How do you like today’s gospel reading? Jesus’ call here is so demanding that it goes beyond what’s doable, doesn’t it? What do we do with such bits of the Bible that on the one hand can be really moving and captivating but on the other hand go well beyond what’s achievable? Well, quite often we just skip them effectively;…
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The sun was shining from the clear blue sky, the air was still, filled with the pleasant smell of the forest and rather shy trill of birds. As I walked through the Forest of Glen Tanar last week, across the exposed slopes, I had to take off my jacket, gloves, hat and scarf – it was so pleasantly warm. But…
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Over the last few years, we’ve seen the arrival of various religious communities in our diocese. The most recent are the Apostolic Sisters of St John who now live as a small community in Aberdeen. Such arrivals thrill many across the diocese; the enthusiasm and great expectations are unnaturally high. Perhaps we are so enthusiastic about these newcomers because their…
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A wee boy was sitting in the pew and looked with confusion at a priest in front of him. The priest was holding something white in his hand, both his hands raised above his head; clearly, the priest was showing something. The boy’s confusion sprang from the obvious disparity between what was being shown and the words uttered by the…
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Have you made your New Year’s resolution? Mine’s is to help all my friends gain twenty pounds, so I’ll look slimmer. And I decided to read more this year, so I put the subtitles on my TV. New Year’s Day is the accepted time to make our regular annual good resolutions; now, a week later we can begin paving hell…