Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

A number of primary schools have recently contacted parents about the effects that the game Fortnite is having on their children. Fortnite is rated 12-plus, but it is played by many younger children. It has become ‘all consuming’ for some, who risk becoming ‘addicted’.  The schools warn that some children are even becoming aggressive and...

This month common toads all over the country will be on the move, heading back to the breeding ponds where they themselves were spawned. Sadly, many will never make it, because of busy roads. If you like toads, you can help them by joining the Toads on Roads project. It keeps a sharp eye out...

This beautiful event (Luke 1:26-38) took place in Nazareth, when Mary is already betrothed to Joseph. The Archangel Gabriel comes to Mary, greets her as highly favoured, tells her not to be afraid, that she will bear a son Jesus, and that her elderly cousin Elizabeth is already pregnant (with John the Baptist). The church...

Rupert is the saint for you if you like The Sound of Music – or salt with your food! Rupert (d c 710) was bishop of Worms and Salzburg, and it was he who founded the great monastery of St Peter in Salzburg in the eighth century, thus firmly establishing Christianity in that city.  True,...

March is a hungry time for birds, but you can easily help them.  Here are some things they will love: Seed and grains like nyjer, millet, oats, and sunflower seeds. Unsalted peanuts fit for human consumption. (cut them up, or the chicks could choke) Cooked pasta, rice and boiled potatoes. Grated cheese, unsalted uncooked bacon...

Sign in church The new curate had put some signs around the church.  They read: Keep your eyes on me preaching! Stop reading these signs! ** Query If you can quote lines out of the Bible, are you well-versed in it? ** Grannie After church, the mother asked her young son if he had enjoyed...

If you think that showing off our holiday snaps and flaunting other details of our lives is the stuff of Facebook and Instagram, you would be wrong.  The craze predates the internet by at least 400 years. Now the British Library has opened its collection of alba amicorum, or ‘friendship books’ – in which wealthy...

Is there something down at, say, B&Q, which reminds your friends of you?   John Climacus (d 649) had a thing about ladders.  He was a monk in Palestine who was only seen out at the weekends (at church, not B&Q); during the week he prayed and wrote in solitude.  He wrote The Ladder to Paradise,...

Clean water is one thing we take completely for granted.  After all, when did you last turn on the tap and expect filthy water to come out? But sadly, bad water is still a daily reality for billions of people. The United Nations wants to help them by ensuring that everyone can access clean water...

There is an old Jewish saying:  God could not be everywhere, and therefore He made mothers. Mother Church, Mother Earth, Mother of the Gods – our human mothers – all of them have been part of the celebration of ‘Mothering Sunday’ – as the fourth Sunday in Lent is affectionately known.  It has been celebrated...

There is no doubt about it: tourists love England.  Our visitor economy is worth a staggering £106 billion a year and it supports 2.6 million jobs.  What a boost for our restaurants, pubs, farming, transport, retailing, sports, museums, galleries, theatres – and – last but not leas and churches. No wonder that each year the industry...

The Fourth Sunday in Lent was called ‘Mid-Lent’ or ‘Refreshment Sunday’, when the rigors of Lent were relaxed more than was normal for a feast day. It is called Mothering Sunday as a reference to the Epistle reading for the Day (Galatians 4:21-31).  The Lenten Epistles follow from each other with teaching about our life...