This is the bread come down from heaven (John 6:58) A beautiful hallmark of the Catholic faith is the profound desire to participate in the Holy Mass and share in the Eucharist. We do so with deep gratitude and joy. The Eucharist gives the Church her identity – “The Eucharist makes the Church, and the…
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Homily, Fourth Sunday of Easter C 2022
In the Church today is Good Shepherd Sunday. In the Gospel Jesus uses the image of a shepherd to describe his care for us. He is the Shepherd who risked everything for us have the best possible relationship with God. At this time of year lambs are gambolling in the fields while their mother ewes…
Homily, Third Sunday of Easter C 2022
The Gospel Reading for Mass today – John 21:1-19 – describes the first meeting between Peter and Jesus after the Lord’s resurrection. The last time they had seen each other was when Jesus was arrested and Peter denied knowing him. In betraying Jesus, Peter was no different from Judas who also betrayed Jesus . Yet,…
We need more religion in politics, not less
David Aaronovitch in THE TIMES, 21 April 2022 At prime minister’s questions today Boris Johnson vehemently denied beating up on the BBC the night before for being hard on him but soft on Russia. But had he accused the Church of England of being “less vociferous in their condemnation on Easter Sunday of Putin than…
Why Celibacy?
By Chris McDonnell in “La Croix International”, 25 February 2022 Following the death of a good man, Bishop Edward Daly, who went to the Lord on August 8th 2016 there was an appreciation of his life published on the website of the Association of Catholic Priests, ACP, the forum of Irish priests that has been…
Homily, Fifth Sunday of Lent C 2022
We meet Jesus in today’s Gospel as he is challenged by a group of men who wanted him out of the way. In looking to gather evidence to have him arrested, they drag an unfortunate and humiliated woman before him who had been caught committing adultery and then question Jesus on what should be done…
Homily, Fourth Sunday of Lent C 2022 Prodigal Son
On this Mothering Sunday we have just heard one of the best-known stories in the Gospel. Although it’s about a father and his two sons, and there’s no mention of a wife or mother, it’s one of the most revealing images Jesus used to explain what God is like. The story is allegory: the characters…
How to do justice to Christ’s Last Words
Haydn's meditations on Christ's Seven Last Words are among the great pieces of Easter music. But could Ruth Padel, steeped in Darwin and Freud, write poetry about this cornerstone of Christianity? By Ruth Padel in THE GUARDIAN, 18 April 2014 Two years ago I rashly accepted a commission from Tring Chamber Music and Paul Barritt,…
Final Submission of the Diocesan Partnerships to the Bishop for the Church Synod
The Diocesan Lay Pastoral Forum held a series of meetings to look at all the documents that had been sent in from Partnerships in the Diocese. Here is the Forum's document to the Bishop which brings together the views, feelings and key points submitted by the Partnerships. Dear Bishop Robert,Herewith we present the Lay Pastoral…
Homily, Third Sunday of Lent (C) 2022
We have just heard (Luke 13:1-9) Jesus refer to two tragedies of his time. The first was the collapse of a building that killed 18 people; and the second was the massacre by Roman soldiers of people taking part in a religious Service. The victims in each case were innocent people – one caused by…
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