...a multi-faith prayer room. Used to be called a chapel. No cross marks it now. It is divided into three: two rooms (male and females) for Muslims, one for Christians. I went in. The Christian space had a table, with a cloth on it and a couple of Bibles, and some Christian leaflets. No cross. I prayed the Lord's Prayer aloud, and could sense the silence descending in the adjoining rooms where there had been voices. I took up one of the Bibles (attractive, a gift from the Gideons) and read aloud from St Paul's letter to the Corinthians. I prayed silently for a while, made the Sign of the Cross aloud, and left.
Now: let's all make a commitment. Next time you are in an airport, find the prayer-room and go there and pray aloud. Alone or with others. It is good to pray before you travel, it is an opportunity to praise God and ask his blessing, and it is an act of witness. Claim the space for Christ.
LATER NOTE:
I've been corrected - see COMMENT to this blog. There is indeed a proper chapel at Heathrow. The one I encountered was simply a Prayer Room at terminal 4. Thank God for the work and witness of all involved with St George's Chapel at Heathrow, where a Cross stands tall, and where Mass is regularly celebrated.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
grim news...
...continues from Iraq.
And if you want to help send some aid, you can do so via this charity...
What will happen to the young Islamic jihadists from Britain who have gone out to join in the slaughter? They have been bragging on the internet about their exploits, posing with the bodies of their victims and so on. If, on their return to Britain, they are arrested and sent to prison, they will start to recruit other young men to their cause. Islam is very strong on British prisons, and declaring oneself a Moslem brings a number of advantages, from special arrangements for meals and times of prayer-chanting, to a strong sense of mission and identity, bonding with a group, feeling strong and important, etc...
And if you want to help send some aid, you can do so via this charity...
What will happen to the young Islamic jihadists from Britain who have gone out to join in the slaughter? They have been bragging on the internet about their exploits, posing with the bodies of their victims and so on. If, on their return to Britain, they are arrested and sent to prison, they will start to recruit other young men to their cause. Islam is very strong on British prisons, and declaring oneself a Moslem brings a number of advantages, from special arrangements for meals and times of prayer-chanting, to a strong sense of mission and identity, bonding with a group, feeling strong and important, etc...
...and one of the topics...
...that came up, inevitably in our discussions during the EWTN weekend, was the ghastly imposition of same-sex marriage laws and the way this is all being used to restrict our freedom to speak publicly about the Christian teaching on marriage. On same-sex marriage, this is a good read.
In Birmingham, Alabama...
...at the conference hotel where I was staying, there was also a large group of lovely people from one of the big Black Churches, the ladies all looking absolutely superb in the most beautiful outfits, of a sort I've only ever seen at Buckingham Palace garden parties, elegant suits and the most glorious hats. They were extremely friendly and so delightful to meet, and they were Primitive Baptists, and faith-filled and joyful. When I asked about what made them different from other Baptists they explained that they wash each other's feet, like Our Lord at the Last Supper...talking to them was a joy and we promised to pray for each other and for a great revival of Christianity in both America and Britain...
Monday, August 18, 2014
Magnificent...
...great gathering in Birmingham, Alabama,: EWTN's annual Family Festival. Large crowds, daily Mass celebrated with glorious music and great dignity, some fabulous talks, a feast of good books and DVDs on sale, children romping about in a lovely play area, long interesting discussions over meals...
Father Robert Barron gave a superb lecture, taking in Irenaeus, Augustine, and Aquinas, explaining about the Gnostics and how this heresy is a major problem today... how to counter it...St John Paul ...Benedict XVI....it was a feast for the mind and heart.
It was a delight to meet so many enthusiastic EWTN viewers...and indeed readers of this Blog. You can find out a lot more about the Festival - including something about Auntie's talk. on this link...
Father Robert Barron gave a superb lecture, taking in Irenaeus, Augustine, and Aquinas, explaining about the Gnostics and how this heresy is a major problem today... how to counter it...St John Paul ...Benedict XVI....it was a feast for the mind and heart.
It was a delight to meet so many enthusiastic EWTN viewers...and indeed readers of this Blog. You can find out a lot more about the Festival - including something about Auntie's talk. on this link...
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
A Bishop speaks...
...read here for a fine, uplifting, and important piece of teaching, from a shepherd who is unafraid.
And here is the programme...
of talks for the Evenings of Faith, starting in September. All held in the parish room, 24 Golden Square, London WI, at 7.30pm. Nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus. Drinks and nibbles. No need to book - just turn up.
Tuesday 23rd September 2014
Tuesday 23rd September 2014
Dealing with our wound of original sin. Mary Gray
Tuesday 7th October 2014
The Old Testament: Preparation for a Saviour. Fr Ian Vane
Tuesday 21st October 2014
Jesus Christ: Saviour and Redeemer. Fr Michael Dolman
Tuesday 4th November 2014
The synod on marriage: The deeper issues. David Kerr
Tuesday 18th November 2014
The mission of the Church in secular Britain. Speaker TBC
Tuesday 2nd December 2014
Loving life in a culture of death. Sr Roseann Reddy
On Sept 10th...
...the new season of CATHOLIC HISTORY WALKS begins. Meet at 6.30pm on the steps of Westminster Cathedral - we'll be walking to Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
See these pix...
...of the FAITH Movement Summer Session - and have a good roam around that site, which has lots and LOTS of good things....
As the grim news...
...from Iraq and Syria continues...this organisation is doing good work. It was a privilege to meet one of its leaders, Benedict Rogers, at the Evangelium conference a couple of weeks ago and I'll be visiting their London HQ in September...
Monday, August 11, 2014
A useful meeting...
...of the Ladies Ordinariate Group (LOGS) at Walsingham, held in an atmosphere of great goodwill and sealed with prayer...we had major decisions to make about some long-term projects and also the next year's programme to plan, and all this at a time when we are aware of the rather urgent need to foster, cherish and pass on the truths of our Christian faith in an increasingly uncertain world...
After our talking, planning, and organising, we went to the shrine of Mary, and prayed together there, putting our hopes and our work, our plans and our personal commitment, to God through the intercession of Mary and under her special protection...
On Sunday morning, a pilgrim walk along the Holy Mile, splashing barefoot through puddles...it was like being a child on the seashore and I loved it. Cars stopped to offer me a lift and at one point I thought it rude not to accept, so tentatively got into the car. But on enquiring about the time, it emerged that I still had a clear half-hour before Mass began, so I gently excused myself, and returned to the splashy road and the green hedgerows and my Rosary.
After our talking, planning, and organising, we went to the shrine of Mary, and prayed together there, putting our hopes and our work, our plans and our personal commitment, to God through the intercession of Mary and under her special protection...
