Now that the Christmas season has begun, we celebrate today the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This year, in the readings for Year A, we are faced with the scene of St Joseph being warned in a dream to escape with his family to Egypt. They have to leave now, right in the middle of the night. Lesson number one: being faithful to the Lord means both great joys and also inconvenience and suffering. The first and second reading talk about family life, respect

Each Christmas, there are different traditions, songs and readings we are used to hearing which bring a sense of comfort, and also, each year, they come up with something new, such as the latest adventure of Kevin the Carrot.  Sometimes I find that with some of the older carols and translations of the Bible, the words sound a bit like Yorkshire-speak.  For example, in the King James Version of the Bible, when the angel appears to the shepherds, it says they were “sore afraid”

This Sunday, as well as being the Fourth Sunday of Advent, is also a Day of Prayer for Expectant Mothers.  You can understand why, given that the Gospel today is about St Joseph discovering that Our Lady is pregnant.  In the psalm today it sets before us the example of those who are clean of hands and pure of heart, whose soul is not set on vain things.  We can surely say that this is true of Our Lady. She is the example for us, as the sinless One who was worthy to be Mother

Back when I was in the Sixth Form, what is now referred to as Years 12 and 13, I was sat in a science lab at school for a General Studies lesson. I can’t remember for sure now exactly what the teacher was saying, but one of the lads next to me said something to the effect of, the teacher’s speaking a whole load of rubbish. At which point, Sir shouted at him: “That’s a teaching technique, and you ought to be grateful for it!”, before he then resumed his calm demeanour and cont

St John the Baptist – he’s quite a radical figure. Living like a monk or a hermit out in a place far from human habitation, and living quite a simple life, with a garment made of camel’s hair (it might have been a bit itchy), a leather belt, and eating locusts and wild honey. We can assume that, like monks, he was also celibate, giving his whole life over to God. He didn’t do things by half measures, and he doesn’t expect the people to either. I’m not saying that he expected

So, Advent has begun. A time to prepare, not only for Christ’s birth at Christmas, but first to make sure our hearts are ready, should the Lord either call us to Himself, or return in glory. Just imagine if the Lord were to return to earth to judge the living and the dead in just a few days’ time. People are going about doing their Christmas shopping and getting on with normal life, watching TV, eating chocolate, having arguments, and then the Lord returns. If we knew He was