Holy Trinity Winchester Podcast

‘To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.’The Lost SheepWe begin today with a familiar scene from the life of Jesus: tax collectors and sinners drawing near whilst the Pharisees and scribes grumble. Now, the objection of the Pharisees and scribes is not elaborated but it is fairly sure to say that they were concerned about maintaining sepa...

The Ascent of HumilityI begin my sermon today with a quotation from the Rule of St Benedict. St Benedict said the following to the monks with whom he shared a common religious life:And so, my brothers, if we wish to reach the highest peak of humility and if we wish to attain quickly that heavenly exaltation towards which we climb by means of the humility of this life, we must set up for our ascent...

A Conflict on the Sabbath DayOur Gospel reading begins with a conflict between Jesus and the ruler of the synagogue on a particular Sabbath Day. Jesus had called a woman with a disabling spirit to himself. He had laid his hands on her and healed her. The ruler of the synagogue had taken exception to this, arguing that this counted as work and that it could have waited till one of the other days of...

“Is not my word like fire, declares, the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:29Fire Upon the Earth“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!”At first glance, today’s Gospel reading might be hard to understand. It might also be hard to accept...

“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes…”The Future Shapes the PresentWhat we believe about the future shapes how we live in the present. We spoke last week about how God can set us free from slavery to the God of Mammon, from anxious toil and restlessness. Today we hear from Christ something about how we to think about what is to come. Before we look more closely at...

Ecclesiastes – The Futility of LifeIf you have never read the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes, I really recommend it. It’s about the complete pointlessness of life. Even arch-atheist Richard Dawkins has, at points, declared his admiration for this book particularly in the King James translation. Ecclesiastes is an unflinchingly honest analysis of the problem of the human condition, namely its v...

“Lord, teach us to pray.”Our Gospel reading this morning begins with Jesus praying in a certain place. When he finishes, one of his disciples makes a request: “Lord, teach us to pray.”At these words our ears should prick up for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we may be aware that there is no comprehensive account of the spiritual practices of Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospel accounts. We are sometime...

The short story of Mary and Martha occurs only once in all of the Gospels. And yet throughout the history of the Church is has attracted much attention. It has been taken to be a commentary on the interplay between the active and contemplative life, with Martha representing the active life of service and Mary representing the contemplative life of prayer and devotion. As such, the questions it pos...

In one sense, the literal meaning of the Parable of the Good Samaritan is quite clear. We could summarise it by saying that we ought to prove ourselves to be good neighbours to those around us, to those who are in need. Perhaps it is simply this that Christ’s wishes to tell us. But let’s not rush too quickly to this interpretation. Let us consider first the symbolic meaning of this story. The earl...

In our text this morning, we witness Jesus sending out seventy-two people to various towns and places to prepare the way for his coming. He gives them encouragement and instruction which are still relevant for his followers today.“The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few”What does Christ mean by this statement? To begin with, for those he was sending out, there was great opportunity for...

The Christian life is to be a follower of Jesus, which means listening to him, being like him, and doing what he did but in our own day and in our own lives. In our passage today, we receive some very deep insight into what this means. This insight is, in fact, so deep that we can only touch on it briefly. To summarise what we just heard, we begin with a Samaritan village rejecting Jesus and his m...

A Legion of DemonsIn great misery and nakedness, he wandered among the graves of the dead. He was in utter wretchedness, leading a disgraceful life. He was a proof of the cruelty of demons and a plain demonstration of their impurity. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on LukeThese are the words of the early Church Father Cyril of Alexandria, describing the plight of the man possessed by a legion of d...

Pentecost 2025For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.”Isaiah 30:15The Turmoil of the World and the Silence of God ContrastedIn silence, not in the turmoil and noise, God enters into the innermost depths of our being. Father Marie-Eugene de l’Enfant-Jésus was right when he wrote…“This divin...

After the AscensionThis Sunday falls directly after the celebration of the Ascension of Christ last Thursday. We find ourselves liturgically in the in-between time after Christ’s going away and before his sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. The fact that Christ ascended into heaven and left the disciples without his physical and singular presence raises the question: How will God be manife...

Guest preacher Fr George Westhaver, Principal of Pusey House Oxford, speaks about the way that Jesus communicates the life of God to his people. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

Could this be heaven for everyone? When you were at school you may have read George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm. The story is about a hostile takeover of a farm led by two pigs called Snowball and Napoleon. The animals have come to believe that their human owner is an oppressor and that they can create a much freer and equal society by throwing off his yoke and running the farm themselves. But, of...

The Raising of Dorcas to LifeThe readings that take place in the Octave of Easter are all about people coming back to life. Today’s reading from the book of Acts is an example. The story is simple enough: a disciple of the way called Tabitha dies for no apparent reason. Some other disciples hear that the Apostle Peter is nearby. Peter comes, puts out the mourners, kneels down and prays. Then he sa...

The Greatest Paradigm ShiftJust over three-hundred years ago, people saw the world through Isaac Newton’s eyes. Newton described a world that was regular, clockwork, where things were entirely predictable. Gravity pulls things to the ground, objects move in straight lines, time is the same for everyone, everywhere. It was a clockwork universe. But in the beginning of the twentieth century, this vi...

“Behold, my servant shall act wisely;he shall be high and lifted up,and shall be exalted.”The Exaltation of the Suffering ServantAbout seven-hundred years before the time of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah spoke of a servant of God who would be exalted, before whom kings would shut their mouths. But when we read the text of Isaiah 52 and 53, we see no ordinary exaltation. What do we see? His appearance...

Maundy Thursday 2025Exodus 12:1-14, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-17,31(b)-35The Washing of FeetAnd so, after the long preparation of the Lenten season, we find ourselves here in the Upper Room with Jesus and his disciples, witnessing what has come to be called the Last Supper. The reading that we have just heard from the Gospel of John recounts one of the two stunning actions that Jesus carri...

Fr Jamie Franklin encourages us to follow Jesus all the way to the cross this Holy Week, accepting suffering and sacrifice as a part of our discipleship. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

Dear Friends. This is the final part of a series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving . We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possessions and to learn how...

In this sermon, Fr Jamie Franklin challenges us to imitate the example of Mary, the sister of Lazarus, and the Apostle Paul, both of whom demonstrated their love for Christ by sacrificing much to worship and follow him. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

Dear Friends. This is the fifth of a six-part series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving . We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit from this series. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possessi...

Fr Jamie Franklin address the Parable of the Prodigal Son, arguing that it is really a story more about the compassion and who we are in relation to him. The story presents us with a choice as to whether we are going humble ourselves in repentance or wallow in self-righteous pride. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, v...