CHESTER ORDINATIONS LAST WEEK, first communions here in Bramhall this week. Mission, and a new commission, it seems are in the air. And it’s such a joy to see the willingness in many an ordinand and in young communicants alike. A visitor from Mars might well be forgiven for thinking that religious activity on earth, in all its forms, is at times primarily to do with bashing others over the head with your own particular version of a hard-backed book.

Well, I’d have been delighted to welcome a little ET here today. First communions were made by smiling, happy youngsters, warmly encouraged and cheered on by their peers on the one hand and by grandparents on the other. I thank God that so very many of the church people I encounter seem very much keener on opening hearts and doors wider than upon turgid debate and indecisiveness about who’s in and who’s out. I thank God that in first and last communions here I see “mirrors in which the blind look at themselves and love looks at them back”. Yep: this is what I think of as making Eucharist when I hear Christ’s command to “give them something to eat”. So all you first communicants, and those of you who have trained them, know that I’m proud of you, and happy, and grateful.