woman in orange coat with black and brown scarf

Advent and Prayer: The Importance of Patience

December 4, 2022Posted inSermons
It might be a surprise for you to learn that I was once invited to become a monk. It certainly came as a surprise to me! The offer was made after I asked a question to a man with white hair, wearing a long white robe, at a conference of the Student Christian Movement. That man was Timothy Radcliffe, a Roman Catholic Dominican monk in the Order of Preachers who was the author of our second reading today. Of course, I had to decline Timothy’s invitation for a number of reasons, the main one being I told him, was that my then-girlfriend, now fiancée, would probably not be too happy about me taking monastic vows – an excuse I remember he graciously accepted.
selective focus of purple candle

Advent: The Importance of Being Woke

November 27, 2022Posted inSermons
Being ‘woke’ has become something of a pejorative term. The other day an article in The Telegraph blamed “namby-pamby woke HR types” for trying to ban swearing in the workplace. Yesterday a Daily Express headline read, “BBC's World Cup coverage blasted as 'woke'”. But where did this term come from before it became widely used as an insult for anything or anyone considered to be a bit too left-wing? Well, it originated in the African-American community in the United States. If someone was ‘woke’ it meant that they were “alert to the issues of racial prejudice and discrimination”. That eventually expanded to mean being alert to other social issues.

Advent: Looking Forward from a Time of Pandemic

December 13, 2020Posted inSermons
When I preach during Advent, I have been known to have a bit of a moan at people who to skip observing the quiet solemnity of Advent and instead, choose to plunge headfirst into the manic merriness of Christmas earlier than they liturgically should. This is not going to be one of those occasions.