Monday, March 31, 2014

Rabbi Lord Sacks...

...has given an excellent lecture. Read it here.

Blessed Karl von Habsburg....

...and the tragedy of the First World War...and more...a recent conference in Vienna: read here.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

...an encounter...

...at a Tube station.

"Which way is it to central London?"  a young man in tee-shirt and jeans, brandishing his ticket. London not his home patch, he was from Wales. He wanted to get to the Tower of London. I was heading for Waterloo so got him to Charing Cross, and we walked down to Embankment.

He was a soldier,  hurrying to see various places: London, Paris and Rome. We talked Army for a while, then got chatting about other things. No, he hadn't any luggage: no need for spare clothes, he'd buy some on the way. (This is the generation that goes anywhere, with a cash-card and a mobile phone and supreme confidence).  In Rome, I said, do get to St Peter's, it's superb. "Yeah. But I'm an atheist... I think". I  said thought that unlikely, as he was too open and interested in things. "Yeah. Well, I do think there's something. I'm not an atheist really. Agnostic."

We were almost at Embankment Tube station now. Conversation had veered from Rome to Paris and back to London (He knew a lot, he said: did a marathon, parade in Whitehall, Union Jack Club at Waterloo), and then to Rome again. I told him about the marker in St Peter's Square where John Paul II was shot. He was the "Do not be afraid" Pope, I said. "That's my motto" he said. "That's what I always think."   I suddenly remembered the medals of Bl JP that a friend had brought from a recent trip to Rome and fumbled to find one, but couldn't, and hauled out a rosary instead. "I want to give you a medal of -" I began, but it got too complicated to explain and we were both in a hurry so, I said "Take this, just put it in your pocket, for your journey".  "Not my pocket" he said "I'll do this" and tugged it over his head so that it hung round his neck. Then I said "District line. On your left. Tower Hill" and we grinned a goodbye.



Laetare, and Mothering Sunday...

...and after Mass (rose vestments, lovely hymns, a take-a-break-it's-mid-Lent feeling) the Rector  blessed bunches of daffodils and, with the altar servers, distributed to them to the congregation to give to our mothers...and for those whose mothers had died, to put on the altar of Our Lady, in memoriam...

There is always a brew of coffee and tea after Mass, and then a number of us made our way to the High Street, where the local War Memorial, which had been showing serious signs of its age, was being re-consecrated in a ceremony led by the clergy from the St Saviour's Anglican Cathedral. There were some  beautiful prayers. The Rector did one of the Readings. A local councillor gave a short talk explaining how the effort to repair and renew the Memorial had been carried out.... we had the Last Post and  two Minutes of silence, and the Mayor and representatives of local regiments etc laid wreaths.

Not a large crowd, but it was all rather moving. But, throughout,  some people sat eating and chatting at an adjoining - and I do mean adjoining - restaurant, continued without even standing up for the Silence, or for the National Anthem. I wonder if they felt even slightly uncomfortable?

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Superb...Hurrah for Papa Francis...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKHKmEtpWao&feature=player_embedded


...teaching by example. This is certainly the first time that a Pope has gone to confession before the world.

So no excuses for Catholics who don't go this Lent.

Among the more idiotic and silly things that I have heard in discussions on this topic over the years:    "I don't need to go...I don't commit sins."  "I can never think of any sins to tell" "I haven't been for years. I consider myself  to be a good person". 

In Munich...

...everyone, absolutely everyone,  in the noisy crowded city centre wears either tight denim jeans, sometimes trendily ripped at the knees, sometimes  stonewashed and white along the seams, but always very tight and sleek, or they wear very tight bottom-hugging black leggings.  And these are mostly accompanied, on a hot sunny day, with either furry boots or heavy over-the-ankles black ones, although there were some daring people in trainers. I was an absolutely unique figure: a lady wearing a skirt and ordinary leather shoes. The only other person dressed remotely like me was underground - the nice African lady collecting money in the ladies lavatory.

An odd city. Very prosperous, very trendy. Shouting hippy/drunk/druggy?/grimy/slightly fearsome types hanging around the  shoppy area at the main railway station.  Lots of excellent places to eat, lots and lots of smart shops, lots of noisy young people (see above), everything very lively.  They take their paganism seriously: street theatre, serious messages, leaflets about this and that, posters about pop and travel and every kind of consumerism jostle with posters about various  fashionable causes. Also lots of politics: posters urging all to vote for an "oekological and sozialist Munchen."...

