As I prepare our candidates for confirmation I find myself emphasising time and again that all religions are not the same, they do not believe the same thing, nor are there great swathes of uniformity on matters of ethics and moral issues. What makes Christian belief...

St John Henry Newman once wrote, “One thing alone I know - that according to our need, so will be our strength.” What, I wonder, enabled him to pen these words? It is highly unlikely that Blessed Newman ever attended a self-awareness course or was exposed to...

‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem’, these are the words of Jesus to his disciples, that we read from the Gospel before Ash Wednesday. They describe also, the journey that we are all invited to make in the season of Lent when we are encouraged in the name of the Church,...

As we all know, the Accession Day for Her Majesty The Queen falls on Sunday the 6th of February. This will mark her 70th year, not only as our Sovereign, but also as Supreme Head of the Church of England. Her role combines both temporal and spiritual authority and...

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” These words from the prophet Isaiah remind us that discernment...

“Keeping Christ at Christmas.” I blinked and behold, it was Advent Sunday!!! Where did November go I ask myself? Remembrance whizzed through and before I knew where I was up went the ladder and as one banner came down another went up.  On the Monday after...

This year, Alison and I are able to count ourselves alongside other parents in this Church whose children currently serve in the armed forces.  It’s a year since our Harry joined the Royal Navy and my brother’s youngest son, Sebastian, is currently undergoing somewhat...

I am currently making my way through a biography of Edith Stein, otherwise known as, St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. To quote the author, Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda, it describes Edith’s journey from the depths of atheism to the heights of sainthood. The story of Edith...

Sometimes in life our sense of equilibrium can find itself being easily shaken by some unexpected occurrence. It might be some throw away comment that we overhear, or it might be the reliving of a memory that we would prefer to forget.  I know of people, and I am sure...

Believe it or not, and there’s no reason not to, one of my great interests is restoration. When we are in France we often go to car boot sales known as vide-grenier. It’s amazing what one comes across. A few years ago, I spotted an oval shaped, glassed fronted, oak...

I’ve just finished reading the most wonderful book. It’s entitled, “He Leadeth Me” and is a testament of the faith of one man. The one man in question is Fr Walter J Ciszek who served as a Jesuit missionary priest. His missionary zeal took him to Eastern Europe during...

I cannot recall how young I was when I first watched the Trooping of the Colour that ordinarily takes place on Horse Guards Parade in London each year to mark the official birthday of Her Majesty The Queen. This year, as it did last year, it will take place in the...