The bright Easter window poster from the Jesuit Refugee Service " REFUGEES WELCOME " quotes Pope Francis;
"The Easter message of the Risen Christ invites us not to forget those women and men seeking a better future ".
It is an open hearted, inclusive message, running counter to public discourse in the UK in recent weeks in which an aggressive assertion of the need to assert "Britain's Christian heritage" has taken a distinctively negative turn. The Conservative shadow justice secretary recently criticised an act of public worship at an event in Trafalgar Square to Mark the end of Ramadan as "an act of domination and therefore division". GB News recently interviewing the Hungarian president on the state of Western culture seemed to endorse his remark that "Muslims have their own place and this place is definitely not Hungary", implying ‘and not Britain’! Reform's Home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf, himself a Muslim, has announced that Reform will end "the incendiary practice" of unwanted churches being turned into mosques.
A recent Financial Times feature heading, "Is British Politics getting religion?", drew detailed attention to the American religious right’s well-funded influence on religious politics here. It spelt out that American thinktanks added support to characters such as Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson (supported by Elon Musk) who claims he converted to Christianity while in prison and who fronted "Unite the Kingdom" Christmas Carol concert.
Robert Lowe MP, expelled from Reform for his extreme attitude to those British citizens of Pakistani heritage now claims that his new "Restore Britain" party will be a Christian based party.
Reform MP Sarah Pochin launching "Christian Fellowship for Reform" announced that "Reform will always stand up for Christianity in this country... we are fundamentally a Christian country and we are proud to be Christians”.
At the Whitehall Christmas Carol service, a Baptist minister was shouted down when she announced that Christ wasn't English and that "Christ was a refugee at Christmas".
Commenting on the Whitehall event, the Bishop of Kirkstall, Arun Arora, warned
"we are now in a place where in the next 3 to 5 years there will be a battle for those who want to pursue a kind of UK MAGA agenda as to what Christianity is".
Notably, the Maga supporters in the United States, such as Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carson no longer refer to "Judeo-Christian values". Rather they promote an aggressive Christian nationalism increasingly hostile to both Muslims and Jews. President Trump's MAGA "spending bulldog" Russell Vought has blogged that Muslims were "condemned" because they don't accept Jesus Christ as God, and since then the list of the condemned seems to keep growing. New Reform MP Robert Jenrick dispenses with Christian heritage references, emphasising that
"by 2030 almost a quarter of the population will have been born outside the UK. That's an astonishing statistic. There aren't many successful countries in the world like that”.
Vice President JD Vance has remarked that "under Labour the UK could become the first Islamic nation with a nuclear weapon", (apparently unaware of the existence of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a nuclear power!)
But if the political implications are becoming clearer, where does it leave understanding and practice of the UK Christian heritage?
I remember a public meeting in Leeds to consider a mosque application for a Minaret to echo out the daily call for prayer. The meeting opened with a gentleman immediately demanding that as this is a Christian country as an MP, I should simply declare that there should be "Muzzi muzzen" allowed here. To call the situation and try to have a respectful conversation I invited a young Muslim to explain the word "muezzin" and what the call to prayer meant to him. He carefully passionately and succinctly told us why he prayed to God three times a day. I thanked him for a great sermon on prayer. The "Christian country" gentleman shouted out "just because I live in a Christian country doesn't mean I have to be into God and prayer and all that rubbish," shocking the Muslims present.
So where does that leave our understanding of what it means to be a Christian here in our society? It can't be sufficient, as the new Christian right simply assert, that it was King Alfred the great who included the 10 Commandments as a preface to his legal code back in the ninth century. Moreover, the 10 Commandments are only half of the story to be complemented by the Beatitudes spelt out by Jesus in the Gospels.
As the Democrat challenger for the Senate in Texas recently spelt out
"my concern is the members of Congress who are quoting scripture and then violating the teachings of Jesus every day- who are not feeding the hungry, not healing the Sick, not welcoming the stranger."