Catholicism is everywhere in the background, in street-names and in huge, beautiful churches. But it is somehow like a calendar or a map which marks out your past and the structure, but doesn't impinge on everyday life. The churches are cool and clean and beautifully kept. Candles lit and people dropping in and out, but not in large numbers.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Vienna...

...visiting friends and attending a conference (more on that later).

Dropped into the magnificent St Stephen's Cathedral - teeming w. visitors. A good number of people praying before the Blessed Sacrament. But among the tourists brandishing phone-cameras and talking,, a new trend that I have noticed elsewhere - men no longer automatically remove their hats. I indicated to one, and he apologised and immediately took his hat off. Then another - this time an elderly man with a baseball hat - and then a third. It was beginning to become a full-time job. Each time, the gentleman concerned was (a) not young and (b) perfectly pleasant and understood at once. It is as if there is a sort of general forgetfulness. The reality of the great cathedral,  sweeping arches leading up to a great high altar, people kneeling in prayer with a glowing sanctuary lamp, statues and sacred images all around,  ought to be adequate in explaining that this is a house of prayer, but it seems that modern Western man has lost his memory...I think it is now necessary to put up a notice saying "Gentlemen: please remove your hats as a sign of respect for this house of God".

A large troop of children surged down one aisle, the boys mostly woolly-hatted. Too noisy and complicated to run after them and start to explain. Further evidence that we need to teach and remind everyone. Now.

All the shops are selling the most lovely Easter eggs and choc. bunnies and decorations, much prettier than those at home.

A wonderful talkative lunch with friends, catching up on news and views. General gloom about govt-imposition of same-sex unions, increasing denunciations of Christian and human values. Happier swapping of info on family, books, mutual projects...

Evening Mass at St Peter's church. Fabulous baroque. Numbers here seem to be in reasonable shape. This is in the care of Opus Dei. Sermon - evidently one of a series -  on the Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross. It sounds more dramatic in the German "Mein Gott, mein Gott, warum hast..."

Monday, March 24, 2014

The Church: on marriage, family, forgiveness...

... really, there is so much hype and nonsensical speculation on this in the Western media. For some wisdom, try here...

Southwark Martyrs...and more...

...on Wed April 9th, at 6.30pm (ie after the 5.30pm sung Mass)  on the steps of Westminster Cathedral for the first of the new series of Catholic History Walks. London in springtime. All the daffodils are out in the parks, the grass is exceptionally green after all the rain, and there is a general air of liveliness as people grasp the reality that perhaps we are not going to be permanently waterlogged after all.

And looking ahead: Tuesday May 13th, meet at 6.30pm at Precious Blood Church, O'Meara Street, London SEI (nearest tube: LONDON BRIDGE). We will be discovering the story of the Southwark Martyrs...

The Pope...

...has called for  24 hours of continuous prayer, with one church in each diocese allocated for this:  and in London (diocese of Westminster)  this will be at St Patrick's, Soho, from Friday 28th March at 4pm to Saturday 29th March at 4pm. They are calling for volunteers to pray through the night. This is one of the most beautiful churches in London, and is associated with lots of missionary work, street evangelisation, and so on...

I was at  St Patrick's for Mass on Sunday, crossing London  on my way home from visiting an elderly relative in Somerset.  5pm Mass. Lots of people - who, as always, chose to sit in the middle or towards the back, leaving the front benches free for...who? I  didn't like to trundle my suitcase up there, but the church was filling up and it seemed silly to crowd at the back...I took a moderate somewhere-in-the-front-half-of-the-church option. One or two people who ventured into the front  territory looked like brave pioneers.

Somerset was lush and green...as the meadows which were lakes a couple of weeks ago are now draining out, with puddles and great swathes of mud. We did a wheelchair trundle along the sea front and then made enjoyed an excellent Tea with Cakes in a Tea Shop...

Saturday, March 22, 2014

And...

...on Friday April 11th, Auntie will be speaking at this parish, on the subject of John XXIII and John Paul II. The canonisation of two popes, both of whom are very much in the living memories of millions, is an event of massive significance for the Church and the world. A time to take stock, and celebrate, and ponder all this together...

Working...

