A #MaundyThursday healing miracle performed by the monastic reformer St Gilbert of Sempringham (1083-1189). #medieval #histmed pic.twitter.com/nmboh9rc24

— Katherine Harvey (@keharvey2013) April 13, 2017

As is our custom, we aim to let go of the cares and concerns of this world until Monday and to focus on the great, awesome, solemn and holy events of the next three days. I would ask people to concentrate their comments on the personal, devotional, and theological aspects of these days which will be our focal point here. Many thanks–KSH.

#HolyWeek pic.twitter.com/J5P6Axm8ag

— Holy Bible (@Holy__Bible1) April 14, 2025

Almighty God, you show those in error the light of your truth so that they may turn to the path of righteousness: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Today is Maundy Thursday on which the Institution of the Eucharist, and Jesus' washing of his disciples feet are commemorated.#MaundyThursday
Bamberg State Library Msc.Lit.1; Sacramentary; early 11th century; Fulda; f.60r pic.twitter.com/1koRCnDwxh

— Ennius (@red_loeb) April 17, 2025

Israel had planned to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as next month but was waved off by President Trump in recent weeks in favor of negotiating a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear program, according to administration officials and others briefed on the discussions.

Mr. Trump made his decision after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel in seeking to set back Iran’s ability to build a bomb, at a time when Iran has been weakened militarily and economically.

The debate highlighted fault lines between historically hawkish American cabinet officials and other aides more skeptical that a military assault on Iran could destroy the country’s nuclear ambitions and avoid a larger war. It resulted in a rough consensus, for now, against military action, with Iran signaling a willingness to negotiate.

Israeli officials had recently developed plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites in May. They were prepared to carry them out, and at times were optimistic that the United States would sign off. The goal of the proposals, according to officials briefed on them, was to set back Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon by a year or more.

Read it all.

Trump Waved Off Israeli Strike After Divisions Emerged in His Administration – The New York Times https://t.co/g52MRrZclH

— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) April 16, 2025

O Lord Jesus Christ, enthroned in the majesty of heaven, who, when thou camest forth from God, didst make thyself as one that serveth: We adore thee because thou didst lay aside the garment of thy glory, and gird thyself with lowest humility, and minister to thy disciples, washing their feet.  Teach us to know what thou hast done and to follow thine example; deliver us from pride, jealousy and ambition, and make us ready to be subject one to another, and with lowliness to serve one another for thy sake, O Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

—Prayers for the Christian Year (SCM, 1964)

A Maundy scene in an Anglo-Saxon manuscript: monks washing feet and a king giving to the poor.

Maundy Thursday takes its medieval name from these acts of charity, following Christ's commandment at the Last Supper. His 'mandatum' became 'mandé' in French, 'maundy' in English. pic.twitter.com/DsYOtfKZTy

— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) April 17, 2025

O Lord, thou hast deceived me,
and I was deceived;
thou art stronger than I,
and thou hast prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all the day;
every one mocks me.
For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, “Violence and destruction!”
For the word of the Lord has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.
If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
For I hear many whispering.
Terror is on every side!
“Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
say all my familiar friends,
watching for my fall.
“Perhaps he will be deceived,
then we can overcome him,
and take our revenge on him.”
But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.

–Jeremiah 20:7-11

Good morning!👋🌞😊
I wish you a beautiful day!#nature #NatureBeauty #NatureLovers #naturetherapy #photography pic.twitter.com/WSNnyCSRWG

— Kersti Sandström (@KerstiSandstrom) April 17, 2025

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in the fullness of his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

A peaceful moment in the cloisters on the Wednesday of #HolyWeek pic.twitter.com/T2wy1E8Fbx

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) April 16, 2025

Young traditionalist ordinands with more than 40 years of ministry before them are one sign that their tradition is not ossifying, the Bishop of Fulham, the Rt Revd Jonathan Baker, said this week, at the chrism mass for parishes to which he ministers.

While expressing a reluctance to “engage with any controversy”, Bishop Baker addressed towards the end of his sermon remarks made by the Bishop of Croydon, Dr Rosemarie Mallett, during last month’s WATCH conference (News, 4 April). Within the Church there had been, she said, an “ossification, if not growth, of the viewpoints purported by those who feel unable to receive the ministry of women bishops or priests or those male bishops who have ordained them”.

“I have to say to my sister in Christ and fellow bishop who used that term — not by name, but by association — of me and all of you — very firmly: No!” he told the congregation at St Andrew’s, Holborn, in London, on Tuesday. “Why? Because the life of the Church Catholic — her scriptures, her sacraments, her creeds, her ministry — embodies and expresses the Spirit-filled, Spirit-led living Tradition received and handed on in every generation — living water, ever fresh, ever renewing itself.”

