Take a look...

at this new DVD initiative on English history

I was sent a review copy of this new DVD about St Philip Howard. I wondered if it would be any good - it's produced by a new young team. I enjoyed it and others will, too. It would work well for Catholic schools, or a parish Confirmation group. Or just be interesting to watch in its own right. Watch out for more productions from this group.

A searingly hot day...

...as I cycled to Wimbledon for Mass. I had decided to do this as my route would take me past a splendid blackberrying patch (running parrallel with Worple Road, but beyond the railway track, backing on to those school playing-fields, for those who know it. Blackberries galore). The Sacred Heart Church has a sung Latin Mass at 11.15 am. In common with those of other parishes, the choir was taking a brief summer break, but the congregation did a rousing job of the Credo and Sanctus and Agnus Dei etc without them, and it was good to be there.

I got HOT picking blackberries on my way home, and making jam isn't a cool excercise, so it was rather annoying that a burst water main at Colliers Wood had deprived this whole corner of London of its water this morning...however, to the relief of us all it was back again by teatime and I was able to get everything done, and a picnic packed up for the evening - which J. and I intend to spend, as we did yesterday evening, by the river. Yesterday we sat on the riverbank by Hampton Court - those who have seen A man for All Seasons would know the exact place, although the film cheats a bit by using that double-little flight of steps that leads into the Home Park as the pretended entrance to Thomas More's garden...

I've written about my recent visit to Flanders...

here, if you want to read about it....

A hot day...

...in London yesterday and again today. I met the Blogger of Blackfen near Victoria station and we enjoyed a chat and a laugh about things.

Summer weather means blackberries, and I've been gathering the first-fruits of this year's crop, and turning them into jam. Want to buy some? You''ll have to come to the Festival of Catholic Culture on Sat Nov 8th at Westminster Cathedral Hall.....

Now read...

....this about World Youth Day.

Why did our media in Britain just not get it?

Some friends are organising...

...a conference for Catholic families. It sounds rather good. Find out more about it here.

It's just absurd...

...that the British media has got it wrong about World Youth Day and failed to see the real news story. Get the full picture of this extraordinary event here.

If you want a book...

...to pass to people who say "What do Catholics believe?", buy this one. It's a highly readable paperback, with just that title. By Leonie Caldecott, an excellent writer with three growing-up daughters of her own, it's thoughtful, up-to-date, and answers the sorts of questions that people are really asking, not the ones that experts often think they ask. It tackles the Faith in an interesting way, looking at the Sacraments, the concept of the Communion of Saints, the papacy, an overview of two thousand years of history, and the role of the Church in the world. It's a very "now" book, very BXVI in its non-confrontational, quietly explanatory tone and its gentle exploration of themes that echo some of today's concerns - consumerism, people's sense of alienation, the longing for love. Try it: What do Catholics Believe? Granta Books, £6.99p

Here is auntie...

...having distributed prizes and certificates to young winners in the Schools' RE Project run by the Association of Catholic Women and the CTS! I'm the one at the back...

Haven't the Aussies...

...and the young people from all over the world who took part in World Youth Day in Sydney, done the Church and the Pope proud? A wonderful event, which we've been following via out computer as we have so many friends involved. There's an excellent account of it here

and here.

Things to note: the joyful, exuberant, courteous, friendly behaviour of all the pilgrims, the Holy Father's strong message of hope and optimism coupled with that of self-discipline and acceptance of great responsibilities, the way in which noisy and at time vicious opposition to the event melted away in the face of its reality, and the sense of continuity within the Church combined with a vision of the future opening up, as the "Great South Land of the Holy Spirit" welcomed youth to one of the first great events of the 21st century...

In Dorset...

... with the family, by the sea, for several glorious days. Exhiliarating swims in a crystal-clear sea, views of extraordinary beauty across the bay, walks along the clifftop paths, talkative family meals, discovery of local history and enjoyable pottering about via pleasing coffee-shops, evenings with Hercule Poirot or Lord Peter Wimsey on DVD. The sort of holiday that sneering Anonymous commentators to this blog will be able to quote as evidence of my appallingly suburban myopia. On which subject, I've decided to ditch my previous policy which was to publish nasty comments if they were being horrible about me, but not if they were being horrible about God, the Church, Jewish people, or other objects of people's venom. From now on, I simply won't publish nasty anonymous stuff at all: if you want to be really rude about me, have the courage to put your name to it. I won't publish your name if you don't wish it to be known, but I do want to know who you are if you are attacking me.

A book...

...which has just come my way has the rather odd title "A Primer on the Absolute PRIMACY OF CHRIST" with a rather vivid cover. To be honest, I didn't want to read it. Looked a bit nutty, with a picture of Christ is a bright red helmet-style crown and a very yellow halo.

But I did finally dip in, because it came with a sensible letter mentioning a conference about the work and message of Duns Scotus...and that is what the book is really all about.

Essentially, it is posing the question: did Christ, God the Son, become incarnate only because mankind sinned and needed a Redeemer? Or would He have come to live among us anyway, simply because he loved us? Now, if you think that's an obscure question, it isn't really - it raises some very profound issues, connected with the divisions that have emerged in Christianity....I must say, I like the joyful, exuberant notion that God so loved the world that he sent his Son NOT because he had to, but simply because He loved (and loves) us all that much. Think about it, and you see that this is all part of opposition to the Calvinist/Jansenist viewpoint, to the debate about God's omnipotence, and more ...