Notably at the funeral of the Christian right Campaigner Charlie Kirk, President Trump said
"Kirk didn't hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That's where I disagree with Charlie. I hate my opponents and I don't want the best for them."
In his 1997 book, The Art of the Comeback he set out his ethics,
"Get even. During the bad times I learned who was loyal and who wasn't. I believe in an eye for an eye. A couple of people who betrayed me need my help now and I am screwing them against the wall. I am doing a number.... and I'm having so much fun".
In the recent warmongering, President Trump, and his secretaries have regularly "othered" and dehumanised people, whipping up hatred, revenge and violence both at home and abroad.
Closer to home, Danny Kruger MP, who defected to Reform, tried to generate a Politics of a new Christian political Centre without resorting to the divisive statements such as those of billionaire Jim Radcliffe (Britain is being "colonised") and Matthew Goodwin's challenges to ethnic minorities as dis-entitled citizens.
Kruger get some support from James Orr, an evangelical professor of the philosophy of religion at Cambridge, recently appointed as the policy advisor to the Reform Party. JD Vance describes him as his "British sherpa”! He chairs the advisory board of the "Centre for a Better Britain" and is a member of the advisory council of the "Free speech Union". He has described asylum seekers as "invaders".
But his present interest is in developing a "vision animated by the Politics of home", emphasising that
"human beings are not fungible economic units but rooted beings who love particular places particular people and particular ways of life".
In an uncertain and turbulent world of ruthlessness and precarity, this approach can resonate.
The difficulty is that his reference to "particular place" can build in an attitude of exclusion. In other words., "particular homes" are not for everyone. This is reminiscent of JD Vance's interpretation of Saint Augustine's theology of Love in which he claims that in Augustine's "Ordo Amoris", family, neighbour and community come before the rest of the world.
Vance argued that immigration crackdowns are compatible with Christian love. Love is measured out through concentric circles always putting in one's own family and immediate community ahead of service to the stranger Pope Leo has responded
"JD Vance is wrong. Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others. He spelt out that true Christian love is not a. ‘rationed’ ranking system but one that demands care for all"
and he criticises the abuse of Catholic theology to justify restrictive Draconian migration policies.
But Professor Orr has pushed Vance's position even further, claiming that the nation is
"the outermost concentric circle of concrete affection"
adding
"if you think that the message of the parable of the Good Samaritan is that Samaria should welcome and care for all Judeans dispossessed, think again”.
But as the theologian Luke Bretherton stresses. the urgent needs of strangers can supersede those of our close circles. Significantly both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis included major chapters explicating in detail the parable of the good Samaritan in their social justice encyclicals. In Fratelli Tutti" (para 80) Pope Francis writes:
"Jesus told the parable of the good Samaritan in answer to the question 'who is my neighbour?'. The word 'neighbour' in the society of Jesus's time usually meant those nearest us. It was felt that help should be given primarily to those of one's own group and race.... Jesus completely transforms this approach he asks us not to decide who is close enough to be our neighbour but rather that we ourselves become neighbours to all. Jesus asked us to be present to those in need of help regardless of whether or not they belong to our social group."
Notably, the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales published "love the stranger" which spells out this message.
As we enter the Paschaltide mystery of the passion, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus at Easter, it is perhaps worth commenting on the misrepresentation of the flags bearing St George's Cross, which have appeared on lamp posts throughout the land.
They are now associated with abusive and violent demonisation of migrants - regardless of the fact that many migrants are themselves Christians. The Cross is the traditional symbol of an instrument of a slow and agonising death for those not protected by Roman citizenship. It became a scandalous declaration that no human life was beyond the love of God as Rowan Williams spelt out in his feature in the new statesman in December 2025. He writes,
"it was a declaration that human community was shockingly larger than what any state or culture could define and that to belong in the realm of God people would have to recognise that they stood on the same level as all kinds of unwelcome strangers and let go of their pride in belonging to any kind of privileged powerful or innocent Group. And when early Christian martyrs declared Christ is King when faced with torture and execution what they were saying is not that they were part of a movement aimed at universal control of society but quite the opposite. They were declaring that no earthly political system could make absolute demands on it's citizens. Ultimately, we are answerable not to some kind of sacred National or imperial authority but to the vision of a reconciled community of people who have met the possibility of love and homecoming at the point of their deepest loss and failure. In other words, the symbolism of the Cross was something that in principle spoke to all kinds of dispossessed and insecure people and promised a life giving absolving hopeful kind of human association"
"we don't give away our coats; we don't go the extra mile; we don't forgive 70×7; and we certainly do not put all our hope and trust in God".
