‘Jesus began to speak in the synagogue […] and he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips.’ These words at the very beginning of today’s gospel were also the final ones in last week’s gospel reading. They describe Jesus’ visit to a local Jewish house of prayer in Nazareth…

From time to time I get recipes from Poland; sometimes the dish is something traditional, sometimes something newly-created. Invariably the next stage involves translating the recipes into English. And most of the time this presents not only a linguistic challenge but a ‘substantial’ one too. Or to put it in clearer terms, I have to find substances – ingredients –…

In my second parish I came across a bunch of very talented and skilled young musicians, very keen to form a band and get involved in the Sunday liturgy. As individual musicians, each and every one of them was brilliant; as a band, they were able to produce a lot of noise but very little music. Everyone was playing everything,…

What a festive season we’ve had! Heavy and persistent rain, blustery winds and floods, now topped off by snow and ice. It was supposed to be a relaxing time of rest and joy; instead many people have battled for survival against the unbridled power of the elements. Sometimes their fight was unfortunately given over to damage limitation. Excuse the pun,…