The feast of our Lady's Immaculate Conception is the promise of Christmas; our salvation is already in the bud. As the first green shoot heralds the approach of spring, in a world that is frost-bound and seems dead; so in [...]

Some ideas for using up the remains of your Christmas dinner I cannot abide wasted food, so here are some ideas for dealing with festal leftovers in the Christmas Octave. Whether you've had goose, chicken, or turkey, the carcass is [...]

THE WORLD GOES POP Tate Modern Until 24 January 2016 If you thought Pop Art was cheerful and fun, let Tate Modern disabuse you. In this show we have all the apparatus of Pop Art – acrylic paint, unmodulated colour, [...]

‘Thurifer’ and chums range from ancient to baroque Fog. The autumn mists conspired to delay our flight, and we had to endure an extra two hours in the hell that is Stansted Airport. The noise; the people. The return was [...]

From Mr Febrin LePadden My Lord– I've just finished reading through the latest [October 20151 issue of New Directions, with interest and real appreciation as always. I've been receiving the magazine for several years now and it's high time I [...]

J. Alan Smith offers some advice to the Leader of the Opposition To be strictly accurate, Jeremy Corbyn has not actually requested any advice from me about the construction of a Labour Manifesto for the next General Election. Nevertheless, we [...]

Nicholas Stebbing on Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament Benediction is a beautiful word. It means a blessing, a greeting, an expression of kindness. That is what Jesus gives us today. And Jesus gives it because God gives it. God gave [...]

In the second part of his address to a gathering at St Martin’s, Salisbury, Colin Podmore reflects on the ‘shared future’ to which the Church of England has committed itself. Disparities of power In the first part of my address [...]

Damian Feeney’s address to the Forward in Faith National Assembly Let me begin, in all charity, by taking issue with the title that I've been asked to address: ‘From Politics to Mission'. I understand where the impulse for that title [...]

The Bishop of Burnley on reclaiming Catholic evangelism: Part 2 Catholic evangelism is first and foremost sacramental. But if we agree on that premise, it then has a profound impact on our approaches to evangelism and our understanding of what [...]