Dear friends

Our trip to Coventry Cathedral this week was a powerful reminder of how the new Cathedral, consecrated in 1964, was built in the shadow of the old cathedral, which had been reduced to ruins by Nazi bombs in 1940. A triumph of Hope over the darkness of despair. I suspect this was in part made possible by the Coventry litany, which we were invited to join in at noon, a litany that is repeated every day at that hour. The refrain used is “Father forgive”, not it was explained “Father forgive them,” for the litany recognizes that we all have our part to play in the troubles of the world.

If only the leaders of our world would reach for this prayer rather than the button to order the dropping of more bombs. The world lives with the scars of such bombing for generations afterwards and doesn’t always learn the lesson that we are called to forgive and seek peace.

Greg