Most people hurry past Holy Saturday. It is the quietest day of the Church’s year, and perhaps for that reason the easiest to ignore. But no one escapes the reality it represents. Holy Saturday is the day in between—the space after something precious has died, but before anything new has begun. It is the long […]
Easter Sunday: When the Silence Begins to Sing Read More »
What exactly is the triumph in today’s gospel? We call it the triumphal entry, yet it hardly resembles the kind of triumph we instinctively imagine. There is no military parade, no display of power or prestige. Jesus simply rides a borrowed colt. His followers are not an army but a small, hopeful, slightly bewildered group of
Palm Sunday: Triumph, Palms and Throwing Down Cloaks Read More »
The new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, set out last week on a six-day walking pilgrimage from London to Canterbury, as part of her spiritual preparation for her Installation service at Canterbury Cathedral on Wednesday 25 March. The British Province of Carmelites were proud that during this personal
The readings for this Sunday draw us into one of Scripture’s most daring claims: God refuses to leave anything dead. Not bones scattered in a desert, not a friend sealed in a tomb, not the parts of our own lives that feel beyond repair. The God who speaks through Ezekiel and acts through Jesus is
Resurrection: The Fullness of Life – 5th Sunday of Lent Read More »
“Every journey begins with a single step.” ― Lao Tzu The new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, set out earlier this week on a six-day walking pilgrimage from London to Canterbury, as part of her spiritual preparation for her Installation service at Canterbury Cathedral on Wednesday 25 March. The
New Archbishop of Canterbury to visit two Carmelite shrines on a personal pilgrimage Read More »
Lent has a way of leading us gently, step by step, into deeper light. Each Sunday’s Gospel seems to take us a little further along a path of seeing—seeing God more clearly, seeing ourselves more honestly, and seeing others with renewed compassion. Two weeks ago, on the mountain of Transfiguration, the disciples were given a
Open the Eyes of My Soul, Lord – 4th Sunday of Lent Read More »
He arrives at the well at the wrong time of day—heat pressing down, dust rising, the kind of hour when even the shadows seem to retreat. Jesus sits there, tired and thirsty, resting beside a well that has heard and witnessed the stories of generations. Nothing dramatic. Nothing holy-looking. Just a weary man beside ancient
When the spring breaks open – 3rd Sunday of Lent Read More »
There is an inspirational children’s story that may help us understand why the Church gives us the account of the Transfiguration on the 2nd Sunday of Lent. The book is called ‘The Black Stallion.’ It tells of a boy named Alec who survives a shipwreck and finds himself stranded on a deserted island with a wild
A Pocket Full Of Memories – 2nd Sunday of Lent Read More »
Lent has a way of tempting us into thinking small. We give up chocolate, or wine, or we give up endlessly scrolling on our phones in the evenings. We feel quietly pleased with ourselves—as if God were keeping a tally of our efforts somewhere in heaven. Perhaps that’s why, right at the start of Lent,
A Lent that thinks bigger – 1st Sunday of Lent Read More »
Recently I was catching up with a friend who knows me better than most. She’s the kind of person who sees through the polished version of me and waits patiently for the truth to surface. I told her that despite all my effort—trying to be capable, calm, organised, in control—I’m running out of steam. Life
Ash Wednesday: Remembering we are Dust Read More »