On Sunday morning, a pilgrim walk along the Holy Mile, splashing barefoot through puddles...it was like being a child on the seashore and I loved it. Cars stopped to offer me a lift and at one point I thought it rude not to accept, so tentatively got into the car. But on enquiring about the time, it emerged that I still had a clear half-hour before Mass began, so I gently excused myself, and returned to the splashy road and the green hedgerows and my Rosary.
Saturday, August 09, 2014
...and sunshine and storm...
...and prayer and singing and fun. Along the pilgrim way to Walsingham, Auntie was invited to give a talk about St John Paul, and it was an extraordinary experience to be doing this to the line of pilgrims as we made our way along by great fields of sugar beet and banks of fern and bramble. People picked the lovely blackberries - they are so huge and juicy this year, and have arrived so early - as we walked along.
A good number of seminarians among the pilgrims - some for various English dioceses, some for France, one already in the white robes of a Dominican friar. The pilgrim walk on this first day is 20 miles, and finishes at Swaffham. Here, we rested at the convent school in the town centre - buckets of cold water for sore feet, a young Dominican sister opening a great box of ice-creams for us all, much talk and laughter. Evening Prayer, and then a hearty supper of pasta-n-cheese. One of the pilgrims was marking a birthday, and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, and then the French pilgrims struck up again in French, and then followed Polish, Czech...
As we finished singing, the rain fell. Then it came in torrents, and TORRENTS. We had been sitting under the wide porch of the school sports hall, and fled inside as the storm arrived. I was due to be taken on to Walsingham, for a meeting of the Ladies Ordinariate Group (LOGS), and the indefatigable Wayne, organiser of the travel/maps/etc for the pilgrim group, saw no reason to change the plan, so off we set in his jeep, water bucketing from the sky. A jeep is a great vehicle for weather like this. I arrived as the rain was lessening, and the LOGS were there, in the lovely peaceful shrine, with wine and a welcome.
A good number of seminarians among the pilgrims - some for various English dioceses, some for France, one already in the white robes of a Dominican friar. The pilgrim walk on this first day is 20 miles, and finishes at Swaffham. Here, we rested at the convent school in the town centre - buckets of cold water for sore feet, a young Dominican sister opening a great box of ice-creams for us all, much talk and laughter. Evening Prayer, and then a hearty supper of pasta-n-cheese. One of the pilgrims was marking a birthday, and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, and then the French pilgrims struck up again in French, and then followed Polish, Czech...
As we finished singing, the rain fell. Then it came in torrents, and TORRENTS. We had been sitting under the wide porch of the school sports hall, and fled inside as the storm arrived. I was due to be taken on to Walsingham, for a meeting of the Ladies Ordinariate Group (LOGS), and the indefatigable Wayne, organiser of the travel/maps/etc for the pilgrim group, saw no reason to change the plan, so off we set in his jeep, water bucketing from the sky. A jeep is a great vehicle for weather like this. I arrived as the rain was lessening, and the LOGS were there, in the lovely peaceful shrine, with wine and a welcome.
The English countryside...
...so enchanting, so glorious, and with so many layers of history there...
Mass in the ruins of Bury St Edmunds Abbey, people kneeling on the grass, strong young voices singing, reverent lines of communicants...
Then the pilgrim walkers of the John Paul II Pilgrimage for the New Evangelisation gathered in the church hall of St Edmund's church, for a good supper and introductions and instructions for the journey. Sister Hyacinthe is a splendid leader and this is the 9th annual pilgrimage - but the first to be able to carry the word SAINT attached to the name of John Paul...
Night prayer in St Edmund's church, everyone singing the Dominican Office, turn and turn about with the verses of the psalms, already sounding a united group, voices blending together. As we knelt to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, we pulled out kneelers, and I pondered the fact that I hadn't brought a pillow for the night...so...
We made up our beds on the floor of the big hall of the parish school. The church kneeler made an adequate pillow, but a kind young sister, already seeing my plight, had come forward with her soft woollen shawl - not needed in this warm weather, urging me to use it. So with this, and the kneeler, I was perfectly comfortable.
We rose the next day at 5.45, sang Morning Prayer, then were driven in a convoy of minibuses and cars to Brandon, for Mass. The local parishioners there welcome the pilgrims every year and provide a splendid breakfast. It was the feast of St Dominic. Our chaplain, Father Simon Heans (Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham) said Mass, there was splendid singing, and he preached about St Dominic and read from an account of the latter's adventures walking and preaching...and staying in horrid places among the poor and unwashed with the smells and the fleas...
We were in luxury, with a delicious breakfast of fresh hot waffles and fruit and cream, and brioch and croissants, all served with such a joyful sense of welcome...and then we set off, with a processional cross held high, an a great Papal flag, and our banner of Our Lady of Walsingham, and everyone praying the rosary as we rounded our way down the lane and out through the pig farms and I nto the open country...
Mass in the ruins of Bury St Edmunds Abbey, people kneeling on the grass, strong young voices singing, reverent lines of communicants...
Then the pilgrim walkers of the John Paul II Pilgrimage for the New Evangelisation gathered in the church hall of St Edmund's church, for a good supper and introductions and instructions for the journey. Sister Hyacinthe is a splendid leader and this is the 9th annual pilgrimage - but the first to be able to carry the word SAINT attached to the name of John Paul...
Night prayer in St Edmund's church, everyone singing the Dominican Office, turn and turn about with the verses of the psalms, already sounding a united group, voices blending together. As we knelt to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, we pulled out kneelers, and I pondered the fact that I hadn't brought a pillow for the night...so...
We made up our beds on the floor of the big hall of the parish school. The church kneeler made an adequate pillow, but a kind young sister, already seeing my plight, had come forward with her soft woollen shawl - not needed in this warm weather, urging me to use it. So with this, and the kneeler, I was perfectly comfortable.
We rose the next day at 5.45, sang Morning Prayer, then were driven in a convoy of minibuses and cars to Brandon, for Mass. The local parishioners there welcome the pilgrims every year and provide a splendid breakfast. It was the feast of St Dominic. Our chaplain, Father Simon Heans (Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham) said Mass, there was splendid singing, and he preached about St Dominic and read from an account of the latter's adventures walking and preaching...and staying in horrid places among the poor and unwashed with the smells and the fleas...
We were in luxury, with a delicious breakfast of fresh hot waffles and fruit and cream, and brioch and croissants, all served with such a joyful sense of welcome...and then we set off, with a processional cross held high, an a great Papal flag, and our banner of Our Lady of Walsingham, and everyone praying the rosary as we rounded our way down the lane and out through the pig farms and I nto the open country...
