...installed today by the C of E at Canterbury...it was good that the H. Father sent a friendly and supportive greeting, a sign of friendship and hope and goodwill.
Now: Dr W. must remain true to his Evangelical principles and stick up for the truth that marriage is the lifelong union of one man an one woman. This is an evangelical moment for Christians in the West, and he is right to give an upbeat and positive message. Christ is the answer to the muddle and hurt and sorrow in people's lives...including the lives of those who think that by angry lobbying they can make themselves feel comfortable about trying to avoid the beauty of God's plan...
I was a bit underwhelmed by Dr W's signal failure to affirm male/female marriage in his sermon at Canterbury: it is the single most crucial issue facing our poor country - and, unlike the Pope, he really does have a very specific duty to tackle specific issues in a specific place in addition to offering some message for the wider world. .
I have hopes (but not, alas, expectations) that Dr W. may prove a useful Christian voice in our poor nation. Let's keep him in our prayers at this time...
Friday, March 22, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Pope Francis' inaugural Mass...
...magnificent. Read about it and see pix here. V. significant that the Orthodox Christians were officially represented...for the first time in something like 1,000 years. End of schism in sight? Huge surge of Christianity in Russia in recent decades... fruits of Bl John Paul's Act of Consecration in 1984...
Bach's St John Passion...
...at Westminster Cathedral. Absolutely superb. In the hushed cathedral, as the lights dimmed, the great Crucifix cast its shadow on the high ceiling as the the choir gathered in front of the chancel. And then the chorale began...the words of Scriptures interspersed with meditative prayer, all in Bach's soaring music...unforgettable, awesome and inspiring.
Out into the cold and raw evening...we finished with hot chocolate and sandwiches at Victoria station.
Home late, and a fat envelope awaited me. Turned out to be a package of thank-you letters from the dear, dear little girls at St Christina's School, where I gave a talk recently. I am very touched. The letters and cards are all hand-written and illustrated. One sample: "Thank you Mrs Bogle for the things we learned about Lent because of you. Your jokes were a good idea for us to enjoy it." Several mentioned how much they enjoyed learning the origins of words (I'd explained to them about Beth-lehem, the place of bread, and so on...). There was a quiz and the winners got John Paul medals: one child has drawn a beautiful picture of her medal and written about JPII, explaining that he was the Pope before Benedict XVI, and "he made World Youth day"...
Out into the cold and raw evening...we finished with hot chocolate and sandwiches at Victoria station.
Home late, and a fat envelope awaited me. Turned out to be a package of thank-you letters from the dear, dear little girls at St Christina's School, where I gave a talk recently. I am very touched. The letters and cards are all hand-written and illustrated. One sample: "Thank you Mrs Bogle for the things we learned about Lent because of you. Your jokes were a good idea for us to enjoy it." Several mentioned how much they enjoyed learning the origins of words (I'd explained to them about Beth-lehem, the place of bread, and so on...). There was a quiz and the winners got John Paul medals: one child has drawn a beautiful picture of her medal and written about JPII, explaining that he was the Pope before Benedict XVI, and "he made World Youth day"...
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
...and...
...further comments on the start of a new pontificate here...
...and this is a very good overview of the past days and weeks...
...and this is a very good overview of the past days and weeks...
Spent the evening...
...with young relatives recently. They produced a hearty supper, tackled problems with Auntie's computer and mobile phone, and we talked, swapped family news...
Their four delightful children were already tucked up in bed, looking utterly adorable. One had managed to break a leg earlier in the week and is in plaster...older sibling has been cheerfully helping to carry him about ("He's not heavy - he's my brother"). New baby woke for a late-night feed, all warm and sleepy and cuddlesome.
It's easy, I know, for Auntie to get sentimental about family life. Of course I am utterly aware of its realities. But they are realities which hold the future. Communities that do not honour marriage and family life will die. Many nations have a feel of doom about them. Did you know that, in 2011, Japan bought more adult nappies that baby nappies? In Britain, we have just begun to grasp the huge problems that we face with an ageing population - a problem we share with most of Europe.
Some while back a TV programme discussed the wave of infertility that seemed to be sweeping the developed world. Something in the water, it was suggested? Among much else, it has been discovered that fish near sewage outlets have been developing hermaphrodite features. The TV programme decided that the problem was plastic bags. Er...no, I don't think so. Is there perhaps a pill that people are taking that might be responsible? Is that possible?
There is a curious insanity about some of the discussions on this topic. The TV team found an Italian village where just one baby had been born in the previous few years. Were any more likely to arrive? "No, no, I don't want children" one young woman announced firmly "I want to spend my life having fun, travelling, seeing new places..."
I wonder who she thinks will be piloting the aeroplane? Why should anyone spend their time flying ageing Italians round the world, and at whose expense?
The children tumbling about today, having fun, making a noise, breaking their legs, helping one another, drawing pictures for Auntie, messing up things in the kitchen, making their parents happy and exhausted...these are the people who will be there when we are old. No one else. Your cat or your goldfish won't look after you when you are old, nor will they be paying taxes, producing food, running hospitals. As the old song puts it "People...need people..."
Their four delightful children were already tucked up in bed, looking utterly adorable. One had managed to break a leg earlier in the week and is in plaster...older sibling has been cheerfully helping to carry him about ("He's not heavy - he's my brother"). New baby woke for a late-night feed, all warm and sleepy and cuddlesome.
It's easy, I know, for Auntie to get sentimental about family life. Of course I am utterly aware of its realities. But they are realities which hold the future. Communities that do not honour marriage and family life will die. Many nations have a feel of doom about them. Did you know that, in 2011, Japan bought more adult nappies that baby nappies? In Britain, we have just begun to grasp the huge problems that we face with an ageing population - a problem we share with most of Europe.
Some while back a TV programme discussed the wave of infertility that seemed to be sweeping the developed world. Something in the water, it was suggested? Among much else, it has been discovered that fish near sewage outlets have been developing hermaphrodite features. The TV programme decided that the problem was plastic bags. Er...no, I don't think so. Is there perhaps a pill that people are taking that might be responsible? Is that possible?
There is a curious insanity about some of the discussions on this topic. The TV team found an Italian village where just one baby had been born in the previous few years. Were any more likely to arrive? "No, no, I don't want children" one young woman announced firmly "I want to spend my life having fun, travelling, seeing new places..."
I wonder who she thinks will be piloting the aeroplane? Why should anyone spend their time flying ageing Italians round the world, and at whose expense?
The children tumbling about today, having fun, making a noise, breaking their legs, helping one another, drawing pictures for Auntie, messing up things in the kitchen, making their parents happy and exhausted...these are the people who will be there when we are old. No one else. Your cat or your goldfish won't look after you when you are old, nor will they be paying taxes, producing food, running hospitals. As the old song puts it "People...need people..."
Among many...
Monday, March 18, 2013
Brrrrh!...c-c-cold....
...just got in from the History Walk around Chelsea. It was raw, damp and cold, but a little group of us met and actually enjoyed our Chelsea walk! We stopped at St Thomas More's statue and the church where he went to Mass every morning, and ended up at Allen Hall, the diocesan seminary which stands on land that was once More's garden...one of the seminarians was just coming out, well wrapped up against the cold, and another, in long black robe, just going in...there will be eight men ordained for the diocese of Westminster this summer, and some deacons ordained too. The mood seems to be upbeat. Interestingly, World Youth Day seems to be a factor in helping several of the men to think about the priesthood. It was strange to stand there in the rain and remember the heat of Madrid in the summer of 2011 at the last World Youth Day...
History and Tradition...
...and you can relish both at this evening's Catholic History Walk MONDAY). Starts 6.30pm outside Holy Redeemer Church, Chelsea. Promises to be cold (I'm writing this an hour or two beforehand), so dress warmly and wear shoes that will stand up to wet pavements...if it's really simply pouring, we'll do a quick tour of the church instead: it has an interesting history and some things worth seeing...
Next events include the big Day Conference on June 18th sponsored by the FAITH MOVEMENT: book your place now - see info here...and the June 23rd MARTYRS' WALK: put it in your diary, starts 1pm at the Old Bailey and goes through London, following the route taken by the English Martyrs as they were dragged to die at Tyburn...
Next events include the big Day Conference on June 18th sponsored by the FAITH MOVEMENT: book your place now - see info here...and the June 23rd MARTYRS' WALK: put it in your diary, starts 1pm at the Old Bailey and goes through London, following the route taken by the English Martyrs as they were dragged to die at Tyburn...
The Chrism Mass...
...at a diocesan cathedral unites the priests of the diocese who come together to receive the holy oils that will be used through the next year for baptisms and anointing the sick...
In what has become an annual tradition, a group of us will be at Westminster Cathedral's Chrism Mass (Tuesday 26th March, 12 noon) and at the Chrism Mass at St George's Cathedral, Southwark (Wed March 27th, 11.30am) to greet the priests as they arrive, with a big banner saying "THANK YOU TO OUR PRIESTS" and little holy cards. This year's cards are yellow (Southwark) and cream (Westminster) and mention the Year of Faith and carry a Scriptural quotation:"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and for ever".
This tradition began in Southwark as an initiative of two Catholic ladies, and then the Association of Catholic Women took it up, and organised it for Westminster...and then the Westminster ACW team was joined by the young people from St Patrick's, Soho Square...
We always value more supporters - and the Chrism Mass is beautiful, with glorious prayers...Westminster Cathedral's choir will be in fine voice and it is an unforgettable experience to crowd into the packed Mass and hear the Archbishop blessing the oils with prayers that recall the olive branch brought back to Noah by a dove, and all echoing with centuries of unbroken tradition...
This morning I was busy getting the cards printed, and at the weekend the ACW was rallying people...do come along and join us and show our priests that we value the service they give to God and the Church...
In what has become an annual tradition, a group of us will be at Westminster Cathedral's Chrism Mass (Tuesday 26th March, 12 noon) and at the Chrism Mass at St George's Cathedral, Southwark (Wed March 27th, 11.30am) to greet the priests as they arrive, with a big banner saying "THANK YOU TO OUR PRIESTS" and little holy cards. This year's cards are yellow (Southwark) and cream (Westminster) and mention the Year of Faith and carry a Scriptural quotation:"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and for ever".
This tradition began in Southwark as an initiative of two Catholic ladies, and then the Association of Catholic Women took it up, and organised it for Westminster...and then the Westminster ACW team was joined by the young people from St Patrick's, Soho Square...
We always value more supporters - and the Chrism Mass is beautiful, with glorious prayers...Westminster Cathedral's choir will be in fine voice and it is an unforgettable experience to crowd into the packed Mass and hear the Archbishop blessing the oils with prayers that recall the olive branch brought back to Noah by a dove, and all echoing with centuries of unbroken tradition...
This morning I was busy getting the cards printed, and at the weekend the ACW was rallying people...do come along and join us and show our priests that we value the service they give to God and the Church...
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Sunday Mass at London Bridge...
...at Precious Blood Church, and for the first time at a Sunday Mass, hearing the words "Francis, our Pope..." in the Canon. Afterwards, coffee and cake in the parish house, and then some of us watched the H. Father on EWTN...vast crowds, of course, in St Peter's Square for the Angelus, a sense of continuity with Papa JPII and Papa BXVI...
