Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Tonight...

...I am off to Holy Ghost Church, Balham (8pm) to hear a talk from Fr Gerard Bradley on "Praying the Mass" , a spiritual introduction to the new translation of the Mass. Next week (Wed Dec 7th) this is being followed up at St Anselm's, Tooting, with a practical session on "Singing the Mass" led by Jeremy de Satge. All are welcome.

Portsmouth...

...once a proud naval base, and still with Royal Navy associations and some ships...but we have only a tiny Navy now and wouldn't be able to muster the sort of fleet that saild to the Falklands 30 years ago...

I was in Portsmouth to talk to young Catholics at the University. They don't have a chapel or a room for evening meetings,so we met in a standard lecture-room. But the atmosphere was cheery and friendly - a group had also come from the CathSoc at Southampton University - and afterwards there was a talkative gathering at a pub over drinks and (extremely good) snacks.

Topic of my talk was "The Church and women" and we explored the whole male/female bridegroom/bride theme, looked at the great women saints of the Church and at Blessed John Paul's theology of the body and Mulieris Dignitatem.

Last month I met met people from Portsmouth when I was invited to speak to a meeting organised by the Ascent Movement in South London. We got friendly, and they urged me to stay with them if I was ever visiting the area - an invitation I gladly took up on this trip. They were so warm and welcoming, and we sat talking over mugs of tea till after 1am!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

AN IMPORTANT CONFERENCE...

...is planned for Tuesday Jan 17th at the Maryvale Institute in Birmingham. "The Beauty of Complementarity - a day on authentic Catholic Womanhood". Starts 10 am, includes lunch. Some excellent speakers from the Siena Symposium for Women, Family and Culture and the POntifical John Paul II Institute....more info. from artassistant@maryvale.ac.uk

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Latest issue of FAITH mgazine...

....arrives. A good read. Sample it here...

Went to...

...an excellent evening of the new Catholic Voices Academy. Subject was same-sex unions. Informative,up-to-date, thoughtful, useful. This is a project that is going from strength to strength and doing a necessary and valuable job.

The book...

... for children, on Blessed John Paul seems to be popping up all over the place, which is pleasing.I delivered some to a friend today, who wanted copies for the school where he works...

It's not just for Catholics. An Anglican bookshop is stocking it too...

In the West Country...

...to speak at the Exeter University CathSoc, a delightful group of young people. A lively talkative pasta supper - much reminiscing about World Youth Day, which several attended in the Quo Vadis group to which I was also attached - then a time of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel. It was lovely to be there in the peace and silence: it was Thursday so I said the Luminous Mysteries, realising again how perfectly these fit in the presence of the Bl. Sacrament...

My talk was on "The Catholic Church and Women". It is interesting that with Catholic groups in universities there is a lack of any assumption that the Church should have women priests: on the contrary, a recognition that there is something profound here in the male/female bridegroom/bride relationship between Christ and his Church. The young women are confident and cheerful in leadership roles and have no time whatever for any hint of misogyny. They are mildly aghast, and perhaps amused, at attitudes of the recent past which blocked women from attending university or gaining degrees, and they like Bl. John Paul's Mulieris Dignitatem and related Church documents of recent times. Their attitude to the priesthood is one which recognises its theological reality: they don't see a male priesthood as something which denigrates women.

Above all, this group at Exeter is enthusiastically Catholic: comitted to prayer and to Mass, loyal to the Church. They like a dignified liturgy (yup, Latin and all) , they like silence in prayer, they talk about these things together, they are at ease with being strongly identified as Catholic...

We talked until very late.

Pass it on...

Read on:

On Tuesday evening, on the Tube, I realised I had lost my wallet - a nightmare as of course it has my cheque-card etc in it, and I was due to travel to the West Country for a speaking engagement... I was anxious about getting home as I had no money for a taxi, and when I telephoned J. about this, a fellow-passenger overheard me and said "Let me help - I'm getting a taxi and would be very happy to get you home!" She insisted and got me safely to my house, refusing all offers of let-me-have-your-address-and-I'll-pay-you-back" etc and we both agreed that I'd simply pass the goodwill on next time I saw some one in need of help...

Fast forward to Taunton railway station the following night, and I'm asking the way to my hotel. A lady standing nearby says "We used to live next door to that hotel - my husband is coming to meet me here in a couple of minutes. We'll give you a lift there..."

Two acts of random kindness within 48 hours...but would I get the chance to pass on the goodwill?

Next day, back at the station, I'm deep in Weigel's The End and the Beginning about Bl John Paul and a young man hurries to the ticket office in something of a panic "I've left my wallet on the train..." The ticket collector is helpful and starts various enquiries...and the young man has no cash and is in exactly the position I was in two nights back. "Here" I said, handing over a tenner...

And we chatted and I told him briefly about what had happened. He said he will pass the goodwill on.

Monday, November 21, 2011

A bit more...

...about TOWARDS ADVENT can be read here...

...and do read here a kind and enthusiastic review of the new book on Blessed John Paul...

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Hallelujah!

