Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

If you have done your best to live ‘right’, and still had nothing but trouble and heartache in your life, Alphonsus is the saint for you.   He was born in 1533, the son of a wool merchant in Segovia.  He followed his father into the profession, married, and had two children.   He was a responsible...

Twenty years ago, on 7th October 2001, the first US and British forces arrived in Afghanistan to launch a massive military offensive following the 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States. The aim of the offensive was to find and neutralise the al-Qaeda militants under Osama bin Laden who had planned the aerial terror attack with...

Modern Halloween celebrations have their roots with the Celtic peoples of pre-Christian times. In those long-ago days, on the last night of October, the Celts celebrated the Festival of Samhain, or ‘Summer’s End’.  The priests, or Druids, performed ceremonies to thank and honour the sun.  For there was a very dark side to all this:...

The Methodist Church in Britain and All We Can have launched a joint appeal in response to the powerful earthquake that recently struck Haiti’s Southern Peninsula. More than 2,000 people were crushed to death in the terrible quake.  Thousands more are destitute, their homes destroyed. “As the Methodist Church in Britain and All We Can...

Most yoghurt made for children contains at least a third of a youngster’s maximum daily sugar intake. So says a recent study by Queen Mary University of London. Researchers also found that just one in 20 of the children’s yoghurts were low in sugar, while two thirds of them were rated as being medium to...

Following the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in August, Christian Aid has launched an emergency appeal to help people that have been affected. The nation – which is still recovering from the 2010 earthquake that killed 300,000 people and Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and more recently dealing with Covid and the aftermath of the assassination...

The bells ring out on Sunday morn, O did you hear their call? They call the faithful ones to prayer To Church they summon all. But Lord, I cannot come today, I live a busy life, Still, when there’s something special on I’ll try and send the wife. It poured with rain last Sunday An...

Seventy years ago, on 31st October 1951, zebra crossings were introduced officially in the UK.  The first one was in Slough, Berkshire. The crossings had been trialled over two years at 1000 experimental sites, but in 1951 the black and white striped pedestrian crossings were approved, with their flashing Belisha beacons, and all drivers were...

1st Sept           Drithelm – vision of the afterlife 1st Sept           St Giles of Provence – helping those damaged by life 2nd Sept          The New Guinea Martyrs of 1942 2nd Sept          St William of Roskilde – standing up for social justice 3rd Sept           St Gregory the Great – man who saved the ‘angels’ 4th Sept          St...

St Drithelm is the saint for you if you have ever wondered what lies beyond death, or have had a near-death experience.    He was married and living in Cunningham (now Ayrshire, then Northumbria) in the 7th century when he fell ill and apparently died.  When he revived a few hours later he caused panic among...

St Giles was an immensely popular saint in the Middle Ages, and no wonder:  he was the patron saint of cripples.  In those days, there were many people who, once injured, were never really whole again.  Even today, a serious injury – either physical or mental or emotional, can leave us damaged for months, years...

The Anglican Church in Australia still honours the New Guinea Martyrs of 1942.  These brave men and women, 10 Australians and two Papuans, refused to leave their missionary work on the island as the Japanese military forces advanced.  As one tribute to them put it: ‘They knowing full well the risk, elected to stay with...