Latest Thought for the Week

I have just finished reading The Crossway by Guy Stagg. It is a deeply personal account of a 5550-kilometre pilgrimage from Canterbury to Jerusalem via Rome, which took Stagg 10 months to complete.

Our main headline from the Connection is that we are very busy indeed. I expect you’ve noticed the number of people in a desperate situation around the Church, around central London and beyond.

History is tricky. I don’t mean the memorizing dates and remembering ‘important’ people kind of history that many of us learned in school.

In the whole of February I will only have spent two nights in the UK. I am neither proud, nor entirely happy about that, but it is what it is.

The Gospel reading (Luke 6: 17-26) for this Sunday’s Eucharist is sometimes referred to as the Sermon on the Plain. It may be compared with the longer Sermon on the Mount described in Matthew’s Gospel.

The New Year brought me a funeral per week, perhaps not unusual for a priest, perhaps not unusual for the time of year. Too much loss can feel overwhelming and leave you feeling winded.

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word. These are words of Simeon from today’s Gospel as we celebrate Candlemas.

Most mornings I have a conversation with David. David sleeps outside Winchester station.

The week of prayer for Christian Unity, from 18 to 25 January, is this year entitled ‘Justice and justice only you shall pursue’, based on Deuteronomy 16: 11-20.