“The stuff of nightmares” rather well describes last week’s weather conditions, as well as my recent efforts to keep the acres of car parks at St Joseph’s and Holy Family safe underfoot. The back-breaking and time-consuming, valiant, lone fight against the elements turned out to be mostly futile as a mix of snowfalls and short thaws followed by frost cancelled…
For the sake of this sermon, I was looking for an example of frustration but the recent turn in the weather provided me with a first-hand experience. The morning after last Wednesday night’s snowfall looked beautiful as the pristine white blanket covered the ground. In the parish garden, it was my dog who broke the unspoilt beauty by leaving tracks…
Once, after a three-hour long drive, I finally reached my destination in the middle of nowhere. It turned out to be a ‘Pay and Display’ car park with a ticket machine. To my horror, it was taking coins only. My problem was that I had practically stopped using cash, preferring cashless payments as they’re more convenient to use and lighter…
When a month ago the date of King Charles’ coronation was announced, most of the population of the United Kingdom reacted with a great shrug of their shoulders. While there are staunch monarchists on one side and vigorous republicans on the opposite side, most of our fellow citizens are really indifferent to all things royal most of the time. I…
The Scottish leg of my priestly career started in Elgin. The parish priest and I covered a huge area between Lossiemouth in the north, on the Moray Coast and Tomintoul in the south, deep in the Cairngorms. To those unfamiliar with the area, it took an hour to drive between Elgin and Tomintoul along mostly winding roads. I was particularly…