A glorious Hallelujah Chorus was sung at the end of Mass this morning at Holy Ghost, Balham, to mark the feast of Christ the King. A number of us gathered for lunch at the presbytery, hosted by Fr Stephen Langridge of Southwark Vocations, for a World Youth Day reunion - we drank a toast and recalled giant grasshoppers and horrible ants and scorching heat, and the thunderstorm and the blessed cool that followed and the glorious night vigil of prayer with the Holy Father...I will never forget Madrid and WYD 2011 and it was good to be talking and remembering together.

This evening, another excellent gathering at St Joseph's, New Malden part of the Confident 2B Catholic series...we watched a DVD on St Edmund Campion and then talked about this magnificent hero-saint and his life and its message...

A GOOD CROWD, and a happy spirit...

...the 2011 Towards Advent Festival was a great success! Great numbers of people thronged into Westminster Cathedral Hall,the Gallery Choir of the Cathedral Choir School sang gloriously, Archbishop Vincent Nichols greeted everyone and opened the Festival in great syle,our special guest speaker Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate spoke to a standing-room only gathering in the Hinsley Room. All the bookstalls and displays by Catholic groups and organisations reported good sales and lots of visitors. Crowds poured into the Hinsley Room again for the celebration of Blessed John Paul by the youth drama team from Oxford: people crammed into every available space, sitting on the floor and on window-ledges. It was all wonderful, and possibly our best Festival yet...the Assn of Catholic Women did a wonderful job serving teas and coffees and sandwiches and cakes all day, and the Hall was filled with so many wonderful andinteresting things to see and read and watch and buy and discuss. Some wonderful paintings by members of the Society of Catholic Artists filled the stage area. Some beautiful craftwork was on sale at various stalls - hand-made rosaries sold in aid of a charity in India supporting nuns who care for and educate blind children, some fine statues, olive wood products from the Holy Land...Aid to the Church in Need was there, and EWTN, and the CTS and the National Catholic Library and all sorts of booksellers and publishers,and the Catenians, and the Knights of St Columba, and many many more groups and charities...

A hectic day for Auntie, but a happy one: this Festival began its life in 2000 and it is most satisfying to see it safely launched into the start of its second decade...

Thursday, November 17, 2011

...and today...

...a "washup" meeting for the Catholic Women of the Year event held in October. This overview meeting of the organising committee involves a lot of noisy chat, a mild air of self-congratulation ("It all went very well, didn't it?") jostling with ideas for next year, tiresome discussion of menus ("So are we agreed then on the salmon followed by the lemon mousse?") and some useful ideas and thoughts and plans. The 2011 Catholic Women of the Year Luncheon was chiefly notable for the excellent guest speaker - Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate - and we came up with some good ideas for the 2012 event.

On to Westminster Cathedral for a glorious sung Mass celebrated by Bishop John Arnold and attended by members of the Catholic Union on the occasion of its Annual General Meeting. We needed the inspiration and beauty of the Mass because the meeting, tackling a number of major issues currently confronting Christians in Britain, included much depressing news. The most depressing of all is the Government's ghastly plan to redefine marriage. Edward Leigh MP spoke to us on this subject: he is being courageous in speaking out clearly on this subject.

I joined the Catholic Union back in the 1970s and back then we knew that much was wrong - abortion had been legalised, there was a vast amount of pornography widely on display in newsagents and supermarkets, there were schemes of sex education in schools that were crude and damaging,...and there was a concern that things would get worse and that we must all stand firm to uphold human and Christian values. Well, we were right to worry and right to do what we could, and we'll go on doing what we can...

Where has auntie been...

...over the past few days? Check here...

Saturday, November 12, 2011

A most impressive evening...

...organised by PACT Schools to launch their scheme for two new independent schools in the London area. Speaker was James Stenson who gave an upbeat, positive and stirring call for strong and inspirational education to develop "outstanding young men and women with a great love for truth and freedom".

I am already familiar with the work of PACT, and especially with Oakwood School - I remember having supper with a small group of friends who were gathering together to get the whole project off the ground, back in the 1990s. It has gone from strength to strength.

I found Friday's gathering really exciting, because although this will be a huge new venture, there is a sense of dedication and hope. There is a real concern about the future in Britain, about what is happening to our young, about Christianity and its place in our common life, about what sort of community will exist here in a decade's time. We will need men and women of faith and courage and they are the children who are around now, who will be teenagers over the next five years...

Remembrance Day....

...on Friday, and I arrived at Victoria Station just as the Two Minutes Silence was about to start, so stood silently with other passengers and staff on the crowded concourse...

Committee meeting of the Association of Catholic Women: our next main event is a Study Day for Catholic teachers and parish catechists on the subject of the Eucharist. Fedb 7th, at Coloma School, Croydon, starts with lunch at 12.15pm. Workshop on Gregorian chant with Jeremy de Satge of The Music Makers. Talk on the Eucharist and the school/parish community by Father James Clark, chaplain to the John Fisher School, Purley. MASS, at which the chant learned at that afternoon's workshop will be sung.

