Feet. Not the most glamorous part of the human body. But as I realized more clearly last year when I was off them, we need our feet to stand, for balance and support, to bear our weight and get ourselves from A to B.
What a sight! Jesus entering Jerusalem and greeted as a king, the crowd casting their cloaks before him and waving victory palms.
It’s a common trope in many films, TV shows, and books, ranging from Star Wars to Kung Fu Panda.
Imagine you’re an outsider, but curious about Christianity. Or that you’ve put your foot in the door, if not yet in the water, and are preparing for baptism at Easter. What questions would be on your mind? What should you experience or be given to read by those accompanying you?
Some years ago I was part of a Channel 4 TV programme in Britain, a panel discussion about the new genetics. I was asked what I thought about prenatal testing.
When most people hear the word ‘Samaritan’, they think of The Good Samaritan, rather than the not-so-good one of today’s Gospel. At first glance the two are unconnected by anything but nationality.
Last September the British photographer, Jim Grover, spent a day snapping people crossing Westminster Bridge: locals and visitors, adults and children.
Some years ago I was praying in the crypt of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, many metres below the putative chair we celebrate tonight, now suspended below the main window of the Holy Spirit. As she pointed at the sepulchre, a large black American lady asked if I knew what it was.
Backed by a rendition of the 1988 song ‘It’s got to be perfect’ by British band Fairground Attraction, a current TV ad opens with a nappy-clad child rummaging through a woman’s handbag, removing a lipstick and using it to
draw on a wall.
This past week the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began its review of the overall performance of the Catholic Church in Australia in this area. And what has been revealed has already been harrowing.
The Word of God has converted hearts, transformed lives and inspired action in millions of people for two millennia and more. It has also played a major role in shaping our language and culture, and so our thinking and communication; the King James Bible stands with Shakespeare as the two principal sources of modern English.
What sound most moves us? A natural one such as a thunder-clap, rain on a tin roof, or a kookaburra’s laugh? Or a more human sound, such as the weeping of a well-played violin or of those who must listen to one being played badly?