Thursday, August 07, 2014
The FAITH Movement...
...has been holding its Summer Session this week. You can follow it here...
Today Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury gave us a superb talk, looking at the issues facing the Church in 1914 and in 2014...it was profound, thoughtful, wise and challenging. He himself attended FAITH Summer Sessions back in the 1970s, and is a strong supporter of the movement.
Crowds of young people, lots of talk, Benediction with a young newly-ordained deacon, an evening of laughter with a Talent Show that was in full vigour as I left...the day had been filled with discussions, lectures, prayer, and sports, and more...
Today Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury gave us a superb talk, looking at the issues facing the Church in 1914 and in 2014...it was profound, thoughtful, wise and challenging. He himself attended FAITH Summer Sessions back in the 1970s, and is a strong supporter of the movement.
Crowds of young people, lots of talk, Benediction with a young newly-ordained deacon, an evening of laughter with a Talent Show that was in full vigour as I left...the day had been filled with discussions, lectures, prayer, and sports, and more...
Tuesday, August 05, 2014
Mass at the Magna Carta Abbey...
...on Thursday. The abbey at Bury St Edmunds is the place where the abbots of England gathered to plan the drawing up of Magna Carta, the greater charter of our land, which centres on its opening statement "that the Church in England shall be free." The abbey was destroyed under Henry VIII - a man not known for his commitment to the freedom of the Church - and its ruins still stand, surrounded by lovely gardens, in the centre of the town. Mass in such a place, in the open air, the voices of the congregation raised in song as the afternoon sun begins its descent into evening, is simply glorious. Each year, this Mass marks the start of the John Paul II Walking Pilgrimage, which continues through the lanes and meadows of Norfolk and finishes at Walsingham, with the big midday Mass at the barn church at the shrine. The Pilgrimage is organised by the splendid Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, some of the jolliest nuns in England (do click on that site and see the pic of Cream Teas).
Plenty to pray about on the Pilgrimage this year. Peace in the Middle East...help for the exiled Christians of Iraq...an end to the crisis in Ukraine...and we also need to pray for the Church, and for the Synod taking place this Autumn...
I've been sent some panicky comments about this Synod...the media will be trying to spin things in all sorts of ways. But the Synod will conclude with the beatification of the saintly Pope who gave us Humanae Vitae, the courageous re-stating of the Church's message on the transmission of human life and the wrongfulness of contraception. Paul VI came under such horrible attack for that encyclical, and I remember a letter from a faithful priest, writing towards the end of the pontificate: "Pray for the Pope in his gethsemane". The Church cannot and will not change God's plan for marriage, and the transmission of life. Pray that the Synod will be fruitful and useful and a tool in the hands of all who are working for the New Evangelisation...
Plenty to pray about on the Pilgrimage this year. Peace in the Middle East...help for the exiled Christians of Iraq...an end to the crisis in Ukraine...and we also need to pray for the Church, and for the Synod taking place this Autumn...
I've been sent some panicky comments about this Synod...the media will be trying to spin things in all sorts of ways. But the Synod will conclude with the beatification of the saintly Pope who gave us Humanae Vitae, the courageous re-stating of the Church's message on the transmission of human life and the wrongfulness of contraception. Paul VI came under such horrible attack for that encyclical, and I remember a letter from a faithful priest, writing towards the end of the pontificate: "Pray for the Pope in his gethsemane". The Church cannot and will not change God's plan for marriage, and the transmission of life. Pray that the Synod will be fruitful and useful and a tool in the hands of all who are working for the New Evangelisation...
Monday, August 04, 2014
A single candle...
...stands in our window, and for the past hour the house has been dark.
We were, I think, the only house in the street to do this. I went outside to look, and up and down the road, windows were blazing as usual. Then I got chatting to a neighbour who hadn't known about the initiative, and she went back inside at once and put out all the lights and lit a candle...
Lunchtime Mass at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge, and in place of a sermon we stood for minute in silence to remember the dead of World War I, and then the priest led us in a prayer for them...
Across the river at the Tower of London, the moat is filling with blood-red poppies in commemoration.
Its been a day of intense heat and piercing sunlight. In the sticky evening warmth I pushed my way along the rather mucky lane at the back of the houses, to gather blackberries. When these houses were built in the inter-war years, there were small fenced gardens for each, and the lane was designed for the dustmen to come and empty all the kitchen bins of household rubbish. Today, most of the gardens are overgrown and some fences are broken, and a lot of junk and rubbish gets dumped there...in a strange way, the brambles link us right back to the days before all that, when this was open countryside. Picking the plump fruit and scrambling back with a brimming bowl to turn into jam was a link with that vanished England before 1914...
And the sun went down and I lit a candle in the window...
We were, I think, the only house in the street to do this. I went outside to look, and up and down the road, windows were blazing as usual. Then I got chatting to a neighbour who hadn't known about the initiative, and she went back inside at once and put out all the lights and lit a candle...
Lunchtime Mass at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge, and in place of a sermon we stood for minute in silence to remember the dead of World War I, and then the priest led us in a prayer for them...
Across the river at the Tower of London, the moat is filling with blood-red poppies in commemoration.
Its been a day of intense heat and piercing sunlight. In the sticky evening warmth I pushed my way along the rather mucky lane at the back of the houses, to gather blackberries. When these houses were built in the inter-war years, there were small fenced gardens for each, and the lane was designed for the dustmen to come and empty all the kitchen bins of household rubbish. Today, most of the gardens are overgrown and some fences are broken, and a lot of junk and rubbish gets dumped there...in a strange way, the brambles link us right back to the days before all that, when this was open countryside. Picking the plump fruit and scrambling back with a brimming bowl to turn into jam was a link with that vanished England before 1914...
And the sun went down and I lit a candle in the window...
Sunday, August 03, 2014
The Oratory School....
...near Reading, is a superb place for a conference, and young Catholics from across Britain gathered there this weekend for the annual EVANGELIUM event, organised by the splendid Fathers Marcus Holden and Andrew Pinsent. Bishop Philip Egan came on Sunday to celebrate Mass and preach, there were talks and workshops on a wide range of topics, the splendid Dominican Sisters of St Joseph were there, we had beautiful Masses in the school chapel...
Auntie spoke on Saint John Paul: to young people he is a sort of magnificent legend, and they love to hear about him. It feels strange now to remember what it was all actually like, in the Europe of pre-1989, when the Iron Curtain was a reality...and to realise that they have all grown up with World Youth Day as a great part of Catholic life, and images of Popes flying to all corners of the globe as quite normal...