We all have a little list of who we wouldn't want to live next door. St Benedict, in his rule, says:
First of all, love the Lord God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength,
then love your neighbour as yourself.
Do not kill.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal.
Do not covet.
Do not bear false witness.
Respect all people.
And never do to another what you would not want done to yourself.
He goes onto insist;
"give help and support to the poor, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and bury the dead, console and counsel those who suffer in time of grief and bring comfort to those whose sorrow".
St Matthew's Gospel is strong on making connections with the Old Testament books of the Jewish tradition and his account of the sermon on the Mount contains echoes from the short book of Lamentations written after the 587 Fall of Jerusalem ("don't give with one hand and take with another").
The most familiar section of Lamentations is used in the Good Friday liturgy to recall the physical dismantling of Christ on Calvary. But it begins by describing the mourning of the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants and the breakdown of community. But out of this darkness shines a ray of unconquerable trust in God and of wholehearted repentance.
"The darkness of disaster, though deserved, cannot be God's final word to the community. They remain his servants, his people who may confidently expect to experience in the future as they have done in the past, is steadfast love and his dependability. Despite the grief, they experience, God's compassion never fails; it is new every morning "
Brooding on my anguish and affliction is gall and wormwood. My spirit ponders it continually and sinks within me. This is what I shall tell my heart, and so recover hope: the favours of the Lord are not all past, his kindnesses are not exhausted; every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness. ‘My portion is the Lord’ says my soul ‘and so I will hope in him.’
‘Be not afraid’ is a phrase Jesus used many times. Human life is complex and we need food, warmth, shelter and the security provided by who we see as 'our tribe'. In the UK most of us live in cities and 'our tribe' lives alongside other tribes who may believe different things, have different cultural practices, or look different.
The advent of social media means that many young people have virtual, worldwide ‘tribes’. This can lead to a feeling of ‘apartness’ in the real world. In our minds we have a picture of ‘us’ and a picture of ‘them’. I think my ‘us’ does vary dependent on who I am with: other retired women, friends of other faiths or no faith, my family, friends of different ages. This reflects my liberal parents’ teaching that we are all made in the image of God and must welcome all other people non-judgementally.
Across the world it seems that the media and public discourse often speak in a binary way, using language that promotes the differences between ‘us’ and ’them’. Since the Second World War sociologists and historians have reported on how divisive language can empower those with Power to demonise those they consider to be ’them’ and make it easy to enact laws that discriminate and disadvantage whoever is perceived to be ’them’. I remember watching the film Hotel Rwanda and feeling a sense of horror as government rhetoric amplified hatred that eventually turned neighbour against neighbour and the eventual genocide.
We naturally fear anything that we see as threatening to fulfilling our basic needs for food and shelter as physical violence. We have evolved to cope with these, motivation theories reflect this. I am pleased that our Government is emphasising the use of armaments for defensive purposes only and supporting those resisting aggression. As with governments some Religious leaders also promote reconciliation and long term peaceful co-existence. Sadly some religious leaders don’t.
As our societies have become more complex and diverse we have developed psychological fears such as shame, loss of status, embarrassment, failure, rejection, loss of power, loss of health.
