Use your talents 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mt 25:14-19, 24-30

Betrothed to an angel St Cecilia is the patron saint of music, but it is difficult to be sure of anything else about her. Tradition links Cecilia with Urban I, pope from 222 to 230. The first record of her name, though, occurs in a 4th-century catalogue of martyrs; and not until the 5th century

The 33rd Sunday of the Year Prov 31:10-13 & 19-20; 1 Thess 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30 (Year A)  ‘You will not be expecting us to write anything to you about ‘times and seasons’, since you know very well that the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night.” St Paul

This month brings our celebration of the birthdays of two important churches in Christendom: November 5 is the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the Mother Church of the City and of the World, Rome’s cathedral; and the 18th is the Dedication of the Basilicas of St Peter and of St Paul Outside-the-Walls.

Ordinary Form Divine Office Week IV Sunday, November 12: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Wis 6:12-16; Ps 63; 1 Thes 4:13-18; Mt 25:1-13 Monday, November 13: Weekday in Ordinary Time Wis 1:1-7; Ps 139; Lk 17:1-6 Tuesday, November 14: Weekday in Ordinary Time or St Dyfrig Wis 2:23–3:9; Ps 34; Lk 17:7-10 Wednesday, November 15:

Suppression and illness In 1773, under pressure from European governments, Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Jesuits. Their institutions were dissolved. The priests had to adjust to a new life. It is at this point in history that St Joseph Pignatelli, now renowned as the second great figure in Jesuit history after St Ignatius, enters the

Be wise 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mt 25:1-13

The 32nd Sunday of the Year Wis 6:12-16; 1 Thess 4:13-18; Mt 25:1-13 (Year A) “O God, you are my God, for you I long; for you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water.” The psalmist’s prayer springs from a longing at the heart of humanity.

A great figure presents himself for our edification and remembrance this week on November 11 in the person and the feast of St Martin of Tours (d 397). St Martin is famous for having been a heavy-cavalry soldier and a bishop, which is almost pleonastic these days. In between, however, Martin also lived as a

At the end of an intense week spent ministering to those who have survived clergy sexual abuse, one small phrase in St John’s account of the feeding of the 5,000 took on a new connotation for me. Seeing the vast crowd coming towards him, Jesus asks Philip where they can get enough bread to feed

Ordinary Form Divine Office Week III Sunday, November 5: 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Mal 1:14B-2:2B, 8-10; Ps 131; 1 Thes 2:7B-9, 13; Mt 23:1-12 Monday, November 6: Weekday in Ordinary Time or St Illtud, abbot (W) Rom 11:29-36; Ps 69; Lk 14:12-14 Tuesday, November 7: Weekday in Ordinary Time or St Willibrord Rom 12:5-16AB;

An Alexandrian life Achillas is less well-known than his contemporary Arius. But while one has gone down in history as one of the most notorious of all heretics, the other is honoured as one who kept the faith. Achillas was, through and through, a man of Alexandria (pictured), where he was born some time in