It was through EWTN that I first met Fr Christopher Pearson, now parish priest of Pr. Blood. He was still an Anglican, and was joining the Ordinariate, and EWTN's Joan Lewis came to London to interview him and others taking the same step. We met outside Westminster Cathedral and chatted...I got to know his Ordinariate group, he was duly ordained at St George's, Southwark...and now, some two years on, here we were watching Joan broadcasting to us from Rome with the latest news and discussions about the new Pope...
TV showed Papa Francisco celebrating Mass and preaching at St Anne's Church, and greeting everyone as they left, just like a parish priest, the father-figure of a community. People crowding up to kiss his ring, to talk to him, to press his hands. He embraced small children like BXVI did, kissing the tops of their heads. It all looked rather delightful...the Romans seem to be taking him to their hearts...
It was through EWTN that I first met Fr Christopher Pearson, now parish priest of Pr. Blood. He was still an Anglican, and was joining the Ordinariate, and EWTN's Joan Lewis came to London to interview him and others taking the same step. We met outside Westminster Cathedral and chatted...I got to know his Ordinariate group, he was duly ordained at St George's, Southwark...and now, some two years on, here we were watching Joan broadcasting to us from Rome with the latest news and discussions about the new Pope...
TV showed Papa Francisco celebrating Mass and preaching at St Anne's Church, and greeting everyone as they left, just like a parish priest, the father-figure of a community. People crowding up to kiss his ring, to talk to him, to press his hands. He embraced small children like BXVI did, kissing the tops of their heads. It all looked rather delightful...the Romans seem to be taking him to their hearts...
A tiny bit of history...
...at Westminster Cathedral this weekend, as the Ladies Ordinariate Group from Precious Blood Church, for the first time, sent a delegation to the annual Mass organised by the Westminster diocesan Union of Catholic Mothers. The Mass, celebrated by Bishop John Sherrington, drew women from various UCM branches in the diocese, and also delegates from the UCM in neighbouring dioceses (Southwark, Arundel and Brighton) - and, greeted with enthusiasm, the Ordinariate! It was lovely to be there and to be part of all this, and we were warmly welcomed to a splendid Tea afterwards in Vaughan House, where we met and chatted to all sorts of people. Good contacts established, and another small chapter in the history of the Ordinariate was written.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Hurrying through a rainy suburb...
...en route to a Confirmation class where I was due to give a talk. Trying to cross a busy road, I stepped back, realising that I was being stupid and must wait for the traffic lights...a fellow pedestrian grinned and said something about not risking one's life. "It's daft, really" I admitted "But I'm running a bit late - I'm meant to be at a Confirmation class!" "At the church?" he asked, and offered me a lift as his car was parked not far away. Turned out to be a parishioner. Actually, it would be just as quick to walk, so I thanked him and we parted cheerily and I hurried off...but somehow the encounter gave the evening a happy start.
Rows of faces...prayers, with everyone standing up and turning to a great crucifix hanging on the wall, young voices chorusing together. When you begin the talk, you watch as they slowly change and get involved: at first they don't know whether or not it's OK to smile, and no one likes to be the first to raise a hand in response to a question, and they take a while to lose that "oh-I'm-so-cool-I don't-need-to-look-interested" face - but then things get going. It was a good session. But later, in informal talk, it was clear that many were shocked that I had mentioned - in a passing remark - that it was dreadful that the Govt was imposing on us the idea that two people of the same sex could marry. Out came the parroted slogans "But if two people love each other - " "People are just born gay, aren't they?" They find it hard to think in wider terms. They are very young. It honestly all reminded me of seeing a Soviet film which showed children indoctrinated in ideology, brightly parroting slogans "Socialism is the big answer!" "Socialism means justice!" Fortunately, this particular crowd of young people is blessed with fine priests and good catechists, and will learn much and have doors opened to a wider spiritual and moral vision...but, oh, the sadness as one ponders the reality of the future for most young people in today's Britain...
Rows of faces...prayers, with everyone standing up and turning to a great crucifix hanging on the wall, young voices chorusing together. When you begin the talk, you watch as they slowly change and get involved: at first they don't know whether or not it's OK to smile, and no one likes to be the first to raise a hand in response to a question, and they take a while to lose that "oh-I'm-so-cool-I don't-need-to-look-interested" face - but then things get going. It was a good session. But later, in informal talk, it was clear that many were shocked that I had mentioned - in a passing remark - that it was dreadful that the Govt was imposing on us the idea that two people of the same sex could marry. Out came the parroted slogans "But if two people love each other - " "People are just born gay, aren't they?" They find it hard to think in wider terms. They are very young. It honestly all reminded me of seeing a Soviet film which showed children indoctrinated in ideology, brightly parroting slogans "Socialism is the big answer!" "Socialism means justice!" Fortunately, this particular crowd of young people is blessed with fine priests and good catechists, and will learn much and have doors opened to a wider spiritual and moral vision...but, oh, the sadness as one ponders the reality of the future for most young people in today's Britain...
Friday, March 15, 2013
The Mass of all time...
...and all places. There is a great sense of unity with history when praying in an ancient church or cathedral. I was at Mass in St Mary's church in Cracow when the news came that white smoke had appeared from the chimney in Rome...the Mass was being celebrated in Polish, everyone around me was making the responses in Polish, and yet it didn't really feel that different from being at Mass in London (except that, in general, people in Poland are much more reverent).
Then the priest made an announcement about the white smoke (the lady next to me whispering to me a rough translation as he was speaking), and then we all sang a Te Deum, and went out into the snow square of the Stare Miasta...and then, over supper, the full news came via mobile 'phones and texts and tweets...and so we sat talking about Pope Francisco and what he might be like and what it might all mean for the future...
...and now, here in London, reading the press and scanning the Web to get views and opinions...
And in the Catholic world all is prayerful goodwill, and thoughtful comment, and joy - except for the self-appointed "traditionalists" who have been sending out the most horrible material denouncing Papa Francisco, sneering at him, and passing on rumours and untruths. Ugh.
Then the priest made an announcement about the white smoke (the lady next to me whispering to me a rough translation as he was speaking), and then we all sang a Te Deum, and went out into the snow square of the Stare Miasta...and then, over supper, the full news came via mobile 'phones and texts and tweets...and so we sat talking about Pope Francisco and what he might be like and what it might all mean for the future...
...and now, here in London, reading the press and scanning the Web to get views and opinions...
And in the Catholic world all is prayerful goodwill, and thoughtful comment, and joy - except for the self-appointed "traditionalists" who have been sending out the most horrible material denouncing Papa Francisco, sneering at him, and passing on rumours and untruths. Ugh.
I'm beginning to tire...
...of the media trying to stir things up by seeking to stress differences in lifestyle between Popes Benedict and Francis.
Pope Francis has many admirable qualities. But to suggest that he is the first Pope in history to live a simple and austere life is a bit absurd. Pope Benedict lived in a modest flat near the bus depot before he was elected to the Papacy, and walked every day to work with his battered briefcase. People often assumed he was just an ordinary priest, and asked him the way to tourist sites, etc, only discovering afterwards that they had been talking to the famous Cardinal Ratzinger...
John Paul II lived in complete poverty, gave away everything, even a warm coat given to him in the bitter cold, and shoes...the sisters who looked after him as Pope despaired because he wanted them to give away any new clothes and insisted on wearing old ones until they were beyond any further mending. When he died, he left almost no possessions except a photograph of his parents, and his worn old scapular...
Pope Francis has many admirable qualities. But to suggest that he is the first Pope in history to live a simple and austere life is a bit absurd. Pope Benedict lived in a modest flat near the bus depot before he was elected to the Papacy, and walked every day to work with his battered briefcase. People often assumed he was just an ordinary priest, and asked him the way to tourist sites, etc, only discovering afterwards that they had been talking to the famous Cardinal Ratzinger...
John Paul II lived in complete poverty, gave away everything, even a warm coat given to him in the bitter cold, and shoes...the sisters who looked after him as Pope despaired because he wanted them to give away any new clothes and insisted on wearing old ones until they were beyond any further mending. When he died, he left almost no possessions except a photograph of his parents, and his worn old scapular...
Well, the angry tirades against the new Pope have started...
...and first off was a nasty "traditionalist Catholic" blog which published a furious rant asserting - among other things - that as a Bishop he "persecuted every single priest who made an effort to wear a cassock".
Which seems unlikely, since he wore one himself. David Uebbing, Catholic News Service, March 13th, talked to people who knew him in Buenos Aires:
"In February 2001, Fr. Rosica was at a meeting in Buenos Aires of the bishops from throughout Latin America to promote World Youth Day in Canada. He was told that Archbishop Bergoglio was going to celebrate Mass for the people at the meeting.
“So I went in earlier, and sat and prayed in the back. And I saw this man come in with a simple black cassock and knelt in front of me and prayed for the longest time. And then when he came out in the procession, it was the archbishop.”
Which seems unlikely, since he wore one himself. David Uebbing, Catholic News Service, March 13th, talked to people who knew him in Buenos Aires:
"In February 2001, Fr. Rosica was at a meeting in Buenos Aires of the bishops from throughout Latin America to promote World Youth Day in Canada. He was told that Archbishop Bergoglio was going to celebrate Mass for the people at the meeting.
“So I went in earlier, and sat and prayed in the back. And I saw this man come in with a simple black cassock and knelt in front of me and prayed for the longest time. And then when he came out in the procession, it was the archbishop.”
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Watching our Holy Father...
...I am struck by his prayerfulness and humour and his ability to lead a great - vast, enormous - crowd of people in prayer with dignity and deep sincerity. This is a good man. This is a holy man.
And I love his choice of name. St Francis, pray for this good man who now takes on such a burden.
Papa, we love you and are with you.
And I love his choice of name. St Francis, pray for this good man who now takes on such a burden.
Papa, we love you and are with you.
The Our Father...
...the prayer said by millions around the world and down the centuries. The prayer said by children at night, by frightened soldiers on a battlefield, by lonely old people muddled and unhappy, by Christians of all denominations, by anyone and everyone who cherishes the spiritual realities that have shaped minds and hearts for two millenia...but apparently unknown to the young man chosen by the BBC to report the election of a new Pope. The young man stumbled and eventually gave up when trying to say this prayer. Do watch the ghastly, humiliating reality of the voice of modern Britain: the BBC can't even get some one who knows the Lord's Prayer.
We desperately - and I do mean desperately - need a New Evangelisation.
We desperately - and I do mean desperately - need a New Evangelisation.
So...
...we have a new Holy Father. And he has all our prayers. The moment when 50,000 people in St Peter's Square joined together with him in silent prayer was a beautiful one. What a challenge lies before this man, standing there in his white robe and taking on the charge first given to Peter long ago...
He has out love and our full loyalty. God bless our Holy Father Francis.
Watching it all on a computer, like millions around the world.
He has out love and our full loyalty. God bless our Holy Father Francis.
Watching it all on a computer, like millions around the world.
Prayer...
...in the church of St Florian in Krakow. There is a side altar which is a shrine to a young priest, who worked there in the 1950s. Candles, flowers, a fine portrait of him, in the background of which you can see forested landscape and a canoe which has been turned upside down to form an altar, held up by crossed oars.
We walked through the snowy Planty - the gardens around the old city centre, ate spinach pancakes, came back to the flat to get emails and do some work...and will shortly be going out to an evening Mass. Polish TV, like TV everywhere, full of images of people standing in St Peter's Square with microphones and talking about names of cardinals and gesticulating towards the chimney.