The weekend finished with a rallying-call to evangelise, by Father Ed Tomlinson: in a lively address he urged that we study the Faith, be active missionaries, show our beliefs by the way we live, attract people to Christ through friendship and example, recognise that it is God who does the work and that we are simply called to help lead people towards truth.
The school grounds lush and green, great banks of gloriously scented lavender along the terrace, sunshine dappling the Georgian manor house which forms the core of the school, lively talk and laughter as groups of young people gathered on Saturday evening after evening prayers for drinks and music.
In the school chapel there are of course War memorials to the boys of the Oratory School who were killed in the two great World Wars. Long lists of names. Especially poignant to look at these as the centenary of the First War is marked tomorrow. We are all being urged to put the lights out at 10pm and light a candle in the window...
Auntie spoke on Saint John Paul: to young people he is a sort of magnificent legend, and they love to hear about him. It feels strange now to remember what it was all actually like, in the Europe of pre-1989, when the Iron Curtain was a reality...and to realise that they have all grown up with World Youth Day as a great part of Catholic life, and images of Popes flying to all corners of the globe as quite normal...
The weekend finished with a rallying-call to evangelise, by Father Ed Tomlinson: in a lively address he urged that we study the Faith, be active missionaries, show our beliefs by the way we live, attract people to Christ through friendship and example, recognise that it is God who does the work and that we are simply called to help lead people towards truth.
The school grounds lush and green, great banks of gloriously scented lavender along the terrace, sunshine dappling the Georgian manor house which forms the core of the school, lively talk and laughter as groups of young people gathered on Saturday evening after evening prayers for drinks and music.
In the school chapel there are of course War memorials to the boys of the Oratory School who were killed in the two great World Wars. Long lists of names. Especially poignant to look at these as the centenary of the First War is marked tomorrow. We are all being urged to put the lights out at 10pm and light a candle in the window...
Friday, August 01, 2014
Read about...
...Walsingham and a forthcoming Pilgrimage, in The Portal, August edition just published...
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
A bookshop window...
2nd shelf down, "John Paul II:Man of Prayer". And we've started to get some nice reviews on Amazon too...
And shortly...
...I will be off to Walsingham, staying at the Anglican Shrine, with this group...
We are having a study weekend, and most will be arriving by train and car...but I will be walking part of the way, as I'll start my trip by meeting fellow-members of the John Paul II Walking Pilgrimage, gathering at Bury St Edmunds for Mass (4.30pm - come and join us!) in the Abbey Ruins. This is where Magna Carta was first drawn up. All are welcome at the Mass, and you cannot imagine how beautiful it is to pray there, in this place of peace and of such huge significance...
After the Mass, we John Paul Walkers will stay the night at Bury St Edmunds (sleeping on the floor in the Catholic parish school) and the next day after morning prayer in the church will be taken into Norfolk to start our Walk to Walsingham. The first day's walking will take us as far as Swaffham. From there, the Walkers will go, over the next two days, along the lanes and meadows, and via a Mass in the ruined abbey at Castleacre, to Walsingham. But I am unable to join them for the full Walk this year, as I am committed to this Study Weekend. So I will be given a lift straight to Walsingham...
There's still time to join the John Paul II Walking Pilgrimage - just click on that link. It has a special significance this year, as we are celebrating his canonisation...
We are having a study weekend, and most will be arriving by train and car...but I will be walking part of the way, as I'll start my trip by meeting fellow-members of the John Paul II Walking Pilgrimage, gathering at Bury St Edmunds for Mass (4.30pm - come and join us!) in the Abbey Ruins. This is where Magna Carta was first drawn up. All are welcome at the Mass, and you cannot imagine how beautiful it is to pray there, in this place of peace and of such huge significance...
After the Mass, we John Paul Walkers will stay the night at Bury St Edmunds (sleeping on the floor in the Catholic parish school) and the next day after morning prayer in the church will be taken into Norfolk to start our Walk to Walsingham. The first day's walking will take us as far as Swaffham. From there, the Walkers will go, over the next two days, along the lanes and meadows, and via a Mass in the ruined abbey at Castleacre, to Walsingham. But I am unable to join them for the full Walk this year, as I am committed to this Study Weekend. So I will be given a lift straight to Walsingham...
There's still time to join the John Paul II Walking Pilgrimage - just click on that link. It has a special significance this year, as we are celebrating his canonisation...
Heat...
...London sizzling in harsh summer sun, everything sticky and uncomfortable. Grim news from the Middle East, harsh headlines.
The cool peace of Westminster Cathedral as I lead a pilgrim group around, telling the story of the various chapels and mosaics. Earlier, Canon Christopher Tuckwell was amused to find me barefoot and carrying my shoes, by the Lady Chapel, enjoying for a moment the deliciously cold marble of the cathedral floor...
Dinner and an overnight stay with a kind friend in her beautiful flat overlooking the Cathedral, sitting with a cold drink and my sewing, out on the balcony.
The cool peace of Westminster Cathedral as I lead a pilgrim group around, telling the story of the various chapels and mosaics. Earlier, Canon Christopher Tuckwell was amused to find me barefoot and carrying my shoes, by the Lady Chapel, enjoying for a moment the deliciously cold marble of the cathedral floor...
Dinner and an overnight stay with a kind friend in her beautiful flat overlooking the Cathedral, sitting with a cold drink and my sewing, out on the balcony.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Horror...
..was expressed by a Sunday newspaper last weekend. The newspaper revealed that a Member of Parliament had links with a group that sought to uphold marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Outrage was expressed. The Christian group involved has apparently been quite blatant about its opinions, acting as though it had a right to speak openly on this and related subjects.
I wrote to the newspaper, but the letter hasn't been printed. Here it is:
Your reporter (Sunday Tel. July 20th 2014) writing about the Member of Parliament linked to a Christian group that "actively supports and encourages marriage between a man and a woman" seems appalled that politicians should uphold such support, especially as it is opposed to current official policy.
There are precedents for taking firm action. A former prominent Member of Parliament was deemed to have committed treason for refusing to adapt his views on marriage: his last words were before execution were that he remained "the king's good servant, but God's first".
What punishment is the Sunday Telegraph proposing for the current Member of Parliament, denounced by this newspaper for having "failed to distance" himself from Christian teachings on marriage?
Incidentally, I think you should also know that there are a number of centres around Britain where "marriage between a man and a woman" is frequently publicly taught and affirmed. There is one near me attended by over 1,000 people each week. Should politicians be penalised for attending such places? Should the ban be extended to others who hold public office? Should such places be subjected to police investigation, or simply closed down? I really would be most interested to know your newspaper's stance on this.
