Sunday 15th October 2017

We have just heard the most fascinating gospel reading. It seems quite harsh in some respects but understanding the context will help us to understand better what it means. Jesus was telling the parable on what was only his second day in Jerusalem. In other words, this was the day after his triumphal entry into the city on a donkey and a few days before his arrest and crucifixion. He was in the temple and it was all just beginning to come to a head. In the verse immediately preceding the ones that we just had read, we heard how the chief priests and Pharisees were unhappy with Jesus and already wanted to arrest him, but they didn’t dare because they feared the crowd and the crowd regarded Jesus as a prophet. That is actually what we were told at the end of last week’s gospel reading.

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Portsmouth Cathedral
Sunday 3rd September 2017

I know that some teachers are back at school, on inset days, ready for the start of the school term. Parents are madly buying new bits for school uniforms and the inevitable new shoes as their children continue to grow at the most inconvenient times. Yes, term is about to begin and that signals the end of the school holidays; well it does unless you are going to university and you have a few more weeks. And then there are those who are just waiting for the school holidays to end so they can go away.

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Pentecost 2017

When I was studying in London, a visitor arriving at Trinity College of Music would be taken on a tour of the music practice rooms. From the small cubicles you could hear strains of a variety of instruments, from organ, to cello, to voice, performing on a variety of musical genres, from opera, to classical to choral music. To a few it was an assault on the senses, but for most it was an insight into the creative life of an eclectic bunch of aspiring professional musicians.

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