We walked through the snowy Planty - the gardens around the old city centre, ate spinach pancakes, came back to the flat to get emails and do some work...and will shortly be going out to an evening Mass. Polish TV, like TV everywhere, full of images of people standing in St Peter's Square with microphones and talking about names of cardinals and gesticulating towards the chimney.
While waiting for a new Pope...
...why not put these dates in your diary?
LONDON CATHOLIC HISTORY WALKS: MONDAY March 18th, 6.30pm Meet outside Holy Redeemer Church, Cheyne Row, Chelsea. Nearest tube: Sloane Square (then bus along the Kings Road). Tuesday April 16th, 6.30pm, meet outside the Church of SS Anselm and Cecilia, Kingsway (nearest tube: Holborn). No need to book: just turn up. Wear sensible footwear: we'll be walking whatever the weather.
TUESDAY, June 18th - yes, it's a longish way ahead, but you need to get your tickets now. DAY OF FAITH, with Bishop Philip Egan and author George Weigel - not to be missed. A day conference at St Patrick's Soho Square. Come for the day, or just for the evening. Lunch and supper provided, and the Day includes Mass, opportunities for confession, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament... see that link or this one for details. You need to get a ticket in advance: book your place now...
Saturday June 22nd: Ordinariate Pilgrimage to Walsingham: info to follow. Book the date...
July 7th-11th: John Paul II Walk for the New Evangelisation, organised by the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph...info here...
LONDON CATHOLIC HISTORY WALKS: MONDAY March 18th, 6.30pm Meet outside Holy Redeemer Church, Cheyne Row, Chelsea. Nearest tube: Sloane Square (then bus along the Kings Road). Tuesday April 16th, 6.30pm, meet outside the Church of SS Anselm and Cecilia, Kingsway (nearest tube: Holborn). No need to book: just turn up. Wear sensible footwear: we'll be walking whatever the weather.
TUESDAY, June 18th - yes, it's a longish way ahead, but you need to get your tickets now. DAY OF FAITH, with Bishop Philip Egan and author George Weigel - not to be missed. A day conference at St Patrick's Soho Square. Come for the day, or just for the evening. Lunch and supper provided, and the Day includes Mass, opportunities for confession, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament... see that link or this one for details. You need to get a ticket in advance: book your place now...
Saturday June 22nd: Ordinariate Pilgrimage to Walsingham: info to follow. Book the date...
July 7th-11th: John Paul II Walk for the New Evangelisation, organised by the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph...info here...
Apparently...
... the Cardinals in the Conclave have been told that if they use mobile phones or twitter or facebook or whatever, they'll be excommunicated. Sounds excellent. Couldn't we extend this, eg to people who use mobile phones or text in church, or at mealtimes? And children in lessons?
Krakow white with snow...
...and the TV showing black smoke from the Vatican. I'm picking up some understanding of Polish - total immersion in a language is the only answer, and I've been listening to Polish radio and buying Polish magazines and newspapers. Mass yesterday evening at the glorious St Mary church in Krakow's central square - the rhythm of the words is the same in Polish, Latin, or English. The Masses at this church are generally in Polish (for the Penitential rites, and the Liturgy of the Word) and Latin (Offertory and Canon), and often chanted. Offertory and Canon ad orientem. Strong voices singing hymns, no hymn-books apparently required. Great sense of devotion, a good mix of people of all ages...
Flying home tomorrow. On Monday: a CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK in Chelsea. Meet outside Holy Redeemer Church, Cheyne Row, Chelsea, at 6.30pm. All welcome - no need to book, just turn up!
Flying home tomorrow. On Monday: a CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK in Chelsea. Meet outside Holy Redeemer Church, Cheyne Row, Chelsea, at 6.30pm. All welcome - no need to book, just turn up!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
As eyes are focused on Rome...
...and prayers and thoughts are with the Conclave...we will we praying in a place of peculiar significance...we are off to Wadowice, the small town not far from Krakow, where a Pope was born and baptised, where he grew up and went to school, and where today the parish church will be a place of intercession for the next chapter of the Church's history as it unfolds...
It is so strange, this interregnum: the sense of unreality hasn't yet faded, even as Papa Benedict went by helicopter from Rome out to the hills and the lake, even as his name was omitted from the Canon of the Mass, even as we tried to get used to the words "Pope Emeritus". Here in Krakow the layers of history are the background to everyday life and you do get a sense of how things move on...the era of Communism is rarely mentioned except as history, the mobile-phone shops jostle with elegant cafes with a vaguely pre-1914 feel and with smart restaurants that definitely belong to the 21st century, Pope John Paul is honoured in statues and plaques, and the Church flourishes and goes on...
It is so strange, this interregnum: the sense of unreality hasn't yet faded, even as Papa Benedict went by helicopter from Rome out to the hills and the lake, even as his name was omitted from the Canon of the Mass, even as we tried to get used to the words "Pope Emeritus". Here in Krakow the layers of history are the background to everyday life and you do get a sense of how things move on...the era of Communism is rarely mentioned except as history, the mobile-phone shops jostle with elegant cafes with a vaguely pre-1914 feel and with smart restaurants that definitely belong to the 21st century, Pope John Paul is honoured in statues and plaques, and the Church flourishes and goes on...
Monday, March 11, 2013
God's mercy...
...is poured out upon us in great generosity...all we need to do is seek it, claim it...
We went to the Divine Mercy shrine on the outskirts of Cracow today. Kneeling in the chapel where Sister Faustina prayed , and being led in prayer by a young nun, was all rather moving. This was my second pilgrimage here, and on a bitterly cold day the warm chapel and the glowing candles were comforting. The great - giant! - modern shrine alongside was rather too bleak and chilling on this grey day, although its tall tower like the mast of a great ship, with a statue of dear Bl John Paul at the helm, is always impressive. From its viewing platform at the top, one can see the building works on a neighbouring hillside, where a vast conference centre dedicated to JPII is being built. It is all near the Solvay chemical plant where he worked as a labourer in WWII. From the designs and plans and from what is now being constructed, it somehow seems very big and ambitious...one feels "nearer" to JPII in the streets of Krakow, its churches and cathedral where he served as Archbishop...
Long and fascinating discussions about philosophy with academics over coffee...thinking about Polish history as we hurry through icy but enchanting streets...TV screens with news reports where words like "Konclav" and "Kardinal" emerge from a puzzle of Polish...
We went to the Divine Mercy shrine on the outskirts of Cracow today. Kneeling in the chapel where Sister Faustina prayed , and being led in prayer by a young nun, was all rather moving. This was my second pilgrimage here, and on a bitterly cold day the warm chapel and the glowing candles were comforting. The great - giant! - modern shrine alongside was rather too bleak and chilling on this grey day, although its tall tower like the mast of a great ship, with a statue of dear Bl John Paul at the helm, is always impressive. From its viewing platform at the top, one can see the building works on a neighbouring hillside, where a vast conference centre dedicated to JPII is being built. It is all near the Solvay chemical plant where he worked as a labourer in WWII. From the designs and plans and from what is now being constructed, it somehow seems very big and ambitious...one feels "nearer" to JPII in the streets of Krakow, its churches and cathedral where he served as Archbishop...
Long and fascinating discussions about philosophy with academics over coffee...thinking about Polish history as we hurry through icy but enchanting streets...TV screens with news reports where words like "Konclav" and "Kardinal" emerge from a puzzle of Polish...
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Sunday, and the Church at prayer...
...and we were in the great Ark Church in Nowa Huta on the outskirts of Cracow. We arrived early, and people were pouring out of an earlier Mass, into the grey rainswept morning and the tower blocks of what was originally built as the ultimate Soviet-style city and turned into the home of Europe's most famous modern church. The flagstones and steps were slithery in the icy rain, and it was good to enter the church. Its vast sweep and sense of strong, purposeful presence is splendid. The Stations of the Cross show Christ in solidarity with all the suffering of Europe in the 20th century, in all the horror and sorrow..
We were glad to have come early, as the church filled up...and filled, and filled...soon it was standing-room only, and still they came in, and came, and came...
I had brought my Magnificat, so could follow the Epistle, Gospel etc. At Holy Communion, lines flocked to the altar rails, but the numbers were such that priests also came down the aisles, with altar-server and plate, to distribute the Sacrament, people receiving by mouth and with great reverence.
Many in the congregation were older women, warmly and often stylishly clad, strong faces. Children were well-behaved, no shouting or noisy toys.
Lunch in Cracow with a professor friend, who told us about student days of the 70s with the Archbishop leading talks in the student church...and then those unforgettable days in 1979 when he returned as Pope, and everything in Poland changed in a spiritual upsurge that broke through into history...
Later, in the dark and cold, hurrying back to our warm flat, we passed the crowds at St Anne's Church - surging young people, spilling out down the steps, gathering and talking...a new generation...
...and in Rome, the Cardinals gather...
We were glad to have come early, as the church filled up...and filled, and filled...soon it was standing-room only, and still they came in, and came, and came...
I had brought my Magnificat, so could follow the Epistle, Gospel etc. At Holy Communion, lines flocked to the altar rails, but the numbers were such that priests also came down the aisles, with altar-server and plate, to distribute the Sacrament, people receiving by mouth and with great reverence.
Many in the congregation were older women, warmly and often stylishly clad, strong faces. Children were well-behaved, no shouting or noisy toys.
Lunch in Cracow with a professor friend, who told us about student days of the 70s with the Archbishop leading talks in the student church...and then those unforgettable days in 1979 when he returned as Pope, and everything in Poland changed in a spiritual upsurge that broke through into history...
Later, in the dark and cold, hurrying back to our warm flat, we passed the crowds at St Anne's Church - surging young people, spilling out down the steps, gathering and talking...a new generation...
...and in Rome, the Cardinals gather...
Friday, March 08, 2013
The Conclave...
...starts in Rome on March 12th, and TV news today showed the cardinals arriving in Rome...seems unreal, somehow...
Watching it all over coffee after a meal of pierogi in a café in Krakow's magnificent main square. Then, through icy rain, to the great church of St Mary: we had agreed to pray the Rosary for the Conclave, for the Church, for Britain, for the research work that has brought us to Poland (a book project), for various private intentions...
Lots of people in church, voices raised in prayer... the Stations of the Cross - the familiar devotions in a strange language. Joined in for a bit, and then, as planned, knelt in the chapel near the door and prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, the Hail Mary gently back and forth in a low murmured English. Young people still coming in to the church as we left. Checked times of Mass for tomorrow and need not have bothered: Mass every hour from 6 am onwards...
The church is, of curse, stunning - a great blue arched ceiling studded with stars, and so much rich decoration in gold, so many votive offerings, so much to see. At a side altar, a portrait of Bl John Paul, alongside a statue of Our Lady of Fatima...
A slightly adventurous journey here: thick mist over Krakow airport, and as we flew in and were about to land, a sudden surge and roar of engines and we took off upwards again! People shrieked, an announcement was made that the pilot was just going to do another turn in order to make a new entry because visibility was poor. "It's fine" I said to the girl next to me, who had been sleeping and woke with a cry at the terrific noise "Nothing to worry about..." We flew for a long time - a big circle around the airport presumably - and then made a steady descent, landed safely...
