Is it right to fear God? What is the difference between a destructive fear and a “holy trepidation”? An Advent homily by Fr Stephen Wang: Look around you at the chapel walls. Look at the […]
Fr Stephen Wang
Fr Stephen Wang is a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Westminster. He is currently Senior University Chaplain for the Archdiocese. Some of his articles have previously been published on his personal blog, Bridges and Tangents. See: http://bridgesandtangents.wordpress.com/
Fr Stephen Wang's Latest Posts
Ida: beauty in black and white
[Warning: minor plot-spoilers in my text; but major plot-spoilers in the trailer above!] If the Polish film Ida does not win an Oscar for best cinematography at next year’s awards then I will eat my […]
What happens when you don’t put yourself in the centre?
St Paul tells us to be humble and self-effacing. But is this healthy? Does it mean we deny our own personalities and become faceless Christians? What really happens if we stop putting ourselves in the […]
Human jealousy and divine generosity
Is God unfair? A sermon by Fr Stephen Wang, about the dangers of jealousy, the wonder of God’s generosity, and the puzzle of why he gives some things to some people and not to others.
“The Church is alive!” How the faith of young people is renewing Catholic life in the UK
I’m just back from the Youth 2000 Summer Festival in Walsingham. One of the many highlights was the final evening of Thanksgiving and Testimony, where a good twenty or so young people had the courage […]
Happy Feast of St Dominic – and how to discover more about his life
I wish everyone a happy Feast of St Dominic today. I had the joy of visiting Blackfriars, Cambridge, at the weekend, which is the Novitiate House of the English Dominicans. They seem to be thriving, […]
Is Jesus Christ the unique saviour?
Is Jesus Christ the unique saviour? A homily by Fr Stephen Wang given at Newman House, 6 July 2014.
How to set the world on fire, despite your weaknesses, through the power of the Holy Spirit
The call to be a missionary disciple, to cast fire on the earth, is a call to heroism. The problem is that most of us are not heroes. So does that mean we have to […]
The secret of authentic communication: the example of St Boniface
To communicate with others is not just to share information, it is to create a common space where one can meet the other, finding a common language that allows a genuine personal encounter. Fr Stephen […]
The heartbreaking absence of God
So many people feel the absence of God in their lives, because of their struggles with faith, their inner darkness, or the sense of helplessness and abandonment that can come through experiences of great suffering. […]
When life is full of loose ends, incomplete projects and half-fulfilled plans
Someone gave me this beautiful prayer sometimes attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero about how incomplete and fragile our work for the Kingdom always is. I hope you find it encouraging. In memory of Oscar Romero (1917–1980) […]
Spiritual reading for Eastertide
I’ve just finished a beautiful book of talks and meditations by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Ratzinger, called Images of Hope: Meditations on Major Feasts. It’s one of those traditional compilations that brings together someone’s […]
Between the fire and the water, an Easter homily, by Fr Stephen Wang
A homily from the Second Sunday of Easter, reflecting on the Easter fire, the baptismal font, the presence of Jesus in the Upper Room, the Canonisation of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II, […]
Does God have favourites?
A homily from Fr Stephen Wang about the mystery of how God calls some people to faith and to particular vocations.
Is it good to base your faith on spiritual experiences?
A homily by Fr Stephen Wang about the place of religious experience in the Christian life, given at Newman House Student Chaplaincy.
The key to understanding Pope Francis
A talk by Fr Stephen Wang, which looks at the first sections of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, and gives a key to understanding the vision of Pope Francis and his first year in office.
The radical call to love without limits
Most of our relationships have some kind of calculation involved: with colleagues, with friends, even within a family. There is a give and take; an agreement – implicit or explicit – that I will be […]
‘Please God, find me a husband!’ A graphic novel about life, love and faith (and searching for a husband!) by Simone Lia
I can’t say I have read many graphic novels, but this is an extraordinary book. It tells the tale, as you would expect from the title, of Simone Lia’s search for a husband, and her […]
What if the person you love doesn’t have a body?
Her, the new film by Spike Jonze, is a beautiful meditation on love, friendship, artificial intelligence, regret, virtual reality, surrogacy, time, gaming, grief, embodiment, self-creation, community, and the only half-acknowledged weirdness of falling in love […]
Are you beautiful? How do you know? Who makes the rules? Who tells the truth?
I heard a talk on Saturday about the biblical idea of beauty, and how distorted our own ideas of beauty have become within the prevailing culture. As an introduction, the speaker showed this ‘Onslaught’ video […]
How to discover your vocation
Practical thoughts about how to discover your vocation, how to be open to God’s call in your life, and what you can do in your prayer life to help you on the journey. A homily […]
