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 […]
Tag: featured
The extraordinary power hidden within the Creed we profess each Sunday
Millions of Catholics do it every Sunday. In the middle of Mass, we profess our faith in the Creed. Now, maybe it’s just Brentwood Cathedral, but when I look out at my congregation reciting the […]
Prisoner voting rights: what should Catholics think?
In the UK there is a ban on all prisoners from voting in elections. This applies to all prisoners who have been convicted, i.e. are not on remand awaiting trial or detained without conviction in […]
Communion for the remarried: clarification and speculation from Archbishop Gerhard Müller at the CDF
An important statement by the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation, the CDF, has reaffirmed existing church teaching on not admitting to the Eucharist Catholics who have remarried without first annulling their marriage. But in […]
Me and you together – with our mobile phones
Take a look at this beautifully produced video about how the mobile phone has become part of every single human interaction. The question is: How do you react when you watch the video? Does it […]
How to pray
How to pray: a sermon about prayer, given to university students; and in particular about the importance of setting aside a small amount of time each day for personal prayer. The secret of prayer is […]
A religious sister reflects on the niqab, wearing the veil as a Catholic woman, and living in the gaze of others
At the airport security in Brittany, we had to remove our veils. This was something new. They are about twice the size of a pocket-handkerchief, and hardly the stuff for hiding a terrorist. And our […]
Opening “a liturgical Pandora’s box”? A parish priest reflects on the “family Mass”
By 9.30 am on a Sunday morning our car park is jam-packed, as hundreds of people fill Brentwood Cathedral for Mass. The whole building hums with prayerful expectation before Mass begins. Drawn together by Christ, […]
Pope Francis hits ‘reset’ — but not the way some imagine
It is clear, six months into the heart-warming, unsettling whirlwind that is his papacy, that Francis is pressing the ‘reset’ button on the Church’s engagement with the world. It is an ambitious ‘reframe’, one allows […]
Suggestions for parents at Mass with babies, toddlers or children
The parish of Brentwood Cathedral has just posted some ideas for parents who are bringing their babies, toddlers and children to Mass each Sunday. Some of these ideas were tested in the blogosphere a couple […]
Waiting
Jesus tells us to be like servants waiting for their master to return (see the passage from St Luke’s Gospel below). Waiting is a great way into the spiritual life. It is relational: we are […]
The New Evangelisation: What it is and how to do it
I’ve just had a new booklet published by the Catholic Truth Society called The New Evangelisation: What it is and how to do it. They tapped into the World Youth Day Rio fervour by putting a […]
Sacramental service station?
A little shout-out to all the parishes out there… Come on now, be honest Is your parish a sacramental service station? What do I mean by this? A service station is somewhere we pass through, on the […]
Feedback
Please give us your feedback about the Jericho Tree website, using the comments box below. We welcome both praise and constructive suggestions! Please let us know what we are doing well, and how we could […]
How to read great texts with a spirit of curiosity, wonder and humility
This reading from St Ephraem comes up in the Liturgy of the Hours every year. It’s about how to approach the Sacred Scriptures, but it can be applied to any great text. It’s about the […]
Does God have a plan for you?
I gave a talk recently about providence. Is it true that God has a plan for us? Is it true that he guides all that happens within creation, and all that happens within our own […]
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
I am trying to work out if my friend is an extrovert or an introvert. According to Susan Cain’s book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking: “We live with a […]