I wrote to the newspaper, but the letter hasn't been printed. Here it is:
Dear Sir
Your reporter (Sunday Tel. July 20th 2014) writing about the Member of Parliament linked to a Christian group that "actively supports and encourages marriage between a man and a woman" seems appalled that politicians should uphold such support, especially as it is opposed to current official policy.
There are precedents for taking firm action. A former prominent Member of Parliament was deemed to have committed treason for refusing to adapt his views on marriage: his last words were before execution were that he remained "the king's good servant, but God's first".
What punishment is the Sunday Telegraph proposing for the current Member of Parliament, denounced by this newspaper for having "failed to distance" himself from Christian teachings on marriage?
Incidentally, I think you should also know that there are a number of centres around Britain where "marriage between a man and a woman" is frequently publicly taught and affirmed. There is one near me attended by over 1,000 people each week. Should politicians be penalised for attending such places? Should the ban be extended to others who hold public office? Should such places be subjected to police investigation, or simply closed down? I really would be most interested to know your newspaper's stance on this.
Filling the shelves...
...through God's bountiful generosity at this time of year.
While in the kitchen on such tasks, it's useful to think about large things, otherwise one finds the brain is asking "Why am I standing in the kitchen washing rose petals?"
The shelves are filling up with jams and jellies that will go to various fetes and fairs and Harvest Festival gift tables and so on...and the prayers are for peace in the Middle East, in line with Papa Francis' anguished plea at his Sunday Angelus...
Incidentally, I came across this website, which I found of interest...
While in the kitchen on such tasks, it's useful to think about large things, otherwise one finds the brain is asking "Why am I standing in the kitchen washing rose petals?"
The shelves are filling up with jams and jellies that will go to various fetes and fairs and Harvest Festival gift tables and so on...and the prayers are for peace in the Middle East, in line with Papa Francis' anguished plea at his Sunday Angelus...
Incidentally, I came across this website, which I found of interest...
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Prayers for the persecuted Christians in Iraq...
...at Mass this evening (Oxford Oratory). Today people were gathering in London to stand in solidarity with the Christians suffering under militant Moslem-Caliphate rule. How fearsome it is to write those words.
I am in Oxford to lead a group of visiting Americans to places associated with Bl John Henry Newman. Oriel College, and the University Church...history, beauty...packed streets, noise, searing heat... and then calm prayers of a parish Mass, and supper by the river, and much to talk about...
I am in Oxford to lead a group of visiting Americans to places associated with Bl John Henry Newman. Oriel College, and the University Church...history, beauty...packed streets, noise, searing heat... and then calm prayers of a parish Mass, and supper by the river, and much to talk about...
Do read this...
...review about the plight of the Jews in Rome in World War II in L'Osservatore Romano.
The Australian ambassador to the Holy See has written a review of Auntie's book Courage and Conviction.
The Australian ambassador to the Holy See has written a review of Auntie's book Courage and Conviction.
Friday, July 25, 2014
Auntie on travels...
...to America, as part of the EWTN FAMILY FESTIVAL later this month. Info here...
American readers of this blog...I look forward to seeing you there!
American readers of this blog...I look forward to seeing you there!
BERRIES AND PLANS...
...always the stuff of summer. Picking blackberries in the summer heat, the great thick fruit making the brambles hang down with their weight. And blackcurrants in a generous friend's garden, plump and juicy and ready to turn into fabulous jam. And - for the most delicate and lovely jam of all - rose petals, fresh and enchanting, gathered swiftly and hurried into the kitchen, to cook up gently and very very slowly with water and lots of sugar and then - magic moment - a tablespoon of lemon juice added and the sudden transformation of greyish mush into beautiful rose-coloured syrup to be poured into jars...
And plans. Busy with plans. The TOWARDS ADVENT Festival, Saturday November 22nd. PUT THE DATE IN YOUR DIARY NOW!! Westminster Cathedral Hall: stalls and displays from a great range of Catholic groups and organisations from across Britain, books, DVDs, music, craft goods and more on sale. Glorious music, top speakers: it is not to be missed. Summer sees the posters arriving from the printer and much emailing back and forth making plans for the great day...
And the "TWO CATHEDRALS" great Blessed Sacrament Procession through London. DON'T MISS THIS DATE!!! Saturday October 18th, starts 1pm for 1.30pm at Westminster Cathedral. Come and swell the crowd to make this a great procession of witness as it crosses the Thames...
And plans. Busy with plans. The TOWARDS ADVENT Festival, Saturday November 22nd. PUT THE DATE IN YOUR DIARY NOW!! Westminster Cathedral Hall: stalls and displays from a great range of Catholic groups and organisations from across Britain, books, DVDs, music, craft goods and more on sale. Glorious music, top speakers: it is not to be missed. Summer sees the posters arriving from the printer and much emailing back and forth making plans for the great day...
And the "TWO CATHEDRALS" great Blessed Sacrament Procession through London. DON'T MISS THIS DATE!!! Saturday October 18th, starts 1pm for 1.30pm at Westminster Cathedral. Come and swell the crowd to make this a great procession of witness as it crosses the Thames...
In this hot and stifling weather...
...spare a prayer for prisoners. If you are a prison-visitor, you will know what it is like in a heatwave, even in a modern, clean and well organised establishment.
Monday, July 21, 2014
What's London like...
...at the moment? For a snapshot of it all, with a Catholic slant, try here...
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Tea...
..an absolutely glorious Tea, with sandwiches-with-the-crusts-cut-off, and scones with jam and cream, and a towering four-layered lemon drizzle cake...all organised and hosted by Frances Scarr and a team of Catholic ladies to welcome ladies from the Ordinariate. A wonderful and happy afternoon - and a useful one, as we sat overlooking Westminster Cathedral and talked of a great many things, ranging from the recent "Our Father" prayer project for schools (entries from children across Greater London), to pilgrimages and processions and prison work, and craftwork and confession, and Sunday Schools, and singing at stations, and enthusiasm and evangelisation.
We drank cups and cups of fragrant tea, we planned activities and pilgrimages, we swapped jokes and stories: the perils of a procession ducking under railway arches and trailing down The Borough High Street, the howlers in children's careful writing out of prayers ("MY will be done on earth..."). The Cathedral Bell rang for the Angelus and we stopped to pray it all together. Teatime morphed gently into evening, and we finished with glasses of cold white wine, and then goodbyes and lots of good plans for the future.