...on further plans for EWTN programmes. Over the weekend of April 26th/27th (Divine Mercy Sunday) you can watch the EWTN feature on John Paul II in which Clare Anderson and I trace his footsteps around  Wadowice, Krakow, Czestochowa, and more...This all began with the book that Clare and I have written together John Paul: Man of Prayer: as we sat talking and working on Friday afternoon, an email arrived from the publisher (Gracewing)  saying that the books had just been delivered and copies were on their way to us. Great excitement.

We have dedicated this book to our husbands, who have been very patient, tolerant, and supportive during the whole of the researching/writing/planning/Poland/TV/hoursatthecomputer thing...

Friday, March 21, 2014

Lectio Divina...

...and a most helpful teaching session on this topic as part of a Lent Course. Reading the Scriptures, pondering them, praying them, allowing God to speak to us through them...

After a helpful introduction to the whole subject , the 23rd Psalm was read, and then we were silent...

Among much else, one thing I learned about this Psalm tonight was its Eucharistic message. Reading it - I mean, really reading it - you notice that the first half speaks about the Lord. And then in the second half he is actually addressed.  I was pondering this: Dominus/ Domine...and then some one else mentioned, as if it was something quite obvious to all, the Eucharistic theme of the second half ("You have prepared a table for me...").  And it dawned that that whole of this Psalm, taken together, is like the Mass: the Liturgy of the Word and then the Liturgy of the Eucharist...

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Celebrating St Joseph's day...

at this church, dedicated to St Joseph. There are always a good number of people at the 10 am Mass on weekdays, and on this day a class of children from a local Catholic primary school were there: the St Joseph's Class, which from the look of them is the youngest or almost-youngest class in the school. They all behaved beautifully and were silent, reverent, and attentive,  although it was obvious that being in a church was an unfamiliar experience for some of them, as few if any genuflected  or knew when to kneel...

 We had a really interesting sermon, explaining the significance of St Joseph, his sense of justice, his faithfulness, his huge importance in this age where fatherhood is devalued. 

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Try out...

...this website and see what this Catholic internet radio station is like...

Lunchtime Mass...

....at Precious Blood church - numbers for weekday Mass rising steadily during Lent, as it's convenient for people who work in all the offices etc nearby.

A busy day, catching up on things after being away: you can read more on my EWTN blog here...
which I wrote on Sunday...

Monday, March 17, 2014

Reading...

Michael Coren's  The Future of Catholicism - lively and punchy. Also re-reading CS Lewis' Screwtape Letters - deliciously written and a good Lenten read.  The message is as lively and relevant as ever, despite the fact that it was written over 60 years ago.

A while ago...

...a  crusader on some website claimed that he knew why Pope Benedict had retired: it was because he wanted to avoid canonising his predecessor, for whom the writer of the piece clearly  had a visceral loathing. It was deeply unconvincing, and of course it wasn't true. And Papa Benedict has now spoken, with energy and in some fascinating detail, about his deep conviction of John Paul's sainthood, of his gratitude to the Polish Pope and  the magnificent works of his pontificate including, specifically Veritatis Splendor, Fides et Ratio, and Evangelium Vitae...you can read about it here...and hear something about it here...

But what intrigues me is why anyone would want to invent weird and untrue stories about good and holy servants of the Church, and prattle on the Internet about them.

A meeting...

..with Antonia Lynn, former deacon(ess) in the CofE, who is running a special "Day for Ordinariate Pilgrims"...see here for info...

Yesterday (Sunday) a pleasant evening with members of the CathSoc of the University of Hertfordshire. Afterwards, a talkative supper with some of them, from Nigeria and from Uganda. This University attracts students from across the world, notably Africa. Extremely interesting to listen to them, and to talk things through with them.

The story of the Uganda Martyrs has long interested me: it was fascinating to hear about the current popularity of the Shrine at Namugongo, which attracts vast crowds of pilgrims every year, especially on the Martyrs' feast-day in June.

Back in the 1970s I remember a Bidding Prayer at Mass for the Church in Africa asking that God would help it to be "truly African". It was deliberately phrased to include a specific form of thought:the fashionable message in Britain at the time was that Catholics in Africa would be very liberal in their theology and in their approach to everything in the Church including doctrine and morals, and the Prayer was phrased to reinforce this view.  Even at the time I thought that silly: now, some decades on we can all observe that the very reverse is true, and African Christians are challenging the fashionably muddled approach to doctrine and morals prevalent in the West. 

Not everything is glowingly splendid in the Church in Africa: there are lots of problems. But in order to understand these, it is necessary to hear from African Catholics and not to propose ideas that are connected to Western opinions.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Chelsea...