When we look at the ministry of Jesus we see that he always reached out to those who were different and challenged the cultural norms of the day whilst recognising the Romans when he said ‘render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”. In the words of Alan Hull ‘he got busted just for talking and befriending the wrong sorts’ ("Winter Song" Lindisfarne).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg_dsk7u26A
It is so important that we physically listen to the young people we know, who are growing up with so many unhealthy messages and experience so much pressure to follow and agree with influencers motivated solely by the clicks that bring them more money. The more we listen to their real fears and explore who their ‘us’ is and who their ‘them’ is, the more we can help them build their resilience and maturity to make healthy choices in a complex world.
So, Be not afraid of asking questions and listening to the answers of children and young people. We all have a Christian responsibility to help young people to grow in the love of God and to understand what it takes to live as God intended in a tolerant and inclusive society.
Understanding, acceptance and learning come from listening. The self-esteem of each one of us flourishes from a feeling of being heard and being accepted for who we really are. There are many on-line resources that can provide advice if in your listening you feel out of your depth to help in specific circumstances, the BBC Action line is a good start place. Sharing the search for advice and balanced information shows love.
And pray that our Church will accelerate the structural changes that will remove the marginalisation of all the groups that the Synodal Listening process identified to follow the lead of other Christian and other Religious groups who are further along the route of recognising the God that is in all of us.
My personal Pilgrimage of Hope last Lent involved visiting other faith services who welcomed people who are marginalised in Catholic faith. I now know that when I am feeling that my Church ‘doesn’t understand me' I can attend services where I am welcomed as a Child of God and gain the strength to work towards an inclusive, Catholic Missionary Church. This year I will again celebrate the Triduum with ‘my tribe’.
This was inspired by some feedback from the SPARK group.
This was a regular cry when my sisters and I were growing up. However life did not develop to be fair. Any wildlife programme shows that predators, at the top of the food chain, have the advantage. I learnt that as I grew up and matured.
Humans have evolved and are very diverse. That enabled us to become the earth’s apex predator. However over the millennia we have evolved and developed ‘Rules of Law’ to protect the weaker, more vulnerable people and constrain the power of the strongest. This rule is country specific and the UN and specific Treaties govern international relationships. Those Rules are so important.
Sadly the growth in popularity of right leaning influencers and the gaps between 'the super powers’ and other states, including the UK, is now wide enough for the USA, Russia and China to act with impunity to the detriment of the whole world. Their vetoes in the UN Security Council enable them to transgress against what most people across the world consider to be lawful, ethical behaviour.
I am so grateful for the European leaders who are restricting their engagement in the Iran war in favour of maintaining their ability to supporting Ukraine. And for their support of the established ‘Rule of Law’.
A friend who attended a conference session on Women’s Rights in Dublin 3 years ago told me how shocked she was that women from every continent and country were increasingly angry about the growth of the right and the increase in anti women sentiment in their countries. This being in spite of the fact that women everywhere are more likely live in poverty, poor health and to be subject to violence and force. They tend to be less powerful than men.
Recent programmes on BBC have shown how Big Tech choses algorithms that promote engagement ,clicks and profit. Their systems amplify negative messages and spread hate and mis-information quickly. Iran has shut down their internet to reduce the risk of an uprising. Think of recent riots protesting about asylum seekers which were based on factually incorrect posts.
Court cases in America are challenging the design of social media platforms for this reason. But the Big Tech firms have greater resources to fight and appeal than the claimants. In the States the companies are not liable for the third party content they carry which is why our On-Line Safety Laws have also been the cause of diatribes and economic threats against our democratically elected Government. I pray that Big Tech can be held to account in the same way as other publishers.
I am also praying that countries who share the similar principles can work together and improve the power of the UN to censor the hate - filled State behaviours that we see all too often in the News. And take action to deter such behaviours through effective sanctions.
🙏 That aggressors can be held to account for the environmental damage Wars do - how much extra carbon producing concrete will need to be manufactured to rebuild the millions of homes smashed? Or the less efficient heating that has to be used when power infrastructure is deliberately targeted? I suspect that money is a stronger motivator for them than human rights.
🙏 That the voices everywhere saying ‘enough is enough’ and ‘that’s not right’ are heard more loudly.
