Hello to all our companions and friends. We are almost at the end of January and Friday will be the feast of the Presentation. Where did Christmas go? It certainly seems like a long while since we were in retreat around the fire! That said, I have just been fortunate enough to have five days […]
Sermons
Epiphany IV Year B
“God our Creator, reveal the knowledge of your glory in the face of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.” The text is from today’s collect: it’s an epiphany prayer: “we pray that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ may dispel the darkness of ignorance and unbelief, shine into the hearts of all […]
Mass and Installation of the new Superior, Father Oswin Gartside
“Nathanael asks Jesus, “where did you come to know me?” Jesus answered “I saw you under the fig tree…” (John 1.48) You are all familiar with the work of Mark Cazalet given his striking contribution here in the engravings of the Reconciliation Chapel behind me. Striking would be the word as well for his […]
HR : Baptism of Christ, 7 January 2018
Gen 1.1-5; Acts 19.1-7; Mark 1.4-11 Yesterday, following the star, we went with the three strangers to offer gifts to the Christ child. Today, we stand beside the Jordan as Jesus comes to be baptised by John. And today is a bit like a crime novel: some dramatic things happen and we, the spectators, are […]
Letter from John – December 2017
Dear All, It is quite some time since I have written to the Companions. Life has been very busy lately (so what’s new?). There have been lots of guests and I have given a couple of unexpected addresses. I am now struggling to complete a Retreat for Readers at Walsingham beginning on Monday week. At […]
Letter from Marc – December 2017
Greetings to all our many friends! We are now two weeks into the ‘waiting.’ How is it going for you? Things have been especially protracted for us here, keeping watch alongside our (recently departed) brother Roy CR during his illness and in the final hour of his death. It was dignified and quiet and entirely […]
Isaiah 64:1-9. Ps 80: 1-8m 18-20. 1 Cor 1:3-9. Mark 13: 24-end
Whether we read the Old or the New Testament, it’s so obviously the experience of the Jewish people, a very small, weak nation, tossed about among the kingdoms and empires of the ancient world. God doesn’t speak to us from thrones of kings or emperors, who placed their own statues on the altar of the […]
Zeph 1,7,12-18 1 Thess 5.1-11 Mt 25 14-30
The Bible readings today are all about Judgement Day, the last day when every human must give an account of how he or she has used God’s gifts in this life. All evil will be destroyed by Jesus when he comes in judgment on the Last Day. But traditionally that’s a theme I should leave […]
Wisd 6.12-16; 1 Thess 4.13-18; Matt 25.1-13
There is a new film I should much like to see. “Marjorie Prime” explores loss, grief and memory through the experience of 86 year old Marjorie. In the early stages of Altzheimer’s, Marjorie is given the support of a ‘Prime’ – a futuristic hologram recreation of her late husband – as her companion. From the […]
Letter from Marc – September 2017
From Mark Nov CR: Greetings from a somewhat inclement Mirfield on this feast of St Michael and All Angels. May you know his intercession for strengthening and defence on all sides in these testy days of our time. Things are continuously busy for us at CR but it is sustained by putting on love and […]