..and a large gathering of engaged couples, on a Marriage Preparation course.  Auntie speaks at these courses, which are held regularly throughout the year  for couples from the various parishes in the deanery,  and I was already committed to this one when the trip to EWTN came up.  So when I arrived at Heathrow, I hurried home, tackled some domestic needs, freshened up, and set off again.  Destination:   St Mary's Church in Cadogan Street,  and it was a happy and useful afternoon, with the young people gathering in the garden of this beautiful church, and a mix of friendship, fun, and real  seriousness as we looked at the Catholic teaching on marriage...Cana of Galilee...Bridegroom and Bride...God's plan "in the beginning"...

Friday, March 14, 2014

...and on the flight...

Auntie will be reading John Allen's The Global War on Christians  and also taking a look at Michael Coren's The Future of Catholicism...


Last night I  enjoyed an interview with  Cardinal Marc Ouellet,  published as a readable paperback  The Relevance of  and Future of the Second Vatican Council.

...and home...

...with some popcorn for J.: they make it in a some flat envelope-thing, and you put it in the microwave and it goes popopopop and the bag goes up like a little paper balloon and you take it out and open it up and there is all the popcorn and a lot of steam.. There's a limit to how much one honestly wants to eat...it tastes a bit like cardboard covered in a mixture of artificial sweetener and melted margarine, but it is sort of fun and I'm also bringing him some peanut butter and other gosh-look-this-what-people-eat-all-the-time-in-Alabama things.

On Sunday Auntie is speaking to the Cathsoc at the University of Hertforshire, at St Peter's Church in Hatfield...  Topic is John Paul II...

BTW, EWTN's Bookmark programme will be featuring the Anderson/Bogle book about JPII  in the run-up to the canonisation, and the feature programme that we made in Krakow and Wadowice will be broadcast on the canonisation weekend...

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Auntie on the telly...

...read about it here...

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

A Bishop speaks out...

...with wisdom and clarity. Read here...

Visitors to EWTN...

... come to morning Mass, then tour the whole place, including the studios, and it's great fun to meet and talk...

When John Paul II and John XXIII are canonised...

... on April 27th, EWTN will be giving the thing full coverage. Among the material to be broadcast that weekend will be a feature about John Paul's life, filmed in Poland, and featuring Auntie and co-author Clare Anderson. You can read about it here to whet your appetite. Clare and I watched a preview a month ago, and although we thought we'd sit squirming at the sight of ourselves scurrying around Krakow and Wadowice, we actually found it quite bearable to watch and we realised what a rich story is the life of John Paul II, and how much more there is to discover in his legacy to the Church...

Pius XII...

...and, slowly, the tide is turning so that the truth is being revealed about  the Vatican and the war years.

I've been  re-reading Hitler, The War and the Pope: a must-read for anyone who wants to take this whole discussion to any relevant level. It's important to talk - while we still can - to those who lived through those years in Rome, to get a flavour of what it was all like. I found it gripping to talk to a Jewish Holocaust survivor when researching my book on the nuns who hid him and members of his family.

EWTN has done an honourable job of getting a truthful discussion going on this topic in recent years. Catholic groups and parishes could help. I would love more Catholic groups in Britain to know the story of Mother Riccarda Hambrough, the brave British nun who risked her own life to save a Jewish family...anyone interested need only send a Comment to this blog, with an email address included in the text, so that I can make contact...

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Mornings at EWTN...

...begin early, with a full sung Mass at 7 am. Then, if you are working on a TV series or linked project, there is  breakfast - a good one, with scrambled eggs and toast and something called grits which is a form of porridge and tastes of finely minced cardboard - and then one hurries to the studio. A morning's work (I'm not giving away too much about the new series...it's about Marian feasts and will, I think, work quite well) and then lunch, and if you missed Mass, there's a midday one.  Afternoon work finishes at 5pm, but there are evening things happening including the programme with Father Mitch Pacwa: Auntie will be on that this week. The guest houses all have Marian names and are comfortable and well-equipped. For Americans well-equipped includes a kitchen with packets of popcorn that you can cook in a microwave, and huge quantities of ice (the weather is already HOT here in Alabama, and in high summer it can be quite ghastly). Sitting here, working on tomorrow's projects, under the benevolent gaze of an icon and with Our Lady looking gently down from a picture in the adjoining kitchen, things feel peaceful...

