Monday, May 30, 2011

Confident 2B Catholic...

...a series of talks at St Joseph's, New Malden, and a really superb initiative...I went along to the first of these yesterday (Sunday May 29th) and the speaker Dr Pia Matthews, on the subject of Marriage and Family, was excellent.She got us thinking about the whole idea of a family as a "domestic church", and we got quite deeply into all sorts of issues (male/female roles, transmission of life, the nature of a sacrament) without realising it... the tone was exactly right, and there will be more of these meetings exploring various aspectys of the Chuirch's teaching. More info. on the whole venture here. St Joseph's is a wonderful parish serving a busy suburban area: there are over 1,000 people at Mass on Sundays, and that morning the latest group of young people had been Confirmed, over 40 of them. Read the parish bulletin here.

3 comments:

Sheila A. Waters said...

Dear Joanna, It was such FUN to read the parish bulletin from St. Joseph's New Malden and to admire the amount of information so accurately given in just a few pages. Well done!
Today is Memorial Day, a national holiday in the USA, and we expect 90 degree heat. Memorial Day was first officially celebrated as "Decoration Day" on May 30, 1868when the Grand Army of the Republic (a group of Union Civil War veterans) spread flowers on the graves of soldiers--Union AND Confederate--at Arlington National Cemetary across from Washington,D.C. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday and set it on the last Monday in May. Flags fly at half-mast and decorate the graves of veterans. Community parades are held with speakers urging Americans to take a few moments to remember the courage of those who have died (& not just go to shopping sales or to the 1st beach picnic) as well as those currently in harm's way, so that the rest of us can live freely. Memorial Day is America's unofficial start to summer.
Sheila A. Waters
Bronxville, NY

Anonymous said...

Confident 2b Catholic and reformed.

Ally said...

Hi again Joanna,
We did enjoy the Confident 2B Catholic talk! Much needed, I think. Looking forward to the next evening. St. Joseph's is an amazing parish. It's because of the amazing PP!
It was good to see you too, although you did look a bit weary....I wonder sometimes how you keep up with what you have planned each day?