The Catholic Women of the Year Luncheon...

...was held yesterday in London and was very enjoyable indeed. Each year, this event brings together a large crowd of people, to honour Catholic women who have served the Church and the community in various ways. My task was to do the vote of thanks and it couldn't have been easier or more enjoyable. There was a letter from the dear Holy Father with a beautiful message for his "beloved daughters". The Papal Nuncio attended, and said Grace before lunch, and our special guest speaker was Fr Aidan Nichols who was simply superb, inspiring and amusing, with a message that was interesting, intellectually stimulating and at the same time cheering and challenging. The theme of this year's Luncheon was "Communicating the Faith in our times", and Fr Aidan linked this with the martyrs of times past - "any problems we face today are pinpricks, compared to the dungeon, fire and sword they faced" and to our hopes for the future. He was followed,in a way that matched perfectly, by the speaker from the charity we had chosen to support this year - Youth 2000. Charlie Connor, young, energetic, and enthusiastic, gave a rousing account of this movement's excellent work among young people (1,000 at their Walsingham rally this summer) and it was a perfect celebration of our 40th anniversary.