One of my favorite quotes from St Therese of Lisieux is "There is no virtue in doing what is reasonable." She captured in that subversive little thought the whole genius of Christianity. Jesus himself throws out a similarly outrageous observation when he says "If you have faith as a mustard see you can tell this mountain [...]
In June 2023 I will be leading a pilgrimage to Italy focussing on youthful saints: St Francis, St Benedict, St Maria Goretti, St Gemma Galgani, Bl. Carlos Acutis and more. We'll go to Rome, Assisi, Norcia, Gubbio with prayers and worship, but also time for fun and tourist stuff. This pilgrimage is especially for the first [...]
After hearing confessions yesterday I was overcome with emotion. It was a mixture of amazement at God's mercy, but also the astonishing expectations of the Catholic faith. If hit me in a fresh way just how shocking the Catholic Church really is and it was hearing confessions that hammered it home. Just think about it for [...]
The Divine Office for this memorial of St Therese of Lisieux is the Common for Virgins. On coming into the Catholic Church I was at first somewhat flummoxed by this traditional veneration of virgins. It was not a feature of Anglicanism, and it was certainly not a feature of Evangelical Protestantism. I was somewhat suspicious at [...]
Some time ago I wrote a blog post about the Commandant of Auschwitz--Rudoph Hoss--baptized and brought up as a Catholic, went to the devil, but before his execution went to confession, made a complete statement of remorse and apology and received the sacraments. I was more active on social media at the time and I remember [...]
One of the ponderings I've had in viewing the accession of King Charles III is the importance of patriarchy and kingship to the civilization of the West. Patriarchy and monarchy are ancient concepts which are always linked with the idea of the man as the head of the home, the chief of the tribe, the Father [...]
On Monday I returned from a very short visit to England to celebrate my mother-in-law's 85th birthday. While I was there Queen Elizabeth died. (It was not my fault) The brief visit, and the subsequent glut of England in the news made me feel nostalgic for the country where I lived for 25 years. When we [...]
In my own faltering way I have attempted to follow the Lord Jesus in the path of St Benedict, and one of the aspects of the Benedictine life from which I have profited most has been the Benedictine vows of Stability, Obedience and Conversion of Life. These vows differ from the Franciscan vows of obedience, poverty [...]
As providence would have it I have been in England at the time of the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III. In fact I was on a cross channel ferry at the time of her death and my friend Gavin Ashenden told me the news on my arrival at Caen. [...]
During my pilgrimage tour to France in 2019 I was sorry not to have the time to find the shrine to St Jean de Brebeuf that I had learned was hidden in the Normandy countryside, so on this visit to Normandy I asked my marvelous host, Gavin Ashenden if we could go there. So on a [...]