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…

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…

I really didn’t feel like going to church this morning. I tried to negotiate with God and decided to flip a coin. For tails, I’d go back to bed; for heads, I’d watch the telly; I’d go to church if the coin landed on its edge. I tossed the coin up in the air and it landed into a small…

Weasel, worm, sloth, slug, vulture, snake, pig, rat, dog, cow, chicken, fish, shark, monkey, wolf, dinosaur… That’s just a tiny selection of animals used to describe people. We use them to express our tender affection towards those we love or to express our dislike of others. Sometimes we use such phrases to vent our frustration or to clearly show our…