...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.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
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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