Reflections

It had been a week. I had the privilege of having some chats with a couple of colleagues, and I had been emerging from the rubble of a common cold. And part of the problem when you have a cold is that you can give in to the very persuasive temptation of ‘pushing through’. It’s...Continue reading→

31 August 2025 Help, My Cistern is Busted! In today’s first lesson, Jeremiah sallies forth and gives his listeners quite a tirade. He finishes with these telling lines My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Now,...Continue reading→

Of Knitting At this time of year, you may well have noticed that I wear lovely knitted jumpers. These are warm and personal, and it is a great joy to wear them both practically and emotionally. A lot of hours go into the creation of one of these garments. It doesn’t just happen overnight. In...Continue reading→

24/8/25 To Foster an Encounter … Bring Your Empty Bowl. It was a quirky little phrase that got my mind ticking and thinking. It could be a catchphrase for one of those dating app things. A way through to the screen to foster an encounter with someone whom you probably haven’t met before. An encounter...Continue reading→

Broken-heartedness is the beginning of all real reception Jack Hirschman Jack’s line seems rather brutal and not one of the most uplifting phrases that have ever been written. When we have our hearts broken, as we all have and as we all do, we have a choice. We could barricade ourselves securely behind the concrete...Continue reading→

12/8/25 Recently, Jeanine and I went to see a very light movie called ‘Jane Austen Ruined My Life’.  The storyline is so thin that it was almost transparent. A young woman must choose between two possible suitors. Like that’s never happened before. Hmmph! A good friend who has always been there and the dashing rebel, an...Continue reading→

The Unexpected Hour is..… Now. One harsh reality of life is waiting; waiting for someone to show up, waiting for something to happen, waiting for things to change. Sometimes it seems like all we do is wait. Some people wait for a diagnosis, others for a cure. Some wait for the day when the pain...Continue reading→

Of Mary Sumner Today’s reflection on Mary Sumner comes in two parts. Part 1 is from Susan Gibbin, who is the trustee of the Southwark Mothers Union in England. It's an important reminder of where we have come from. Part 2 is a few random thoughts from your local friendly parish priest. Part 1 Susan...Continue reading→

5/8/25 A transcendent moment. What is really going on here? It happened on a Saturday. I wasn’t really expecting it and certainly didn’t plan it, but as with all the finest and exciting moments, it found me. I found myself watching with rapture as a magnificent pelican glided gently over our lake, slowed, almost hovered,...Continue reading→

3/8/25 First,…Get right with God. He was a wise, crusty old gent. Someone who had a sharp tongue and soft heart. A no-nonsense guy with few pennies, but lavish hospitality. The first couple of times when I went to take him communion at home, I asked “Would you like to have a chat first or...Continue reading→

When Silence Speaks Loudly. Some of you might recall an incident like this. You and a ‘special friend’ have been invited over to baby sit the neighbours children.  Everything is laid out, the food is prepared for them and for you. The youngsters are amenable and go to bed on the second time of asking, which...Continue reading→

Their Potential Lies Hidden From Us. At this time of the year, particularly at morning prayer, the stained glass windows are just a cold slab of black glass. I can sort of make out some of the outlines, but that’s just about it. The detail is missing, and the colours are nonexistent. I sort of...Continue reading→

The Scorpion and the Egg. This is one of those many homilies about a mythical person in a mythical parish. This person is a collage of people whom I have been privileged to minister to. I’m going to call this person Seraphina. Seraphina was one of those remarkable people who danced in the shadows of...Continue reading→

The things we do for love. The story of Martha and Mary only appears in Luke, and these 6 little verses somehow draw us into quickly choosing one sister over the other. Usually, we reckon it’s Mary who’s the good one; Mary who gets the gold star and the heffalump stamp. “Mary has chosen the...Continue reading→

Something Else I stole from someone else. What follows comes from someone who happens to have grown up in a different denomination from me, but their message, I believe, is for people of all faiths. I found it helpful. I hope you do too. " Brothers, sisters… I speak to you, especially to those who...Continue reading→

Where do I begin? Of Vincenzo and Elaine I'd like to tell you a story about a man who was born in Italy. Some of you will have watched him in the series called ‘The Piano’ on the ABC. His name is Vincenzo and he is 73. Growing up, he played in a band in...Continue reading→

What is the Flavour of love? Over the past little while, I have been speculating as to what hope and faith might taste like if they were food. Or to put it another way, what dish would best describe these essential life ingredients? This article completes the trio of reflections and speculates about what flavour...Continue reading→

What does faith taste like? This is the second of three articles trying to encapsulate what hope, faith and love would taste like. What sort of dish would best convey these three basic and essential ingredients of life? Last week, I flirted with the idea that hope was like a very small teasing taste of...Continue reading→

We shall follow the breadcrumbs, and they will lead us home. I invite you to recall the story of Hansel and Gretel. There are a few different versions of the same story, but basically here’s the plot. Hansel and Gretel are the young children of a poor woodcutter and his wife, who are working well...Continue reading→

What does hope taste like? Hope is an elusive commodity. It is something that tantalises and teases us. We all feel it from time to time, and when we don’t, we ache for it, which is itself a sign of hope. To be without hope is to be hope/less, which is a very repugnant flavour...Continue reading→