Read it all.

Young traditionalist ordinands with more than 40 years of ministry before them are one sign that their tradition is not ossifying, the Bishop of Fulham, the Rt Revd Jonathan Baker, said this week, at the chrism mass for parishes to which he ministers.https://t.co/MW16hPLjWE

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) April 16, 2025

When Donald J. Trump championed the idea of a 10 percent blanket tariff during the campaign, many people, whether for or against, were taken aback by how radical the idea was.

Alarms sounded about higher inflation, lost jobs, slower growth or recession. The prospect seemed so outlandish that most economists and Wall Street analysts who gamed out the possibilities tended to treat a 10 percent tariff simply as a bargaining tool.

Now, after a rapid-fire series of announcements from the White House that promised, imposed, reversed, delayed, decreased and increased tariffs, the 10 percent solution is looking like the most temperate choice rather than the most revolutionary, especially now that a red-hot trade war between China and the United States is blazing.

Yet 10 percent tariffs have not lost their sting.

Read it all.

Trump Has Threatened Much Worse, but the 10% Tariffs Will Still Sting https://t.co/xIGXwY47tm

— Sean Graf (@seangraf) April 16, 2025

The US economy is set to lose billions of dollars in revenue in 2025 from a pullback in foreign tourism and boycotts of American products, adding to a growing list of headwinds keeping recession risk elevated.

Arrivals of non-citizens to the US by plane dropped almost 10% in March from a year earlier, according to data published Monday by the International Trade Administration. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimates in a worst-case scenario, the hit this year from reduced travel and boycotts could total 0.3% of gross domestic product, which would amount to almost $90 billion.

Foreign tourism has been a tailwind for the US in recent years as the cessation of pandemic-era restrictions sparked a resurgence of international travel. But many potential visitors are now rethinking their vacation plans amid increased hostility at the border, rising geopolitical frictions and global economic uncertainty.

Read it all.

The US economy is set to lose billions of dollars in revenue in 2025 from a pullback in foreign tourism and boycotts of American products https://t.co/FXHmaBn5kY

— Bloomberg (@business) April 15, 2025

The percentage of U.S. adults evaluating their lives well enough to be considered “thriving” on Gallup’s Life Evaluation Index stood at 48.9% in Quarter 1, 2025, matching the previous estimate from Quarter 4, 2024, which was fielded in late November. These two levels mark the first time since spring 2020 that the thriving rate has been under 50% for two consecutive measurement periods and are two of just three sub-50% estimates ever to be measured outside of the Great Recession and COVID-19 eras.

Since reaching a record high of 59.2% in June 2021 — six months into the COVID-19 vaccine rollout — the thriving rate has now shed over 10 percentage points, projecting to an estimated 27 million fewer Americans who are thriving now compared with four years ago. These results are part of the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index.

The most recent survey, conducted Feb. 18-26, 2025, included 5,876 U.S. adults surveyed by web as part of the Gallup Panel, a probability-based panel encompassing all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Read it all.

(Gallup) Americans' Life Ratings Slump to Five-Year Low https://t.co/zcBJlfbB6r #culturewatch #usa

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) April 16, 2025

O Lord, who didst spend this day in quiet retreat at Bethany, in preparation for thy coming passion: Help us ever to live mindful of our end; that when thou shalt call us to pass through the valley of the shadow of death, we may fear no evil, for thou art with us, who didst die that we might live with thee for ever.

‘Crab Apple’
Trees (1963)
Artist: S R Badmin pic.twitter.com/aWETJcrlU0

— Helen Day (@LBFlyawayhome) April 16, 2025

Therefore, my brethren, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

I entreat Eu-o′dia and I entreat Syn′tyche to agree in the Lord. And I ask you also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.

–Philippians 4:1-9

Good morning
Beunos dias pic.twitter.com/osAq3egmW3

— 🌱Mystic Mel (@Melshenny1) April 16, 2025

O Lord our God, whose blessed Son gave his back to be whipped and did not hide his face from shame and spitting: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Scourging of Christ, Titian, 1560 #titian #mannerism pic.twitter.com/9d02HsSmu1

— Venice Art Guide (@VeniceArtGuide) September 22, 2020

The  Sudan conflict, which began two years ago on Tuesday, is “the world’s most severe humanitarian and displacement crisis”, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) has said.

The fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support forces (RSF) has spread across most of the country (News, 21 April 2023).

About 150,000 people are estimated to have died during the conflict, the BBC reports. CAFOD reports that ten million people have been internally displaced, and more than three million have fled into neighbouring countries.

