The Saturday before Easter used to be a popular day to be baptised. You were given a white robe, and you would wear it until this Sunday, the Sunday after Easter. Then the real challenges would start, how to live your ordinary life in a Christian way. The ecstasy was nearly over, now you had [...]
Years of celebration and reflection Western Christian tradition The following table contains various Christian "High Days and Holy Days". They form an annual cycle, the so called liturgical year. It always starts with Advent, the expectation of the coming of Christ. Not all festive days are necessarily kept by each local Church. The order of [...]
This morning we are as it were invited to join the crowds at the shore of the lake of Gennesareth. Imagine you have come to listen to this strange new teacher, Jesus. He has already performed several miracles, like casting out an unclean spirit in Capernaum, healing Peter’s mother in law and then healing or [...]
In today’s gospel story, James and John are lobbying to sit on the right and the left hand of Jesus in His Kingdom. In St. Luke’s version of the story, it is the mother of James and John who does the lobbying. Now in itself there is nothing wrong with wanting to be close to [...]
The letter to the Hebrews is essential for our understanding of the concept of priesthood in the New Testament, as it focusses on the priesthood of Christ himself and the accompanying changes under the new covenant. The first three chapters provide a necessary introduction, explaining that Jesus, although fully human, is higher than the prophets, [...]
On the 7th of September 2018, following a meeting with the Chief Rabbi, several media reported on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s appeal to the Church of England to formally adopt “the full IHRA definition” of antisemitism. Within 4 days the bishops of the Church of England rallied behind him. By praising the Labour MP’s who [...]
Countless times already, various fringe groups within Christianity have predicted a date for the second coming of Christ. They did not care about this being a clear violation of Jesus’ own words in Matthew 24:36, that no one knows the day and hour, except God the Father. Other groups (sometimes the same ones later on) [...]
All three of today's readings are about strength and new courage. Strength to continue, strength to make a new beginning, especially if a long period of setback, of failure or uncertainty has preceded. And finding the strength to help others. How do you do that as a human being? And how does this work as [...]
You probably know the saying "Gods ways are not our ways", which is sometimes used when we have no explanations or do not even want to think about them. It is taken from Isaiah 55 verse 8. The following verse even states that Gods ways and ours differ like heaven an earth. Now, in what [...]
The following article is a response to a blog from 2016 by Father Marcus. This blog, which starts with a picture of a giant dog collar, was posted on at least three different websites and has crossed my path several times. Father Marcus describes the hardships of being a pastor and then encourages those considering [...]
