By EDMUND ADAMUS, Director, Office of Marriage and Family Life – Diocese of Westminster

Yes it’s that time of year where little by little, many households are a hive of activity preparing for a return to schools, colleges and institutions of learning. But as this tsunami of new, yet familiar, demands sweeps over us, let’s not forget that ultimately the home is tasked and graced to be THE school of many things: It’s a school of love, faith, virtues, humanity, dignity, communion, fraternity, hospitality, friendship, moral courage, frugality but abundance (not wanton luxury) when appropriate, elegance, joy and above all sacrifice.

By Fr TOM McHUGH

Children love stories; so do adults. We enjoy telling stories and listening to them, too, and we love to hear a good story again and again. Our storytelling takes many forms — a mum or dad reading a story to their child at bedtime, with the favourite story  requested yet again. Try to skip a few lines and you will be called back on track!

By MARY CROSBY

Reconciliation, aka confession, is the sacrament of the forgiveness of sin, which has many benefits. Here are ten…

By DEACON BARRY MELLISH

St Joseph’s Deacon Barry and his wife, Julia, are taking part in this week’s “Living Below the Line” challenge, which involves spending only £1 each day on food for five days. The challenge reconises that 1.2 billion people live on the equivalent of this every day of their lives. Here, he keeps us updated with his progress.

By Fr TOM McHUGH

“He opened their minds.” These are words of Jesus given to us in the Gospel just now. What might these words mean as we find ourselves in the middle of the general election campaign?

By EDMUND ADAMUS, Director, Office of Marriage and Family Life – Diocese of Westminster

Those of you who have been receiving and reading these weekly ‘thoughts for the weekend’ reflections since the beginning, may recall that I stated the original purpose of them was an opportunity, week by week, in between the Extraordinary Synod on the family (2014) and the Ordinary Synod on the family (2015), to focus some attention on the spirituality of Christian spousal love and family life.

By DEACON BARRY MELLISH

This case directly concerns myself and others who work or used to work in business and industry. I was a technical consultant working for a computer company involved with the selling of computers and storage systems. By themselves computers do nothing – they are morally neutral, they require people to turn them on and use them. It is how and why they are used that can change this – they can be used for good or evil. The question is, what should I do when I know that the system is being sold to a company whose ethics or purpose is completely opposite to that which I believe in?

By FR. SAJU PINAKATTU

On the first Sunday of Lent, the gospel speaks of a time of solitude for Jesus in the desert immediately after His baptism. Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the desert to spend forty days. ‘Forty’ is a number often associated with intense spiritual experiences.