Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

If you have ever been caught up in a great event at work, which has gone on to change your own life, then Thomas Cranmer is the saint for you.  He was the first ever Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, following King Henry VIII’s decision to pull away from Rome, and set up the Church of...

One of Britain’s best-loved authors, Julia Donaldson (The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom) has said how much she detests seeing parents looking at their phones and ignoring their children. “You often see a parent with the child trying to get the parent’s attention, with the parent scrolling down and looking at Facebook.”

Well, at least our families are! In 1961 there were 16.6 million households in the UK with an average of 3.0 persons. In 1981 there were 20.6 million families with 2.7 persons each. By 2001 we were 24.5 million households, with 2.4 people in each. By 2021 we’ll have 28.3 million households, though still with...

Families are divided in two kinds of people: givers and takers.  Blessed is the family with at least one ‘giver’, that someone of a cheerful, generous nature who does not panic when you ask them for help.  These kindly saints are on hand when you need them, not fleeing with the cry “But I have...

A number of primary schools have recently contacted parents about the effects that the game Fortnite is having on their children. Fortnite is rated 12-plus, but it is played by many younger children. It has become ‘all consuming’ for some, who risk becoming ‘addicted’.  The schools warn that some children are even becoming aggressive and...

This month common toads all over the country will be on the move, heading back to the breeding ponds where they themselves were spawned. Sadly, many will never make it, because of busy roads. If you like toads, you can help them by joining the Toads on Roads project. It keeps a sharp eye out...

This beautiful event (Luke 1:26-38) took place in Nazareth, when Mary is already betrothed to Joseph. The Archangel Gabriel comes to Mary, greets her as highly favoured, tells her not to be afraid, that she will bear a son Jesus, and that her elderly cousin Elizabeth is already pregnant (with John the Baptist). The church...

Rupert is the saint for you if you like The Sound of Music – or salt with your food! Rupert (d c 710) was bishop of Worms and Salzburg, and it was he who founded the great monastery of St Peter in Salzburg in the eighth century, thus firmly establishing Christianity in that city.  True,...

March is a hungry time for birds, but you can easily help them.  Here are some things they will love: Seed and grains like nyjer, millet, oats, and sunflower seeds. Unsalted peanuts fit for human consumption. (cut them up, or the chicks could choke) Cooked pasta, rice and boiled potatoes. Grated cheese, unsalted uncooked bacon...

Sign in church The new curate had put some signs around the church.  They read: Keep your eyes on me preaching! Stop reading these signs! ** Query If you can quote lines out of the Bible, are you well-versed in it? ** Grannie After church, the mother asked her young son if he had enjoyed...

If you think that showing off our holiday snaps and flaunting other details of our lives is the stuff of Facebook and Instagram, you would be wrong.  The craze predates the internet by at least 400 years. Now the British Library has opened its collection of alba amicorum, or ‘friendship books’ – in which wealthy...

Is there something down at, say, B&Q, which reminds your friends of you?   John Climacus (d 649) had a thing about ladders.  He was a monk in Palestine who was only seen out at the weekends (at church, not B&Q); during the week he prayed and wrote in solitude.  He wrote The Ladder to Paradise,...