THIS ARTICLE WS PUBLISHED IN THE LARGS AND MILLPORT WEEKLY NEWS, Edition of 29th November 2023  

THE ARTICLE BELOW WAS PRINTED IN THE LARGS & MILLPORT WEEKLY NEWS, 22nd NOVEMBER 2023 edition.     November-2023-4

Remembrance Sunday is back. We remember many things on that day: the sacrifice and heroism of so many, the untold suffering of so many others, the senseless cruelty “justified” by ideological dogma, the stories of compassion which emerged despite the hatred engulfing nations. Yet the fratricidal hatred is also back....

As we approach the end of the Church’s year, we are invited to contemplate the last things: death, judgment, purgatory, heaven and hell. For life passes quickly and we have not here a lasting city. We were born for higher things, for life with God. This life has been entrusted...

Of late, as you know, I have discovered a new and close friendship across the barrier of death with young Blessed Carlo Acutis. I don’t consider this to be either a passing fad or a coincidence. In my inquiries with the Lord about all of you and about the way...

Like so many parishes in our diocese and in the West, so in ours, death notifications now vastly outnumber baptism notifications; marriages have dwindled to a trickle; confessions are petering out; confirmations and first communions have dropped dramatically and we hardly ever see most of the children or their parents...

I don’t know if you follow Catholic commentary on the internet regarding current affairs in the Church. Sometimes, I am dismayed by how negative and polarised it can be. You can almost feel the fear and anger behind both what’s being said and how it’s being said. If we think...

Jesus got up from table and removed his outer garment. For a Hebrew man, the outer garment was a sign of his dignity as a free man. In divesting himself of it during the Passover meal, Jesus was assuming the condition of a slave. When he took flesh from Mary’s...

Why does the Spirit lead Jesus into temptation by the Devil or test Adam and Eve by prohibiting them from eating from certain trees or test us by prohibiting behaviours and attitudes He defines as sinful?   The answer is so that we will use our freedom to choose Him...

Our opening prayer this afternoon concludes with these words: “may the presence of your Spirit among us bring renewal and courage.” And in a few minutes, we will pray a very searching and thorough Litany of Renewal, asking the Lord Jesus for many graces of both deliverance and reform.  ...