Still can’t believe I’ve become one of those people who goes to the gym and works out when he’s away… but that hotel gym was great!

An absolute blessing (and quite the coincidence) to be able to venerate the relics of the first Millennial Saint, Carlo Acutis, in my home diocese’s cathedral. Pretty cool to know there’s a guy hanging out with Jesus and praying for me who also played the same Pokémon games as me!

I’m told that this means my powers of homosexuality have been restored ✂️💈

At Church to conclude our bidding prayers, we always pray for those suffering from war and violence, naming specific locations. It’s fucking bleak how long that list has got over the past year… 😢

When I was doing missionary work in London during the 2012 Olympics, the local wing of the Tamil Tigers mistook me as an official representative of the British government. I was taken to meet the leader and given a list of demands to present to David Cameron.

Well, I suppose we have been long due a Crusade 😌🥲

If thousands of my neighbors just died at the hands of their own government and then my daughter was blown up by some chucklefuck on the other side of the planet claiming to help, I would walk into sea. It is hard to fathom the suffering innocent Iranians are enduring. God have mercy.

Eight months ago.

The President of Peace strikes again

I have many - MANY - gripes and disagreements with the Green Party, but they did fight a good campaign (and have been consistent with their values). I’m hoping this will be a wake-up call not to pander to Reform voters and instead focus on the left/progressive coalition that got Labour into power.

A few years ago, the Church in my village was facing closure - I prayed fervently that God would refill it and have the parishioners’ hearts on fire for Him. It was then… shut. And then… bought by the Chaldean Catholic community. Today, I had the honour of attending a Mass. God answered my prayer.

It’s almost like they used up all of their talent stores in the first match - I thought last week was bad, but this was beyond painful to watch. Stupid mistakes, butter fingers, and constant stumbling… not the England we know. I hope they reflect on this and use the next fortnight productively.

You see, England, what the Irish just did was actually consistently catch the ball and then cross the try line rather than just say hello to it 🙂🙃

Totally appalling way to treat anyone but in this case this woman had not broken any immigration rule at all. And the British consulate were completely and inexcusably useless. Awful and I think deserves some response from the Foreign Office. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Waarom moet jij iedere keer de rekening betalen? In het regeerakkoord van D66, VVD en CDA krijgen gewone mensen te maken met pijnlijke bezuinigingen en hogere belastingen terwijl de allerrijksten worden ontzien. Dat is niet eerlijk. Wat ons betreft komt er een fundamentele koerswijziging.

UK: Prince Andrew arrested. South Korea: Former President Yoon sentenced for life. Brazil: Former President Bolsonaro serving a 27-year sentence. USA: President Trump demands $10 billion payout from taxpayers.

I’ve been feeling terribly ill today (on Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras of all days!). Please send me funny memes or cute pictures of your pets to help make me feel better.

Went out for a truly magical (if unexpected) pancake experience inspired by Hansel and Gretel this evening! The floor moved, the magic was all around us, and the pancakes were delicious! Without any shadow of a doubt, it’s an absolute must visit if you find yourself in Flevoland!

Having a little weekend away and decided to treat myself to a soothing bath (largely to recover from that devastating rugby match), which it was… until I realised I’d forgotten to draw the blinds on the window, meaning I have in fact put on a show and flashed at least 50 strangers 🙂🙃

Today has marked quite the milestone: ten years since moving to the Netherlands! A lot has happened in this past decade - far too much to list even - and I’m proud of myself for daring to take this leap: for learning the language and culture, and for coming to call this country home 🇳🇱

This is genuinely insane, I clicked to see the years expecting the low part to be 70s or maybe 90s but its 2015!!!!! The entire anti trans panic is a decade old

Called it 😌🥳

Time for another adventure today! Looking forward to exploring the ancient (Roman!) city of Nijmegen.

The BBC commentators also said something similar: “There’s a bit of a mixed reception, isn’t there? Don’t mean to be contentious…”

As an Englishman, I will never support the French in any sport and will intensely boo during their national anthem. As a good Christian man bound to speaking the truth… damn, their anthem slaps.

gm

I mean this with as much venom as possible: MAGA gays, fuck off. After everything that’s happened, how can you support this inhumane, rotten regime?