Discussion over supper, however, had ranged from the moral collapse of the West to the rise of Islam, the future of Europe, the realities that face young Catholics in Britain, the European mainland,  and America over the next years...

And this...

...is what the Bogles will be doing on June 28th...

And in the USA I am asked...

...about the Church in Britain.  And part of what I say is here...

Monday, March 10, 2014

Benedict XVI on John Paul II...

..."I always knew he was a saint" Read more here.. And for a fuller account read here...

Sunday, March 09, 2014

Tradition...

...and its importance in the life of Catholics, and all Christians. I have been making programmes celebrating the traditional feasts and seasons of the Church for some while now, but there is always more to explore. I am set to make a new series, which you'll be able to watch on EWTN in due course. At a time when our culture is impoverished and children are fed a diet of TV soaps and computer games, families and schools and parish communities are doing a service to humanity in fostering community activities and genuine local traditions that mark the great events of the Christian year and can be shared by everyone.

I was particularly struck this year by being asked - along with other parishioners - to bring along the palm cross from last year's Palm Sunday, to be burned to make ashes for Ash Wednesday. Of course I knew that this is how the ashes are made, but it was made so much more significant by actually bringing my palms along. And I can't have been the only parishioner to bring along quite a few, accumulated over the years - some had been used as bookmarks (one in a Catechism, another in a biography of JPII), two or three had been tucked up behind a picture or crucifix and simply become a fixture...

Some priests go to their Catholic primary school to show the children how the ashes are made: children enjoy the drama of a brazier in the playground and being able to bring along their own palm crosses to burn.

Another important part of Lent is Laetare Sunday, Mothering Sunday. It's NOT just a commercial invention called "Mothers' Day" and its origins are much MUCH older than the 19th century: it irritates me when people repeat the silly idea that it was invented to give servant-girls a day off. It all dates back much longer than that: why did girls want to go home on that particular day? What are its links with Lent, Christian motherhood, springtime, and the dignity of women? (If you want the answers, you should read my book...)

...and just to get some more dates...

...into your diaries: Sunday May 18th, Catholic History Walk in Chelsea, including a visit to the seminary at Allen Hall.  Sunday June 22nd: The Martyrs' Walk in London, starts 1.30pm at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate (Nearest tube: St Pauls).

Reading...

...Jacques Maritain, Christianity and Democracy and The Rights of Man and the Natural Law.  I have read lengthy extracts from his works, but this evening am settling to read both these essays at leisure.

I dropped in to the bookshop here at EWTN to browse...saw this book on the bargain-books counter  and picked it up, then realised w. some embarrassment that I had no American money on me, so explained to the lady at the cash desk and went to move off.  But another customer said "Allow me.." and insisted on buying the book for me!  He hadn't even looked at the book or noticed its title or price or anything - he was making an immediate and spontaneous generous  gesture.  "You can't do that!" I said with embarassment. "Yes I can" he said, and after a further bit of  "Honestly, you really mustn't..." from me, he did. Five dollars. He and his wife were so kind - we stood and chatted for a good while, and they signed the book for me. And now, having spent the afternoon working on letters and features and emails and plans for the week's activities here at EWTN, I am about to make myself some coffee and settle down to a long-awaited encounter with a thinker whose work I have long wanted to explore...

I do think Americans are nice. I am not sure that would have happened in any other country in quite that way.

Saturday, March 08, 2014

...and meanwhile...

...back in Blighty...the FAITH Movement's popular Evenings of Faith are now drawing good numbers to Warwick St on Wednesdays.  Forthcoming topics include "The Church as a Field Hospital"  and "The Eucharist: fulfilling human nature"... More info here...   You don't need to book. Just check the date on the link given, and turn up.  The Faith Movement always attracts large numbers of young people to its events, and runs conferences and retreats especially for the young,  but to this series of talks ALL ages are welcome.

Alabama...

...and birds carolling in the mild balmy weather as I sit at a kitchen table  in a pleasant house on the EWTN campus.  Staying here is something between a retreat and a busy-Catholic-action time. On weekday mornings the bells of the chapel chime out for Mass at 7am (you can check  to see if I am there by simply watching the Mass, which is broadcast worldwide). The guest houses are in a neighbouring road, and you can to the chapel, studios etc  through the rear gardens.  Each house is comfortable and well-furnished.- at weekends, there is food provided in the 'fridge, a well-equipped kitchen, and lots of good coffee.  My only complaint on previous visits was a lack of reading material...I would have to  borrow books from the book review office.  On this trip, I arrived to find a row of good things set out for me  (Benedict Groeschel, Joseph Pearce, Mark Shea, plus Chesterton and other classics, plus biogs of Pius XIII, Mother Teresa...).