Watching it all over coffee after a meal of pierogi in a café in Krakow's magnificent main square. Then, through icy rain, to the great church of St Mary: we had agreed to pray the Rosary for the Conclave, for the Church, for Britain, for the research work that has brought us to Poland (a book project), for various private intentions...
Lots of people in church, voices raised in prayer... the Stations of the Cross - the familiar devotions in a strange language. Joined in for a bit, and then, as planned, knelt in the chapel near the door and prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, the Hail Mary gently back and forth in a low murmured English. Young people still coming in to the church as we left. Checked times of Mass for tomorrow and need not have bothered: Mass every hour from 6 am onwards...
The church is, of curse, stunning - a great blue arched ceiling studded with stars, and so much rich decoration in gold, so many votive offerings, so much to see. At a side altar, a portrait of Bl John Paul, alongside a statue of Our Lady of Fatima...
A slightly adventurous journey here: thick mist over Krakow airport, and as we flew in and were about to land, a sudden surge and roar of engines and we took off upwards again! People shrieked, an announcement was made that the pilot was just going to do another turn in order to make a new entry because visibility was poor. "It's fine" I said to the girl next to me, who had been sleeping and woke with a cry at the terrific noise "Nothing to worry about..." We flew for a long time - a big circle around the airport presumably - and then made a steady descent, landed safely...
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Dropped in to....
....Mass at Westmin. Cathedral. In the Canon, the priest started to say "Papa nostro, Benedicto - " and then stopped short, and said "er...." and started again, moving on swiftly to "Episcopo nostro, Vincenzo..."
As I was leaving, a friend came up to whisper a greeting, and we ended up having coffee together. She's a talented young artist, and involved with a lovely project for St Patrick's Day. It's at St Patrick's, Wapping (nearest tube: Tower Hill or Wapping) and there's a St Patrick's Market, with traditional bread, Irish Strew, Irish coffee, and more, and upstairs an Open Studio with the community of artists there, opportunities to see their work, have a portrait sketched, or get involved in other activities such as face-painting, and learn about the art classes they run and the opportunity to see something of the Christian vision of art and creativity and beauty. So make a date: Sunday March 17th, in the heart of London, by the Thames...a place of leafy beauty by the river, 5 mins walk from Tower Bridge and drenched in tradition and history...
As I was leaving, a friend came up to whisper a greeting, and we ended up having coffee together. She's a talented young artist, and involved with a lovely project for St Patrick's Day. It's at St Patrick's, Wapping (nearest tube: Tower Hill or Wapping) and there's a St Patrick's Market, with traditional bread, Irish Strew, Irish coffee, and more, and upstairs an Open Studio with the community of artists there, opportunities to see their work, have a portrait sketched, or get involved in other activities such as face-painting, and learn about the art classes they run and the opportunity to see something of the Christian vision of art and creativity and beauty. So make a date: Sunday March 17th, in the heart of London, by the Thames...a place of leafy beauty by the river, 5 mins walk from Tower Bridge and drenched in tradition and history...
...and so to...
...Harrow in Middlesex, where a large and crowded Confirmation class was waiting. This is a very big parish - the crowded class was only half of the Confirmation group, and I return on Thursday to repeat my talk to the other half.
Talk on "Catholic heritage". They need to know - have a right to know, want to know, enjoy learning about - how the Faith came to Britain. They need to know how it travelled through the routes of the Roman Empire, about the evidence of Romano-British Christianity here (St Patrick etc), about how the pagan Angles and Saxons arrived (our days of the week are named after Saxon gods) and how the Pope in Rome saw the Saxon slaves and wanted to send missionaries to their lands, and how Augustine and his monks set off but got scared when they heard about these ferocious pagans and turned back, only to be told by good Pope Gregory to set out again and not to return until they'd done the job...
We tackled the calendar: the crucial central reality of the Incarnation, centred on God's huge love for us. March 25th, and why this date is so important, and how our calendar has revolved around it for nearly two millennia...we tackled pub signs, nursery rhymes, old sayings, what Shrovetide is, and why saints' days occur when they do, and why we eat eggs at Easter...
This is a parish which is instructing its young, and they are open to it all. They all had copies of YouCat in their hands. They all joined in the prayers at the beginning and end of the session: it is so good to hear young voices praying together. They knew about World Youth Day and about the worldwide Church, about recent Popes... and now they know a bit more about the Church in their own land, and how, in these extraordinary days of 2013, they are living through an adventure in the Church's history too....
Talk on "Catholic heritage". They need to know - have a right to know, want to know, enjoy learning about - how the Faith came to Britain. They need to know how it travelled through the routes of the Roman Empire, about the evidence of Romano-British Christianity here (St Patrick etc), about how the pagan Angles and Saxons arrived (our days of the week are named after Saxon gods) and how the Pope in Rome saw the Saxon slaves and wanted to send missionaries to their lands, and how Augustine and his monks set off but got scared when they heard about these ferocious pagans and turned back, only to be told by good Pope Gregory to set out again and not to return until they'd done the job...
We tackled the calendar: the crucial central reality of the Incarnation, centred on God's huge love for us. March 25th, and why this date is so important, and how our calendar has revolved around it for nearly two millennia...we tackled pub signs, nursery rhymes, old sayings, what Shrovetide is, and why saints' days occur when they do, and why we eat eggs at Easter...
This is a parish which is instructing its young, and they are open to it all. They all had copies of YouCat in their hands. They all joined in the prayers at the beginning and end of the session: it is so good to hear young voices praying together. They knew about World Youth Day and about the worldwide Church, about recent Popes... and now they know a bit more about the Church in their own land, and how, in these extraordinary days of 2013, they are living through an adventure in the Church's history too....
A happy day...
...at this school in London. A classroom full of cheerful little girls in bright blue uniforms, and Auntie giving a talk about Lent and Easter customs and traditions. The afternoon's began with prayers - the children in a circle, hands together, eyes closed, voices very sweetly chorusing a prayer together asking God's blessing on their lessons, their activities, their friendships. Then a cross was passed around from one child to another, and as each child held it, she made a request for prayer - for a granny who was unwell, for a Daddy travelling home from abroad, for the cardinals in Rome meeting to choose the new Pope...
The children were a delight to teach. They already knew about Lent, and the Last Supper, and Good Friday, and Easter. They loved learning about the Royal Maundy, and the washing of feet, and about how Easter eggs have developed into the chocolate ones we know now, and more...they were reverent and thoughtful in discussing sacred things, eager and excited about answering questions in the little quiz that ended the day. I had some medals of Bl John Paul with me, and the winning team each got one. A happy day.
The children were a delight to teach. They already knew about Lent, and the Last Supper, and Good Friday, and Easter. They loved learning about the Royal Maundy, and the washing of feet, and about how Easter eggs have developed into the chocolate ones we know now, and more...they were reverent and thoughtful in discussing sacred things, eager and excited about answering questions in the little quiz that ended the day. I had some medals of Bl John Paul with me, and the winning team each got one. A happy day.
Recent conversations...
...about the difficulties of boy-meets-girl today, took me to this blog post. tackling the subject. Like other oldies, Auntie has done her share of matchmaking. But it's getting much more complicated. Read that blog post and join the debate....
Sunday, March 03, 2013
WISDOM...
...and common sense, and kindness, at an excellent conference sponsored by the Diocese of Shrewsbury, tackling the question of sex education, and the respective roles of parents and teachers. Main message: parents often find it hard to talk to their children and help, support and encouragement is available. Very good news: an excellent new handbook, just out, on this topic: info here...
The conference drew large numbers of teachers and parents, along with school nurses, clergy, and school governors. For the first time, here was a major conference tackling this issue not with polemics or with ghastly schemes for showing children lurid materials or exhorting them to assume immoral behaviour to be the norm. There was immense interest and enthusiasm and the mood was upbeat and positive, the discussions thoughtful and informative.
We are going to hear a great deal more on all of this...a new mood and style on sex-ed is in the air, especially among Catholics who have long been wary of the standard got-funded propaganda line on this (ie the pretence that giving children contraceptives will lower the pregnancy rate: it doesn't, and of course is immoral and cruel anyway).
Guest speaker at the conference was Fr Jaroslaw Szymczak from the Family Support Foundation in Poland. He has worked for some years helping troubled families, and also working with young people in reformatories....his talk, focusing the needs of the young, was inspiring and illuminating. It's not rocket science: the need for families to spend time together, for parents to listen to their children, for children to know that their parents love and value them, is all very straightforward...but there are so many pressures on families today, and so many young people whose experience of family break-up means that they feel unable to trust, and so many people looking for love that they have failed to find at home and then seek in all the wrong places...
It was a privilege to be part of this conference (Auntie was there in v. humble capacity, helping with some admin.) - and extremely interesting to realise that, among much else, the Church in Poland has been getting to grips with some social problems in ways that we in the rest of Europe would do well to study and emulate...
The conference drew large numbers of teachers and parents, along with school nurses, clergy, and school governors. For the first time, here was a major conference tackling this issue not with polemics or with ghastly schemes for showing children lurid materials or exhorting them to assume immoral behaviour to be the norm. There was immense interest and enthusiasm and the mood was upbeat and positive, the discussions thoughtful and informative.
We are going to hear a great deal more on all of this...a new mood and style on sex-ed is in the air, especially among Catholics who have long been wary of the standard got-funded propaganda line on this (ie the pretence that giving children contraceptives will lower the pregnancy rate: it doesn't, and of course is immoral and cruel anyway).
Guest speaker at the conference was Fr Jaroslaw Szymczak from the Family Support Foundation in Poland. He has worked for some years helping troubled families, and also working with young people in reformatories....his talk, focusing the needs of the young, was inspiring and illuminating. It's not rocket science: the need for families to spend time together, for parents to listen to their children, for children to know that their parents love and value them, is all very straightforward...but there are so many pressures on families today, and so many young people whose experience of family break-up means that they feel unable to trust, and so many people looking for love that they have failed to find at home and then seek in all the wrong places...
It was a privilege to be part of this conference (Auntie was there in v. humble capacity, helping with some admin.) - and extremely interesting to realise that, among much else, the Church in Poland has been getting to grips with some social problems in ways that we in the rest of Europe would do well to study and emulate...
Friday, March 01, 2013
As we approached...
...7pm on Feb 28th, and thus 8pm in Rome, we paused and prayed for our beloved Benedict XVI and for our future Holy Father...
I was with a Catholic student group, giving a lecture, and in the rather bleak modern lecture hall, suddenly we were at one with Rome.
Spent most of the day travelling, and using my new laptop to complete an essay. It felt good when I had completed it...just a few footnotes to double-check and the details of the Bibliography to complete. On the journey home, I opened up the laptop again, and with a couple of misplaced clicks on the mouse, had lost the entire week's work.
People are kind. Even the ticket-collector on the train tried to help, and summoned another passenger who also did his best. Later, on the local train trundling back through the suburbs from London, I was offered a seat and sank into it gratefully. "Had a tough day?" asked the chap next to me sympathetically "A bit. Lost an essay on my computer" So he tried to help too, checked my laptop and looked up various possibilities for locating a lost file...
Actually I am resigned to the loss, and the general consesus seems to be: you haven't lost it. The second attempt will be much better, as you have done all ther basic mental work. Which is true,. So here goes...
I was with a Catholic student group, giving a lecture, and in the rather bleak modern lecture hall, suddenly we were at one with Rome.
