Pentecost Sunday, 23rd May 2021 At the risk of importing an analogy which has no place here but is simply an enthusiasm of mine, I’d like to say a little more about that marvellous area of scrub a few miles to the north of us which is heaving with birds, …
Seventh Sunday in Eastertide, 16th May 2021 How closely allied to the weather are our moods. Two weeks ago we were enjoying clear days – cold at night but dry and pleasant in the daytime, and now, at last, the rain has come, to the relief of the farmers and …
Feast of Saint Matthias, 14th May 2021 So many people have come and gone here at Turvey over the years, and the relationship that endures is friendship: so many people have become friends, here at Turvey, both of us and one another. It’s so good to see them, even after …
The Ascension of the Lord, 13th May 2021 There’s a delightful scene in Dickens’s novel Bleak House where an ex-soldier, Mr Bagnet, is treating his wife to a birthday meal prepared entirely by himself and his two daughters. It’s the same meal every year: two very scrawny chickens passed off …
Sixth Sunday in Eastertide, 9th May 2021 I’m using the occasional day off to conduct a bird census in an area of overgrown fallen-down farmland and it’s thrilling, for me, to hear and see so many migrant birds returning to their territories from abroad, for many will be the very …
The English Martyrs, 4th May 2021 It’s no accident, perhaps, that today has been chosen to commemorate both the martyrs who gave their lives in penal times in England, the first on this date in 1535, and those very many victims of abuse, sexual and otherwise, by priests and religious, …
Saints Philip and James, 3rd May 2021 We know relatively little about Philip and even less about James the Less. In today’s gospel reading Philip’s long apprenticeship with Jesus is, however, made clear and also Jesus’ exasperation with his lack, still, of full understanding: Have I been with you all …
Eastertide Sunday 5B, 2nd May 2021 Jo. Did you ever know a prayer?Never know nothink, Sir.Not so much as one short prayer?No, Sir. Nothink at all. Mr Chalbands he wos a-prayin wunst at Mr.Sangsby’s and I heerd him, but he sounded as if he wos a-speakin’ to hisself, and not …
Saint Catherine of Siena, 29th April 2021 As the Church’s liturgical cycle rolls on and presents each of us, and especially each person summoned to preach, with the challenge of making something new or worthwhile for others to hear and for oneself to understand, one can feel at a loss …
Eastertide Sunday 4B, 25th April 2021 A powerful surge passed through Olney on Thursday morning: two powerfully built dark grey limousines with darkened windows accompanied by eight or so police outriders, several in front clearing the way, as the cortege swept through. It was impressive to suddenly see this power …
