Holy Saturday: ‘He descended into hell’
Holy Saturday is a much misunderstood day, suspended awkwardly between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, seemingly of no great spiritual significance. Jesus is buried: we are left wondering and waiting.…
Meditation and Reflection
Easter Day: ‘He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.’
He is risen! Hallelujah! Still the earth resounds this Easter Day with the joy of that seismic irruption 2,000 years ago. We have passed from death to life. Just as God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and gave…
Good Friday: the sufferings of Christ are the sufferings of the age
God died today. He hung on cross, in misery and agony, and died eventually. Today is a day to remember the day God died; the passion, the weeping, the wailing,…
Maundy Thursday: there needs to be some foot-washing in Oxford
You can't spread hope without truth, and you can't possess truth without humility, transcendence, and reconciliation in the heart. There is an earthly concept of justice which affords a proximate…
RIP Sr Catherine Wybourne, aka Digitalnun
The most fragrant and blessed Christian presence on social media has entered into paradise. Our heads are bowed; a thousand teardrops mingle with the rain, and the world is a…
Our Platinum Queen — the happiness of the United Kingdom
When we think or speak of the Elizabethan era, our minds turn naturally to the 16th century; to the golden age of peace and prosperity, of art and culture, of…
The dutiful Queen
The image of Her Majesty the Queen seated alone at the funeral of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, was one of the most arresting and abiding images of 2021.…
RIP Desmond Tutu – prophet, priest and archbishop to the world
Desmond Tutu was known throughout the world as a man of peace and passion; of faith and politics; of moral conscience and fiery wit. He was honoured and lauded on…
We will remember them
Nothing today: no words, except those of Robert Laurence Binyon: With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh…
Hardship of Life
Meet Munzir al-Nazzal and his five-year-old son Mustafa. They live in Reyhanli, in the Turkish province of Hatay, at the border with Syria. Munzir lost his right leg as he…
Fight or flight? The falling man of Afghanistan has haunting echoes of 9/11
They aren't stupid. They scramble beneath a US military aircraft and cling to its wings and wheels in the hope of escaping the coming Taliban terror. It is fight or…
Flood, fire, famine and pestilence: the end is nigh (maybe)
Wildfires blaze across the western states: California and Oregon burn day and night. Death Valley hit a blistering 54.4°C, which might be the highest recorded ambient temperature on Earth. Across…
Pope meets Spider-Man: when did religious leaders cease being superheroes?
The cynic will say religious leaders were never superheroes (or superheroines), but, of course, they were. The precise nature and source of their superhuman powers may be lost in antiquity,…
The Parable of the Bad Samaritan
On one occasion a lawyer member of the General Synod of the Church of England stood up to test the Bishop of Oxford. “Bishop,” he asked, “What must I do…
On the death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said today: "I join with the rest of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth in mourning the loss of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, The…
Easter Day: the triumph of Christ and the reign of grace
Without death there is no resurrection. Without the Cross there is no salvation. Without the Resurrection of Christ there is no eschatological act of grace, and no reign of Christ.…
Good Friday: God is dead
God died today. He hung on cross, in misery and agony, and died eventually. Today is a day to remember the day God died; the passion, the weeping, the wailing,…
2021: a new year of change and the promise of hope
As seasons go, 2020 was a year to cast away. It was a time die, a time to break down, a time to weep and a time to mourn. Its…
Holy Innocents: why are we putting 12-year-olds in solitary confinement for 23½ hours a day?
Herod then with fear was filled: "A prince," he said, "in Jewry!" And all the little boys he killed At Bethl'hem in his fury. Childermas – the Feast of the…
It’ll be lonely this Christmas
"Even if we can't be together as normal, no-one needs to feel lonely this Christmas", tweeted Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden. "We're giving £7.5m to charities, arts organisations, libraries and local…