Seeker

15th August in the Church of England calendar is the Festival of The Blessed Virgin Mary. For Roman Catholics it is the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrating a dogma that I won't attempt to explain because I neither understand nor believe in it. You can read the  official definition here.   I think there is no Biblical basis for this and (as I wrote last year)  assumes too much . It has inspired some magnificent art though.  I grew up in a Reformed (Presbyterian) tradition and Mary mother of Jesus only ever seemed to get a look in at Christmas as far as I can remember. I've moved from that position of ignoring the significance of Mary most of the year to finding more and more reason to honour her as 'theotokos' (God-bearer), the greatest of the saints. I want to celebrate the whole of her life but much more the priceless treasure of the first-fruit of her womb. She is truly 'Blessed'. Almighty God,   who looked upon th...

Above the West door of Westminster Abbey in London are statues of ten 20th century martyrs. Among them stands Maximilian Kolbe, a Conventual Franciscan Friar from Poland who died as Prisoner 16670 in Auschwitz Concentration Camp on 14 August 1941. He had been arrested and imprisoned after sheltering 2000 Jewish people and other refugees from Greater Poland in the Friary in Niepokalanów .  As a radio amateur he had also criticized Nazi activities through his radio reports.   Maximilian Kolbe 1939 photo After a prisoner disappeared from Auschwitz in July 1941, the deputy camp commander selected 10 men to die by starvation and dehydration in the notorious Block 13. Maximilian Kolbe was not one of those selected but he volunteered to take the place of another man, Franciszek Gajowniczek who was crying out for his family. This was accepted. During the weeks that it took the 10 to die Maximilian led the others in prayer and singing. The 4 still left alive after 3 we...

A post about public reputation on iBenedictine's blog yesterday got me thinking about how easily someone's good name may be destroyed by unfounded rumours or distorted facts.  Here's 5 ways to destroy someone's reputation: Believe what you're told without questioning who's saying it, why and on what evidence. Pass on what you've heard 'in confidence' to a few people. Add a few thoughts from your own ignorance, prejudices, jealousies etc. Use social media to pass on rumours or allegations: tweet, retweet, post on Facebook, blog etc. Do nothing to challenge what others are saying when you know the truth is being distorted. Easy isn't it? It's always been easy, but with today's communication systems the damage can happen quicker and affect more people. Public figures are particularly vulnerable. I am certainly not saying that people in the public eye should not be accountable for their words and actions. They s...