Spent most of the day travelling, and using my new laptop to complete an essay. It felt good when I had completed it...just a few footnotes to double-check and the details of the Bibliography to complete. On the journey home, I opened up the laptop again, and with a couple of misplaced clicks on the mouse, had lost the entire week's work.
People are kind. Even the ticket-collector on the train tried to help, and summoned another passenger who also did his best. Later, on the local train trundling back through the suburbs from London, I was offered a seat and sank into it gratefully. "Had a tough day?" asked the chap next to me sympathetically "A bit. Lost an essay on my computer" So he tried to help too, checked my laptop and looked up various possibilities for locating a lost file...
Actually I am resigned to the loss, and the general consesus seems to be: you haven't lost it. The second attempt will be much better, as you have done all ther basic mental work. Which is true,. So here goes...
Thursday, February 28, 2013
A thanksgiving Mass....
...with some glorious music - a Haydn Kyrie and Sanctus, and Palestrina's Tu es Petrus after Communion - at Our Lady Immaculate Church, Chelmsford. This splendid parish is in the care of the Norbertines, and they are clearly doing an excellent job...a fine choir, a good-sized congregation...and the singing of "Praise to the Holiest" and "O Bread of Heaven" and "God Bless our Pope" was full-hearted and rousing.
I had been invited to speak on "Celebrating feasts and seasons", but had never imagined that I would do so in such unusual circumstances: a Pope retiring, and a thus a special Mass in thanksgiving for his life and work...
The parish hall was full, extra chairs were being brought in, and there was a good community feeling about the whole evening. I loved being with them.
Chelmsford was new territory for me. I did not know my way from the station, so went into the nearest pub, (the Railway Tavern) and announced "Can anyone tell me the way to the Catholic Church?" Everyone there knew it, and could not have been more helpful. People in pubs always know where the RC church is - I've never yet failed in getting directions this way.
On the train home, I tackled some academic work (Maryvale). Amazing that one can just open up a laptop, reconnect with an essay, and plunge in.
I had been invited to speak on "Celebrating feasts and seasons", but had never imagined that I would do so in such unusual circumstances: a Pope retiring, and a thus a special Mass in thanksgiving for his life and work...
The parish hall was full, extra chairs were being brought in, and there was a good community feeling about the whole evening. I loved being with them.
Chelmsford was new territory for me. I did not know my way from the station, so went into the nearest pub, (the Railway Tavern) and announced "Can anyone tell me the way to the Catholic Church?" Everyone there knew it, and could not have been more helpful. People in pubs always know where the RC church is - I've never yet failed in getting directions this way.
On the train home, I tackled some academic work (Maryvale). Amazing that one can just open up a laptop, reconnect with an essay, and plunge in.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
These are not happy days...
...and the only thing to do is to soak the Church in prayer.
Mass at Westminster Cathedral this morning, and a day spent with a friend who lives nearby, various projects to discuss. Outside, the solid red brick of the cathedral, the grey London sky, and that persistent dampness that is not quite rain but lingers and lingers...in the almost-dusk of the late wintry afternoon, a sudden chatter of noise and humming of cars as the choir-school children came pouring through the gates of the schoolyard in clusters of crimson jackets and bulging schoolbags and were gathered up by mummies...
Auntie with work in hand, and to-do lists, and an overful diary...but although London life trundles on, nothing feels ordinary or secure somehow.
Church scandals splashed across the newspapers, much gloating on the Internet.
Mass at Westminster Cathedral this morning, and a day spent with a friend who lives nearby, various projects to discuss. Outside, the solid red brick of the cathedral, the grey London sky, and that persistent dampness that is not quite rain but lingers and lingers...in the almost-dusk of the late wintry afternoon, a sudden chatter of noise and humming of cars as the choir-school children came pouring through the gates of the schoolyard in clusters of crimson jackets and bulging schoolbags and were gathered up by mummies...
Auntie with work in hand, and to-do lists, and an overful diary...but although London life trundles on, nothing feels ordinary or secure somehow.
Church scandals splashed across the newspapers, much gloating on the Internet.
Working...
...at home on Monday afternoon, after a weekend away at Maryvale. The quiet busyness of suburbia, shopping done, housework completed, Auntie tapping away at computer. Sudden telephone call from husband...some crucial papers left behind this morning...nightmare...hurtled the papers (vast stack of them) into suitcase, rushed to Lodnon, taxi from Waterloo, got the papers to the Middle Temple...
No point in returning home as I had a Catholic History Walk planned for the evening. Took laptop to a coffee-shop and settled down to continue work. Perhaps it was the sudden calm after a rush, or perhaps it was the work I was doing - which involved quoting some rather fine words by the then-Joseph Ratzinger - but, quite suddenly, and with an almost overwhelming feeling, I felt terribly, terribly sad. I realised how much we will all miss Pope Benedict, and what it will mean when this chapter closes in a few days' time.
I didn't want to start weeping in a coffee-shop and have a kindly passer-by try to help me, only to be told that I was crying for the Pope. I bent over my work and told my brain to organise itself properly. But things only got better when I trickled into Westminster Cathedral for evening Mass. The glorious timelessness of the liturgy - the "immemorial Mass", the voices responding, the lovely chant, the solid sound of people saying the Our Father, the slow steady line for Communion, the sense of it all going right back to the Last Supper and to Calvary, and on through all the centuries, was hugely reassurring. And then afterwards, waiting in the cold on the Cathedral steps, at first it seemed as if too few people would turn up to make the History Walk worthwhile...but in the end we had a good group, and it was a wonderful evening. We walked the route to Parliament, saw the plaque marking where Cardinal Manning once lived, noted the history of the Green Coat Boy and the Grey Coat Hospital, enjoyed street-names like Abbey Orchard Street and Dean Farrar Street (noted the link with Montgomery of Alamein in the latter)...and on to Parliament, and the Great Hall...
We talked much of Papa Benedict, of course, and of Bl JPII, over hot chocolate near Westminster Bridge as the walk ended. There was a sense of having shared a special evening as we hurried over the bridge for the suburban trains...
No point in returning home as I had a Catholic History Walk planned for the evening. Took laptop to a coffee-shop and settled down to continue work. Perhaps it was the sudden calm after a rush, or perhaps it was the work I was doing - which involved quoting some rather fine words by the then-Joseph Ratzinger - but, quite suddenly, and with an almost overwhelming feeling, I felt terribly, terribly sad. I realised how much we will all miss Pope Benedict, and what it will mean when this chapter closes in a few days' time.
I didn't want to start weeping in a coffee-shop and have a kindly passer-by try to help me, only to be told that I was crying for the Pope. I bent over my work and told my brain to organise itself properly. But things only got better when I trickled into Westminster Cathedral for evening Mass. The glorious timelessness of the liturgy - the "immemorial Mass", the voices responding, the lovely chant, the solid sound of people saying the Our Father, the slow steady line for Communion, the sense of it all going right back to the Last Supper and to Calvary, and on through all the centuries, was hugely reassurring. And then afterwards, waiting in the cold on the Cathedral steps, at first it seemed as if too few people would turn up to make the History Walk worthwhile...but in the end we had a good group, and it was a wonderful evening. We walked the route to Parliament, saw the plaque marking where Cardinal Manning once lived, noted the history of the Green Coat Boy and the Grey Coat Hospital, enjoyed street-names like Abbey Orchard Street and Dean Farrar Street (noted the link with Montgomery of Alamein in the latter)...and on to Parliament, and the Great Hall...
We talked much of Papa Benedict, of course, and of Bl JPII, over hot chocolate near Westminster Bridge as the walk ended. There was a sense of having shared a special evening as we hurried over the bridge for the suburban trains...
Saturday, February 23, 2013
...with rumours flying...
...as the Conclave draws nearer, and gossip swirls around, this is not a happy time. One prays, of course. And one should probably avoid speculations and blog-hopping...will it be Ranjith, as mooted in Forbes magazine? Has Turkson lost it all by giving all those interviews? Is any Italian now out of the running? Best to ignore it all and pray...
Trundling a suitcase - with laptop so that work could be done on the train journey - Auntie went on a pleasantly Marian-named journey, from Marylebone to Maryvale. Yes, the trains to Birmingham (Chiltern Line) really do start at Marylebone, and on arrival I headed for Maryvale, having met one of the lecturers at the station so we shared a taxi together. Fr George had just flown in from Rome...
Lectures at a Maryvale study weekend start on the Friday evening after a fish supper...this morning we began with Mass at 7.30, then Morning Prayer and breakfast...then Moral Theology for most of the day, a break in the afternoon (which is why I am writing this, and will shortly be going for a walk in the wintry but attractive grounds - and then a talk about our Long Essay work, and some Spiritual Theology, supper, and Night Prayer.
Easy access to a computer makes Conclavegossparoundtheblogsandtwitters awfully tempting. I shall put on my coat and go outside.
Trundling a suitcase - with laptop so that work could be done on the train journey - Auntie went on a pleasantly Marian-named journey, from Marylebone to Maryvale. Yes, the trains to Birmingham (Chiltern Line) really do start at Marylebone, and on arrival I headed for Maryvale, having met one of the lecturers at the station so we shared a taxi together. Fr George had just flown in from Rome...
Lectures at a Maryvale study weekend start on the Friday evening after a fish supper...this morning we began with Mass at 7.30, then Morning Prayer and breakfast...then Moral Theology for most of the day, a break in the afternoon (which is why I am writing this, and will shortly be going for a walk in the wintry but attractive grounds - and then a talk about our Long Essay work, and some Spiritual Theology, supper, and Night Prayer.
Easy access to a computer makes Conclavegossparoundtheblogsandtwitters awfully tempting. I shall put on my coat and go outside.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Lent is forty days long...
...(if you don't count the Sundays).
Numbers are v. important in Scripture, and the number 40 especially so (Moses leading the Chosen People 40 years in the desert, Christ in prayer in the desert for 40 days...). And in God's arrangements for human beings too. A child lives for 40 weeks in his mother's womb, waiting to be born.
A new book on the "40 Days for Life" campaign was launched in London the other day at Holy Apostles Church, Pimlico, and I went along...some rather tender stories emerged of how women had been helped, and children born safely, through the help and support given by the "40 days" team. They are currently praying outside various abortion centres in London, including one in Ealing. Auntie will be joining them there at some point, because I have a friend lying ill at St David's Nursing Home, and I can join the "40 Days" team for a while en route to one of my regular visits there...after the book launch there was a lively talkative meal and then I walked to the station with the young organiser of the Alliance of Pro-Life Students, who as we hurried through PImlico heard good news on her mobile 'phone of a student group which had succeded in defeating a pro-abortion resolution put forward at a leading university...
Attitude of these young campaigners towards Auntie is rather sweet: they see in me a slightly dotty old thing with a jolly-hockey-sticks voice who does her bit by providing useful contacts and helping to get things done. Which is roughly how I saw older people of my type when I was their age.
Pimlico is still a bit of real London: I mean, it has some real pubs and real messy bits and real shops and people who really live there. It's not the same as when that splendid film was made...but there's still a sense of place about it.The pleasing symmetrical look of tall fine London houses - now all divided up into flats of course - gives way to odd corners, and pubs where people help if you stop to ask the way, and there are a couple of good Victorian churches and so on. Holy Apostles isn't one of the latter. It was bombed in WWII and the present building was put up in the '50s. It's a busy parish and has its own life independent of the world-famous bits of Westminster nearby , but the parish priest also has pastoral care of Parliament and regularly celebrates Masses there for MPs and Parliamentary staff. I took a History Walk around Pimlico a few weeks back and we enjoyed putting together the layers of the years. There is a big comfortable parish hall and the whole makes a break in the line of houses. Then as you get nearer to Victoria Station there is Ecclestone Square and suddenly the railway and the crowds hurrying...