🙏 That Religious leaders will advocate for the women, children and other vulnerable groups who bear the brunt of the damage of War and injustice.
At Easter we celebrate that Jesus loved us and died for us. Let us pray that the ‘Men of War’ will recognise the wishes of the majority of men and women across the world, who want to live in peaceful co-existence in which dialogue resolves conflict before it escalates.
This collection of reflections and short stories by Michael Morpurgo is thought provoking, warm hearted and uplifting. His passion for child centred education and development shines through. His reflection on War Horse moved me to tears. An ideal gift for any adult.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uOhksK7jK8
The Finest Hotel in Kabul
My copy of Lyse Doucet’s book is now circulating among my friends. Charting the recent history of Afghanistan through the lives of those who work in the Intercontinental Hotel it is a triumph of reassurance that even through two invasions, and Taliban assumption of power many ordinary people carries on going to work and providing for their families. The resilience of the people is inspiring.
I bought it because I enjoyed Rory Stewart’s book about his walk across Afghanistan after the first Taliban Government fell. That gave a picture of the traditional warmth of the hospitality he received at every village he stopped in and the contrast between the several cultural groups whose territory he passed through. He didn’t carry maps because he would have been arrested as a spy. At the end he commented on how he had learnt so much from the men of Afghanistan but only saw the women when they brought him food.
Joy Chose You
I bought Donna Ashworth’s book Wild Hope after I heard her read a short prose piece called You on the radio. It is the book I most frequently gift to friends who are having a hard time.
Joy Chose You is a ‘best of’ collection and was well received when I gave it as a birthday present. Her writing covers loss, grief, friendship and hope.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YhFCBCjEBvA
I wrote these while drinking coffee out of my I am So Many Things mug. As the level of the coffee goes down I read statements such as ‘I’m full of hope’ ‘I am trusting in God’. Uplifting affirmations for every morning. A friend gives their mugs as confirmation gifts but I think they work at Easter too. There are books and prints on this Christian website too.
We find ourselves at an interesting point in history.
The Russians, we are told, are coming. 12 years after Russian troops seized Crimea, and four years after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, they are the number one threat they say. The Ukraine invasion of course is still ongoing. The solution given to this insecurity is, apparently, to buy more weapons.
The Americans, we hear, are like Schrodinger's cat: this was the cat that was both dead and alive until you opened the box in the physics thought experiment. They are both our long term partner on whom our defence depends: we therefore need to buy weapons to keep them happy. But also potentially unreliable, so we need to be ready: for which the answer is to buy more weapons.
The Chinese threaten the freedom of Taiwan, Taiwanese democracy is threatened by the Peoples Liberation Army! The solution to this, we hear, is to buy weapons.
But the Chinese are also arming their neighbours, some of whom need British components - like ejector seats - to make the planes work. In which case, we ask the neighbours to buy our weapons - but with the honest to goodness promise they won’t use them for bad things.
When they do use them for bad things - as they always do, heck, they did this week - that creates instability. And you know what the recipe is to solve this problem? I bet you do! It’s to buy weapons.
It’s like a multiple choice test where the answer is always the same, no matter what the question is. Buy more weapons.
So here we are. A billion pounds worth of weapons is on its way to, well, right here. Another couple of billion over the lifetime, just on the jets. Forget the basing costs, weapons costs, pilot costs.
We have been told a lot of things. But here is what we have not been told.
Are there American bombs down the road in Lakenheath?
Answer: No comment.
Does that increase the threat to local people.
Answer: No comment.
If there is a war: how will they be used?
No comment.
How much will all this cost? No comment.
How many will die? No comment.
How do we stop it escalating to a global conflict.
Again, silence.
Again, No comment.
The system which delights in telling us to buy and build more weapons is strangely silent when it comes to the harm and the costs of the weapons on this airbase..
Well if the Government won't answer, all of us here will!
We together will say there is no such thing as a limited nuclear war!
We will tell everyone that there are nuclear bombs and bombers here, and there shouldn't be.
