In our Chapel at Christ’s Hospital, we use the Book of Common Prayer for the recitation of the Offices. When it was clear that we were heading towards a pandemic, I flicked through the Prayers and Thanksgivings to see if I could find anything appropriate and I came across this prayer, to be used ‘in … More ‘In the time of any common plague or sickness’: a reflection on humility
A few years ago, a colleague and I devised a game to play in the Common Room at break time. I seem to recall that it was inspired by a newspaper article about some of the most stupid job titles given to roles being advertised at the time. The aim of our game was simple: we … More Manager of the Deceased: why Christians should keep on praying and acting
On Mothering Sunday, we have been invited to join a National Day of Prayer during the Covid-19 epidemic. Here is a simple liturgy which you may find helpful. It is in both PDF and Word form so that you can use it as it is or adapt it for your own circumstances. The Lord be … More The Light Shines in the Darkness
The woman said to Peter, ‘You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing round it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself…They asked him, … More Honesty and Grace: a homily for Ash Wednesday
‘With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin … More What does the Lord require of you? One last homily for Benenden School
He doesn’t know it, but Eamonn Holmes has played an important part in my spiritual journey and will always have a special place in my heart. Perhaps he’ll read this blog and then he’ll know. If you are reading this, Eamonn, yours will forever be the voice with which I got ready for school; you … More Why Eamonn Holmes will always have a special place in my heart – #JustAPriest25
One of my favourite films is Groundhog Day. It is a 1993 comedy, starring Bill Murray as cynical TV weatherman named Phil Connors, who is sent, much to his disgust, to cover an annual 2nd February Groundhog Day Parade in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He films a half-hearted report on the day’s events, gets snowed in and … More Groundhog Day – a Reflection on Attentiveness for Candlemas
“They think they are having not a quarrel but a conversation.” These are the words of Plato, in his dialogue The Republic. I don’t know about you, but I certainly feel that we have forgotten how to have a conversation and our public debate has descended into not so much a quarrel, but an all-out … More Rapport de face à face: what Emmanuel Lévinas and the Three Wise Men have to teach us this year
One of the challenges of being a School Chaplain is finding accessible and engaging ways to tell the stories of our faith to young people. A few years ago, I had such a challenge and, as a consequence, wrote a set of monologues entitled Voices Through Time, which tell the Christmas story in the first person, from … More Voices Through Time
“What lies there are about relics! One claims to have a feather from the wing of the angel Gabriel, and the Bishop of Mainz has a flame from the burning bush. And how does it happen that eighteen apostles are buried in Germany when Christ had only twelve?” Last year, the reformed churches throughout the … More In honour of Oscar Romero – an afternoon with a bloodstained alb: why we need the saints
The Truth Shall Make You Odd 