Author Archives: Dean Atkins

The Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion is stark and sombre yet full of rich beauty in all its simplicity, made starker today maybe by our inability to gather together.  Since lockdown, the liturgical celebrations have occurred in solitary fashion in the smaller Lady Chapel.  However, today it seemed apt to return to the nave altar. Continue reading “This is the wood of the Cross…”

[A 3 minute read for Good Friday] Two years ago, when snow hit the ground, I found myself attempting to climb a rather tall and thick evergreen tree in my garden to rescue a stray cat I was trying to care for. It turned out to be impossible, with its tightly growing branches there wasContinue reading “Fruitful with his love”

[a 3 minute read] For some, although not for those front line workers whose jobs are so essential, life seems to have slowed down. Some, of course, are left spinning or climbing the walls at home, and for those whose home isn’t always a safe or pleasant place to be, their sadness and difficulties areContinue reading “The Power of his love”

[A 3 minute read] She was embarrassed, at first, just to be there, had never been to a Foodbank before. She had recently started two part time jobs and was now earning less than she had once received on benefits and was finding it difficult to provide for her children. She was feeling the pinch.Continue reading “The price is right”

[A 3 minute read] Thank God for those who make us laugh! In the depths of difficult times, as people struggle with unusual circumstances, with sickness and anxiety, social media is awash with funny videos and cheery clips to make us smile. I once heard a comedian say that people laughed more eagerly not inContinue reading “It’s no joke”

[A 3 minute read] “You can always tell when it’s one of the monk’s birthdays,” said the Abbot as he began one of his addresses. We were ordinands from St Stephen’s House, taking a retreat at Alton Abbey, a few dozen of us coping with cold rooms and faulty plumbing! The Abbot continued, “Yes, youContinue reading “Love is in the air”

[A 3 minute read] There are those moments, now, when people, from their isolation, sing together online or dance on their doorsteps at a distance. On a Thursday, we cheer carers, and some are armed with a percussion of saucepans or they whoop and whistle, the wind section of an orchestra of very different proportions.Continue reading “Not so empty vessels”

[A 3 minute read] One of the strangest, saddest, surprisingly moving movies I’ve seen in recent years is the Irish film ‘Calvary’ starring Brendan Gleeson as Fr James. Threatened in the confessional by a man who had been abused in his childhood by another priest, Fr James is given a week to arrange his affairsContinue reading “Barbed Wire and Blessed Gifts”

[A 3 minute read] In one of his recent tweets, the comedian Frankie Boyle asked,  “Honestly, why are they still doing the weather? We’re indoors, mate!”  Two years ago, during Lent, many people were prevented from making it to Mass by the Beast from the East, snow drifts dragging the country to a temporary halt! Continue reading “Unseasonal Weather”