On one occasion I was driving in Northern Spain, from Oviedo to Leon over the Pyrenees when I was caught in a dense fog, and I could only see a couple of feet in front of me. I can remember the desperation and helplessness I experienced, aware that I could be driving on the wrong […]

Shakespeare tells a very sad story  about a man called Macbeth. He was a Lord in Scotland,  a good man, a good soldier, respected and admired by many.  He is also ambitious.  One day he meets three witches,  and they provoke his ambition; they make promises,  and now ambition takes control of his heart.  He […]

The Greeks had a very nice way of teaching a lesson. They would often tell a story. One of these stories is about a king called Midas. The gods told him, he could wish for anything he wanted and he would get it.  So he wished that everything he touched would turn to gold.  At […]

There was once an american writer who was famous for his short stories,  One of these stories was about a married couple.  They lived in a small apartment in some big american city.  Its christmas and it’s time to buy a present for the other.  He knows what she would like,  she has beautiful long […]

The first reading and the gospel today focus on a problem that is mentioned a lot in the Bible. This is the problem of the church becoming its own worst enemy, of the church undermining itself. We all know that one of the effective means of undermining your opponent in any field (political, economic, and […]

Many of you may remember the musical ‘Annie get your gun’ which is an American musical comedy film,  based on the life of the sharpshooter Annie Oakley. The music and lyrics were written by the renowned Irving Berlin. In this film there is a very amusing song, sung by a man and a woman;  they […]

Jean François Millet, a French Realist Painter, painted that beautiful work of art that many of us are familiar with. The painting depitcts two pesants bowing  in a field over a basket of potatoes, to say a prayer: the Angelus. Shortly before he painted this masterpiece, he wrote in his diary: ‘we only have enough […]

Many years ago, two men went for a walk in the countryside, as they were walking a shepherd was playing a beautiful melody on the flute.  One of the men stopped to listen.  The other could hear absolutely nothing.  His name was Ludwig Van Beethoven the great german composer and pianist.  This was one of […]

We have all heard the expression: ‘to burn ones boats’.  It probably has its origin in history.  Be it with Alexander the great in Grece or Hernan Cortes in Mexico.  An army has to make a critical decision;  do they go forward into the unknown or do they go back.  By burning their boats, they […]

There was a poor boy that grew up in L. A. As a teenager he became interested in boxing and soon showed that he had exceptional talent. Were it not for this he would have probably drifted into crime like so many of his companions. The most significant person in his life was his mother. […]