BRF - Stephen W. Need
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 - Remembrance: Hope against hope
52 Reflections on Faith - Remembrance: Hope against hope
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Remembrance: Hope against hope Remembrance Sunday is a sombre day. It’s the day of the year set aside for remembering all those who died in the two World Wars of 1914–18 and 1939–45. Always held on the Sunday nearest to 11 November, it marks the cessation of violence at the end o…
52 Reflections on Faith - The body of Christ: respecting difference
52 Reflections on Faith - The body of Christ: respecting difference
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
The body of Christ: respecting difference On a recent visit to the concert hall at Snape Maltings in Suffolk, I became particularly aware of the need to respect differences. The concert hall at Snape is widely known as the music centre founded by the composer Benjamin Britten (19…
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 - Light: Standing in the river
52 Reflections on Faith - Light: Standing in the river
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Light:Standing in the river One evening as I sit in my study, reading by a table lamp, a wasp hovers overhead for a moment, then makes for the light bulb. Finding the bulb hot, it moves to the inside of the shade and settles in the warm glow of the light…
52 Reflections on Faith - Mary, mother of Jesus: pointing to God
52 Reflections on Faith - Mary, mother of Jesus: pointing to God
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Mary, mother of Jesus: pointing to God Michelangelo’s Pietà is one of the most beautiful and famous pieces of art in the world. It stands just inside St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In glorious white marble, sculpted in the 15th century when the artist was only 24, the statue depict…
52 Reflections on Faith - Repentance: saying you’re sorry
52 Reflections on Faith - Repentance: saying you’re sorry
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Repentance: saying you’re sorry One of the most popular songs of the 1970s was ‘Sorry seems to be the hardest word’ by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. It featured on Elton’s Blue Moves album and came out as a single in 1976…
52 Reflections on Faith - Seeing God: a way of life
52 Reflections on Faith - Seeing God: a way of life
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Seeing God: a way of life Where do you ‘see God’? Where do you experience God? Where is God most real to you? There are probably particular times in your life when you sense God’s presence more than you normally do—special places where you feel close to God. You might have had a …
52 Reflections on Faith - The big picture: God and evil
52 Reflections on Faith - The big picture: God and evil
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
The big picture:God and evil I think most people know the expression ‘Keep your eye on the big picture’. Sometimes, when we’re getting bogged down in minutiae and arguing about detail, someone says, ‘OK, keep your eye on the big picture.’…
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 - 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 - John the Baptist: pointing to Jesus
52 Reflections on Faith - John the Baptist: pointing to Jesus
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
John the Baptist: pointing to Jesus The bones of John the Baptist have been discovered in Bulgaria, or so some newspapers have implied. A number of remains, including a knuckle bone, have been found in a sarcophagus in the grounds of a monastery on an island called Sveti Ivan, of…
52 Reflections on Faith - Jesus and the Poor
52 Reflections on Faith - Jesus and the Poor
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
11 Jesus and the Poor It’s striking, isn’t it, that God often comes to us in times of deprivation and loss, at times when we’re most down and depressed, at our weakest and most vulnerable, and perhaps feeling least religious? It’s true, of course, that we feel God’s presence at t…
52 Reflections on Faith - Jesus and Healing: The New Creation
52 Reflections on Faith - Jesus and Healing: The New Creation
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
10 Jesus and Healing I wonder if you’ve ever played any part in healing somebody. Have you ever had a role in helping somebody become whole? I don’t mean ‘Have you ever performed a miracle?’ as much as ‘Do you think in terms of healing and behave as if healing were possible?’ Do …
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 - Prayer: Listening to God
52 Reflections on Faith - Prayer: Listening to God
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
21 Prayer: Listening to God Prayer is sometimes defined as ‘talking to God’ and, on the face of it, that sounds as if it might be a helpful definition. What we’re doing when we’re talking to God is praying. The Oxford English Dictionary defines prayer as ‘a solemn and humble requ…
52 Reflections on Faith - Pentecost: a deep fire inside