Reflections

11 August 1024 The bread of humanity, the stuff of God. The creators of the lectionary had me stumped this week. In the first lesson, we have the heart-wrenching story of King David learning that his son Absalom has died a grizzly death. The details are all printed in the pew sheet in graphic detail....Continue reading→

Mary Sumner “It can’t have been easy” Today I want to start with Mary Sumner's own Mum Mrs. Heywood. It is the culture and atmosphere of the home that we grow up in, that we silently absorb on a daily basis, which helps to form us as we mature. We don’t do this consciously or...Continue reading→

Battery Low” I can get around the lake about 5 mornings out of the seven. Sometimes the weather is calm, crisp and delicious. Other days it’s rough and tumble. Sometimes I get around swiftly, particularly when it's Parkrun on a Saturday morning and other times it's a plodding shuffle. One of the things that helps...Continue reading→

“To do things to the very best, you often have to do things differently” I forget where I got this intriguing little quote from. Someone wise and profound no doubt. It’s one of those one-liners that draws you in and makes you think. But the more you think about it, the more challenging it becomes....Continue reading→

‘One pizza with four different toppings.’ Dear Margarita, Thank you very much for your kind letter of July 21st. I’m sorry that you find some of the homilies rather tedious. You are quite right. Some of them are spectacular duds and it's no wonder your mind wanders to the four images carved into the pulpit...Continue reading→

The Cement Ingot of Guilt I wrote last week about making a house a home and how I had had the privilege of living in no fewer than 8 (eight) rectories. What is hidden in that swift little sentence is the process of moving. There have been no fewer than 8 moves in my life...Continue reading→

The Incarnate Jesus is God’s ‘Yes’ to us At the start of our readings, the disciples have been out-and-about healing, teaching, solving the world's problems, sorting out the Church of God and trying not to create any new issues. They report to Jesus who can tell by their stories, probably the lines under their eyes...Continue reading→

Rectories … A house or a home? It is an undeserved privilege to live in a rectory, especially the one I happen to be in now. Someone thought carefully about the life we clerics live and set things out accordingly. I have lived in 8 rectories now and each one has been a joy. On...Continue reading→

Dear Sebastian, Thank you very much for your letter enquiring about prayer. This is a rather fulsome topic and it sounds that you, like me, struggle with your prayers. So I hope these few lines might be of some help to you. If I had to reduce prayer down to one sentence I would say...Continue reading→

In your backpack … July 7th 2024 Mark is very clear about the where and when in today's gospel. The day is the sabbath, the place is Jesus home synagogue in Nazareth and He is guest superstar preacher for the day. Many are amazed at what he has to offer. It’s all going so very...Continue reading→

“Throwing bombs over my shoulder” It was a little line that caught my attention. It slipped past very quickly but it made me stop and think; the words rattling around long after the words had finished making a sound. I’ve known people who have left organisations and on their way  ‘out’ have thrown a bomb over...Continue reading→

Of Faith and Doubt. When we think about the faithful worshipper we swiftly jump to the conclusion that they never have questions, doubts or dry prayer days. Their book of life is all sorted and has been read, digested and enjoyed with no tricky bits to negotiate. But to claim that we have all the...Continue reading→

“Hope is optimism with a broken heart”. Nick Cave Today's story is about several different people from every parish I have been in. It is about all of them in general and none in particular. I have watched this drama play out frequently, always trying to tread gently and listen to their words rather than...Continue reading→

The Manual for World Peace. I’ve been trying to work out why the sharing of food is so powerful. Think about all our life milestones and you will discover that there is often a sharing of sustenance as part of the package. After a funeral… The cuppa, the sausage roll, the lamington and that tomato...Continue reading→

23 June 2024 Four stormy questions The usual path for the preacher today is to point to the reassuring reality that the Master is always with us in the storms of life. ‘The boat’ can be interpreted as our parish, community, nation or life. And it is true... The master is always with us. Often...Continue reading→

Of Regrets. Regrets are something that we tend to accumulate along the way as we journey through life. It’s just part of the stuff we put in our suitcase of experience. I don’t think many of us sit down over our assorted breakfast fare and plot our day deliberately in order to make a mistake...Continue reading→

16 June 2024 Freddy; the incompetent Gardner. In today’s gospel, we are given two short parables for the price of one. Please don’t feel cheated, a lot is going on here within just a few short verses. I have to say that I am not much taken with our friendly gardener who for privacy reasons...Continue reading→

Of winners, losers and antagonism And so we came to Budget night. There were many images on different size screens. Smartly dressed people, exquisitely manicured, tenderly holding microphones. Countless people spoke a lot of words and wrote even more. Somewhere an unnoticed tree gasped and fell writhing to the ground. Ink was sprayed upon it...Continue reading→

What is going on here? The year is 1976 and I am boarding at Horsham so that I can attend Horsham High School. I come back to the farm at Warracknabeal for weekends and school holidays.  Horsham High is a much happier place than my previous school. 1976 is a great year and I feel secure,...Continue reading→

June 2nd, 2024 A pack of ‘undesirables’. Today’s gospel begins in an idyllic rural setting. The sun is shining, the birds are tweeting, and the corn is standing tall and gently swaying in the breeze. Dark clouds are a distant memory. It’s a sabbath day so there is no activity, no hurlby burly, all is...Continue reading→