...organises various events through the summer. The Summer Session for young people (18-35) took place this week.I attended this gathering over 40 years ago, and have returned as an occasional visitor over the years. This time I led a workshop on Britain's heritage of Christian feasts and seasons, customs and traditions. A good response and a most enjoyable and satisfying morning.
It was great to meet good friends - the FAITH priests were present in large numbers and the Session is a great gathering filled with news and talk in a relaxed atmosphere. A glorious sung Mass, and the day concluded with Compline...I had to leave immediately afterwards, missing the quiz and social time which followed. Walking down the lane towards the station, through the lovely Woldingham valley on this cool summer evening, with the Salve Regina still ringing in my ears, my memories went back to similar golden evenings in the 1970s, with that same ancient prayer chanted in that same way in a full chapel...and now the children and even grandchildren of those who sang it back in the '70s are singing it...
In those early days the Summer Session was held at Roehampton, and things moved to Woldingham some years ago. It's a fabulous setting, and offers beautiful grounds and even a swimming pool. Numbers rose year on year, but have evened off now. The number of priests continues to rise The Britain into which today's young Faith Movement members have grown up is different in so many ways from that of the '70s - we did envisage nastier and nastier attacks on marriage and the further promotion of abortion etc, but we did not envisage some of the social changes: the huge growth of the "me" culture or the easy availability of things which to us seemed special treats or luxuries (eg holidays in exotic destinations, a vast range of restaurants even in ordinary suburbs), and of course the dominance of mobile phones and the whole "social media" obsessive lifestyle...new challenges, new opportunities for evangelisation...
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
COME AND DISCOVER OUR HERITAGE....
...customs, traditions, cookery, calendar...there is so much in English Catholic heritage that is magnificent, enchanting, delightful, and inspiring...
Come to Walsingham and discover it...info here...book in and enjoy it all!
Come to Walsingham and discover it...info here...book in and enjoy it all!
Dear "Unknown", trying to reach me...
...please send another COMMENT to this blog, giving an email to which I can reply to you. It is not possible to reach me at any other email address you may have been given.
Monday, July 29, 2019
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Stupid propaganda in the forthcoming census...
...it seems that the weird Soviet-style rewriting of truth has to be pushed all the time...who are the people who do this? Are there no people of wisdom, common sense and reasonabl intellectual ability working in our bureaucracies these days?
Thursday, July 25, 2019
...and now we have a new Prime Minister...
...who took office on the feast of St Boris. Yes, really.
We must wish him well. The political situation is messy. We should tackle Brexit, and focus on some sane policies that might begin to reduce the crime rate and restore a sense of community.
But most of our country's problems are beyond the reach of political activity. The best we might hope for is that the govt ceases giving grants to groups that are actively doing harm, eg those that go to schools to promotelesbian and homosexual lifestyles or urge children to think of being "transgender." Might also be useful to have some reforms in the police service, which seems to have become weirdly political as well as hopelessly gullible: ref the Carl Beech horror...
We must wish him well. The political situation is messy. We should tackle Brexit, and focus on some sane policies that might begin to reduce the crime rate and restore a sense of community.
But most of our country's problems are beyond the reach of political activity. The best we might hope for is that the govt ceases giving grants to groups that are actively doing harm, eg those that go to schools to promotelesbian and homosexual lifestyles or urge children to think of being "transgender." Might also be useful to have some reforms in the police service, which seems to have become weirdly political as well as hopelessly gullible: ref the Carl Beech horror...
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
A memorable day in London...
....with a team from FOCUS, the USA_based Catholic students group, who have been here in Britain on mission. Taking a break from their work in street evangelisation, organising Night fever etc, they spent a day discovering London's history with Auntie. We began with Mass at St Elizabeth's, Richmond, and then after coffee and buns walked to the Old Palace and the river and learned about Henry VII and Henry VIII and all that, with a quick romp through Romans and Saxons etc on the way...
Train to London, where the bells of Westminster Abbey were pealing out - there is no more glorious sound. It was for Prince George's birthday. He is six: our future king. What sort of country, with its current social, moral, and spiritual muddle and its failing birthrate, will he inherit?
We were allowed into the Abbey in small groups to pray: although tourists are encouraged to queue up and pay to visit all the royal tombs etc, you can of course enter the Abbey nave from the West Door if you genuinely want to pray, and we did. There are two Eastern-style icons, one of Christ and one of Our Lady, with stacks of candles in front of them, all in the area near the Coronation Chair and the Tomb of our Unknown Warrior. It was rather moving to stand and pray the Lord's Prayer there with these young missionaries...
Train to London, where the bells of Westminster Abbey were pealing out - there is no more glorious sound. It was for Prince George's birthday. He is six: our future king. What sort of country, with its current social, moral, and spiritual muddle and its failing birthrate, will he inherit?
We were allowed into the Abbey in small groups to pray: although tourists are encouraged to queue up and pay to visit all the royal tombs etc, you can of course enter the Abbey nave from the West Door if you genuinely want to pray, and we did. There are two Eastern-style icons, one of Christ and one of Our Lady, with stacks of candles in front of them, all in the area near the Coronation Chair and the Tomb of our Unknown Warrior. It was rather moving to stand and pray the Lord's Prayer there with these young missionaries...
