When referring to Jesus’ parable of the Good Shepherd last Sunday, I admitted that my knowledge of farming and agriculture is rather limited. That limitation extends to vine-dressing – with reference to the image as presented in today’s gospel. However, my limited knowledge doesn’t mean that I’m absolutely ignorant of the matter. Thanks to my formal education plus my deep-rooted…

In common with most babies and toddlers, they are very cute and very vulnerable. Oh, I’m obviously talking about lambs! These days a lot of them run carefree in the fields; but the moment they spot danger, like a big man walking his dog, they run to their respective mothers and – oddly enough – suck them for comfort. I…

‘Hell doesn’t exist’ said Pope Francis – allegedly – and then hell broke loose. The words were cited by Eugenio Scalfari, an Italian journalist and self-declared atheist. The Pope had a private meeting with Scalfari just before Easter without, however, giving him a formal interview. The Vatican quickly responded that the article didn’t report the Pope’s words accurately as no…

In London a recent spike in crime is causing local and national politicians a headache. More importantly, those deaths are leaving behind shattered families and communities. We don’t know all the details of each incident but, out of those scraps of information we get from the media, it seems there’s a common factor that features in reports. Apparently, those deaths…