I have plenty to do, and when I am not doing it, I have started work on a new book by way of fresh intellectual exercise. Emails from home tell me that Britain is having a sudden heatwave.

Friday, March 07, 2014

Divorce? remarriage?...

...and too much media-driven speculation that "Pope Francis will change the rules". He won't and can't. It's not about "rules". the Church is not a private club.

Reading this will help you untie the knots...

In April...

this little prayer book is to be published.

Thursday, March 06, 2014

On Paul VI:"His genius proved prophetic..."

In a wide-ranging interview to an Italian newspaper, Pope Francis made clear the Church's commitment to upholding the moral law and his support for the teaching in Humanae Vitae that artificial contraception is wrong. Speaking of that encyclical, and of Paul VI, he said "his genius proved prophetic: he had the courage to stand against the majority, to defend moral discipline, to exercise a ‘brake’ on the culture..." . He praised Paul VI for opposing the promoters of "neo Malthusianism", ie the followers of  the Rev Malthus who two centuries ago was urging that the poor should be restricted in having children.

Humanae Vitae was indeed prophetic. Paul VI seemed to be a lone voice in 1968, but we can now see the wisdom of that encyclical and its upholding of the truth about the transmission of human life.

Artificial contraception breaks the unitive bond of marital love. Today, marriage is held in contempt by many in officialdom, and the stability of family life has been undermined. Cruel policies are  now imposed by public authorities, in our own country among others: you and I have to pay for  contraceptive drugs and devices pushed at young teenagers, and children at school are taught that the world is "over-populated" (when in fact the reverse is true and in Europe, in particular, we are suffering a "birth dearth" with too few young people to support the greying continent). Teenage abortions and births have soared, as have sexually-transmitted diseases. Half of all births are now outside of marriage. Most unmarried cohabiting couples break up before their oldest child reaches the age of nine.

No Pope has the power or authority to change the moral law. What is good about Pope Francis is that he has the courage not only to uphold it, but also to affirm his support for the Pope who  upheld it in 1968 in the face of so much pressure to change.

And, yes, I did read the part where Pope Francis speaks about mercy and the need for confessors to get this right. And, no, it doesn't mean that confessors should tell penitents that contraception is OK.

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Have you read...

the latest issue of The Portal?  Among much else, Auntie has written an account of the recent visit to Littlemore...

Hairdo and ashes...

...a mixture of activities in London. Mass and receiving ashes at Westminster Cathedral. Great crowds, and long long lines of people trooping up to receive ashes...also a long, long line, steadily lengthening, of people waiting patiently to go to confession. The Cathedral newsletter includes a plea for more priests to volunteer to help out at the Cathedral with this...

A question, discussed annually: should one rub off the ashes from one's forehead, on the grounds that this is what we are asked to do: to anoint one's head with oil, as it were, and be cheerful, and not let anyone know about the fact that one is fasting etc?  Or should one leave it there, on the grounds that this is an act of witness, reminding others that this is Ash Wednesday, an opportunity to evangelise, etc? The latter course risks turning into a smug look-at-me-I'm-a-good-Catholic, and frankly can be very annoying.

Auntie solved the issue this year anyway: hairdresser appointment prior to departure to the USA to make a new EWTN series. Shampooing, snipping, shaping...head anointed with oil, etc. No trace of ashes when I emerged into Victoria Street.

Pancakes...

...thus, on Shrove Tuesday, co-author Clare Anderson and I celebrated the completion of our book on John Paul II with a pancake lunch at Paddington station (convenient meeting-place from our respective homes). Watch for our EWTN special on JPII marking his canonisation (date when it will be broadcast is not yet known - contact EWTN - but obviously it will be around the time of the Great Event, ie end of April). Meanwhile, we discussed all sorts of plans for the future...books...Catholic activities...John Paul's legacy...

An email  with the final checking of details - page numbering etc - with the publisher's Editor (who is a priest, working in Rome) and a "YES" to his question :"Can I take it that you are now happy for this to go to the printer?"





Sunday, March 02, 2014

...and on Pope Francis...

you might be interested in Auntie's review here...

Cardinal Vincent Nichols...

