We are familiar with the almost comically unfamiliar Kings that we meet today, journeying in Eastern finery, sticking out like a sore thumb so much that they are strangely familiar, as though there has been a fire alarm in Funny Girls and all the cast were out on the street, exoticism suddenly brought face to face with minicabs and rain and litter. The Magi are not the dusty east of poor Palestinian peasants under Roman occupation, but the spice-laden Persian east, the Aladdi

Are you hoping that they will come, or are you hoping that they will go or are you just waiting for the next lot to come around New Year? Have you had enough of your family yet, not enough or does it not matter very much but you could do with some help eating the ham? At this time of the year when some families move heaven and earth to be together for a few days and some do quite the opposite, it’s appropriate that the Church presents us with the image of the Holy Family. It

Gaudete, Gaudete Christus est natus. Ex Maria Virgine, Gaudete. Rejoice, rejoice! Christ is born of the Virgin Mary. Rejoice. Gaudete. Rejoice. The Messiah, the Christ is coming. He will come to be the light to lighten the gentiles and to be the glory of His people Israel. And as the Gaudete carol continues: Deus homo factus est natura Murante, mundus renovates est a Christo regnante. God has become man, with nature marvelling. The world has become renewed by the reigning Chr

Some years ago, sailing into Plymouth harbour, the boom vang on my yacht snapped. Boom Vangs are small things, but of crucial importance if you want the boat to move in the way you wish it to, because it connects the wheel to the sail, via a device known, amusingly, as a ‘tabernacle’. The snap came about fifty metres from the harbour wall, beyond which all was still and calm and the onboard motor would have been quite sufficient, with the sails down, to pootle into the marina

Some time ago, there was a meeting looking at regularising the rites of deliverance in the Church of England. As most of you will guess, I was at the meeting. I was reasonably quiet, because I had successfully argued for ‘other occasional texts as may be needed’ to be inserted into the Canon, and indeed, ‘Other Occasional Texts’ pretty much sums up the entire liturgy by which I live and minister. At one point, the insurance company were saying that we would be unable to pract

When I set out to write a sermon, I tend to go through the same few moves. First I check, for sure, what the readings of the day will be....

As you know, I am not concerned with keeping things ‘on the proper day’. Not because of any kind of flippancy about the events we...

It would be the usual thing to begin by saying that Crosses are personal things, and that the burden we bear is an intensely personal...

Reading of eating and drinking in today’s Gospel, my mind wandered back to childhood family gatherings, Christmas, anniversaries,...

Sometimes people like to say that the Assumption of Mary is ‘not in the Bible’ and we have to accept that scriptural references are...