smiles returning to the faces. Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here." They're lyrics from "Here…
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