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Of course I remember....
...watching the Moon Landing, on black-and-white TV and with my brother setting up a camera in front of the screen to record this moment of history.
Did you know that the first written words read on the moon were the words of Christ? And the first food consumed was Communion?
When Buzz Aldrin, who was an ordained Presbyterian minister, stood with Neil Armstrong on the surface of the moon, he had brought a wafer and wine from his church with him, and as Armstrong stood alongside, he read silently from the Gospel of St John "Jesus said: I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in Him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me."
Then, as he later recalled: "I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were communion elements."
You can read more about this here.
Did you know that the first written words read on the moon were the words of Christ? And the first food consumed was Communion?
When Buzz Aldrin, who was an ordained Presbyterian minister, stood with Neil Armstrong on the surface of the moon, he had brought a wafer and wine from his church with him, and as Armstrong stood alongside, he read silently from the Gospel of St John "Jesus said: I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in Him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me."
Then, as he later recalled: "I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were communion elements."
You can read more about this here.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
JOHN HENRY NEWMAN'S CANONISATION....
...now has a specially dedicated website. It has some good stuff on it, and you might be interested in this bit...
Saturday, July 13, 2019
It's important...
....that you read about this case of injustice...and you might feel you can offer some modest help in rectifying it....
Friday, July 12, 2019
Seven deadly sins...
...and one of them is celebrated with much commercial support and with public funds in London....read here...
Busy...
...and therefore neglectful of this Blog. A day spent with a team reading and judging entries for the 2019 Schools Bible Project, run by an ecumenical Christian group. Three separate History Walks in the City, Islington, and Westminster. The Islington one focused on 19th century heroine Caroline Chisholm - you can find out about her here....a barbeque following Evensong at church...a meeting with the team that initiated the History Walks to discuss future plans...and more...
Because I loathe hot weather...
...I find new cheery ways to respond when people say "What a glorious day!" meaning a boiling, scorching one. A beaming smile, and an enthusiastic "Very hot and sunny!" usually works well. But with all the talk about global warming perhaps I won't have to continue with this deception, and we can all agree that very hot weather is horrid.
Tuesday, July 09, 2019
More about John Henry Newman...
...and his London links...here...with a picture of the Newman Shrine at a South London church which has often featured on this log...
Wednesday, July 03, 2019
Latest issue of FAITH MAGAZINE...
...is available here...
Or, if you would like a free sample copy of the print version, send a Comment to this blog with your FULL POSTAL ADDRESS (which I will of course not publish)....
Or, if you would like a free sample copy of the print version, send a Comment to this blog with your FULL POSTAL ADDRESS (which I will of course not publish)....
Tuesday, July 02, 2019
...and you can read more about Newman and London...
...here...
...and more about the Newman shrine in the Church of the Most Precious Blood, in this new book...
...and more about the Newman shrine in the Church of the Most Precious Blood, in this new book...
ON THE VERY DAY THAT JOHN HENRY NEWMAN'S CANONISATION WAS ANNOUNCED...
...the Ordinariate and parish church of the Most Precious Blood at The Borough, London Bridge, was consecrated by Archbishop Peter Smith, with an overflow congregation, glorious music, and a rich liturgy with the anointing of the Consecration Crosses along the church walls, and the embedding of relics into the altar beneath the great baldachino...
There are some fine pictures of it all on the local community website here.
It was a truly magnificent evening. The front of tthe church, facing on to the street, was decked with Papal bunting and golden and white balloons. The children's choir sang gloriously, in Latin and in English...the stonemason walked solemnly up the aisle to embed the relics...Mgr Keith Newton the Ordinary, preached... the hymns resounded to the rafters... the sacred oil was poured on to the altar and unseen hands produced, from behind, the most beautiful flowers...and when all was over, Fr Christopher spoke and told the whole story of how this fine church, once deemed effectively ready for closure, was renewed through the dedication, generosity, hard work and loyalty of all sorts of people...
Then champagne and a buffet in the warm summer evening in the parish schoolyard....everyone celebrating this chapter of local history, and this great day in the life of the universal Church.
There are some fine pictures of it all on the local community website here.
It was a truly magnificent evening. The front of tthe church, facing on to the street, was decked with Papal bunting and golden and white balloons. The children's choir sang gloriously, in Latin and in English...the stonemason walked solemnly up the aisle to embed the relics...Mgr Keith Newton the Ordinary, preached... the hymns resounded to the rafters... the sacred oil was poured on to the altar and unseen hands produced, from behind, the most beautiful flowers...and when all was over, Fr Christopher spoke and told the whole story of how this fine church, once deemed effectively ready for closure, was renewed through the dedication, generosity, hard work and loyalty of all sorts of people...
Then champagne and a buffet in the warm summer evening in the parish schoolyard....everyone celebrating this chapter of local history, and this great day in the life of the universal Church.
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