The question of intercommunion within our churches today is a big one, an important one and a painful one. I’m old enough to remember another time – actually, to remember two other times. First, as a boy growing up in the pre-Vatican II Church, intercommunion with other Christians, non-Romans, was a taboo. It just didn’t

Thoughts of ageing press into my mind as I approach 50. University contemporaries are starting to fall ill. High blood pressure, hernia, even a mild stroke – a shocking experience at any age. At a recent party I noticed an attractive woman of about my age whose lips seemed unnaturally pillow-like: evidence, I suspect, of

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a physician and writer, renowned for creating the immortal detective Sherlock Holmes. Less well known is his religious journey, which took him from Catholicism to some very odd places. Born in Edinburgh to a Catholic family (his father was English of Irish descent; his mother was a native of

Cryptic across 5 One in the habit of scaling Cornwall’s southernmost point (6) 7 Israel has what follows a sound backing with university input (6) 8 Sell-by liquors date promoted still, sometimes, here in the tropics (8) 9 One taking a bow inflamed back (4) 10 Step to clean, desecrated about seven weeks after Easter

Ordinary Form Divine Office Week IV Sunday, June 23: Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord Gn 14:18-20; Ps 110; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Lk 9:11B-17 Monday, June 24: The Nativity of John the Baptist Is 49:1-6; Ps 139; Acts 13:22-26; Lk 1:57-66, 80 Tuesday, June 25: Weekday in Ordinary Time Gn 13:2, 5-18; Ps 15; Mt 7:6,

The feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, still often referred to by its shorter Latin name of Corpus Christi, has benefited in recent years from its transfer from the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday to the Sunday of the following week, as well as from the revival of popular piety in

As I wait for interminable minutes on the car insurance helpline, I recognise that the muzak playing is The Sound of Silence. Is this irony, or sympathy, or some kind of admission? I was involved in a collision the day before, so I needed to sort out a replacement as soon as possible so as

In the 13th century a priest on pilgrimage to Rome was suffering doubts about the Eucharist. During a Mass his Host become flesh and bled upon the linen corporal. Hearing about this, Pope Urban IV desired that a feast of the Body and Blood of Christ should be celebrated everywhere to honour this Eucharistic miracle.

The Body and Blood of Christ Gen 14:18-20; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Lk 9:11-17 (Year C) “The Lord’s revelation to my Master: ‘Sit on my right, I will put your foes beneath your feet.’ The Lord has sworn an oath, he will not change. ‘You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.’”

The Ghost Factory By Jenny McCartney 4th Estate, 272pp, £12.99/$17.99 The Ghost Factory is set in Northern Ireland at the tail end of the Troubles. While there may be an uneasy peace between the paramilitary groups, certain cycles of in-house violence – vigilantism, extortion, punishment beatings, score-settling of all kinds – are intensifying. Walled up

Arnold Schoenberg By Mark Berry Reaktion Books, 224pp, £12/$19 Arnold Schoenberg was a composer much given to statements of sweeping portent which, even in print, seem to call for drum rolls and the clash of cymbals; and an example came in 1921 when he announced that he had “made a discovery through which the supremacy

Spiritual Direction from Dante By Fr Paul Pearson, Tan Books, 372pp, £20/$25 In the 700 years since the publication of Dante Alighieri’s three-volume Divine Comedy, there has been a vast array of books, plays and films (and even a theme park) dedicated to its retelling. Against this backdrop, an authentic and original view of one