• Sermon - Year A

    1st Sunday of Lent

    Last Wednesday night I was watching ‘Reporting Scotland’ on the BBC. Among many stories there was one about lowering the sugar content in the iconic Scottish fizzy drink ‘Irn-Bru’. A reporter asked a few people in the street for their opinions on the decision. My attention was drawn to a middle-aged woman whose forehead had been marked with a darkened…

  • Sermon - Year A

    8th Sunday in Ordinary time

    Britain’s youngest ‘Euromillions’ winner was planning to sue the parent company of Lotto for ‘ruining her life’. How was the operator alleged to have done so? By paying out a million pounds to her as the holder of a winning ticket. She had bought the ticket of her own free will, and she had accepted the money. Eventually she dropped…

  • Sermon - Year A

    5th Sunday in Ordinary time

    The Presidency of Mr Trump is like a gift that keeps on giving – in reverse. His controversial blanket ban on travel over a week ago pleased his supporters enormously – and brought misery to many individuals, whose rights were struck off by a stroke of the Presidential pen. For me, the decision resembled that of the infamous Nuremberg Laws,…

  • Outdoors

    Nairn Dunes & Culbin Forest

    For years I’ve perceived the town of Nairn to be a bottleneck on the A96 on the way to and from Inverness. Going through it was as pleasant as a visit to dentist’s. Although a couple of years or so ago I found in the local Sainsbury’s two kinds of flour that mixed together produce excellent bread. So, every now…

  • Sermon - Year A

    4th Sunday in Ordinary time

    It will be the second anniversary of my grandmother’s death in a couple of weeks’ time. I remember vividly that shortly before her Requiem Mass was due to commence, I was instructed to preach at it. I hate being put under pressure to have to craft a homily at the very last-minute, because it indicates either laziness on the part…