We drank cups and cups of fragrant tea, we planned activities and pilgrimages, we swapped jokes and stories: the perils of a procession ducking under railway arches and trailing down The Borough High Street, the howlers in children's careful writing out of prayers ("MY will be done on earth..."). The Cathedral Bell rang for the Angelus and we stopped to pray it all together. Teatime morphed gently into evening, and we finished with glasses of cold white wine, and then goodbyes and lots of good plans for the future.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
..and in the stifling summer heat...
...our Parliament is debating whether or not we should make it possible for sad and gravely ill people to be killed...and the Church of England has slammed the door on ecumenical possibilities and invented female bishops...and there is turmoil in the Holy Land, and death in the skies over Ukraine...
...and a sense of things ending, and a tired feeling, and now the Government is going to penalise people for having proper families - they've apparently announced that anyone with more than four children will be denied taxation benefits. It sometimes seems as though our officialdom doesn't really want our country to have a future, and believes that in a dark and worrying world we should try to encourage as little hope as possible.
And so to Sunday...and Mass, and there is hope for all.
...
...and a sense of things ending, and a tired feeling, and now the Government is going to penalise people for having proper families - they've apparently announced that anyone with more than four children will be denied taxation benefits. It sometimes seems as though our officialdom doesn't really want our country to have a future, and believes that in a dark and worrying world we should try to encourage as little hope as possible.
And so to Sunday...and Mass, and there is hope for all.
...
A sad day...
A fine Catholic writer and a good friend, Stratford Caldecott, has died. He will be hugely missed: he leaves a lovely family, and a legacy of good work done with great love. All who use the beautiful monthly Magnificat journal are in his debt. God will reward him...pray for his soul and for the consolation of his dear family.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
YOU SIMPLY MUST READ....
...this excellent and inspiring call to us all on the subject of the gruesome legislation being planned for our Parliament this week.
Please read. Please pray.
Please read. Please pray.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
On Wednesday July 16th...
...at 7.30pm, at the church hall of Warwick St Church, I am giving a talk about St John Paul the Great. ALL WELCOME. Light refreshments.
Entrance to the hall is at 24 Golden Square, London Wi. Large notice - easy to see.
Nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus.
Entrance to the hall is at 24 Golden Square, London Wi. Large notice - easy to see.
Nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus.
Visiting...
...an elderly relative...Somerset in enchanting summer greenery, a tasty meal in a village restaurant where they quickly helped us with the wheelchair, made everything pleasant and comfortable, chatted as drinks were poured...
Sadness as we were joined by a dear Anglican clergyman, unhappy at today's dreary decision by the CofE to invent lady bishops and thus drive the final hammer-blows into the heritage he had valued...
Prayers, led by the above, at a family grave, a sudden moment of calm and sweetness. Scent of mown grass.
Squeaks and cheers of children at the village school having Sports Day nearby.Fabulous, fabulous views across Exmoor and down to the sea.
Sadness as we were joined by a dear Anglican clergyman, unhappy at today's dreary decision by the CofE to invent lady bishops and thus drive the final hammer-blows into the heritage he had valued...
Prayers, led by the above, at a family grave, a sudden moment of calm and sweetness. Scent of mown grass.
Squeaks and cheers of children at the village school having Sports Day nearby.Fabulous, fabulous views across Exmoor and down to the sea.
Friday, July 11, 2014
A glorious Thanksgiving Service...
...with pupils from a range of schools in different parts of Britain gathering at St Margaret's Westminster, to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Schools Bible Project.
The choirs of Ripley St Thomas CofE Academy, and Our Lady's Convent School, Loughborough, led the singing: we began with a rousing "Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer" and then during the service each choir sang a most beautiful anthem...pupils from various schools did the Scripture readings, and read prayers, as did our Trustee, Baroness Cox. The Dean of Westminster Abbey led the service and preached. There was a beautiful message from Archbishop Vincent Nichols. It was a united Christian celebration, soaked in lovely music and with the young people attentive, reverent, and involved.
In the Schools Bible Project, of which Auntie is Chairman, pupils have to imagine themselves present at an event in the life of Christ - they are given six from which to choose - and then write about it. Every year, we receive hundreds and hundreds of essays from schools across Britain. There are prizes for those who write essays of fine quality. The whole project is, as Dean John Hall noted, very Ignatian. You place yourself in the scene described in the Scriptures, and get right into it. It is an encounter with Christ.
The service ended with a blessing, and "Amazing Grace" and the choir sang Rutter's "The Lord bless you and keep you..." The sound of the young voices filling that great church sent a message of hope...
The choirs of Ripley St Thomas CofE Academy, and Our Lady's Convent School, Loughborough, led the singing: we began with a rousing "Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer" and then during the service each choir sang a most beautiful anthem...pupils from various schools did the Scripture readings, and read prayers, as did our Trustee, Baroness Cox. The Dean of Westminster Abbey led the service and preached. There was a beautiful message from Archbishop Vincent Nichols. It was a united Christian celebration, soaked in lovely music and with the young people attentive, reverent, and involved.
In the Schools Bible Project, of which Auntie is Chairman, pupils have to imagine themselves present at an event in the life of Christ - they are given six from which to choose - and then write about it. Every year, we receive hundreds and hundreds of essays from schools across Britain. There are prizes for those who write essays of fine quality. The whole project is, as Dean John Hall noted, very Ignatian. You place yourself in the scene described in the Scriptures, and get right into it. It is an encounter with Christ.
The service ended with a blessing, and "Amazing Grace" and the choir sang Rutter's "The Lord bless you and keep you..." The sound of the young voices filling that great church sent a message of hope...
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Tuesday, July 08, 2014
Monday, July 07, 2014
Don't give some one poison...
...and then claim that you are simply "assisting him to die". It's a gross and vile idea. Killing some one who is ill and frightened and in pain is wicked, and the plans to legalise such killing must be blocked. There is planned legislation in the House of Lords: the Bill comes up on July 18th. Read here, and write to a couple of members of the House of Lords, as a matter or urgency. (That link will give you info on how to do so).
Walsingham...
..and the glorious beauty of the Norfolk countryside: a fabulous weekend. Have you thought about joining in the John Paul II Walk for the New Evangelisation? It will be exceptionally good this year. More info here
At a Catholic secondary school...
...a warm welcome, and everyone v. friendly and courteous, pupils smart in their uniforms, a pleasant sense of purpose around the place. But...a rather depressing experience in the RE group I addressed: the only thing, really virtually the ONLY thing the pupils seem to know or understand about the Catholic faith is that the Church opposes abortion, contraception, and IVF! A glance at the RE work on display revealed that they had been studying something of the Trinity, and the Incarnation, and the Mass, and there were some posters showing glowing candles, altars, incense...but none of this seems to have stuck. Nor did they seem to know much about the Church's work for the poor, for the imprisoned, the hungry, refugees. They just get one shouted message from the mainstream mass media, and from the sub-culture of their lives, and from speakers and campaigners: that the Church opposes abortion, contraception, IVF, and same-sex unions.
