Reflections

The Ragamuffin Invitation 5/7/26 Today’s gospel offers an invitation, but it is only to a select group of people. In fact, if you were going to be snarky, you could argue that the invitation is actually discriminatory. It’s not for everyone and is, in fact, only for ragamuffins. I’ve pinched this Ragamuffin idea, of course,...Continue reading→

An Attitude of Gratitude I went to school a long time ago, like several decades ago, but some of the teachers are still memorable for very good reasons. I guess we all had a Mr Grumpy who would come in, stomp around the classroom and toss the occasional well-aimed duster (remember those) at a student...Continue reading→

28/6/26 St. Peter  The deal of a lifetime. The usual path for the preacher on St. Peter’s Day is to point out that Peter wasn’t quite the steadfast and reliable rock that we would expect in a gold-class apostle. The apostle. The rock on which the Church is built. Sometimes St. Peter wasn’t rock-like at...Continue reading→

Nobody Wants This ‘Nobody Wants This’ is a Netflix series. The plot revolves around young aspiring Rabbi Noah, who is set for promotion to his first big synagogue. However, he falls passionately in love with Joanne, a vivacious and attractive young woman who is of no faith. The rub, of course, is that if Noah...Continue reading→

21/6/26 Today, the Mothers union has a birthday of 150 years. It’s an organisation that is especially concerned with family life in all its trickiness and sparkle. Today's Old Testament lesson is all about one such family with a smorgasbord of messes. We learn… sometimes… Today’s first lesson about Hagar and her child Ishmael requires...Continue reading→

Go slow - think more, talk more, see more. Just lately I’ve had to change gears as I go round the lake. I used to tear around as fast as I possibly could, and that helped with the bathroom scales and ego. Now, I have to go around in first gear. Whilst this is a...Continue reading→

Would It Be OK if I Just Listened? This reflection comes from a powerful memory of long ago. I wasn’t in the best place at the time, and my friend, knowing this, sought me out and just sat beside me. For about 2 hours, nothing was said. Nope, not one word. Which was peculiar because...Continue reading→

When God Makes You Laugh. There are parallels between the story of Sarah in our first lesson today and the story of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are both about God doing the impossible for His people. They are also mirror images of each other. One is about a young girl, the other about an...Continue reading→

In Praise of the God who Prods us. In today’s readings, we have God giving two people a bit of a prod. Abraham and Matthew are nudged out of their comfort zones and asked to go somewhere else, do something else and BE someone else. To take up new tasks and different work. The Almighty...Continue reading→

The Parable of the Archer’s Target. Far too often, I have found myself distracted by ‘other’ things that I thought were absolutely vital and essential to the church of God. The sad reality is that they were not. They were petty distractions, and to my shame, I wasted far too much time and energy flirting,...Continue reading→

What’s a LIG? Last time I went to confession, it was just before Christmass. To my great comfort and joy, I discovered not a squeaky clean plaster saint, but a shabby sinner just like myself. Fancy that! Someone who had faced the same delectable tempting scenarios and made the same mistakes as I had. Who’d...Continue reading→

What’s a ‘Synod’? At our Parish Annual Meeting this year, we will be required to elect 4 Synod representatives and 2 supplementaries. A Synod only meets once a year on a Friday night and Saturday, usually in late October. The people go once a year for three years. So time-wise, it’s not a huge commitment....Continue reading→

A Man attended the Outpatients Clinic at a leading Hospital, arriving at 1:15 pm for a 1:30 pm appointment. He checks in at the reception and is told to sit in area C, and he will be called. At 2: 15 pm, he enquires and is told things are a bit behind. Ultimately, at 5:30...Continue reading→

This is not what we were expecting! Often, I have tried to imagine myself as one of those frightened disciples locked up in that upper room. Where not much is said, but simply being together and wanting to be together says it all. What is the next move? What do we do now? Go back...Continue reading→

Our Interconnectedness Should be our Strength. As I’m writing this, the war in Iran is raging, as are the tempers of some world leaders. It’s not pretty, it’s not pleasant, and it’s not new. The war in the Middle East has been going on for some time now, and someone who is far cleverer than...Continue reading→

17/5/26 I Believe in the Communion of Saints. This homily has been given to me over the years by several people. They were unaware of this treasure, but this just makes their gift all the more generous. They did not seek any recompense or reward. This homily is about several people, and yet no one...Continue reading→

Windows into Motherhood. 10 May 2026 Today, in the secular calendar, it is Mother's Day. It will come as no surprise to you that I have absolutely no idea what it is like to be a Mother. I have never known and will never know what it is like to sense those first flutterings of...Continue reading→

Would it be OK if I said … “ I’m sorry ” On Anzac Day, I am always moved. I’m not sure if it's the bugler, the hundreds who turn out, or the minutes' silence, but all of it stirs me in ways that are profound and indescribable. But war must always disappoint us. Retribution,...Continue reading→

Don’t Blame the Goat Once upon a time, more than 3,000 years ago, there was an ancient custom in which an unsuspecting goat would be captured and brought before the religious leader of the day. The locals having all told their grubbiest and most grimy faults to the clergy, it would then be the clerics'...Continue reading→

3 May 2026 God of the Unlikely - Hear Our Prayer. Usually, the first lesson at the Sunday Eucharist is normally from the Old Testament; during Eastertide, the first lesson is taken from the Acts of the Apostles. It’s the story of the early Church as reported by Luke, and we do this to enhance...Continue reading→