Watch Out For the Weeds
There are tares among the wheat. You needn't try to weed them out. Just wait for the judgment day. Then all things will be harvested and everything that is hidden will be revealed.
Hell. Will Lots of People Go There?
Really? Earlier this week I posted on Twitter X about universalism and someone opined that the opposite of universalism must be "zealous infernalism" Which I take to mean "an active desire not only for the reality of eternal torment, but the perverse desire that many people will go there." I don't think the alternative [...]
The Sign of Joy
When I was an Anglican priest I used to walk from my apartment over to church for evening prayer every day. On the way I would walk past the house of a Jehovah's Witness. This particular JW was the sort of man who always had his hair combed, the car washed and probably went to bed [...]
The Finger Bone of St Thomas and the Blessing JP2
I was on pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee Year in 2000 when I met Ian. You see, I was hard up at the time and I wanted to save money so I opted not to pay a single room supplement which meant sharing with a stranger. At the airport I was eyeing up all the [...]
The Day I Met St Bernadette
In the summer of 1987 I was living in England and had three months free between jobs so I decided to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem--hitch-hiking and staying at monasteries across Europe. One of the place I wanted to visit was the monastery of St Gildard in Nevers, France. This is where the incorrupt [...]
Dream of the Rood
It seemed that I saw a most wondrous tree born aloft, wound round by light, brightest of beams. All was that beacon sprinkled with gold. Gems stood fair at earth's corners; there likewise five shone on the shoulder-span. All there beheld the Angel of God fair through predestiny. Indeed, that was no wicked one's gallows, [...]
Little Big Men
SS. Simon and Jude are the last two apostles on the list (before Judas Iscariot that is) and Peter comes first. I guess they put them in order of priority because poor old Simon and Jude don't get much more of a mention. The old stories say they ended up preaching the gospel in Persia, which [...]
O Lord, Make Me Happy, But Not Yet…
Sister Mary Lucy was a Poor Clare nun who suffered greatly. She lost her eyesight and had a degenerative bone disease which caused her spine to crumble. The doctors could do very little to help her. I used to visit her regularly, but never once heard her complain. Instead she had a huge radiant smile. I [...]
Aliens, Elephants and Angels
I don’t know if anyone else has noticed a seemingly profound, but ultimately silly discussion which is prevalent within popular culture. It’s called the Fermi Paradox and it goes like this: “There are billions of stars out there like the sun. Therefore, statistically there must be billions of planets like earth where intelligent life has developed. Given the [...]
Exorcism and the Snakes of St Patrick
The other day I saw a snarky comment about the legend of St Patrick casting all the snakes out of Ireland: "Thing is" said snarker "Ireland never had any snakes anyway. The climate is too damp and cold. Duh." Duh indeed. The legend was never about snakes anyway. It was about serpents--meaning Satan and the demons. [...]