Much More Than Bread and Circuses

A friend mentioned ‘Bread and Circuses’… Mr Google tells me that ‘Bread and Circuses’ is attributed to the Roman poet Juvenal… saying that to keep people happy all you need to do is feed them and entertain them. Most people don’t care about the needs of others or have deeper political or spiritual priorities.

Many would say that nothing’s changed.

Yesterday…

…We celebrated VE day. On May 8^th 1945 King George spoke to the nation:

In the darkest hours we knew that the enslaved and isolated peoples of Europe looked to us. Their hopes were our hopes; their confidence confirmed our faith. We knew that, if we failed, the last remaining barrier against a worldwide tyranny would have fallen in ruins. But we did not fail. We kept our faith with ourselves and with one another; we kept faith and unity with our great allies.

…A new Pope was appointed. The BBC interviewed Sister Barbara Reid, president of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where Robert Prevost, Now Pope Leo, studied:

“I’m struggling to call him Pope Leo XIV, we knew him as Bob,” she said

Reid describes him as a “person with a global perspective and with a heart for the whole church… extremely bright, very intelligent, very astute”, as well having a “very large heart for the people who are most needy”.

…It was the feast day of St Julian of Norwich. In 1373 Julian received a series of visions of Jesus Christ. Julian wrote her visions and reflections in ‘Revelations of Divine Love’ that continually reflect God’s all-encompassing love.

She chose to live and pray in solitude in a cell built on to the side of St Julian’s church in Norwich. She’s best-known for writing: ‘All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.’

King George’s faith through dark hours, Pope Leo’s heart for the most needy, St Julian’s dedication to her loving God… much more than Bread and Circuses.