And we will hold the Government to account for every pound it spends on death and destruction, while telling us there isn't the money for better schools, better hospitals, greener transport and a decarbonised power system.
Thank you for being here, thank you for getting the word out and thank you for helping to end the silence.
For over 100 years International Women’s Day has been celebrated on 8 March. This year’s theme is Give to Gain, a call to contribute to society. Its purpose is to advance gender equality and every year in support of that aim the UN hold a major Convention. I am old enough to have been offered a full time job at the shoe shop where I was a Saturday girl before they advertised the job for male applicants only. That was legal then.
As a Christian I follow Jesus who consistently reached out to those who were disadvantaged by the society in which he lived. He successfully challenged the unequal treatment of male and female adulterers by demonstrating the sinners of each of the men who had picked up stones to stone her with. He made it clear that he did not condone the adultery. He also helped widows and made sure that his own widowed mother would have a home after his death on the Cross.
The recent media reporting on Epstein, Al Fayed and Andrew Tate shows how easily those with power and money have sexually exploited girls and women. And have done so with impunity for years because the ‘elite’ were treated as above the law. The Right have been successful in turning the grooming gangs into an anti Muslim story when the real issue we as a society should be talking about is why we allowed so many girls in our Care System to have such low self esteem leading to them being vulnerable and then not listening when they told those in authority. I am glad that in the UK we have recognised that our organisations need to change to listen and believe. It is interesting to see the commentary on the recent UK arrests for Misconduct in Public Office and the questions now being asked in other jurisdictions.
Across the world, whatever you measure, the majority of women do less well than the majority of men. Sometimes the difference is significant.
I hope that the Catholic Church will soon speak out, as it did in Laudate Si, to advance the status of girls and women as possessing the same God Given dignity as boys and men. And address the need for structural change to advance girls and women towards equality with boys and men.
I also hope that the Vatican will challenge the powerful men of the Christian Right, especially in the Americas, who desire to exert greater control over society enhancing their own influence, wealth and status by reducing the dignity of others, especially girls and women and those who are different.
My faith in Jesus does not waver. I believe that girls and women will achieve equality as God intended. I do wish that my Church would speak out more loudly and be heard on behalf of girls and women throughout the world.
Our parish are donating to Aid to the Church in Need for their work in Pakistan. It upset me because when I lived in Pakistan 60 years ago it seemed to be a tolerant place. I didn’t feel threatened and wasn’t bullied or name called at school because I was different from the other pupils. I wondered what had changed.
As I pondered the situation I remembered that we didn’t stay for our allotted two years because, while we were enroute for a visit to UK, India shelled Karachi where we lived. I was 7 and was most worried that I was missing out on the excitement of hiding under the table like my school friends! I know better now.
I then heard people talking about the introduction of TV into the House of Commons and the consensus seemed to be that people now speak there to get clips per their social media and the days of debates and MPs who spoke for long periods and successfully changed minds had gone. Then I read an article on how people who used to get ‘lost in a book’ have found it difficult to do so now that they’re used to short reads on the internet. The solution was to spend 20 minutes a day for a few weeks reading a book in order to redevelop the skill and engage deeply with the text.
Maybe those snap like/dislike judgements mean that we are used to snap judgements and to discount those who are different by appearance or behaviour? Maybe the fear of embarrassment, because of that difference, holds us back from finding out what we have in common?
Sadly the tension between India and Pakistan remains. Injustices from their Colonial past and a lack of political will to forge a more co-operative neighbourly relationship drive stories that feed fear. It is all too common for politicians to use fear of difference to create a cohesive force that increases their hold on power and the oppression of their people.
Perhaps this Lent we could carefully contemplate how we behave towards those who we perceive to be different and why that is so? If we all do that and develop our tolerance and perhaps curiosity, about those who are different we can improve the peace in our local community.
Perhaps when we se something that makes us angry on the internet we could take a step back and think about who might be influencing the post? Maybe they want to channel your anger to gain a bigger following? Who gains from the negative emotion they create?.
