Search Results
52 Reflections on Faith - All Saints Day: Humility and service
52 Reflections on Faith - All Saints Day: Humility and service
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
All Saints Day: Humility and service Residents of Southampton know all too well that their local football team is known as ‘the Saints’. The well-known song ‘O when the saints go marching in’ is often sung for the team, both at home and away. The mere sound of the song can bring …
52 Reflections on Faith - Ascension day: Presence not absence
52 Reflections on Faith - Ascension day: Presence not absence
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Ascension Day: Presence, not absence Ascension Day is one of the most important days in the Church’s calendar. It has been celebrated since the fourth century and has played a significant part in the life and culture of many Christian countries. It forms a fundamental part of the…
52 Reflections on Faith - Ash Wednesday: depending on God
52 Reflections on Faith - Ash Wednesday: depending on God
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
4 Ash Wednesday: Depending on God Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the period of 40 days before Easter. Lent is a season of fasting and repentance in preparation for the joyous celebration of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Day. The 40-day period comes from Jesus’ 40 d…
52 Reflections on Faith - Becoming Real: Loved into life
52 Reflections on Faith - Becoming Real: Loved into life
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
7 Becoming Real: Once upon a time there was a velveteen rabbit. He woke up one Christmas morning to find himself in a little boy’s stocking with a pile of other toys. He was brand new and wondering what was going to become of him. When the little boy opened his presents, he was d…
52 Reflections on Faith - Christ the King: Overcoming Suffering
52 Reflections on Faith - Christ the King: Overcoming Suffering
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
25 Christ the King: Overcoming Suffering On the feast of Christ the King, at the very end of the church’s year, it’s useful to note just how many different sorts of crucifix there are. Go into a few different churches in your area and you’ll soon see quite a variety. Look also at…
52 Reflections on Faith - Corpus Christi: Sanctifying Matter
52 Reflections on Faith - Corpus Christi: Sanctifying Matter
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Corpus Christi: Sanctifying matter A lot of people are familiar with the name of the French Jesuit scientist-priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955), but few know in any detail what he had to say. Teilhard, as he is often known, was born in the Auvergne region of France and…
52 Reflections on Faith - Easter Sunday: transforming lives
52 Reflections on Faith - Easter Sunday: transforming lives
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Easter Sunday: transforming lives Once upon a time, a small caterpillar popped out of its egg and found itself sitting on a leaf. It had striped fur and was called Stripe. As Stripe made his way slowly along the branch of the tree and down the trunk, he looked into the distance a…
52 Reflections on Faith - Emmaus: the eyes of faith
52 Reflections on Faith - Emmaus: the eyes of faith
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Emmaus: The eyes of faith During the last couple of decades or so, a series of fascinating coffee table books called Magic Eye have appeared in the shops. The books contain what, at first sight, look like fairly boring two-dimensional wallpaper patterns, but if you hold the pages…
52 Reflections on Faith - Epiphany: The fourth wise man
52 Reflections on Faith - Epiphany: The fourth wise man
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Epiphany: The fourth wise man The feast of the Epiphany on 6 January is a celebration of the ‘manifestation’ or ‘shining’ of Christ to the Gentiles. In the Eastern churches it’s also Christmas Day. The baptism of Christ is another closely associated feast. In the Western imaginat…
52 Reflections on Faith - Faith and Doubt: seeking understanding
52 Reflections on Faith - Faith and Doubt: seeking understanding
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Faith and doubt: Seeking understanding: Richard Holloway’s autobiography Leaving Alexandria: A memoir of faith and doubt tells the story of the author’s life, from his birth and upbringing in Scotland, through his training for the priesthood at the Society of the Sacred Mission a…
52 Reflections on Faith - Glorious Food: The Eucharist
52 Reflections on Faith - Glorious Food: The Eucharist
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Glorious food: The Eucharist Whenever I think of food, I think of the well-known song from the musical Oliver: ‘Food, glorious food’. It conjures up images of exotic banquets and unlimited eating. I also think of the saying ‘You are what you eat’. It’s true that whatever we put i…
52 Reflections on Faith - God and the world: Separate or together
52 Reflections on Faith - God and the world: Separate or together
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
God and the world:Separate or together? William Blake’s best-known painting is probably The Ancient of Days. Originally done in 1794 as the frontispiece for one of his illustrated books, it’s now in the British Museum. Often reproduced as a popular art poster in recent decades, t…
52 Reflections on Faith - Good Friday: access to God
52 Reflections on Faith - Good Friday: access to God
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Maundy Thursday: washing the feet Maundy Thursday is the first of the three holy days leading up to Easter. Christians usually think of it as the day when the Eucharist was instituted. Jesus ate a meal with his disciples in Jerusalem the night before he died, thereby inaugurating…
52 Reflections on Faith - Growth and renewal: good soil
52 Reflections on Faith - Growth and renewal: good soil
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Growth and renewal: Good soil: It’s amazing how things grow, isn’t it? The story is told of a young couple who bought a house with a large garden, including a lawn and an apple tree at the front. They decided they needed to ‘clear the garden’ and, in the process, chopped down the…
52 Reflections on Faith - Harvest: Saying “thank you”