Monday, December 30, 2013

In the ordinary way...

...life at home is two of us J. and me, plus a lot of activity, much hurrying about, trains, buses, Tubes, telephones, meetings, conferences...

But at Christmas we are part of a series of big extended family gatherings. And the pace changes. Music, talk, books, walks.  A dear elderly relation, shared memories of previous Christmasses, comfortable evenings with a DVD of a classic film and with Turkish delight and glasses of wine. Cheerful kitchen talk over washing-up. Meals with a lot of us gathered around a big table, afternoons spent crawling on the floor with small nephews and nieces, muddy walks in wellies.  Young relations singing Christmas carols alongside Auntie in church.

Time to sit back and share in the general talk and laughter. A splendid box of crackers - a gift from New Zealand relatives and much enjoyed - children sucking sugar-candy sticks  from the Christmas tree and an uncle dozing comfortably. I tackled a new tapestry project. "Auntie - let me see your knitting...let me have a go!" pleaded an energetic small nephew. I showed him how to put in a stitch or two, and with solemn expression and much sucking-in of breath he drew the wool through the material with deep satisfaction.

Some work intrudes. You can do a lot with a laptop, and some book-proofs needed checking and re-checking. An idea for a feature jiggled itself around in my head and resolved itself into something that had to be written. And as 2014 draws into sight, new adventures and new horizons beckon...




Friday, December 27, 2013

Happy New Year...

...and some dates to note:

Tuesday Jan 14th HISTORY WALK, meet 1.30pm  (after the 1.05pm Mass) at Precious Blood Church, O'Meara Street, London SEI (nearest tube: London Bridge)

Wednesday Jan 15th, 7.30pm Church of the Assumption, Warwick St London WI (nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus) . FAITH Evening: speaker, Fr Stephen Dingley. This is the first of a series of FAITH Evenings at Warwick St: book them into your diary - EVERY WEDNESDAY EVENING FROM JAN 15th for FOUR WEEKS.

Tuesday Feb 4th, 3pm Westminster Cathedral. History Walk in and around the Cathedral.

Sat March 8th -Training Day on Public Speaking. See below.


Interested?

...If you are interested in a (one-day) Training Session on Public Speaking, focusing on communicating the Catholic Faith:

A Public Speaking Training Day will be held at EALING ABBEY (London: nearest tube - Ealing Broadway)   on Saturday March 8th.  It will start with (REAL) coffee at 10.30am, and finish at 5.30pm.  The Training Day originated as a follow-up to the 2013 Evangelisation course at Maryvale, but is open to anyone interested. It will be interesting, useful, and fun.

The Day will include a sandwich/buffet lunch. Cost of the whole day: £20.

If you are interested, send a Comment to this Blog marked NOT FOR PUBLICATION. and including - this is crucial - an EMAIL ADDRESS AT WHICH I CAN CONTACT YOU.



Christmas adventures...

... midnight Mass, and then we were with a large house-party on Christmas Day - great fun, a great gathering around the large table, the youngest a baby a year old, the oldest a cheery 80-year-old. Lunch, much talk and laughter and then music...

We decided to leave the exchange of gifts until Boxing Day, and all was prepared for a small family dinner, gifts stacked beneath the Tree, candles glowing by the crib. Jamie cooked a delicious meal but then - in the kitchen,  a sudden slithering of plates, a crash, the sound of breaking china, and Jamie with a badly bleeding arm...I  rushed to patch him up from the First Aid box, but it was more serious than that, and  Hospital was needed.  Our kind guest David - retired Army padre and a wonderful friend - hurried him there in his car while I  sorted out other domestic arrangements... J. is now safely home and the evening ended with mince pies and big mugs of tea...and the gifts beneath the Tree can wait until tomorrow.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Want to see...

...something of our carol singing at London Bridge station?  Read here...

Monday, December 23, 2013

Working on...

