There used to be a blog called ‘Kim Jong-Il Looking at Things’, I was a great fan. It showed the leader of North Korea being taken to see things, and he would look at them with a degree of interest, depending on the Thing he was presented with. Sometimes, one of his (rather obvious) body doubles would take his place, and their look of sheer incomprehension of what they were being shown could be telling, a little like when a mechanic shows me what is wrong with my car, I simpl

The Jews looked down on the Samaritans as religious and racial half-breed heretics. It’s hard for us to understand the animosity that existed between these two groups. If you think of the Bosnians and the Serbs or if you think of the Palestinians and the Israelis, you’ve got the right idea. So why did Jesus “have to” go through Samaria when the Jews either didn’t go there at all or passed through as quickly as possible? The answer is simple and profound: Jesus went because he

There are themes in Lent of course. Quieter music, a lack of flowers, greater options for prayer and reflection, and I hope, a great amount of admittedly restrained joy at the Easter season fast approaching. Each year the second Sunday of Lent story of the Transfiguration of Jesus comes as the Gospel, taken in turn from each of the Gospels. But we may, because there is only so much that we can take in, and we can be less then attentive at times, not have noticed that the firs

Today we start again to tell the story of a week which changed the world so much that we still have to almost act it out every year in...

Today in the gospel we hear about standing together and showing solidarity, even when it might be costly to us, and that we can answer...

Today, on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, known as Laetare  Sunday, the sombre purple of Lent softens into rose. Thinking what to say today, I...

So many things are done to us to make us think one way or another way. Headlines in newspapers, particularly online, often bear little...

I remember visiting the former East Germany when I was a lot younger, the cobbled motorways, the strange food, particularly dishes based...

The sacred week is now upon us, and we have some time to rehearse in our minds and in our worship, the mysteries of the death and...

Many people, maybe most people, spend their lives training, getting ready for a thing that may never happen, without getting ready for...