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shone.” — Isaiah 9:2 May the Light of the World banish the darkness around us, and may those who claim to follow Him actually follow His commands to love and serve ALL people.

I’m also reminded of the recessional “hymn”, which was sorta the antithesis of the Christian message, with lines, such as: “For as long as I live, I will believe in my own way” “Follow your own intuition, stay true to your story” “Just know that people sometimes lie, because that’s what we all do”

I cannot wait for Boomer Christians to let go of the reins. They prepared a vapid Creed & clearly hadn’t informed the priest before printing the Mass booklet. He stopped them before they began with: “We’re not singing that, we’ll profess the faith in the way all Christians have done for centuries.”

Telling people who fought and died by your side, after you got attacked and asked for help, that they're ungrateful moochers who never do anything for you, is really low. False, rude, and self-harming all in one. Denmark and other NATO allies are right to be appalled. I'm not sure what else to say.

Stephen being shocked by Rachel being in the danger zone having chucked her under the bus at breakfast and dragging it out is laughable… they also really should’ve got rid of Faraaz (Roxy would never have gone for her) #TheTraitors

Rutte isn’t acting as the Secretary-General of NATO, he’s not standing up for the sovereignty and interests of every single member state, he’s merely playing the role of Donald Trump’s cheerleader. Shame to see he’s just as bad at running NATO as he was at running the Netherlands.

Me reading the “Trump won’t use force to acquire Greenland” headlines: Phew, I’m glad that’s de-escalated. Me reading the transcript of everything he said: What the fuck?

Europe is on the brink of losing its patience, an eighty-year-old alliance is on the verge of disintegrating, the established post-WWII world order is close to collapsing, & the USA is tearing itself/the world apart for no reason. All because some racist Wisconsin farmers wanted cheaper fuel.

With all the turbulence going on around us at the moment, I think it’s time to remember that there’s a lot of good in the world, too. I’ll start with this little guy who raises spirits wherever he goes and brightens the day of anyone he comes in contact with: George.

The Prime Minister of Belgium speaks:

2000: It’s the Millennium. I wonder what exciting future awaits us. 2026: The President is threatening to invade Greenland as he didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize.

I can't believe the entire world has to live like this because a bunch of white American men hate Black women

This is a petulant child who’s playing with the peace of the world because he didn’t receive a prize he did & does not deserve, threatening allies on a whim & allowing the world to burn due to his pride. ‘Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.’ - Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭18‬

Looks like the EU-US trade deal is now dead, with all three major groups in the EU Parliament calling at least for suspension. The downward spiral has already begun.

Keir Starmer often takes 2-3 days to issue very mild criticism of US actions. This is both direct and issued fast. I think there is a serious risk that the US miscalculated quite what a big deal the Greenland thing is to Europe (and in Europe).

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said this, but this is not the behaviour of an ally or even of a decent, neutral country. This is the behaviour of a hostile state - a bully - trying to use brute force & fear to get what it wants (while not understanding economics). Greenland is not for sale.

The (majority of) Christmas decorations have been taken down. If you need me, no you don’t. I need to go through at least a week of mourning before I can do anything again.

It amazes me that so-called "serious folk" in the US are failing to realise that the next two generations of European policymakers are going to be incredibly more inclined towards anti-Americanism than any generation since the interwar era.

“The European Parliament unequivocally condemns the statements made by the Trump administration regarding Greenland, which constitute a blatant challenge to international law, to the principles of the United Nations Charter and to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a NATO ally.”

The fact that NATO allies are having to send military forces to a NATO territory to defend it from a NATO ally is unbelievable. While we should be focussing on re-stabilising the world and helping Ukraine, we’re having to deal with an arrogant and overconfident USA gone rogue.

Luddite and proud 😌

I’ve spent a fair bit of my life living and traveling in autocracies, and I always thought the main difference between an autocracy and a democracy was: In a democracy you relax when the police turn up, and in an autocracy you’re scared