There are many Gospel stories about Jesus making a point of reaching out to those who were poor, or different and those who were in dire straits, we can follow his good example especially during Lent.
I am old enough to receive pensions from both private sector and public sector pensions. I was lucky in that I always worked for organisations with good pensions. I also worked full time through my working life. In addition I receive a non means tested state pension which is set higher than basic working age benefits and is tripled locked, with a promise that that will last until the next election.
I went to university without paying tuition and with a maintenance grant. I learnt to budget and between finals and results I could afford to go to Paris by train, staying in a small hotel. We could afford a baguette each and cheese or pate for our meals, breakfast was provided in the hotel. We visited the Louvre, Impressionist Museum and Versailles. My first holiday abroad.
We rented for 12 months before we bought our first house. Apparently our mortgage costs with the higher interest rate took roughly the same amount from average salaries as the average mortgage costs now. But the price of houses has increased by far more than the rate of inflation and salary growth so deposits take longer to save for now.
My daughter is paying off her student debt and is likely to do so for maybe 20 years yet. Her mortgage is affordable, on a longer term, on two salaries. If she became unemployed many of the benefits she could claim are means tested. Her family would have to down size if she didn’t get another job quickly.
I reckon I was born at the right time.
I do voluntary work (like many women of my generation) we see how much harder it is for our children and their generation who are 'doing well'. We also see how much worse off the poorest in our society are than they were when we were young.
The biggest Government spend is on the NHS. Better health care means we, on average, live longer than our grandparents. Pensioners are politically powerful because we vote. State Pension is the next highest spend after NHS. State Pension costs significantly more than total Working Age Benefits. Yet successive Governments have cut Working Age benefit levels.
Younger people tend to vote less so they are less politically powerful. Is that why their benefits are lower? To me that isn’t fair and just.
I have already spoken and emailed my MP about the non sustainability of current pension spending and the inequality of the benefits paid to unemployed/under employed working age people and pensioners. I would like to live in a society that meets the living costs of all those in need without a preference based on age.
I am privileged because I would accept means testing and a reduction of my state pension if it meant that the poorest people in our society did not have to struggle so much to stay in safe, warm housing, eat enough healthy food and participate in their community.
If you feel the same why not email your own MP to ask the Government to address the sustainability in pension costs and the age bias in benefits?
And maybe make them think more carefully about the factors that drive who we pensioners vote for……..
Looking forward to the start of Lent, I thought I would suggest some ideas for reflection and prayer. The first is a book, by James Martin SJ. My other suggestions are musical, music can engage us on a deeper level and there is a long tradition of folk music voicing the concerns and feelings of the ordinary people. Such songs can give us knowledge and help us gain new insight strengthening our contemplation and prayer.
This long book tells the story of Jesus' life using the four Gospels and overlays the story with the tale of James’ pilgrimage to the Holy Land visiting the places where it happened. His reflections on the Gospels are thought provoking. I especially liked his views on Martha and Mary because as a strong believer in Christianity being about both prayer and reaching out and helping the marginalised I have often heard homilies that talk about prayer only.
The Vietnam War inspired many American writers in in 60s and 70s. Tom Paxton’s "Peace Will Come" is itself a prayer. Other Paxton tracks that may inspire are "The Thought Stayed Free", "When Princes Meet", "There Goes The Mountain", "The Death of Stephen Biko". Last year he wrote "No Kings Here"
The Gospel tradition has produced many tracks and Edwin Starr's "War" was a soul hit in the 60s. I was given Mica Paris and the Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir CD Gospel and can recommend that. My favourite tracks are "Oh Happy Day", "Something Inside So Strong" and "Mamma Said".
More recent tracks could be: ‘One Voice’ by The Waillin’ Jennies. This has been covered in support of causes like Me Too.
UK tracks include: Coope, Boyes and Simpson: "If We Were Them", "Children of Palestine", "Anthem for a Planet’s Children" and "The Avenging Angel" . "PET Song" is a light-hearted take on the serious issue of plastic water bottle waste.