I was giving a talk about St John Paul II. It is a life-story of courage and adventure, of responding to the glory of God's call and the thrill of being part of his great mission of love and hope. Good response from the pupils: they were rapt and interested throughout. But when it came to questions, they were awkward, shy, didn't know what to say. Then one boy raised his hand "What do you think about IVF?" It took a moment to register. I hadn't mentioned sexual ethics particularly in the talk, which had ranged from the wartime occupation of Poland through Stalin's grip on Eastern Europe, the Mass, poetry and theatre, Rome, the drama of John Paul I's sudden death, the events of 1978 and 79, and on through the assassination attempt, missionary journeys, World Youth Day, the Rosary, mysticism, healings, 2005, and more...
So I answered the question on in-vitro-fertilisation and gave a brief, vigorous, and I hope useful explanation of why it is wrong...but I don't think he was convinced, and then another pupil asked "But isn't the Church unfair on couples who long to have children?" and another asked "What about abortion in cases of rape?" And then when the lesson had finished a lad came to complain about "girls who get pregnant and then get a flat and all that money from the Government"...
Oh dear. OH DEAR.
In fairness, some of the boys afterwards asked for a booklet about St JP and wanted to know more about him. So I think there is a lot of interest...but... it is tragic that young people's view of the Church is conditioned solely by one main message: that the Church opposes abortion and contraception. They just get propaganda about this the whole time. The Church's great "yes" to God's offer of life is glorious, and needs to be presented with vigour...but it's clear that we can't teach it by simply joining in the general din on the subject in the current porn-saturated and ugly culture of our country.
Saint John Paul and Pope Benedict XVI showed us another way: at World Youth Day they did not moralise, did not get gloomy, but instead lifted young hearts and minds to great, noble, glorious things, focusing on Christ, on the splendour of unchanging truth, on the Eucharist, God's great mercy, on the joy of it all. And Pope Francis is doing this too. This is the way ahead.
I get a bit tired of people saying "Our bishops should speak out more about abortion". Actually, being anti-abortion is the one thing that people do know about the Catholic Church. BUT THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO THE CATHOLIC FAITH THAN THAT!
I think we should focus strongly on sending in to Catholic schools faith-filled troops with strong lively presentations of the Catholic Faith in its truth and its glory: God taking human flesh and living among us, our salvation, the Cross, the Resurrection, the magnificence of it...facts, beauty, inspiration, a message of hope. Barron's CATHOLICISM, the DVDs from St Anthony Communications, the New Movements, EVANGELIUM, materials from the CTS and more, and more...
I was giving a talk about St John Paul II. It is a life-story of courage and adventure, of responding to the glory of God's call and the thrill of being part of his great mission of love and hope. Good response from the pupils: they were rapt and interested throughout. But when it came to questions, they were awkward, shy, didn't know what to say. Then one boy raised his hand "What do you think about IVF?" It took a moment to register. I hadn't mentioned sexual ethics particularly in the talk, which had ranged from the wartime occupation of Poland through Stalin's grip on Eastern Europe, the Mass, poetry and theatre, Rome, the drama of John Paul I's sudden death, the events of 1978 and 79, and on through the assassination attempt, missionary journeys, World Youth Day, the Rosary, mysticism, healings, 2005, and more...
So I answered the question on in-vitro-fertilisation and gave a brief, vigorous, and I hope useful explanation of why it is wrong...but I don't think he was convinced, and then another pupil asked "But isn't the Church unfair on couples who long to have children?" and another asked "What about abortion in cases of rape?" And then when the lesson had finished a lad came to complain about "girls who get pregnant and then get a flat and all that money from the Government"...
Oh dear. OH DEAR.
In fairness, some of the boys afterwards asked for a booklet about St JP and wanted to know more about him. So I think there is a lot of interest...but... it is tragic that young people's view of the Church is conditioned solely by one main message: that the Church opposes abortion and contraception. They just get propaganda about this the whole time. The Church's great "yes" to God's offer of life is glorious, and needs to be presented with vigour...but it's clear that we can't teach it by simply joining in the general din on the subject in the current porn-saturated and ugly culture of our country.
Saint John Paul and Pope Benedict XVI showed us another way: at World Youth Day they did not moralise, did not get gloomy, but instead lifted young hearts and minds to great, noble, glorious things, focusing on Christ, on the splendour of unchanging truth, on the Eucharist, God's great mercy, on the joy of it all. And Pope Francis is doing this too. This is the way ahead.
I get a bit tired of people saying "Our bishops should speak out more about abortion". Actually, being anti-abortion is the one thing that people do know about the Catholic Church. BUT THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO THE CATHOLIC FAITH THAN THAT!
I think we should focus strongly on sending in to Catholic schools faith-filled troops with strong lively presentations of the Catholic Faith in its truth and its glory: God taking human flesh and living among us, our salvation, the Cross, the Resurrection, the magnificence of it...facts, beauty, inspiration, a message of hope. Barron's CATHOLICISM, the DVDs from St Anthony Communications, the New Movements, EVANGELIUM, materials from the CTS and more, and more...
Thursday, July 03, 2014
...and in the evening light...
...of a warm July day, a group of History Walkers making their way from Westminster Cathedral (which is dedicated to the Precious Blood of Christ) to the Church of the Precious Blood at London Bridge. The image of Mary and the Christ-child on the Westminster City Hall's coat-of-arms, the streets around Westminster Abbey (St Ann's, St Matthew's...Abbey Orchard Street...) echoing with memories of the long-ago monks...the glorious spires of Parliament matching, by intent and design and with a profound sense of the meaning of things, the spires of the adjoining Abbey...and down along the teeming South Bank of the Thames, crowds, restaurants, cafes, street-theatre...stunning views of St Paul's and hideous ones of the ghastly giant "walkie-talkie" and associated tower-blocks which are wrecking our city...
---and so to London Bridge, via the Globe Theatre and the Bishop of Winchester's old palace and more...and then through the Borough Market, and to Mass at Precious Blood Church, the steady peaceful message of the liturgy, a sense of coming home...
It's a longish walk along the river, took us a couple of hours partly because of the crowds...but it was a beautiful evening, and the cheery supper provided by the welcoming Ordinariate team at PrBl Church was a joyful conclusion to a happy day...