...a new series for EWTN, due to be recorded in March. Reading up history, checking out sources, writing up notes, all in the light of the Christmas tree.  Across the room stands the crib, with the Christ-child tucked into a vase nearby, awaiting arrival in the manger after Midnight Mass. Three Wise men are making their way slowly across some piles of books, to arrive for Jan 6th. The Advent wreath has small tealights this year, as being easier to use than taller candles. Yesterday evening a family dinner, marking the Fourth Sunday of Advent...

Sunday, December 22, 2013

For January...

... WEDNESDAY EVENINGS 7.30pm  at the Church of the Assumption, Warwick St, WI (nearest tube:  Piccadilly Circus). FAITH Movement.


Wed Jan 15th Fr Stephen Dingley "What makes man unique in God's creation?"

Wed Jan 22nd  Fr Dominic Rolls “The Evocation of the Word”

Wed Jan 29th Fr Chris Findlay-Wilson “God our Environer"

Wed Feb 5th Fr Tim Finigan 'How does Jesus Christ save us?'
 
ALL WELCOME.  No need to book - just turn up.  Come and find out more about the Catholic Faith. Come with questions. Come ready to listen and talk and think things through.  Come on your own or being some one else along too.
 

London as Christmas approaches...

..has some heart-warming sights. A troop of children in long golden robes and with circlets of golden tinsel on their heads, carrying carol-sheets and walking along two by two, with a teacher at the head and rear, heading for a nearby church for a Nativity play. An angelic choir, but giggling and excited and messing about...

Some shops have lovely window displays, and there are lots of Christmas trees including one in New Palace Yard by the Houses of Parliament, and of course the big one in Trafalgar Square.   But...some shops have ALREADY (BEFORE CHRISTMAS HAS EVEN ARRIVED!) taken down their Christmas decorations and put up signs for post-Christmas sales...aaargh!

We - that is LOGS, the Ladies Ordinariate Group - gathered in good numbers at London Bridge station to sing carols. This involved some  formalities beforehand, reporting to the Network Rail Office in Tooley Street and being given a formal Briefing ("In the Event of Fire, you must Leave by the Nearest Available Exit" etc)...and then there is always a moment of awkwardness as the group forms up on the station concourse and carol-sheets are distributed...but then once we really got singing, it was all absolutely superb.. We sang and sang, and there was lots of goodwill, people coming up to donate money, to thank us, to wish us a Merry Christmas. People especially like to bring their children up to put a coin in the box and to enjoy the carol-singing...

Our singing filled the station: we found that the acoustics worked really well if we stood facing outwards, with the trains behind us...and people in fact could also hear us even as they approached from the steps and escalators.

All heartily enjoyable, and then afterwards, a cheery gathering back at Precious Blood Church with mulled wine and mince pies...

Friday, December 20, 2013

Carol singing...

tonight (Fri 21st Dec) at London Bridge station. Look out for us...

And on Wednesday I joined a group singing at VICTORIA station, organised as ever by the splendid Yvonne with volunteers from various places including  the excellent parish of St Joseph's, Roehampton. The singing was really glorious - we had a good crowd, a couple of guitarists and we sang all the traditional carols, with some particularly lovely singing for "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World", and the most magnificent "Glooooorias" for "Angels we have heard on high"  and "Sing dong merrily..."  We sang "Adeste Fideles" in Latin and in English. Mindful of Papa Francis' call to evangelise, we sang  "Joy to the World" specially for him, and it went exceptionally well - and then we sang "Silent Night" for Papa Benedict, and it was so lovely that we sang it again, and then a third time.

It was all most heartily enjoyable, and the station - surging with massive commuter crowds - was filled with our music, and we had lots of people stopping to thank us, take pics, or even come and join in for a carol or two.

Now, this is all part of the real Christmas.

Last night, a group of us were due to sing carols around the streets of a corner of The Borough, but the terrific roaring thunderstorm made it completely impossible,  so after Mass, with the rain still hurtling down and thunder crashing, we settled in the parish room with some wine and snacks and had a very enjoyable time of talk and laughter.