The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, is hosting ministers from donor countries and the wider region at a conference in London, on Tuesday, to encourage a ceasefire and the protection of civilians.

Read it all.

Get Sudan peace talks up started, international conference is urged https://t.co/DhDh0X4yar

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) April 15, 2025

One dangerous card that China’s got is its $760 billion holdings in Treasury securities. The country is the US’s second-largest foreign creditor after Japan.

Last week, the 10-year yield jumped by 50 basis points to 4.49%, the biggest weekly surge since 2001. Some of the sharpest moves were occurring during Asian hours, prompting speculation that Beijing was in the market. Will China weaponize and dump its holdings?

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brushed this fear aside. In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, he talked about the beauty of being the world’s biggest borrower. “If you take a bank loan, the bank is in charge, they can repossess whatever you borrowed against. But if you take a big enough loan, you’re kind of in charge of the bank,” he said.

While that’s true in a distressed scenario, the dynamic doesn’t quite work here. Trump’s abrupt tariff U-turn exposed the White House’s Achilles’ heel: He blinked and paused hikes on all nations except China — after watching US sovereign bonds tank.

After all, Bessent, who’s now spearheading tariff negotiations, requires a stable bond market to sell into….

Read it all.

“One dangerous card that China’s got is its $760 billion holdings in Treasury securities. The country is the US’s second-largest foreign creditor after Japan.”https://t.co/xiuAsrNHxb

— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) April 14, 2025

“She left no last words. She was dead when she was carried away,” says Hafiza quietly, as she describes how her mother was killed in a city under siege in Darfur, during Sudan’s civil war, which began exactly two years ago.

The 21-year-old recorded how her family’s life was turned upside down by her mother’s death, on one of several phones the BBC World Service managed to get to people trapped in the crossfire in el-Fasher.

Under constant bombardment, el-Fasher has been largely cut off from the outside world for a year, making it impossible for journalists to enter the city. For safety reasons, we are only using the first names of people who wanted to film their lives and share their stories on the BBC phones.

Hafiza describes how she suddenly found herself responsible for her five-year-old brother and two teenage sisters.

Read it all.

Today marks 2 years since the start of the war in Sudan. Colleagues at @bbcworldservice smuggled phones into the besieged city of el-Fasher in North Darfur to get 1st hand accounts from the residents there. Reporting by @HebaBitarhttps://t.co/ozyYtYQOof

— Mayeni Jones (@MayeniJones) April 15, 2025

On Air Force fighter jets, magnets made of rare earth minerals that are mined or processed in China are needed to start the engines and provide emergency power.

On precision-guided ballistic missiles favored by the Army, magnets containing Chinese rare earth materials rotate the tail fins that allow missiles to home in on small or moving targets. And on new electric and battery-powered drones being adapted by Marines, rare earth magnets are irreplaceable in the compact electric motors.

China’s decision to retaliate against President Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs by ordering restrictions on the exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets is a warning shot across the bow of American national security, industry and defense experts said.

In announcing that it will now require special export licenses for six heavy rare earth metals, which are refined entirely in China, as well as rare earth magnets, 90 percent of which are produced in China, Beijing has reminded the Pentagon — if, indeed, it needed reminding — that a wide swath of American weaponry is dependent on China.

Read it all.

https://t.co/uxCarqjV10
China’s Halt of Critical Minerals Poses Risk for U.S. Military Programs
By Helene Cooper
April 14, 2025

— Capt.Dr.S.G Naravane (@sgnaravane) April 15, 2025

O Christ, the King of glory, who didst enter the holy city in meekness to be made perfect through the suffering of death: Give us grace, we beseech thee, in all our life here to take up our cross daily and follow thee, that hereafter we may rejoice with thee in thy heavenly kingdom; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.

Guten Morgen und einen schönen Tag euch! pic.twitter.com/FZVDJbh5IN

— Die Bergziege (@brauchtfreiheit) April 15, 2025

When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came, not only on account of Jesus but also to see Laz′arus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Laz′arus also to death, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it; as it is written,

“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on an ass’s colt!”

His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that this had been written of him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Laz′arus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing; look, the world has gone after him.”

–John 12:9-19

Blessed Palm Sunday pic.twitter.com/CZ4N6wL9mc

— Catholic Frequency (@CatholicFQ) April 13, 2025

Churches are much more than buildings, and the Listed Places of Worship Grant (LPWG) Scheme is “beyond vital” to ensure that they can continue to be at the heart of communities, the Christian Funders’ Forum (CFF) has warned the Government.

These buildings are also often of significant architectural value, the CFF, a group of 50 grant-making charities say. They award grants totalling £70 million a year.

