By Philip Collins in THE TIMES, 14 February 2020 Take back control. Get Javid Gone. In a petulant reshuffle empty of purpose, the school bullies showed the junior form who’s boss. Three months ago Boris Johnson gave the CBI a categorical guarantee that Sajid Javid would remain as chancellor of the exchequer. Now he has…
Blog
Our precious Union is dying through neglect
By Emma Duncan in THE TIMES, 15 February 2020 To lose one part of your country, Mr Johnson, may be a misfortune. To lose two looks like carelessness. I have been worrying for some time that the United Kingdom might come apart as a result of Westminster’s failure to pay attention to the needs of…
Homily, The Presentation in the Temple 2020
This is our first Sunday together when we are no longer part of the European Union. Will the severance of our ties with the Union bring the UK the many benefits its advocates have promised, or will the fears of its opponents be realised? Whether you were ecstatic or mournful at 11pm on Friday night,…
Don’t ask for whom the Brexit bell tolls …
by David Stuart in AMERICA, The Jesuit Review, 30 January 2020 You might not get excited about clock tower and church bells tolling and flags fluttering, but that is where we have got to in our public life here in Britain this week during the final countdown until the United Kingdom officially detaches its constituent…
Pope Francis remakes the American hierarchy, one bishop at a time
by Fr Thomas Reece in The National Catholic Reporter, 29 January 2020 As archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput was not afraid to take a different line from the pope on issues facing the church. In 2016, after Pope Francis opened the possibility of Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, Chaput added a stipulation: In his…
Homily, Third Sunday of the Year (A) 2020
We have just heard about the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. It started after the arrest of John the Baptist and, according to St Matthew, Jesus used the same words to announce his ministry as John used for his: Repent for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Where Matthew used the…
Papal Elevation of Consecrated Host at Mass
Homily, Second Sunday of the Year (A) 2019
Earlier in Mass when we sang The Gloria we referred to Jesus as ‘Lamb of God’; and just before we receive Holy Communion we will do so again, this time singing ‘Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us … and grant us peace.’ The title Lamb of…
My Advice to Harvey Weinstein
By Melanie Reid in THE TIMES, 18 January 2020 Harvey Weinstein on his Zimmer, shuffling from car to rape-trial courtroom, has been the lasting image of Hollywood’s 2020 awards season. I try to avoid it, but occasionally the TV news has ambushed me with his whey-faced “suffering”. (Oops. Apologies for the inverted commas. My finger…
The whole co-authoring drama looks bad
By (always good value) Michael Sean Winters in The National Catholic Reporter, 17 January 2020 Pope Francis is pictured with Archbishop Georg Gänswein, prefect of the papal household, during his general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican Jan. 15. (CNS/Paul Haring) Sunday night, I was distressed to realize there would be no fourth…
Sunday Mass: Saturday 4pm, Sunday 10am 