Tonight, London Bridge station...

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

This morning...

I went to Mass at the lovely Catholic residence where a much-loved elderly relative lives. I normally visit in the afternoon or evening, and this was the first time I'd been at the daily Mass in the chapel. It was a beautiful experience. 

Sometimes - and this was such a time - there is this wonderful sense of being utterly at home in the Church, of knowing that this is where we all belong.  Celebrating the Mass was Bishop Howard Tripp - whom I have known since I was a teenager - and concelebrating with him was Fr Scott Anderson, of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, who was there at my suggestion because we had arranged to meet and this was a convenient place and time. Despite the age and frailty of many of the residents, all joined in the responses, and received Communion with great devotion...while other memories get confused, and life can seem very muddled when you are very old, the Mass remains a constant, and I found it a most powerful experience to be there witnessing that. And a kind volunteer visitor at the Home was serving the Mass - and came up to chat afterwards, reminding me that we had known each other years ago when I was a Borough councillor in the Borough of Sutton...it was so good to talk, and to reminisce...

The Advent candles glowed on the wreath - just one more to be lit next Sunday - and in the big room next door a large crib stood in the wide bay window, awaiting the Christ-child. Bishop Tripp spoke about St Joseph, and his role in the Christmas story, and the whole thing came alive...

This morning Mass gave a glow to the whole day.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Want to know more about Christmas?

And test your knowledge on what you already know?  Try the Christmas Quiz in this parish newsletter. Link here  and go to "Advent III" and you'' get the Gaudete newsletter complete with Quiz...

CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK...

...the last one of 2014. Meet INSIDE Westminster Cathedral this Tuesday at 3pm. A tour of the Cathedral, telling the story of the various side-chapels, the great events that have taken place there etc etc. New stone, recently laid by the great main door, commemorates Papa Benedict's magnificent visit in 2010 and his meeting with the crowd of young people in the piazza. New mosaics up by the High Altar. Mosaic of St David, finally honouring Wales after a century when only England Scotland and Ireland had their saints in the Cathedral. And more. Come and join us.

Gaudete Sunday...

...and after Mass, and a brief interlude for some coffee and biscuits, a team of volunteers set about cleaning the church and getting it ready for Christmas.

Precious Blood church at The Borough, London Bridge is a v. mixed parish. A lot of men - a pleasing sound of deep voices in the Mass responses - a lot of children (yes, and some yelling babies). Mix of races and ages. All sorts of people. Busy parish, and Christmas looks set to be busy.

Some of us got to work cleaning, while others started to clamber up into the attic and search out decorations, manoeuvre big Christmas trees into position and unpack the Nativity scene etc.  "If you find bubble-gum stuck under pews, don't use soap and water to get it off - come to me, as I've got the right stuff", said the Rector cheerfully. Bubble-gum? Yes, although stuck on to the floor, not under a pew. Only one piece. But - ugh!

We did a thorugh job of cleaning. Never thought of hoovering inside a confessional before, but if you think about it, it does get dust and mud and so on in there. We also tackled some high-up cobwebs in a side-chapel, using a mop with a looooong handle...

A couple of years ago, I fell down some stairs and broke my arm and after that I began to be wary of steep stairs or steps, so in order to conquer this fear I've been making a special point of  asking to go up ladders.  This meant that I got some v. enjoyable  jobs today, including putting the star on top of the Tree, and draping the lights, and fixing the golden bells and other ornaments on the highest branches.  Most satisfying.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Putting the finishing touches...

...to the next BOOK, due out in the Spring. I am writing it with a friend, Clare Anderson, with whom I have also made a TV programme, which you can watch on EWTN in due course. The programme is about the great John Paul, and we travelled in his footsteps from Wadowice to Krakow, visiting Czestochowa  and Kalwaria...we have just been sent a DVD and I went to Clare's house to watch it. We  sat rather nervously while her husband put the disc into the machine...but then when the programme3 started, we found we were pleased and even rather gripped.  Info about when it is to be broadcast will be announced on this Blog as soon as it is available...or you can keep checking the EWTN website, which will also of course be carrying info...

