Saturday Sept 30th
"London is now one of the great Catholic cities" a friend said recently. Well.....it's at least certainly a place where a great many interesting and creative Catholic meetings, youth events, conferences, and so on happen. Another friend - not English - who is studying in Belgium told me she wants to bring young students to London "just to see people kneeling at Mass, to experience full churches". I made a questioning noise......the Church here is not particularly strong "Oh, I know......but honestly, you should see the way things are in many parts of Holland and Belgium...."
Meanwhile, Bogle family life is made....um... interesting by the fact that our WRETCHED Internet provider has gone dead again. So off on my bike to Internet Cafe (where, of course, I have left my useful waterproof kagool.....) and thence to friends, who ply us with chocolate cake and interesting conversation: I write this blog while Jamie discusses atheism, evolution, and more, and the night grows late.....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I was happily surprised to see full -- relatively speaking -- churches in London when I visited the Oratory and the Cathedral. During one trip to the latter, the couple ahead of me hailed from France, and the young man spent most of Mass patiently explaining to his girlfriend what to do. Although there appeared to be a good mix of ethnic backgrounds, the large number of Asians made an impression.
Your friend is (at least partially) right about the state of the church in the Netherlands (I live in the North of the country and have only been to Belgium twice, neither times being long enough to form an opinion). But the tide is turning, very slowly. This weekend an Adoration Vigil was held in my city, and most of the people who were there for the whole night were "young" (whatever that actually means these days). It's a challenging place to live.
It struck me some years ago that probably London has more canonized saints than any other city in Europe except of course Rome.
We are blessed, you and I, to have the love of good husbands! Mine,an architect and philosopher, never dreamed of tending to a garden. Several years ago, he had the brilliant idea to buy me a rose bush instead of a dozen roses. Today, he hovers knowledgably over about twenty rose bushes. On our visit to your part of the world, he eagerly accompanied me to various gardens. It has been nice to find your blog. I am from English grandmother/grandfather.The women in my family have been Anglican, or Catholic since 1650.Today, I have no church. I was raised Anglican and our church is in the midst of a real estate land grab the likes of which has not been seen since the opening of the west! We have no church left--only a meeting on Sunday mornings that looks more like a union hall gathering. Pray for us dear author--we are many--and we are so lost here in the USA
God Bless,
Post a Comment