Not so long ago I was called to the hospital to administer the sacrament of the sick; or – as some wrongly call it – the last rites. Getting into an ICU ward is challenging in best of times; these days it’s near impossible because of the ongoing pandemic. Having gone through all the necessary hoops I stood by the…

We know a lot about the human body. Scientific and medical progress over the last few decades has given us a better understanding of the way the body works. Consequently, many illnesses which were incurable in the past can now be treated successfully and healed without too much fuss. Sometimes we tend to believe that modern medicine can virtually deal…

A couple of weeks ago an old friend of mine (I’m not referring to her age, obviously!) asked me by text whether I had really gifted her an Amazon voucher as claimed by an email she’d received. A couple of days later a different friend of mine called me to check if I genuinely needed financial assistance as claimed by…

Last autumn I reached an important milestone in my life: I turned 50. I supposed to have a midlife crisis but none of the typical tell-tale signs indicates that. The craziest purchase I’ve made since then was a small bottle of sake – Japanese spirit – for a whopping sum of £17. Since I got it, I’ve only had a…

Today’s feast, the Baptism of the Lord, is a tiny bit bizarre. It closes the liturgical period of Christmastide but doesn’t belong to it. On the other hand, this feast opens the Ordinary time but doesn’t belong to it either. The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is like one of its main characters, John the Baptist. He closes…