"Canaan’s Land" a traditional English folk song recorded by Kate Rusby
Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman recorded "Tomorrow Will Follow Today", "52 Hertz" on the overfishing of Wales, and "Fear Not the Mountain" a song of hope.
Sadly the 2001 BBC Radio 2 ballads looking at social issues of the day are not available through BBC Sounds but may be available through some streaming services. Topics included: de-industrialisation, homelessness & travellers, Northern Ireland Troubles, HIV Aids. "Different Drums" by Cara Dillon is my favourite.
Choral fans will have their own favourites but "Ubi Caritas" is my favourite. There is plenty to choose from.
So this Lent why not listen and reflect on something different?
SANCTUARY: WAYS OF TELLING, WAYS OF DWELLING BY MARINA WARNER (2025)
A Heart-warming and encouraging read for our time
A few years ago a paper version of the Leeds Diocesan Justice and Peace newsletter was returned to the office with the words "Jesus was not a refugee!" scrawled across the front page. Apparently, a reference to the Holy Family's flight into Egypt at a time of political turmoil and fear of King Herod's cruel infanticide had not gone down well. More recently Cambridge Professor of Philosophy of religion James Orr, "British sherpa" to Vice President JD Vance and adviser to Nigel Farage described asylum seekers as "invaders". ‘Asylum seeker’ is increasingly used as a term of abuse.
The language surrounding "refugee" and "asylum" is increasingly provoking negative reactions. While it is tempting to stress that historically, as an "island" geographically, it is difficult for anyone to claim they are "natives" and not "incomers". Celts crossed the Doggerland before the North Sea covered it over. Anglo Saxon was a later holdall term for a range of western European incomers. Romans, Vikings from Scandinavia and Normans all moved as the early years moved into the medieval. Migrations have continued ever since, not least as a consequence of the great British Empire period. Moreover, as palaeontologists Dr Cat Jarman spells out, contrary to popular opinion DNA cannot tell you where your relatives come from.
"What it really tells you is where in the world people matching your genetics are living right now and this does not represent an ancient population. We are a species that has been on the move since day one".
In other words, DNA can identify specific family relationships but cannot trace local chains of ancestry. In essence we, on this group of islands, are all incomers through time.
So, how have we treated arriving "strangers" ?
The Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales have a strong record of encouraging welcoming the stranger and supporting asylum seekers and refugees as their recent pastoral exhortation "Love the Stranger" demonstrates - in strong theological language and practical proposals for pastoral action in our communities. But the presence of "arrivers" is increasingly contested , whether "legal" or "illegal" and asylum has shifted in meaning from a positive term for a traditional place of refuge to a language of rejectionism ; "asylum seekers are not welcome here".
But is this true to our island stories and history?
Novelist Marina Warner has published a comprehensively researched account of "sanctuary" in which she explores the history of the principles and practice of "sanctuary" noting in particular the Churches’ contribution symbolised by the medieval door knocker on Durham Cathedral. She seeks out the principles on which the ancient classical and medieval practices of sanctuary were founded in what we strangely still dismiss as the "dark ages"!
She records the ancient traditions of sanctuary from the stories of the classical world offering brief immunity to fugitives from justice through the medieval literature recording sanctuary in churches as places of "sacred reprieve" right up to the present day challenges facing refugees in a political world turning its back on United Nations' internationally agreed principles of protection, welcome and support.
Nor is Warner's "Sanctuary" a work of bare legal principles and treaties. Rather it is a heart-warming and encouraging reading journey through literature, poems and personal stories rooted in human experiences of real people, through time, forced to move for survival often because of circumstances beyond their control.
Her "ways of telling" insists on a strong story-shaped world rooted in the particulars of local experiences. Her "ways of dwelling" challenges us to rethink what we mean by "home", "freedom of movement", "nations" and developing international relations.
This is a rhizome book taking us through the deep roots of asylum concepts and language and reminding us that in fact we are, as Pope Francis always insisted, "all in it together "and therefore we need to work harder at living together inspired by her "stories in transition".
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
