Ruth Gledhill - Times Online - WBLG

The deadliest of them all

Which for you is the deadliest of them all? For me it is not gluttony, which is why I can cradle this enormous chunk of pure chocolate, christened the Absolution Bar, and then give it away to my colleagues and the newsdesk. See our faith page for the latest on the Pope and the Seven Deadly Sins. I agree with Kieran Proffer in today's letters page, that the 'capital vices', as the seven deadlies are known, are actually the root causes of sinful behaviours on which the Pope has now enlarged. 

Stations of the Millennium Goals

Most Anglican churches at Easter walk the Via Dolorosa. They celebrate liturgically the Stations of the Cross. Not necessarily so in The Episcopal Church. Welcome to the Stations of the Millennium Goals. HT to StandFirm for this gem. 'Lord have mercy,' says one commenter there. My own comment? An own-millennium goal possibly. But then again, probably not. Actually, these look quite educative and interesting, although I'ld love to report a General Synod debate on such an addition to the CofE liturgy. If you're a vicar over here and fancy trying this out on your congregation, do read on for an extract and for a link to download the entire file. Please don't hesitate to contact me with your congregation's reaction!

The miracle of the impossible

At the heart of Holy Week, two of the most intelligent writers on  The Times went to war over religion. First into the fray was the former Tory MP Matthew Parris, who went to work on God rather as if he were leader
of the opposition, which in Matthew's view he might well be. 'Where are you, intelligent Christians?' he
asked. 'Where is your voice, your righteous anger? Where is your honest contempt for this nonsense?' He was exercised by the claim that a Nun had been cured of Parkinson's through the intercession of the late
Pope John Paul II. Rather sweetly, he imagined that no truly intelligent person could really believe in miracle, that the world's  ecclesiastical rulers just exchange knowing winks in their reserved pews while feeding delusions to the unthinking masses.

Chocolate Jesus

With only two days of Lent left, this may be enough to make you give up chocolate all year round. This statue of Jesus, cast in chocolate, was meant to be in New York's Lab Gallery this Good Friday but protest from Christian groups called off the exhibit. 

Birth, rebirth, resurrection

I think the idea might have  been to come up with a story that would somehow connect the supermarket chain Somerfield in the public mind with buying chocolate eggs while celebrating the sacramental mystery of Easter. But it all went a little bit wrong. The Church of England is predicting the best attendances since the millennium this Easter. Sales of chocolate are also soaring. But I fear it might have been a mistake to try to connect the two.