I've been asked...

...to mention this website

It is encouraging young people to consider the possibiloity of the priesthood or religious life. Why not take a look, and also spread the word about it??

Current issue...

...of Oremus, the magazine of Westminster Cathedral, is a good read. Fascinating feature about a hero priest who was tortured and killed for helping British prisoners in WW11, a two-page spread about St Thomas Aquinas' Latin hymns on the Eucharist...and more. You can get a copy by just dropping into the Cathedral and picking one up for £2 from the stand by the door. I now write for this magazine regularly, and this month being the patronal month of the Precious Blood, I was able to research and write about that, and the tradition of the Holy Grail, and Joseph of Arimithea...go on, get a copy.

PRINCE CASPIAN...

...the new Narnia film IS WELL WORTH SEEING. It's all there: young Lucy seeing and trusting Aslan when the others don't, and all the heroic/chivalrous messages, and the evil tempting of the White Witch, who so nearly draws Caspian into her power by promising him to restore Tradition without involving Peter and the others...the battle scenes are powerful, the special effects tremendous, the Narnian coastline just fabulously beautiful... take yourselves there, take your children, your godchildren, your tired-and-bored adolescents...

An extraordinary day...

...began with an early telephone call from the BBC which resulted in my rushing up to London to take part in a TV news debate about the Anglicans having voted to have lady bishops. Then home, and just time to tackle various letters and routine work before scrambling into Best Clothes (outfit carefully chosen by my sister-in-law and small niece, determind to make sure Auntie Joanna didn't let the family down...) and off to Buckingham Palace.

A Garden Party at the Palace is tremendous. Vast numbers of people - some in uniform, a sight never seen in London normally as members of the Armed Forces haven't been allowed to wear their uniforms in public since the start of the IRA bombings more than three decades ago - some in national dress (Scotsmen in kilts, Africans in great robes, sheiks in flowing headgear), most in morning-dress and general elegance...the HATS, oh the lovely, glorious HATS!!!

Military bands playing, Yeomen of the Guard marching in, a tea-tent dispensing delicious sandwiches and slices of Victoria Sponge with freshly-brewed Tea and excellent iced coffee...and a superb, beautifully-timed moment when the band's music drew gently to a close, and everyone rose. The Queen and Prince Philip came out briskly on to the terrace in the sunshine, and halted there...and the glorious surge of the National Anthem filling the air, and everyone stock-still and the music soaring:"God save the Queen!"

Yesterday...

...was the 3rd anniversary of the July bombing in London. By coincidence, I was doing yesterday exactly what I was doing on the morning of July 7th 2005, namely, going by Tube to Paddington to take the train to Berkshire to oversee the gathering together at a big country house of all the essays for the national Schools Bible Project.

In 2005, I was in the Underground when everything got delayed and confused...no one knew what was happening...a "power surge", we were told...crowds at Baker Street being pushed this way and that... everything terribly hot... it was only on arrival at my final destination that I was greeted with white faces and people saying "So you're all right! We'd been so worried!" that I heard the news of the bomb and realised why we had all been caught up in such confusion at Baker St and elsewhere...As all the trains into London were then delayed or cancelled I stayed on in the country that night.

And now here we were again, gathering at Ufton Court, for the sorting of the thousands of essays on New Testament themes sent in by pupils at schools across Britain...

A conference...

...at Aylesford Priory, with a range of good speakers, and attractive "extras" including an evening of music, and a guided tour of the magnificent Rochester Cathedral is to be held by the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary .

Dates are Sept 5th-8th, and it sounds extremely good...I know a number of people in this Society including the Hon Sec, Fr Bill, who is also chaplain at Bath University (see blog entries from a whole back, when I went there to speak to the students)....

The Anglican plan...

...to make some of their priestesses in England into bishops will mean more splits within the Anglican Communion.

Obviously it will marginalise the poor C of E more and more into the shadows of things. And it throws, once again, the claims of Rome into sharp relief.

Whatever happens, and at whatever pace, we will certainly see further development in the gradual re-alignment that started with John Henry Newman's decision to join Rome in the 19th century, and has brought so many of the C of E's most energetic minds and hearts to follow him since...

Now is the time for Rome to excercise that combination of large-mindedness, wisdom, and patience that is most needed. Of course, in the worldwide scheme of things, what is happening in Britain looks small - compared, for example, to the huge numbers pouring into the Church in China, the teeming numbers in Africa. And RCs here, probably especially in the blogosphere, will not be slow to offer pointless warnings to would-be converts about things the latter know only too well already (ugly music, dreary liturgies, confusion, bureaucracy, poor catechesis in our schools and sometimes quite hideous modern churches). But God doesn't neccessarily take note of such things - his concern for the Church, his Bride, is of a different sort and his longing "ut unum sint" will be worked out in his way...and Newman's beatification, some time over the next year or so, will be relevant too....

I've been asked...

...to mention a Symposium to be held at Durham (Grey College) on 9th-11th September, on the work of Blessed John Duns Scotus, which includes a pilgrimage to Duns.

If you enjoy this blog...

...you'll probably enjoy this feature here.