Vol.12 No.7 JULY 1998

CONTENTS

Satisfying religious needs
The Editor

Prophecy today
Rowan Williams

Diana - a life in search of a story
Tina Beattie
Princess Diana died nearly a year ago. What has the Church learnt from the events which surrounded her death? Tina Beattie, who is studying for a doctorate in theology at Bristol University, reflects on those events and concludes 'The challenge which Diana's death presents to the Church is the need to tell the story of Christ in such a way that it is relevant to the spiritual yearnings and needs of our age without simply becoming part of the pick 'n' mix spirituality of consumer society.'

The hunger for ritual
W. Jardine Grisbrooke
The death of Princess Diana revealed our society's need for rituals. W. Jardine Grisbrooke, who was lecturer in liturgy at Queen's College, Birmingham, claims that at present the Church in her liturgy obscures the very rituals which could help people find 'the meaning and the transcedence which, however unwittingly, they seek'.

What is the Spirit saying in the new churches?
Peter Hocken
In the year of the Holy Spirit what can we learn from the new charismatic churches? Peter Hocken, a priest of the diocese Northampton and a writer on the charismatic movement, begins with a sketch of these new churches in the UK and then shows how 'the challenges from the new churches cluster around two themes: first, openness to the Holy Spirit; second, modernity'.

Forgotten grief
John Wilson
John Wilson is assistant priest at St Joseph's, Pontefract, and a hospital chaplain. He describes in this article the grief experienced by parents whose pregnancies end in miscarriage. His involvement with the Miscarriage Action Group helped him realise the need for 'pastoral and liturgical environments to help people grieve and cope when life is lost before birth'.

Sex, bodies and desire
Timothy Radcliffe OP
Love is at the heart of all Christian vocations. But priests and religious need help to integrate their attempt to live an apostolic life with their capacity to love. Here we offer some extracts taken from a longer letter which Timothy Radcliffe, Master of the Dominicans, sent his order. They suggest ways to give a formation which faces 'our emotion, our sexuality, our hunger to love and be loved'.

Preaching and teaching the Word
Tony Philpot
Mgr Tony Philpot is a priest in the diocese of East Anglia and at present chaplain to Palazzola, the English College retreat centre near Rome. Here he offers some reflections on the lectionary readings for the Sundays and solemnities of August.

Correspondence

Book reviews

Postscript: An obligation to participate?
Vicky Cosstick

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