Churches such as St Michael-le-Belfrey, York, and St Mary Magdalene’s, Newark (News, 14 March, 4 April), where significant repair and restoration projects were already well advanced when the £25,000 cap on VAT exemption for repairs was announced in January, have been dismayed by the shortfalls in funding with which they are now confronted (News, 28 March).

Read it all.

Treasury warned of ‘devastating’ consequences for churches if LPWG scheme ends https://t.co/qGfxfgsYkJ

— John Inge (@BishopJohnInge) April 14, 2025

You may listen directly here:

Or you may download it there.

Palm Sunday stained glass window in Chester Cathedral. pic.twitter.com/4p4MkZ2jiU

— A Beautiful Culture (@ABeautifulCult1) March 24, 2024

Serious questions now exist around the wisdom of owning American assets that until recently were the envy of a risk-obsessed world.

Amid the manic moves, key trading patterns even bear soft echoes with emerging markets. All told, fear is spreading that Trump’s bid to rewrite the terms of global trade risks imperiling America’s privileged status in the financial system.

“You honestly feel like you’re seeing stuff wrong sometimes. You have to check the scaling on your graphs because prices are moving so quickly,” said Charlie McElligott, managing director of cross-asset strategy at Nomura Securities International Inc. “It’s just a constant stream of bells and popups on the desks right now. Automated messages like risk limits and risk alerts. It’s maximum overstimulation, maximum dopamine saturation.”

Read it all.

Fear is spreading that Trump’s bid to rewrite the terms of global trade risks imperiling America’s privileged status in the financial system https://t.co/JsjnRyp27E

— Bloomberg (@business) April 11, 2025

Fortifying the American home has become big business, selling escape tunnels, secret arsenals and even flammable moats. 

Ron Hubbard, the chief executive of Atlas Survival Shelters, runs one of many companies that designs and builds bunkers for wealthy clients. His business is booming.

A 2023 survey found that about one-third of American adults were prepping for a doomsday scenario, spending a collective $11 billion over 12 months.

Read it all

From underground bunkers to luxury panic rooms, doomsday prepping is no longer fringe — it’s a booming billion-dollar industry reshaping how Americans face the future.#US https://t.co/mKWKQFO9iK

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 14, 2025

Almighty and everlasting God,
who in your tender love towards the human race
sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Jesus' entry into Jerusalem #PalmSunday
München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, BSB Clm 4453; 'Evangeliary of Otto III'; c.1000 CE; Reichenau; p.94@bsb_muenchen pic.twitter.com/CSSIZi7DuL

— Ennius (@red_loeb) April 12, 2025

Righteous art thou, O Lord,
when I complain to thee;
    yet I would plead my case before thee.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
    Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
Thou plantest them, and they take root;
    they grow and bring forth fruit;
thou art near in their mouth
    and far from their heart.
But thou, O Lord, knowest me;
    thou seest me, and triest my mind toward thee.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
    and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
How long will the land mourn,
    and the grass of every field wither?
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it
    the beasts and the birds are swept away,
    because men said, “He will not see our latter end.”

“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
    how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you fall down,
    how will you do in the jungle of the Jordan?
For even your brothers and the house of your father,
    even they have dealt treacherously with you;
    they are in full cry after you;
believe them not,
    though they speak fair words to you.”

-Jeremiah 12:1-6

Guten Morgen ihr Lieben, kommt gut in die neue Woche.☀ pic.twitter.com/hy7VDnZWt0

— Constanze Riegel (@ConstanzeRiegel) April 14, 2025

As on this day we keep the special memory of our Redeemer’s entry into the city, so grant, O Lord, that now and ever he may triumph in our hearts.  Let the King of grace and glory enter in, and let us lay ourselves and all we are in full and joyful homage before him; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus makes his entry into Jerusalem, Dovetailed tapestry weave coloured wools on linen, Northern Europe, 17th century (V&A Museum, London) #PalmSunday pic.twitter.com/4CNPIqhWvA

— John McCafferty (@jdmccafferty) April 13, 2025

Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.
Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!

–Psalm 24:7-10

Guten Morgen. Dann wollen wir mal fröhlich in den Tag starten. pic.twitter.com/wjlTwFsfVs

— Ursula Dahinden (@UrsulaDahinden) April 13, 2025

Gracious Father,
you gave up your Son
out of love for the world:
lead us by your Spirit to ponder the mysteries of his passion,
that we may know eternal peace
through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen (slightly edited; KSH).

Good morning.
Looks like we have our first iceberg of the season!
I took this photo in Newman’s Cove, NL 🇨🇦this morning. #ShareYourWeather #NLwx #NewfoundlandandLabrador #Canada pic.twitter.com/S815j9uwTF

— 🇨🇦 (@GrayMarker99) April 12, 2025