Numbers are v. important in Scripture, and the number 40 especially so (Moses leading the Chosen People 40 years in the desert, Christ in prayer in the desert for 40 days...). And in God's arrangements for human beings too. A child lives for 40 weeks in his mother's womb, waiting to be born.
A new book on the "40 Days for Life" campaign was launched in London the other day at Holy Apostles Church, Pimlico, and I went along...some rather tender stories emerged of how women had been helped, and children born safely, through the help and support given by the "40 days" team. They are currently praying outside various abortion centres in London, including one in Ealing. Auntie will be joining them there at some point, because I have a friend lying ill at St David's Nursing Home, and I can join the "40 Days" team for a while en route to one of my regular visits there...after the book launch there was a lively talkative meal and then I walked to the station with the young organiser of the Alliance of Pro-Life Students, who as we hurried through PImlico heard good news on her mobile 'phone of a student group which had succeded in defeating a pro-abortion resolution put forward at a leading university...
Attitude of these young campaigners towards Auntie is rather sweet: they see in me a slightly dotty old thing with a jolly-hockey-sticks voice who does her bit by providing useful contacts and helping to get things done. Which is roughly how I saw older people of my type when I was their age.
Pimlico is still a bit of real London: I mean, it has some real pubs and real messy bits and real shops and people who really live there. It's not the same as when that splendid film was made...but there's still a sense of place about it.The pleasing symmetrical look of tall fine London houses - now all divided up into flats of course - gives way to odd corners, and pubs where people help if you stop to ask the way, and there are a couple of good Victorian churches and so on. Holy Apostles isn't one of the latter. It was bombed in WWII and the present building was put up in the '50s. It's a busy parish and has its own life independent of the world-famous bits of Westminster nearby , but the parish priest also has pastoral care of Parliament and regularly celebrates Masses there for MPs and Parliamentary staff. I took a History Walk around Pimlico a few weeks back and we enjoyed putting together the layers of the years. There is a big comfortable parish hall and the whole makes a break in the line of houses. Then as you get nearer to Victoria Station there is Ecclestone Square and suddenly the railway and the crowds hurrying...
Radio...
...interviews including one with Premier Radio, about Papa Benedict's retirement and the forthcoming Conclave and so on.
You can hear Auntie discussing various topics from time to time on Heart Gives Unto Heart radio too...
Hurried from the HGUH recording, through a bitterly cold South London to Precious Blood Church, for evening Mass and the first of a series of talks in the parish's Lent Course. This was excellent, as the speaker took us through the bond between the Passover and the great events of Holy Week and Easter. I had never before pondered the story of Joseph in the Old Testament as having a message about Resurrection. Absolutely fascinating. The speaker was Geoffrey Kirk, and the teaching we recieved was truly superb, and all offered in an easy, unpretentious style. Afterwards, a hot supper as we gathered around the tables in the parish room, a good crowd and the room alive with talk as plates were passed and coffee was brewed...
Yesterday, I spent the day with T! magazine based in Chelsea. They run courses in journalism.media/related studies for young people at half-term, and an enthusiastic group was gathered there. I have discovered that one of the major problems faced by young people is that they have almost no knowledge whatever of British or world history. Many are keenly aware of this and are angry about it. They have been taught about the Second World War again and again and again and again, but that's all. They have never tackled the 19th century. Had never heard of Napoleon, the Battle of Waterloo, 1776 and the American colonies, Gladstone, Disraeli, Nelson,and couldn't even name the monarch who ruled Britain from the 1830s to the end of the century. So we tackled a session on all this and they absolutely loved it. They got excited as I explained that historical events have consequences. Why is English the language of Australia? Of the West Indies? Why was a great monument put up in London following a sea battle off the coast near Traf al g'har? They relished being marched through events and consequences: rivalry between Britainm and France, battles, control of the seas, establishment of empires, consequences for today. They loved the details. What do we call the things we put on our feet when we walk through mud and puddles? Why are they called Wellies? What connection does this have with the Battle of Waterloo? What consequences did that battle have?
And the big question they put to me as we finished and they were begging me to stay on and do more:"WHY AREN'T WE TAUGHT HISTORY LIKE THIS AT SCHOOL?"
You can hear Auntie discussing various topics from time to time on Heart Gives Unto Heart radio too...
Hurried from the HGUH recording, through a bitterly cold South London to Precious Blood Church, for evening Mass and the first of a series of talks in the parish's Lent Course. This was excellent, as the speaker took us through the bond between the Passover and the great events of Holy Week and Easter. I had never before pondered the story of Joseph in the Old Testament as having a message about Resurrection. Absolutely fascinating. The speaker was Geoffrey Kirk, and the teaching we recieved was truly superb, and all offered in an easy, unpretentious style. Afterwards, a hot supper as we gathered around the tables in the parish room, a good crowd and the room alive with talk as plates were passed and coffee was brewed...
Yesterday, I spent the day with T! magazine based in Chelsea. They run courses in journalism.media/related studies for young people at half-term, and an enthusiastic group was gathered there. I have discovered that one of the major problems faced by young people is that they have almost no knowledge whatever of British or world history. Many are keenly aware of this and are angry about it. They have been taught about the Second World War again and again and again and again, but that's all. They have never tackled the 19th century. Had never heard of Napoleon, the Battle of Waterloo, 1776 and the American colonies, Gladstone, Disraeli, Nelson,and couldn't even name the monarch who ruled Britain from the 1830s to the end of the century. So we tackled a session on all this and they absolutely loved it. They got excited as I explained that historical events have consequences. Why is English the language of Australia? Of the West Indies? Why was a great monument put up in London following a sea battle off the coast near Traf al g'har? They relished being marched through events and consequences: rivalry between Britainm and France, battles, control of the seas, establishment of empires, consequences for today. They loved the details. What do we call the things we put on our feet when we walk through mud and puddles? Why are they called Wellies? What connection does this have with the Battle of Waterloo? What consequences did that battle have?
And the big question they put to me as we finished and they were begging me to stay on and do more:"WHY AREN'T WE TAUGHT HISTORY LIKE THIS AT SCHOOL?"
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Everyday things...
...seem somehow touched by the drama of these recent days - and the forthcoming days - in Rome, and Auntie is conscious of this all the time...
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
A Papal day...
...working on a new project about Blessed John Paul II, with a colleague: we are off to Krakow in March to meet various people who knew him...
News that the Lefebvrists have been given the deadline of Feb 22nd (Feast of St Peter's Chair) to submit to the Church.
And some tender recollections of dear Papa Benedict read here... oh, we will miss him, miss him.
News that the Lefebvrists have been given the deadline of Feb 22nd (Feast of St Peter's Chair) to submit to the Church.
And some tender recollections of dear Papa Benedict read here... oh, we will miss him, miss him.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Year
of Faith 2012/13
The
FAITH MOVEMENT invites you to a
DAY
OF FAITH
at
St Patrick’s Church, Soho Square, London W1
June
18th 2013, starts 11 am
Special guest speakers:
Rt Rev Philip Egan, Bishop of Portsmouth 3pm
George Weigel, author of Evangelical Catholicism 7.30pm
Other speakers include Canon Luiz Ruscillo,
Director of Education, Diocese of Lancaster. The Day will include Mass, lunch,
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, opportunity for confession.
Tickets : £20.00 , includes lunch and supper.
Daytime only: £10.00 includes lunch.
Evening only: £10.00 includes supper.
Book your place now! Send cheque payable to FAITH/KEYWAY to: St Peter’s Church, Bishop’s Rise,
Hatfield, Herts AL10 9HN. Please give your name, postal address and email and enclose a stamped addressed envelope .
Studying...
...the ethics of human embryo research, reading Dignitas Personae as part of an academic course, . It is when you get to grips with the subject in a fresh way, that you realise all over again what a truly horrible mess we are now in. There are tens of thousands of tiny, dot-sized living human embryos - the "spare" results of attempts at in-vitro fertilisation - stacked in chilled cabinets in laboratories. There is no ethical way to deal with these. If they are simply thrown away, we have embarked on a decision to destroy human life, a decision with massive implications. And they cannot just be "donated" to women who would like to have children, as you cannot do that with human life - and these people would grow up not knowing who they really were, who their brothers and sisters were, and so on. We have created a real and ghastly horror of the type that a fiction writer of the 1950s and 60s would have relished. These living beings could be tampered with, experimented upon, messed about...
...and so...
...off to Birmingham, to the former home of Bl John Henry Newman at Maryvale...
A weekend of study and lectures...and, thanks to a new laptop, I am now able to work on trains and in spare half-hours at coffee-shops. But is this always wise? Time to think, and pray, and relax,,matters a great deal more than Auntie is sometimes prepared to admit. A useful feature by Stratford and Leonie Caldecott, in the latest issue of The Sower, excellent magazine published at Maryvale, gives pause for thought: it is about being slow over important things. Moves towards "slow food" in place of the ubiquitous fast food with its style of eat-on-the-street-and-drop-rubbish-anywhere could, they suggest, be usefully echoed by a move towards "slow catechesis" for Catholics: think about beauty, about strong family and community bonds, think longer-term, think with the Church...Pope John Paul warned against the idea that the New Evangelisation would be a quick-fix, and we should heed his words...
As if to push the message home, this weekend saw Auntie unusually tired. Overslept this Sunday morning in the peace of Maryvale - I had a room at the front of the old house, a snug corner room slanting off, Maryvale-style, from one of those glorious slightly slanting staicases - and missed Mass. Hurried cup of tea as everyone else was finishing breakfast, and then we all went off to the morning's lectures...in the late afternoon, travelling back to London, I abandoned the laptop and simply took a Sabbath rest. Evening Mass at Westminster Cathedral, with something memorable about it as we prayed for dear Papa Benedict and for the Church...
A weekend of study and lectures...and, thanks to a new laptop, I am now able to work on trains and in spare half-hours at coffee-shops. But is this always wise? Time to think, and pray, and relax,,matters a great deal more than Auntie is sometimes prepared to admit. A useful feature by Stratford and Leonie Caldecott, in the latest issue of The Sower, excellent magazine published at Maryvale, gives pause for thought: it is about being slow over important things. Moves towards "slow food" in place of the ubiquitous fast food with its style of eat-on-the-street-and-drop-rubbish-anywhere could, they suggest, be usefully echoed by a move towards "slow catechesis" for Catholics: think about beauty, about strong family and community bonds, think longer-term, think with the Church...Pope John Paul warned against the idea that the New Evangelisation would be a quick-fix, and we should heed his words...
As if to push the message home, this weekend saw Auntie unusually tired. Overslept this Sunday morning in the peace of Maryvale - I had a room at the front of the old house, a snug corner room slanting off, Maryvale-style, from one of those glorious slightly slanting staicases - and missed Mass. Hurried cup of tea as everyone else was finishing breakfast, and then we all went off to the morning's lectures...in the late afternoon, travelling back to London, I abandoned the laptop and simply took a Sabbath rest. Evening Mass at Westminster Cathedral, with something memorable about it as we prayed for dear Papa Benedict and for the Church...