Friday, December 13, 2013

Pics arrive...

...from the official photographer at Auntie's Degree ceremony. The Apostolic Nuncio looks splendid, standing in the magnificent Cathedral, handing over a formal scroll, all tied up with ribbon...but who is the the plump jolly bespectacled lady in academic cap and gown, beaming at the camera, all rosy cheeks and hearty handshake? Golly, it's me.

J. says loyally "You look splendid!"  and nephews and nieces give kind affectionate hugs. But I remember a slimmer young woman, long long ago, in other formal photographs taken at dances and regimental dinners, with a waist and with light brown hair....golly, the years go by. And here I am. Different.

Monday, December 09, 2013

A wonderful traditional candlelit procession through London...

...rounding off the Mission Weekend organised by St Patrick's, Soho.  It was a superb sight - and sound - as the crowd came surging through the streets around Piccadilly, with the singing and the glowing candles and lanterns and the young faces.

The Sunday evening began with a great Mass at St Patrick's - this is an International Mass, with everyone singing the   Credo, Agnus Dei, Sanctus etc etc  in Latin, a rousing sound, and saying the Our Father together in lots of different languages. Then the procession moved out into the street, a great statue of Mary carried high by strong young men, and the whole thing led by a Cross-bearer and acolytes... lots of singing...people in pubs and restaurants staring and taking pictures, and teams of young people dispensing holy medals all around...

This year the procession finished at the Ordinariate Church in Warwick Street,  the Church of the Assumption, where there was a Litany, and then  Night Prayer - all the young voices singing, so glorious to hear.  And then there was mulled wine and mince pies for anyone who managed squeeze in and get some...my job was to dispense the mulled wine, and I hugely enjoyed doing this and the wonderful atmosphere of joy and friendship...

Saturday, December 07, 2013

Soho...

...all of London needs the love of Christ, but Soho perhaps needs it in specially large doses. And will be receiving it this weekend, as the young team from St Patrick's Soho hold their Advent Mission. Prayer, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, street evangelisation, young people with lanterns taking the message of Christ out to the lost and lonely and the rich and the miserable and the muddled and the why-was-I-ever born...

Want to help? Join them in prayer...

Friday, December 06, 2013

The culmination of...

...a year's work.  The Prizegiving for the 2013 Schools Bible Project took place this week at the House of Lords. Baroness Cox, who is a Trustee of Christian Projects, the group that runs this big annual essay scheme for schools, presented the prizes.

This is a nationwide project, run on a large scale. Every secondary school in Britain receives a brochure, inviting pupils to study six different events in the New Testament. Each pupil must then choose one of the events and write about it as if he or she had been actually present. This year, the events included Christ raising Lazarus from the dead,  Christ calming the storm at sea, Mary Magdalene meeting the risen Christ...

As all the essays pour in, a team of judges is gathered and every essay is read carefully. The main winners are selected, together with a large number of runners-up. Prizes are posted  or delivered to all the schools - a mammoth task. During the Autumn term, I am also  kept busy visiting various schools to present prizes - a task I very much enjoy.

The main winners go to the Houses of Parliament, where they are given a tour and taught about the history (JB's task again) and then there is Tea and the presentation of the prizes - which include books for the pupils, and cash awards for their schools.

The winners this year:
1st prize: Megan Tyrell, St John Payne School, Chelmsford and How Turnbull, Hereford cathedral School.
2nd prize: Tyson McGuirk, St Joseph's School, Workington and Alice Cox, Our Lady's Convent, Loughborough
3rd Prize: Alex Meher. st John's C and E School Epping and Isabella Ward, St Mary's School, Ascot
4th Prize Binuri Wijesinghe Dr Challoner's High Schools, Bucks, Lindsay Marie Davis, Hillgrove School, Bangor and Harrison Tinley, Mayville High School, Southsea.