Papally speaking: AI and the nature of humanity

I usually spend my mornings troubleshooting cloud-based document management solutions, navigating AI implementations for clients or wondering why my smart fridge has decided to stage a silent protest against my choice of cold drink, so finding a lengthy papal encyclical on Artificial Intelligence in my inbox was a bit like receiving a system update for my soul.

S1E3: On the accident of distance

Letโ€™s be honest: most days, life feels less like a serene walk with God and more like trying to assemble a particularly fiddly piece of flat-pack furniture while the instructions are being chewed by the dog and youโ€™ve misplaced the allen key.

In the relentless bustle of modern family life, the notion of “quiet time” can feel like a bit of a tall order. For a tired mother or father, the distance between the kitchen sink and the “quiet conversation of prayer” can feel like a very long way indeed…

Finding freedom in the Fatherโ€™s gaze

We often treat the sudden exit of Ananias and Sapphira as a terrifying divine audit, yet it is actually the ultimate cure for our modern obsession with spiritual stage-management. Their tragedy was not a matter of a lightened purse but a heavy heart that was far too preoccupied with the fickle applause of the gallery. By pretending to be more holy than they truly were, they missed the profound rest of being fully known by a Father who sees every secret. When we finally stop performatively tidying the cupboards of our souls, we find a love that requires no filters.

A game of Divine I-spy

Finding Jesus in the Old Testament Reading the Old Testament without looking for Jesus is a bit like trying to assemble a complicated piece of flat-pack furniture whilst ignoring the instructions and the illustration on the box; you might eventually produce something that stands upright, but you will almost certainly Read more

The great Cretan makeover

The heart of the letter to Titus lies in that wonderful assurance that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people and training us to renounce ungodliness. We often think of grace as a lovely, soft word, perhaps something we say before a Sunday roast, but St Paul describes it as a tutor or a trainer that helps us grow. In our daily lives, from the kitchen to the marketplace, we are invited to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour by living with kindness and integrity, making the Gospel look beautiful to a world seeking hope.

Holy sweat and the joyful agony of prayer.

Let us be honest with one another: prayer is often rather harder than the hymnbooks suggest. We have all been there – starting a prayer only to find our minds have wandered to the shopping list. If this sounds familiar, take heart. You are not a failure; you are simply human. In Colossians 4:12, we meet Epaphras, who was ‘always struggling’ in prayer. The Greek word is agonizomai – the root of our word ‘agony’. But this wasn’t mere suffering; it was an athletic contest, a wrestling match in the arena of intercession. Discover why there is profound joy to be found in the holy sweat of persistent prayer…