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Read this...
.... among one of the finest and most thoughtful homilies that the Holy Father has ever given us. The quiet wisdom of this man of God...in this, his final Ash Wednesday sermon...
" The tests which modern society subjects Christians to, in fact, are many, and affect the
personal and social life. It is not easy to be faithful to Christian marriage, practice mercy in
everyday life, leave space for prayer and inner silence, it is not easy to publicly oppose
choices that many take for granted, such as abortion in the event of an unwanted pregnancy,
euthanasia in case of serious illness, or the selection of embryos to prevent hereditary
diseases. The temptation to set aside one’s faith is always present and conversion becomes
a response to God which must be confirmed several times throughout one’s life.
The major conversions like that of St. Paul on the road to Damascus, or St. Augustine, are
an example and stimulus, but also in our time when the sense of the sacred is eclipsed,
God’s grace is at work and works wonders in life of many people. The Lord never gets tired
of knocking at the door of man in social and cultural contexts that seem engulfed by
secularization, as was the case for the Russian Orthodox Pavel Florensky. After acompletely
agnostic education, to the point he felt an outright hostility towards religious teachings taught
in school, the scientist Florensky came to exclaim: “No, you can not live without God”, and to
change his life completely, so much so he became a monk.
I also think the figure of Etty Hillesum, a young Dutch woman of Jewish origin who died in
Auschwitz. Initially far from God, she found Him looking deep inside herself and wrote:
“There is a well very deep inside of me. And God is in that well. Sometimes I can reach Him,
more often He is covered by stone and sand: then God is buried. We must dig Him up again
“(Diary, 97). In her scattered and restless life, she finds God in the middle of the great
tragedy of the twentieth century, the Shoah. This young fragile and dissatisfied woman,
transfigured by faith, becomes a woman full of love and inner peace, able to say: “I live in
constant intimacy with God.”
The ability to oppose the ideological blandishments of her time to choose the search for truth
and open herself up to the discovery of faith is evidenced by another woman of our time, the
American Dorothy Day. In her autobiography, she confesses openly to having given in to the
temptation that everything could be solved with politics, adhering to the Marxist proposal: “I
wanted to be with the protesters, go to jail, write, influence others and leave my dreams to
the world. How much ambition and how much searching for myself in all this!”. The journey
towards faith in such a secularized environment was particularly difficult, but Grace acts
nonetheless, as she points out: “It is certain that I felt the need to go to church more often, to
kneel, to bow my head in prayer. A blind instinct, one might say, because I was not conscious
of praying. But I went, I slipped into the atmosphere of prayer … “. God guided her to a
conscious adherence to the Church, in a lifetime spent dedicated to the underprivileged..."
Continuity...
...and people pouring out of churches into the London streets, with smudges of ash on their foreheads.
I went to St Patrick's, Soho Square: it's a busy church and on days like this there are two lunchtime Masses. People were coming out of the 12.30 as I arrived for thr 1.05. This latter Mass was celebrated by Fr James Bradley of the Ordinariate, and Fr Alexander, the parish priest, came in to help with the distribution of ashes and with Holy Communion. Ash Wednesday is a solemn day, and not one on which we are meant to feel cosy and comfortable, but there is something reassurring about the way it comes around again, each year, with Lent beginning and and the message of repentance and spiritual renewal re-echoing...
Later I was due to give a talk to the St Patrick's Evangelisation School, so I had a quick cup of coffee, worked on my New Laptop, tackling some emails, thenm headed back to St P's. Then "Feasts and Seasons" to SPES, explaining how the Church's calendar works, and how the traditions and customs have arrived over the centuries...the London Tube station that commemorates the Incarnation, the significance of the link between the Polish word for "lady" and the French word for "bread" - and how both are linked to Bethlehem...and more, and more...
BTW, if any group wants me to come and give a talk on this subject, just send a Comment to this blog, with an email address at which I can contact you. I love to explain about the Church's feasts and seasons, and have found that youth groups, Confirmation classes, schools, women's groups, Catenians, and parish groups all enjoy it...
The media is full of speculation about the next Pope, and the internet is buzzing. Meanwhile the real lobbying will happen when all the Cardinals gather, and factions and groupings will emerge.
For the first time, mobile phones and twittering and so on will make the whole procedure seriously leaky unless all concerned behave like men and keep their discussions private and conduct themselves honourably...
I went to St Patrick's, Soho Square: it's a busy church and on days like this there are two lunchtime Masses. People were coming out of the 12.30 as I arrived for thr 1.05. This latter Mass was celebrated by Fr James Bradley of the Ordinariate, and Fr Alexander, the parish priest, came in to help with the distribution of ashes and with Holy Communion. Ash Wednesday is a solemn day, and not one on which we are meant to feel cosy and comfortable, but there is something reassurring about the way it comes around again, each year, with Lent beginning and and the message of repentance and spiritual renewal re-echoing...
Later I was due to give a talk to the St Patrick's Evangelisation School, so I had a quick cup of coffee, worked on my New Laptop, tackling some emails, thenm headed back to St P's. Then "Feasts and Seasons" to SPES, explaining how the Church's calendar works, and how the traditions and customs have arrived over the centuries...the London Tube station that commemorates the Incarnation, the significance of the link between the Polish word for "lady" and the French word for "bread" - and how both are linked to Bethlehem...and more, and more...
BTW, if any group wants me to come and give a talk on this subject, just send a Comment to this blog, with an email address at which I can contact you. I love to explain about the Church's feasts and seasons, and have found that youth groups, Confirmation classes, schools, women's groups, Catenians, and parish groups all enjoy it...
The media is full of speculation about the next Pope, and the internet is buzzing. Meanwhile the real lobbying will happen when all the Cardinals gather, and factions and groupings will emerge.
For the first time, mobile phones and twittering and so on will make the whole procedure seriously leaky unless all concerned behave like men and keep their discussions private and conduct themselves honourably...
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
...and...
...the work of the Church goes on. A conference at the Kairos Centre in Roehampton for the various diocesan speakers for Aid to the Church in Need. These are the men and women who travel to churches giving talks at Mass and appealing for funds to help the Church where there is persecution, oppression, or grim poverty. This massive international charity is currently supporting churches in - among many other places - Sudan, Syria, Pakistan, India.... Auntie has been involved since a teenager, and was smuggling Catholic literature into Eastern Europe, and gathering to pray outside the old Soviet Embassy in Kensington, and so on, back in the 1970s and early 80s...
Mass in the beautiful Chapel at the Kairos centre. A talkative lunch. Sessions discussing current projects, systems for organising appeals, etc.
Talked to Heart Gives Unto Heart Radio about the Holy Father, and what happens next, and so on...
On to a family gathering in Islington for a pancake supper (Shrove Tuesday). Swapping of academic talk w. academic relative. Late train home. Am deep in a book about Paul VI, having recently discovered his role in helping refugees in WWII, relevant to some research I am currently doing. He is an underrated figure: I'm learning a lot.
Home late, just in time to eat some chocolates before Lent begins...
Mass in the beautiful Chapel at the Kairos centre. A talkative lunch. Sessions discussing current projects, systems for organising appeals, etc.
Talked to Heart Gives Unto Heart Radio about the Holy Father, and what happens next, and so on...
On to a family gathering in Islington for a pancake supper (Shrove Tuesday). Swapping of academic talk w. academic relative. Late train home. Am deep in a book about Paul VI, having recently discovered his role in helping refugees in WWII, relevant to some research I am currently doing. He is an underrated figure: I'm learning a lot.
Home late, just in time to eat some chocolates before Lent begins...
Monday, February 11, 2013
Praying...
...for our dear and beloved Benedict XVI. A sad day. God will reward him for his humility and courage...and for all his years of magnificent service to the Church.
Nothing...
...Auntie, like everyone else is astonished, and any words at this stage are superfluous.
Auntie at Maryvale...
...for a splendid celebration to thank Canon John Redford for his years of work. A beautiful Mass, the packed Maryvale chapel ringing with plainchant and with some splendid hymns ("How great thou art..." "O Jesus I have promised...") , a solo Panis Angelicus at Communion... and then a generous buffet lunch: the two big lecture rooms were opened up to merge together, and a table was spread where normally there are rows of desks and the draped stall with its open Bible and lighted candle. Today there were stacked plates and napkins, and delicious food and wine. A fine speech by Prof Jack Scarisbrick led the tributes. It was a grand day.
Canon John's books have been lifesavers for those seeking to understand and grasp the divinity of Christ, in the face of the standard ohbutJesusdidn'treallyunderstandwhohewas line pushed for years in theology discussions and in RE lessons and so on. Read his "Mad Bad or God" which is excellent. Also this book on the Gospel of St John.
On the train to Birmingham - through lashing rain - I read the excellent lecture given to the Ordinariate in the USA by Archbishop Muller of the CDF . I journeyed home with Fr Michael Cullinan - mathematician and theologians, director of the BA Div. - with lashing rain turning to sleet and snow and then back to rain again as we crossed the Chilterns. Lots to talk about re the state of the Church and the nation...
Canon John's books have been lifesavers for those seeking to understand and grasp the divinity of Christ, in the face of the standard ohbutJesusdidn'treallyunderstandwhohewas line pushed for years in theology discussions and in RE lessons and so on. Read his "Mad Bad or God" which is excellent. Also this book on the Gospel of St John.
On the train to Birmingham - through lashing rain - I read the excellent lecture given to the Ordinariate in the USA by Archbishop Muller of the CDF . I journeyed home with Fr Michael Cullinan - mathematician and theologians, director of the BA Div. - with lashing rain turning to sleet and snow and then back to rain again as we crossed the Chilterns. Lots to talk about re the state of the Church and the nation...
Saturday, February 09, 2013
to a dear nephew...
...who, among much else, is Auntie's Computer Consultant. Lovely new laptop. How to make it work. "You have to carry it gently, Auntie...", One can connect to the Internet anywhere...cafes, trains...does that mean people know where I am? Who? Feels a bit spooky somehow. Can people log in and read my emails? Are you sure they can't?
Auntie doesn't really like computers, although she has been a dedicated user from the moment they took over from typewriters...oh, and I know all about howwonderfulitisandyoucangetyouremailsanywhere and all that. But it locks you in to work, home is no longer sacrosanct, news follows you everywhere, emails whizz in and need to be answered, work-work-work runs and jumps and squeals at you all the time...
Nephew and his dear family, however, are a joy. Beautiful and gifted wife, four enchanting children. New baby gurgling agreeably. Voices now calling at the door :"Is Auntie Joanna finished yet? Can she come and play?"
Auntie doesn't really like computers, although she has been a dedicated user from the moment they took over from typewriters...oh, and I know all about howwonderfulitisandyoucangetyouremailsanywhere and all that. But it locks you in to work, home is no longer sacrosanct, news follows you everywhere, emails whizz in and need to be answered, work-work-work runs and jumps and squeals at you all the time...
Nephew and his dear family, however, are a joy. Beautiful and gifted wife, four enchanting children. New baby gurgling agreeably. Voices now calling at the door :"Is Auntie Joanna finished yet? Can she come and play?"
Friday, February 08, 2013
At Evensong...
