We were blessed today in our house in Calais to receive this gift from a Taize brother who visited us

“I shall no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know
what his master is doing.
I have called you friends
because I have revealed to you
everything that I have heard from my Father

One of the many remarkable and unreported aspects of life in Calais is the large number of young people who come to volunteer. In my experience they are frequently very well qualified and talented young people who could be earning good money and furthering their own careers in their own country

We were one fewer tonight at our little Night Prayer gathering. She & her yet to be born baby left us this afternoon in the hope of crossing to the UK tonight. Three left us today and one will probably leave us tomorrow. It feels impossible to imagine what the journey - if successful - will be like.

Rather good to be reminded this morning in the Office of Readings that

Whenever the divine favour choses someone to ... accept a loft vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfil the task in hand

I think Joseph needed that by the bucketful!

This may be all I need for Maundy Thursday with much thanks to Bishop Erik Varden (Healing Wounds)

The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
than the shouting of a ruler among fools.
Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one bungler destroys much good.

#MorningPrayer

Tonight feels good. J who has been with us on and off over the past 5 weeks heard today he has somewhere to live. He has been struggling with sleeping because of his mental health & other issues crowding in on him. We are not sure he will sleep much tonight as he is buzzing - as are we!

Just in case you, like the Vice-President, thought that compassion was like a cake with a limited number of slices churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/ord...

I wonder if every priest and person involvednin Christian ministry might usefully take 15 minites reflective time to listen to this youtu.be/8nflqTDufu0?...

The Lord watches over the stranger in the land;
he upholds the orphan and widow;

#morningprayer #Candlemass

This forthcoming book about a good friend of mine is the remarkable story of a man who was a boy in the camps. I remember him talking to our church & contrasting it with how he had been treated by Christians as a young child. The author does him a great service. @penandswordbooks.bsky.social

www.bigissue.com/news/housing.... This story feels a bit embarrassing but the real point is the need for hosts for Nightstop. www.depaul.org.uk/nightstop/. You could offer say one night a month - or more. It is an easy way to make a difference

This story is not really about asylum seekers. It is an imaginative project in London to help hard to reach people including those who are homeless, class A drug users, those on methadone, those who have had poor healthcare and, yes, undocumented migrants

Then (1971) and now

Burn down their houses!

Beat in their heads!

Break them in pieces on the wheel!

We can not have them in our Empire.
They shall not work nor draw a dole
Let them starve in No-Man's-Land!

Tippett's words in response to the events triggering Kristallnacht feel very contemporary