Sunday 8 March 2026 The gospel today was the Woman at the Well, from John 4:5-42. We studied this passage during the RCIA, exactly a year ago, and I remember coming to understand something of its importance. But hearing it again today, and listening to reflections from my own priest, and others online and elsewhere, … Read more
Sunday 1 March 2026 I managed to catch up with some old RCIA friends last night. It had only taken us the best part of a year to arrange (must try harder), but we all picked up where we’d left off and had a great time together. One thing struck me as refreshing, and a … Read more
Sunday 22 February 2026 I skipped coffee and croissants after Mass this morning to get into the trenches. A World War I trench, to be specific, not in Flanders or along the borders of France. But in Elham, Kent, at the back of a man’s farm. Eagle-eyed historians will know that there were no front … Read more
First Friday in Lent, 20 February 2026 I like these early 7am lenten masses. Even if I don’t feel that way getting up at 6.40am. Last year Lent had particular meaning. I was still in RCIA and fast approaching Easter, when I would be received into the church. Perhaps it was more significant to me … Read more
Wednesday 18 February 2026 I have never been to an Ash Wednesday service before. I think it was the ashes that put me off. Or, thinking more about it, my atheism at the time. But as a new catholic I didn’t want to miss it, and got dispensation from work to take a very early … Read more
Tuesday 17 February 2026. M, the woollen poppy lady, saw me after Mass today and said hello. She’d had to sit with a cushion for her bad back. It was the result of an expensive massage she’d had on holiday, which I suggested had undone the tension that had previously held her together. I call … Read more
First Mass. Saturday 19 April 2025. St Thomas’s, Canterbury. My first communion, about seven minutes after becoming a catholic. I remember smiling, but the rest was a bit of a blur. There were crowds as we all shifted ourselves to the front of the line to receive the Eucharist. I was too busy concentrating on … Read more