April 2012 Blog Posts (23)

Call it coincidence, but when I agreed months ago to do a St Wilfrid Lecture at Ripon Cathedral I didn’t think it would take place in the week the Murdochs returned to the Leveson Inquiry. Having agreed to speak about ethics and the media, I decided it was too big a theme and narrowed it down a…

I am still thinking about the King's College London seminar on Monday with outstanding Christian and Muslim scholars discussing death, resurrection and the after life in our 2 traditions. The Archbishop of Canterbury gave a masterly summing up. One quote "What will we do in heaven? Enjoy God. And hell would be where one no longer wanted to enjoy God".

Today I went to a meeting on Faith and politics in Streatham. Neil Jameson of Citizens UK and Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi spoke extremely…

I have just been to speak to representatives of many faiths who are all involved in education in Bradford. I was offered two themes to choose from, but addressed both of them (fairly superficially) ahead of a discussion time. The first theme related to ‘religious pluralism in the lives of young…

Bhai Sahib Bhai Dr Mohinder Singh Ahluwalia and Mr William Ozanne were both, this Sunday, made Knights of St. Gregory, a Papal Honour that is only very rarely given to non-Catholics. Both have worked together for a better understanding between Sikhs and Catholics, building a close personal relationship. For the full story, go to…

Talk about mixed feelings. I was back in Liverpool for my mum’s 80th birthday great-big-family bash on Friday and listened on the car radio to the harrowing accounts of Anders Behring Breivik‘s cold-blooded murdering of…

I cannot believe that people didn't see that a muslim cleric would use new testiment scripture to further his own agenda.

Matthew 20: 6

Nice strategy!

To celebrate the birth of the last teacher of our era, the Jain community will be visiting the sick, and you are cordially invited to join them, making a contribution of dried fruit or biscuits if you wish: http://ayearofservice.org.uk/days-of-volunteering/jain/jain-resources.

Just in case we think the matters being addressed by Lord Leveson are original or uniquely British, I have just dug out Heinrich Böll‘s scathing attack on (what we refer to as) ‘tabloid’ excesses in…

Here goes with yet another exposure of ignorance.

Until this week I had never heard of the Spanish artist Cristobal Toral. Born in 1940 and from the Andalucian town of…

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with Jews have issued a joint statement on the economic crisis, calling it a "crisis of values", and saying that "wealth is a gift given for the common good". For the full story, go to http://www.news.va/en/news/jews-and-catholics-the-economic-crisis-is-a-crisis.

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with Jews have issued a joint statement on the economic crisis, calling it a "crisis of values", and saying that "wealth is a gift given for the common good". For the full story, go to http://www.news.va/en/news/jews-and-catholics-the-economic-crisis-is-a-crisis.

My private blog is The Organist librarian. If you would like to read it send an email to woodhousesopten@btinternet.com and I will invite you!

Every time I think of packing in my blog (which is frequently) I remind myself that I’m not writing a book. I think a blog only works if any post is seen as the first word and not the last word on any matter. It allows for thinking aloud – something most leaders are not encouraged to do as…

This evening we began the service in darkness and watched the light grow as we read the story of God’s freedom in Bradford Cathedral. I baptised five adults and confirmed more than twenty. The sermon was for them and the text follows here:

He has been raised (Mark…

Yesterday saw a group of people discovering that they weren’t as big as they thought they were. James and John, preoccupied with their own status have gone. Peter (or ‘Rocky’ to his friends) has contradicted every pretension and disowned his friend. And Pontius Pilate, a man with only the…

Maundy Thursday is when Anglican clergy and lay people join the bishop in the cathedral to re-affirm their ordination and baptismal vows. On the day when Jesus sat with his friends and shared (what he knew would be) a final meal, we poignantly address the…

After a day of hard meetings I laughed when I got an email with the link to this video. Most of us just moan about things like the budget, but the wife of the Dean of Wakefield got creative and made the point much more effectively.

 …

The following is part of a series which gives suggestions for bidding prayers at the major festivals of other religions, along with a short text of explanation for use in parish newsletters. In acknowledging these festivals, and praying for those who celebrate them, Catholics can express their connectedness to all people of faith, as well as the respect which the Church holds for their spiritual wealth.

For use on Sunday, 22^nd April

The Bahá’í festival…