All Catholic teachers and parish catechists are welcome. The fee for theday is £20 which includes lunch, tea, and workshop materials. If you are interested, send a Comment to me at this blog INCLUDING, IN THE TEXT OF YOUR COMMENT,an EMAIL ADDRESS to which I can reply to you. Of course I will not publish your address.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Mgr Keith Newton...

...of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham spoke at The Keys, the London branch of the Catholic Writers' Guild, on Thursday. He was excellent - the format was a question-and-answer session in which the interviewer was Fr Peter Newby, chaplain to The Keys and parish priest of St Mary Moorfields where the meeting took place.

Things began with Mass in the church, and then dinner. Before the talk began, the winner (Jodie Goss, Ursuline School, Wimbledon) and runner-up (Emma Findlay-Wilson, St Mary's School, Shaftesbury) for this year's Catholic Young Writer Award were presented with their prizes by the Master of the Guild, Mary Kenny, and the Shield was presented to the winner by Mgr Keith. Entrants this year were invited to write about love, marriage, and the Wedding at Cana (theme chosen because of the Royal Wedding in April) and the winning entries were of a very high standard. The Award is sponsored by the Catholic Union of GReat Britain and you can read the winning entries here and here.

This was a really excellent evening. Mgr Keith is frank, open,and informative. He has no illusions about the challenges facing the Ordinariate. He is most interesting on the history of the Church of England in the latter part of the 20th century, on its current state in the 21st and its prospects. He speaks without any sense of having sort of hidden agenda - he believes in the urgency of evangelising Britain and relishes being part of the universal Church which has this task. He is knowledgeable and unpretentious, and communicates with a great sense of warmth and joy.

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Can anyone help me...

..place a quote? Somewhere in one of CS Lewis' books (The Great Divorce? Mere Christianity? Can't find my copy of either...)there is a most useful description of Purgatory, which suggests that emerging from there might be a bit like that moment at the dentist when you hear the blessed words "Just rinse out now..."

Which book? Which essay? Any thoughts? I really need this for something I am writing...

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Here is Auntie...


...with her book about Blessed John Paul. You can read more about it all here...

...and the book might be a nice stocking-filler for a son or daughter/godchild/niece or nephew/grandchild/young friend this Christmas?

And on the subject of beauty...

...if you don't subscribe to Magnificat, you really are missing out. This is a monthly spiritual feast - Morning and Evening Prayer for each day, glorious art to relish and commentaries and explanations linked to it to ponder, the texts of the Mass readings and prayers for each day, and fascinating stories of saints and heroes of the Faith to read...and more. It is pocket-sized, arrives every month by post, and links you with the whole Church in prayer. It is a pleasure to use and handle - the paper is creamy,thinly textured and has lovely print in red and black - and it is well produced so that it won't disintegrate when you use it day after day. Just relish it.

A couple of correspondents...

...to this Blog have asked for details about the Towards Advent Festival on Sat Nov 19th. It's at Westminster Cathedral Hall - doors open 10 am, formal Opening Ceremony with music from the Gallery Choir of the Cathedral Choir School 10.30am. Admission is free, tickets for talks £2.00 each. Special guest speaker is Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham at 1.30pm - but get there well before that as you need to buy a ticket for the talk first.

Down by the river...

...we were staying with relations and Sunday morning saw us all at Mass in the beautiful little church of St Birinus at Dorchester. As Autumn sunlight dappled the churchyard and its golden leaves, people filled the pews of this exquisite little church and raised their voices in glorious chant and in some lovely hymns ("Immortal invisible..." "Jerusalem the golden..."). The new Mass translation brings out the glory and wonder of what is taking place at the altar.

The New Evangelisation needs this beauty: to give witness to God who is Truth, Goodness and Beauty we need all three: to hear the sacred timeless words of consecration in the context of glorious music and the cherished loveliness of a beautiful building is to experience what the Church is all about...

To Oxford...

...to an absolutely delightful, hilarious play by P.G.Wodehouse, presented in a theatre at Wadham College. This was one of the most enjoyable evenings I have spent at any theatre - a talented group of players and the enchanting wit of Wodehouse...it was pure pleasure.

Thursday, November 03, 2011

On All Souls' Day...

...an evening Mass at the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More in Chelsea. As the London November evening darkened outside, the church glowed with candles and the timeless rhythm of the Mass bound us with those for whom we were praying.

On All Souls' Day, everyone brings memories to Mass as we all pray for our dead.

Read about...

...what I was doing on All Saints' Day here...

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

This Friday...

...you simply must come to hear the talk on Blessed John Henry Newman, given by Dr Andrew Nash. Venue: the Hinsley Room, Westminster Cathedral. 7pm. All welcome. Coffee and cake served, any funds raised will go to the Maryvale Institute.

This is an illustrated talk, and it's really excellent. Lots of people vaguely know about Newman but haven't heard the full story and aren't aware of his huge significance for today, his influence on our present Holy Father, etc etc. Come and hear!

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

There is a lovely review....

...of Auntie's book on Blessed John Paul II here...