LOOKING BACK ON THE SUMMER:

I have had a good August, beginning with a couple of quiet weeks here in Liverpool and followed by a fortnight based at our Redemptorist House in Chawton. This gave me the opportunity to enjoy that picturesque part of the world, visit a few friends and celebrate my sister’s 80th Birthday with the family. I hope you have all been able to relax for a while during the summer. The weather has been remarkably settled, which has helped, although I realise we now need some rain to replenish the rivers and reservoirs. Hosepipe bans are the order of the day in the south, but by the time I headed back north the ground was a little less parched as a result of the showers that finally broke the weeks of drought that left everywhere looking like a desert. Of course, the drought is not the only problem facing us as we enter what threatens to be a very difficult autumn and winter. The ‘cost of living’ crisis threatens to disrupt all our lives. It is opportune, therefore, that teams in our two parishes are encouraging us to take to heart the CAFOD invitation to ‘live simply’ and I commend to you the events they are planning in the coming weeks.