...celebrated Mass at Westminster Cathedral this morning following his return from Rome after receiving the red hat. Knights and Dames of St Gregory gathered to join the procession. We robed in the library of Archbishop's House - the Knights wear a splendid military uniform complete with swords, and the Dames a green cloak with the  great Cross of the Order, and a mantilla. No mirror, so I peered into my reflection in the glossy shine of the piano and hope I looked all right. The procession formed up in the sacristy where the Cardinal led us in prayer, and then we set off, led by that superb choir. A measured pace, with soaring music, out into the packed cathedral. A most beautiful Mass. The Papal Nuncio was present, along with various bishops and other clergy. Guests included the Lord Lieutenant and the Lord Mayor of Westminster, and  I noticed former PM Blair and Mrs Blair with their son...

Afterwards a reception in the Cathedral Hall, everyone greeting friends, a great sense of a community celebrating a landmark event...

Saturday, March 01, 2014

The Ordinariate, hassocks, and more...

...you might enjoy this piece by Auntie in Catholic World Report.

Jeremy de Satge...

... founder of The Music Makers,  composer, teacher, writer, has died.  He made an enormous contribution to the revival of good liturgical music in Britain: to see him teach Gregorian chant to a group of people of all ages and different skills and backgrounds, was an inspiration. His beautiful Mass for Boys' Voices was sung recently at Westminster Cathedral. He taught with joy, and his enthusiasm was infectious. He had a fine singing voice and was an excellent director of music: equally enjoyable was his gift of friendship, shared with, among many others, members of the Catholic Writers' Guild of which he was a valued member. He had a deep and sincere faith and his music conveyed that.   And he was a  much-loved husband and father...may God reward him for all the joy he brought to so many people.

The FAITH Movement...

...had a general meeting in London today. Brompton Oratory: Mass in the Little Oratory, concelebrated by lots of FAITH priests, main celebrant Father Roger Nesbitt. We all renewed our Act of Dedication, which includes a commitment: "I am ready to bear public witness to all that the Faith Movement professes - Jesus Christ; His Divine Plan of Creation, Salvation and Redemption; His Church, her Sacraments and her Teaching..."

A cheery lunch, good to meet old friends: people had come from across Britain, from  Scotland and from Cornwall.

The Evenings of Faith being held at the Church of the Assumption and St Gregory in Warwick St are proving v. popular: the next is on Wed March 12th, 7.30pm...

A direct reproof...

...to the conspiracy-campaigners (Gruner and team, the "Fatimists" and their allies) from Papa Emeritus Benedict. The conspiracy team (unrevealed secrets, coded messages,we-know-what's-really-going-on-in the-Church etc etc) has been getting a bit desperate and has been rambling its way round a new set of fantasies in which Papa B. didn't really resign (evidence: um...well...he still wears a white cassock, doesn't he?) and It's All A Very Complicated Plot... and so on and so on and so on...

 Papa B. has now sent a letter establishing that yes, he did resign and yes, he did know what he was doing and no, there is nothing secret or sensational to discover.  Which is what we all knew and understood.   We love and honour him. It is horrible that self-appointed campaigners, lacking good standing in the Church, seek to wreck the serenity of his final years.

"And what are you doing for Lent...?"

...er...um...I hadn't thought about it, and the question challenged me. Easter eggs have been in the shops since January, the newspapers have been telling us that the rain will be followed by a spring heatwave, I've been busy with work and family and writing to deadlines and so on...and next week it will be Ash Wednesday, and a time to think about larger and deeper things...

Off to the USA shortly...

...to make a new series for EWTN. As always, much emailing to and fro, with lists of props required (just to tantalise you, this new series involves the use of some garden tools and some herbs, some people singing a nursery rhyme, an omelette, a library, and Auntie doing some sewing...)

A conversation...

...with a priest, some wise counsel, some practical projects to discuss. But in the course of the conversation, something which increasing occurs - the thoughtful assumption that we may, as Catholics, be facing tough times with the authorities in our country.  It's becoming more and more usual...something which only a short while ago would have seemed unlikely now seems horribly possible. To disagree, publicly and sincerely, with the Government's imposition of same-sex marriage, for instance, is certainly likely to cost you your job or any advancement in your career if you hold any sort of public office (magistrate, local government official, possibly even just teacher or school governor). And to discuss things like the need for heroism, a recognition of the spiritual strength needed for tough times, for all active Catholics, is not to be weird or fanatical, but just to be realistic. Gulp.