Lord, we do not know where you are going. This short phrase from today’s gospel can summarise how many of us feel after two months of Great Eucharistic Deprivation and – in many cases – facing personal or domestic challenges, troubles or tragedies caused directly and indirectly by the pandemic. Even if we fully accept the restrictions on the cognitive,…

I had some great ideas for this sermon. Then on Friday Pope Francis used up all my ideas in his powerful sermon in the Vatican and I was back to the drawing board. By Saturday lunchtime I scraped some other ideas, planning to turn them into a sermon, but then Bishop Hugh recorded and published on social media his powerful…

How do you get yourself ready for a journey? I guess the most obvious answer is ‘it depends’. Before you start planning, you have to know a few basic facts, like where you’re going, for how long, what’s the purpose of your trip, who you’re going with… Only then you can start thinking about bookings, means of travel, things you…

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;…

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…