... at Pr Blood Church, I found myself sitting next to the excellent Neil Addison of the Thomas More Legal Centre. A good discussion later over supper. It's clear - this also came up at a discussion elsewhere earlier in the day - that one result of the Govt's planned legislation will be that civil marriage will be made separate from marriage in church. Couples would go through a legal ceremony - this could perhaps be done in a solicitor's office - on a different day, quite separately from the wedding. The legal ceremony could even be a Civil Union, as that would confer adequate legal protection to cover things like immigration status or inheritance matters. And the Church could celebrate Holy Matrimony with joy, unencumbered.
It is likely that a change in the law on this will be presented by supporters of the govt's Bill: it may be offered in an irritating or rather smug aren't-we-clever sort of way, which doesn't mean it won't be useful. However, it should come from our side of the debate - our Bishops should be taking the initiative and putting it forward now. It is an idea that has been around for a good while - other Catholic lawyers were suggesting it at the time of the Blair government's divorce laws, and it has also been discussed in the USA...a good analysis of the idea is is made here..
A busy day: I did some broadcasts for Heart Gives Unto Heart Radio, tackled some more work at the CTS, and got up to date on various plans for later in the year (Australian lecture-tour coming up).
And don't miss THIS CONFERENCE, which could not be more topical or important. Auntie will be there, and so should you. But it's especially important for teachers and for school governors, for clergy and for anyone working with the young. Be there!
It is likely that a change in the law on this will be presented by supporters of the govt's Bill: it may be offered in an irritating or rather smug aren't-we-clever sort of way, which doesn't mean it won't be useful. However, it should come from our side of the debate - our Bishops should be taking the initiative and putting it forward now. It is an idea that has been around for a good while - other Catholic lawyers were suggesting it at the time of the Blair government's divorce laws, and it has also been discussed in the USA...a good analysis of the idea is is made here..
A busy day: I did some broadcasts for Heart Gives Unto Heart Radio, tackled some more work at the CTS, and got up to date on various plans for later in the year (Australian lecture-tour coming up).
And don't miss THIS CONFERENCE, which could not be more topical or important. Auntie will be there, and so should you. But it's especially important for teachers and for school governors, for clergy and for anyone working with the young. Be there!
Thursday, February 07, 2013
Keep up to date...
...on the marriage issue: here
Cameron will have to go.
Meanwhile, the long hard slog starts, through the committee and the Lords, to safeguard the rights of children in schools, of freedom of speech, and freedom for the Church.
Cameron will have to go.
Meanwhile, the long hard slog starts, through the committee and the Lords, to safeguard the rights of children in schools, of freedom of speech, and freedom for the Church.
Tooting Bec...
...is a suburb of South London and its unusual name originates through its links with the abbey of Bec in Normandy. (The "Tooting" part is from the pre-Saxon tribe that lived in these parts long years before. The Bec part came, obviously, more recently following the Norman Conquest). This evening a friend suggested I went along to one of a series of talks being given given at Tooting Bec's Centre for Catholic Formation, run by the archdiocese of Southwark, to mark the Year of Faith. . AND I AM SO GLAD I DID! The lecture was by Dr Caroline Farey, of Maryvale, and it was excellent. It was absolutely packed, despite it being a cold and wet evening. Sandwiches, hot drinks, and then we all settled down with copies of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and had a brilliant evening of study and discussion. This whole series is proving hugely popular: other speakers include Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate, Fr Stephen Wang from Allen Hall, Bishop Philip Egan...
In general chat, before and after the lecture, naturally much talk about the Govt's horrible plans and how they could affect Catholic schoools etc. We were all urged to keep up the pressure on Members of Parliament: there is still everything to play for. DON'T GIVE UP: relishing gloomy talk and telling one another Oh it's all Too Late Now, and The Rot Set In Years Ago and If You Ask Me It'sAll the Fault of (fill in here the name of the clergy/politicians.media etc etc) is a waste of time. Don't waste time. Write to your MP and ask to meet him. Get info here. And get a grip about what it takes to win a war. The military maxim is: morale is to the materiel as three to one.
In general chat, before and after the lecture, naturally much talk about the Govt's horrible plans and how they could affect Catholic schoools etc. We were all urged to keep up the pressure on Members of Parliament: there is still everything to play for. DON'T GIVE UP: relishing gloomy talk and telling one another Oh it's all Too Late Now, and The Rot Set In Years Ago and If You Ask Me It'sAll the Fault of (fill in here the name of the clergy/politicians.media etc etc) is a waste of time. Don't waste time. Write to your MP and ask to meet him. Get info here. And get a grip about what it takes to win a war. The military maxim is: morale is to the materiel as three to one.
Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Spent today...
...and yesterday, and will spend tomorrow, mostly in the basement of the CTS offices in South London, packing and posting brochures to schools for the Assn of Catholic Women's annual Schools RE Project. There are some 2,000 Catholic primary schools in Britain - one in ten British children is educated at a Catholic school. The schools are consistently highly rated, and most are over-subscribed and hugely popular.
Tea with a much-loved relative, at Harrods, a treat that was given to me by my family as a Birthday gift, and saved until now, when it was needed. Hugely enjoyed and appreciated. A proper tea: lovely china, a piano playing, crisp damask napkins, tiny sandwiches with the crusts cut off, scones with jam and clotted cream (incl. rose-petal jam), delicious cakes and pastries, Earl Grey tea...
Auntie enjoyed every moment.
Tea with a much-loved relative, at Harrods, a treat that was given to me by my family as a Birthday gift, and saved until now, when it was needed. Hugely enjoyed and appreciated. A proper tea: lovely china, a piano playing, crisp damask napkins, tiny sandwiches with the crusts cut off, scones with jam and clotted cream (incl. rose-petal jam), delicious cakes and pastries, Earl Grey tea...
Auntie enjoyed every moment.
...and on to the next stage...
...of the Government's ghastly and insane scheme to redefine marriage.
It is horrible to watch a once-great nation having this cruel rubbish foisted upon it.
A terrible and tragic day.
Keep praying. The number of Tory MPs voting against the Bill indicates that the real fight is only just beginning. There is a long hard road ahead, and the fight to defend marriage is one that will never be surrendered: the Bill now has to be fought clause by clause in the Commons and the Lords, and meanwhile the battle in the culture is one that will be played out for a long long time and obviously eventually the cause of truth will triumph.
But how horrible to know that history will record that the British Parliament did actually at one time vote to pretend that men could marry men and women could marry women. And how sad it is to be in London witnessing this, living through this, knowing that this insanity is happening in the country which once contributed so much to the world and had a quality of real greatness about it.
It is horrible to watch a once-great nation having this cruel rubbish foisted upon it.
A terrible and tragic day.
Keep praying. The number of Tory MPs voting against the Bill indicates that the real fight is only just beginning. There is a long hard road ahead, and the fight to defend marriage is one that will never be surrendered: the Bill now has to be fought clause by clause in the Commons and the Lords, and meanwhile the battle in the culture is one that will be played out for a long long time and obviously eventually the cause of truth will triumph.
But how horrible to know that history will record that the British Parliament did actually at one time vote to pretend that men could marry men and women could marry women. And how sad it is to be in London witnessing this, living through this, knowing that this insanity is happening in the country which once contributed so much to the world and had a quality of real greatness about it.
Sunday, February 03, 2013
Saturday, February 02, 2013
...and then...
...after an overnight stay in Sussex (see below), back to London by train, and then I was on my knees in this church... not in prayer, but helping to clean and hoover etc. The church has been entrusted to the care of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and a team of volunteers spent the day doing some cleaning and sorting. It's a good parish with a fine history. On the wall to one side of the sanctuary are two War Memorial tablets with long lists of names of the fallen of the 1914-1918 War - a great many names for this small corner of the world, near London Bridge. The church stands alongside the Borough Viaduct, along which the trains rumble with a comforting sound. There is a good-sized parish house, all in good order because the Salvatoreans, who have been running the parish for some years, had their priests from overseas stayinng there while studying in Britain.
It was a cheery day, everyone working busily. Things drew to a close as evening arrived: a couple of us were in the church as the 6pm Angelus bell sounded, and said the prayer together, a fitting close...
It was a cheery day, everyone working busily. Things drew to a close as evening arrived: a couple of us were in the church as the 6pm Angelus bell sounded, and said the prayer together, a fitting close...
To Sussex..
... to plan the next series of Catholic History Walks with Bryan and Jayne Lock, who organise the whole thing. As always, a great delight to be with them, by the sea. Evening Mass at St Peter's Church, Shoreham-by-Sea, a good sized congregation for a cold winter evening. This is evidently a lovely parish. Adoration for an hour before Mass.
On to the Lock family home,a cheery talkative supper and then we got down to business and planned the Catholic History Walks for the Spring and Summer of 2013. Note these dates now!
Monday Feb 25th, meet at 6.30pm, (ie after the 5.30pm Mass) steps of Westminster Cathedral. We'll be visiting Parliament. As with all the walks: no need to book - just turn up!
Monday March 18th, meet 6.30pm outside Holy Redeemer Church, Cheyne Row, Chelsea. We'll be walking in the footsteps of St Thomas More around Chelsea.
Tuesday April 16th, 6.30pm meet at SS Anselm and Cecilia, Kingsway - we'll be walking around Lincolns Inn Fields, seeing the pub where BishopChalloner used to meet Catholics secretly.
Monday May 13th, meet 6.30pm Westminster Cathedral - we'll be walking around St James Park and Whitehall.
And book these dates in advance: Tuesday June 18th - all day - a DAY OF FAITH organised by the FAITH MOVEMENT. (More info on this later. But book the date in your diary now!)
Sunday June 23rd - The annual MARTYRS WALK through London. Meet 1pm at St Sepulchre's Church, near the Old Bailey (narest tube: St Paul's). We finish with Benediction and Tea at Tyburn.
August 8th-11th THE JOHN PAUL WALSINGHAM WALK organised by the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, and supported by the Catholic History Walkers. (Oh, and by the way, there are some good pix of the Reunion Walk for the 2012 John Paul Walkers here...)
On to the Lock family home,a cheery talkative supper and then we got down to business and planned the Catholic History Walks for the Spring and Summer of 2013. Note these dates now!
Monday Feb 25th, meet at 6.30pm, (ie after the 5.30pm Mass) steps of Westminster Cathedral. We'll be visiting Parliament. As with all the walks: no need to book - just turn up!
Monday March 18th, meet 6.30pm outside Holy Redeemer Church, Cheyne Row, Chelsea. We'll be walking in the footsteps of St Thomas More around Chelsea.
Tuesday April 16th, 6.30pm meet at SS Anselm and Cecilia, Kingsway - we'll be walking around Lincolns Inn Fields, seeing the pub where BishopChalloner used to meet Catholics secretly.
Monday May 13th, meet 6.30pm Westminster Cathedral - we'll be walking around St James Park and Whitehall.
And book these dates in advance: Tuesday June 18th - all day - a DAY OF FAITH organised by the FAITH MOVEMENT. (More info on this later. But book the date in your diary now!)
Sunday June 23rd - The annual MARTYRS WALK through London. Meet 1pm at St Sepulchre's Church, near the Old Bailey (narest tube: St Paul's). We finish with Benediction and Tea at Tyburn.
August 8th-11th THE JOHN PAUL WALSINGHAM WALK organised by the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, and supported by the Catholic History Walkers. (Oh, and by the way, there are some good pix of the Reunion Walk for the 2012 John Paul Walkers here...)
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