Feast of Saint George, 23rd April 2021
The headlines are not good: Putin massing his forces on the borders of Ukraine (under cover of Covid, one might say); China determined to suppress any dissidents in Hong Kong and to take Taiwan, and wars and insurgencies pretty well everywhere else – if one reads the headlines. And we readily forget that other battle for the human heart that has already taken place and is already won and that is Christ’s re-affirmation of our essential goodness in his victory on the Cross. This was not a condemnation of humanity but a sign that we are, after all, worth saving. And we need to recover something of this positive spin when we encounter the flag of St George: it’s not an invitation to further war, necessarily, but a sign of hope in the face of what otherwise seem overwhelming odds against us – as human beings created for good.