Thursday, September 27, 2018
The forthcoming Synod on Youth...
...looks set to be ghastly, with the initial paperwork a groaning wodge of cliches. Poor Papa Francis seems unable ever to admit that any of his projects might be wrong-headed, so the thing will grind miserably on...
At Vatican II the Bishops courageously ditched some of the initial documentation and verbiage and opted for real debates. Could not something similar happen now?
At Vatican II the Bishops courageously ditched some of the initial documentation and verbiage and opted for real debates. Could not something similar happen now?
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
To THE KEYS...
...which is the name of the Catholic Writers Guild of England and Wales, meeting in London. It was a hassle to get there - tube strike on the Piccadilly Line etc - but so good to arrive and be immediately among friends and colleagues. It really is a Guild - something more than a fellowship, more than a meeting of friends, more than gathering of like-minded people engagedin common endeavours...we are friendly, useful, and helpful to one another in the way that members of a Guild should be, but there's a lot more...this evening's chat included discussion of illustrations for a new book, exchange of ideas on recent projects, plus discussion of the splendid recent Liverpool Eucharistic Congress...
We currently meet at Farm Street church for our monthly Mass, going on afterwards to a nearby restaurant where a room is booked for supper, and then back to the panelled Hall at Farm Street for the lecture. This evening's was about Hilaire Belloc - specifically, his love of Sussex, and finishing with that haunting poem - and was excellent. A good discussion afterwards, tackling his horrid anti-semitism, his talents, his undoubted pariotism, his loathing of all things German including Nazism, and the sorrows of his life (two sons killed, one in the First World War, one in the Second...) and more...
The new Master of the Guild is to be Kevin Turley, an excellent choice. You can read some of his work here and here...
We currently meet at Farm Street church for our monthly Mass, going on afterwards to a nearby restaurant where a room is booked for supper, and then back to the panelled Hall at Farm Street for the lecture. This evening's was about Hilaire Belloc - specifically, his love of Sussex, and finishing with that haunting poem - and was excellent. A good discussion afterwards, tackling his horrid anti-semitism, his talents, his undoubted pariotism, his loathing of all things German including Nazism, and the sorrows of his life (two sons killed, one in the First World War, one in the Second...) and more...
The new Master of the Guild is to be Kevin Turley, an excellent choice. You can read some of his work here and here...
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
On Saturday...
...there will be the annual "Two Cathedrals" procession in which the Blessed Sacrament is carried across the Thames. The Orocession was started in 2009 to mark the first anniversary of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain. I am unable to attnd this year as I am speaking at a big gathering of the Catholic Women's League in Roehampton.
The Procession starts at 1.30pm at WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL and finishes with Benediction at St George's Cathedral, Southwark.
The Procession starts at 1.30pm at WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL and finishes with Benediction at St George's Cathedral, Southwark.
Thursday, September 20, 2018
The government is to choose our next bishops...
....a very, very bad plan.
That's the plan for China, if the stupid and cruel arrangement that seems to have been agreed by the Chinese govt and the Vatican goes ahead.
It's contrary to wisdom and right justice: Christ did not seek that powerful worldly rulers shuld choose who would be the fathers for his flock. He didn't invite Peter to negotiate wth rulers in Rome or Palestine to choose colleagues.
We don't want government - not the Queen, not the Prime Minister, not President Trump, not the European Union rulers, not Vladmimir Putin, not the current head of the People's Republic of China, not any government - choosing Christ's bishops. It has been tried in the past and had mixed results - it's not a mistake that needs to be repeated.
On this blog, I placed a picture of the Pope when he was elected: the idea is to remind us all to pray for him. He needs wisdom, humility, and the courage to do what is right. He is not popular and is at the core of much controversy: is he being wise and humble, and is he doing what is right? Are you praying?
That's the plan for China, if the stupid and cruel arrangement that seems to have been agreed by the Chinese govt and the Vatican goes ahead.
It's contrary to wisdom and right justice: Christ did not seek that powerful worldly rulers shuld choose who would be the fathers for his flock. He didn't invite Peter to negotiate wth rulers in Rome or Palestine to choose colleagues.
We don't want government - not the Queen, not the Prime Minister, not President Trump, not the European Union rulers, not Vladmimir Putin, not the current head of the People's Republic of China, not any government - choosing Christ's bishops. It has been tried in the past and had mixed results - it's not a mistake that needs to be repeated.
On this blog, I placed a picture of the Pope when he was elected: the idea is to remind us all to pray for him. He needs wisdom, humility, and the courage to do what is right. He is not popular and is at the core of much controversy: is he being wise and humble, and is he doing what is right? Are you praying?
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
To Portsmouth...
...for a beautiful Mass at the Cathedral, of which more in due course.
But there is something that is somehow sad about this great city - once a glorious name in the story of our Royal Navy. Deo gratias, we do still have some fine ships, and there is an instintive sense of pride that wells up when one thinks of all that the Royal Navy has meant in our country's story... but...
Somehow, so many things in Britain now have a strange, uncomfortable overlay of sloganising, that makes for a sense of things-aren't-what-they-should be.
The last time I saw an official picture of anyone in naval uniform it was a lesbian lady on a poster in London emphasising that the Navy supported a homosexual and lesbian celebratory event.
Pray for our country.
But there is something that is somehow sad about this great city - once a glorious name in the story of our Royal Navy. Deo gratias, we do still have some fine ships, and there is an instintive sense of pride that wells up when one thinks of all that the Royal Navy has meant in our country's story... but...
Somehow, so many things in Britain now have a strange, uncomfortable overlay of sloganising, that makes for a sense of things-aren't-what-they-should be.
