We need to stop from time to time to contemplate what it means to be Catholic in this aggressively secular society of ours. It is easy for our beliefs to be swamped by the detritus of a powerful popular culture that looks upon us with bare tolerance at best and derision at worst.

This column is a shout out to a good man. No one can accuse me of trying to curry favour with him. I do not need a job or need to borrow money.

In my own life I have often looked for inspiration from great men and women.

In the midst of the COVID-19 virus it is easy to forget what other dangers lurk in our society. We must remember that our government has been involved in a great and destructive program of social engineering — and it is about to get far worse.

I am aware I write a lot about my pain. There is a good reason. Pain, specifically spinal pain, has been the dominant force in my life for nine years. It is what I wake up to every morning, it is what I carry around during the day and it is the last thing I feel before falling asleep … and it is what wakes me up through the night when pain is more acute.

There is not a lot to commend living in a quarantined world.

In 2006 I was home for about a month recovering from back surgery. It was the first time in my life I was so confined. I was literally staring at all four walls … and what I saw was not pretty.

We all feel the uncertainty in the air; we all hear that low-grade anxiety buzzing in the background.

Every crisis can teach us something about ourselves. Each is a chance to revise the way we live and the way we think about what is important and which people in society deserve our respect and admiration.

As you read this we will be in the last few weeks of our Lenten promises. If you are like me you have probably slipped once or twice.