The last time I saw an official picture of anyone in naval uniform it was a lesbian lady on a poster in London emphasising that the Navy supported a homosexual and lesbian celebratory event.
Pray for our country.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
DO READ....
...and enjoy, this excellent presentation made at the Eucharistic Congress, on how to prepare children for first Communion...
...and there are lots of other reports, and a good DVD of the Procession, here...
...and there are lots of other reports, and a good DVD of the Procession, here...
Monday, September 17, 2018
Been busy with...
...an Editorial Board meeting for FAITH magazine, in Scotland. Travelled by Caledonian sleeper - my favourite train journey. I had had a very full day in London, and it was a joy to eat supper at Euston and then sit doing some sewing (cross-stitch kneelers, since you ask) quietly and then to get on to the train when it was ready, and snuggle down cosily after a wash and some time to read...
A few days later another journey took me to Southend, where there is a thriving new branch of LOGS, meeting at this church...
A few days later another journey took me to Southend, where there is a thriving new branch of LOGS, meeting at this church...
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Discussion on...
REGISTER RADIO in the USA this evening, about the Liverpool Congress and procession.
And the National Catholic Register has also published this feature about the Walk to Walsingham this summer.
And the National Catholic Register has also published this feature about the Walk to Walsingham this summer.
Monday, September 10, 2018
Sunday, September 09, 2018
So much happening...
...and I went off to Liverpool for what turned out to be a wonderful couple of days....see my first posting about it here....and more follows.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
And in these worrying days for the Church...
...it has happened that I have been in Walsingham, a good place in which to pray....
It is worth reading this, which has personal insights into the latest developments.
It is worth reading this, which has personal insights into the latest developments.
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
A visit...
...to Littlemore, in pursuit of research on Bl John Henry Newman. A wonderful afternoon with the delightful Sisters of The Work, who run the Newman study centre and offer retreats and hospitality...
Now that the hideous heat of a few weeks ago has dissipated, the English countryside shows inits summer beauty. The Thames running along at Henley...the thick wooded lanes of Oxfordshire...a pub lunch by the river...tea at Littlemore with lively chat and a sense of welcome...a happy day...
Now that the hideous heat of a few weeks ago has dissipated, the English countryside shows inits summer beauty. The Thames running along at Henley...the thick wooded lanes of Oxfordshire...a pub lunch by the river...tea at Littlemore with lively chat and a sense of welcome...a happy day...
Come on the next London Catholic History Walks!
The King's Good Servant
Monday 10th September, 6pm. The story of heroic St Thomas More, as we walk around his Chelsea estate. Meet at the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More, Cheyenne Row. SW3 5HS. Nearest Tube: Sloane Square or South Kensington.
The City and its Wall
Sunday, 16th September, 6pm. Meet at St Etheldreda's Church, Ely Place, London. EC1N 6RY. Nearest Tube: Farringdon.
For King and Country!
Sunday 23rd September, 4pm. Catholics and Politics: St Thomas More, Guy Fawkes, Pugin, Parliament and the Abbey. Meet on the steps of Westminster Cathedral. Nearest Tube: Victoria.
Southwark and the Borough
Sunday 7th October, 4pm. See the 'other side' of London, including St George's, the capital's first post-Reformation Cathedral. Meet at the Church of the Most Precious Blood, O'Meara Street. SE1 1TD.
For King and Country!
Tuesday 9th October, 6.30pm. Catholics and Politics: St Thomas More, Guy Fawkes, Pugin, Parliament and the Abbey. Meet on the steps of Westminster Cathedral. Nearest Tube: Victoria.
The King's Good Servant
Sunday 21st October, 4pm. The story of heroic St Thomas More, as we walk around his Chelsea estate. Meet at the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More, Cheyenne Row. SW3 5HS. Nearest Tube: Sloane Square or South Kensington.
Friday, August 10, 2018
To get a flavour...
...of the message we'll be receiving and spreading at the forthcoming Eucharistic Congress in Liverpool, read this feature by one of the speakers....
Religious Freedom...
...is the basis of all our other freedoms. This is explored in the latest issue of FAITH magazine, now online here...
Monday, August 06, 2018
The NEW DAWN gathering....
...at Walsingham. This is a vast gathering of young Catholic families - lots of children and teenagers - in a meadow at the shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham. In a giant tent, a sort of temporary cathedral, Mass is celebrated and talks are given - and around the meadow are various other substantial marquees in which there are talks and workshops, with music, activities for children and more...it has been held annually for just over 30 years and has played a major role in the great revival of Walsingham which began in the first years of the 20th century and is continuing at an expanded rate in these first decades of the 21st.
A great highlight of the week - held on Wednesday at the mid-point of things - is a pilgrimage down the Holy Mile, singing and praying the Rosary, to the ruined Priory where Mass is celebrated. It is a powerful experience to be part of a crowd of more than a thousand people singing "Ave Ave Maria", many walking barefoot in accordance with tradition, walking along the lane in the way that pilgrims have done for centuries.
Auntie Joanna's involvement in New Dawn included a talk on the significance of Mary in the plan of salvation and in the life of the Church: the New Eve, and Daughter of Sion...and part of this is the significance of male/female roles...
A great highlight of the week - held on Wednesday at the mid-point of things - is a pilgrimage down the Holy Mile, singing and praying the Rosary, to the ruined Priory where Mass is celebrated. It is a powerful experience to be part of a crowd of more than a thousand people singing "Ave Ave Maria", many walking barefoot in accordance with tradition, walking along the lane in the way that pilgrims have done for centuries.
Auntie Joanna's involvement in New Dawn included a talk on the significance of Mary in the plan of salvation and in the life of the Church: the New Eve, and Daughter of Sion...and part of this is the significance of male/female roles...
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