---and so to London Bridge, via the Globe Theatre and the Bishop of Winchester's old palace and more...and then through the Borough Market, and to Mass at Precious Blood Church, the steady peaceful message of the liturgy, a sense of coming home...
It's a longish walk along the river, took us a couple of hours partly because of the crowds...but it was a beautiful evening, and the cheery supper provided by the welcoming Ordinariate team at PrBl Church was a joyful conclusion to a happy day...
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
Walsingham...
...and at the weekend a glorious pilgrimage there. We gathered at the Anglican shrine and a service of blessing and sprinkling with water from the well...this was very beautiful. The message was one of healing and hope, and also of placing trust in God, of just wanting to be with him. He made everything, and he made and loves us, and we are his children. There was a timeless quality to the day, a sense of a link with all the pilgrims down the centuries and with the origins of the shrine... "The water was there before you were".
A procession, led by the Cross and acolytes, to the Catholic shrine, a picnic lunch, meeting friends and lots of talk...time for a visit to the beautiful Slipper Chapel, and then Mass in the barn church. The Mass was concelebrated by lots of priests from the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and was in the Ordinariate form. A good day.
You can read about this and also read Auntie's page in the latest issue of The Portal...
A procession, led by the Cross and acolytes, to the Catholic shrine, a picnic lunch, meeting friends and lots of talk...time for a visit to the beautiful Slipper Chapel, and then Mass in the barn church. The Mass was concelebrated by lots of priests from the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and was in the Ordinariate form. A good day.
You can read about this and also read Auntie's page in the latest issue of The Portal...
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Along by the river Thames...
...on a June morning...the tide was out, revealing wide stretches of foreshore, sandy and inviting, and with more than a thousand years of well recorded history all tossed around in there...the flotsam and jetsam of a great city, with so much happening along its banks down the centuries...
I stayed on the Embankment high above, relishing the walk and the breeze and the sudden bonus of some free spare time. I had set off for Mass early, but the Sunday buses and trains were unexpectedly efficient, and I had half an hour in which to enjoy the riverside. I'll be bring a group along this way soon... History Walk later this week...there's always more to explore and ponder...but this wasn't a research-and-study time, just a Sunday morning, and the riverside, and me.
The great reassuring dome of St Paul's is still a landmark as you look across the river from the south bank, but there are horrors as the gaze moves further east, with the vile "walkie-talkie" hideous giant block dominating all the other concrete slabs, and all beauty vanishing. You have to look at smaller things, in the immediate front-space before you, to get a sense of a living city again: the Millenium Bridge which any and every real London actually always calls the wobbly bridge, even though it honestly doesn't wobble any more...the Globe Theatre, new posh flats and restaurants, an old wooden jetty, people milling everywhere, some earnest joggers in hot tight lycra suits. Children running about and climbing on things. A jabber of different languages, lots of tourists. Islamic ladies swathed in dark face-covering robes. And then, as I neared London Bridge, the bells of the Anglican cathedral ringing out and slowly changing to a tolling announcing that a service was about to start....which meant that Mass was starting at the nearby Catholic church, too, so I hurried, skirted the Borough Market with quickened steps, and got there just in time.
I stayed on the Embankment high above, relishing the walk and the breeze and the sudden bonus of some free spare time. I had set off for Mass early, but the Sunday buses and trains were unexpectedly efficient, and I had half an hour in which to enjoy the riverside. I'll be bring a group along this way soon... History Walk later this week...there's always more to explore and ponder...but this wasn't a research-and-study time, just a Sunday morning, and the riverside, and me.
The great reassuring dome of St Paul's is still a landmark as you look across the river from the south bank, but there are horrors as the gaze moves further east, with the vile "walkie-talkie" hideous giant block dominating all the other concrete slabs, and all beauty vanishing. You have to look at smaller things, in the immediate front-space before you, to get a sense of a living city again: the Millenium Bridge which any and every real London actually always calls the wobbly bridge, even though it honestly doesn't wobble any more...the Globe Theatre, new posh flats and restaurants, an old wooden jetty, people milling everywhere, some earnest joggers in hot tight lycra suits. Children running about and climbing on things. A jabber of different languages, lots of tourists. Islamic ladies swathed in dark face-covering robes. And then, as I neared London Bridge, the bells of the Anglican cathedral ringing out and slowly changing to a tolling announcing that a service was about to start....which meant that Mass was starting at the nearby Catholic church, too, so I hurried, skirted the Borough Market with quickened steps, and got there just in time.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Come and be inspired and challenged...
...for the New Evangelisation.
A great day in London. July 5th. the new School of the Annunciation. details here: don't miss it, this will be something really special.
A great day in London. July 5th. the new School of the Annunciation. details here: don't miss it, this will be something really special.
You simply MUST...
...look up the new FAITH MOVEMENT website. It's superb. Do click on to it now.
I've just returned from speaking at the HULL Faith Forum (see link on the FAITH website). A good crowd, and a great atmosphere. I spoke about St John Paul, his life, his message, his significance...the towering figure of our era, with a message of hope for the era ahead of us...
I'm repeating the talk at the London Evening of Faith on July 16th. 7.30pm at the Church of Our Lady and St Gregory, Warwick St (entrance in Golden Square. Nearest tube: PICCADILLY CIRCUS). Be there!
I've just returned from speaking at the HULL Faith Forum (see link on the FAITH website). A good crowd, and a great atmosphere. I spoke about St John Paul, his life, his message, his significance...the towering figure of our era, with a message of hope for the era ahead of us...
I'm repeating the talk at the London Evening of Faith on July 16th. 7.30pm at the Church of Our Lady and St Gregory, Warwick St (entrance in Golden Square. Nearest tube: PICCADILLY CIRCUS). Be there!
Nightmare...
...my email address was hacked by thieves yesterday. So I spent this morning answering phone calls from friends and explaining, over and over and over and OVER again that no, I hadn't sent them an emergency message and, no, I didn't need help...
Horrible experience, and it has taken much of today to sort it out. It all happened while I was in Yorkshire, so the sorting-out had to be done - with difficulty - using my mobile phone on the train...then when I got Kings Cross, and searched in a panicky way for my ticket, the wallet flew out and down into the gap between the train and the platform...quite bizarre...the railway team, were v..v. kind and a man was summoned who squeezed down into the gap and retrieved it. I've never hugged a railway official before: I think he was quite pleased.
Hurrying - a mistake, it was morning to take things slowly but surely - out from a bank a bit later, I slipped and fell. "Are you all right?" asked lots of kind people, coming to my aid. "Not completely" I said "But I will be in a minute." And they all helped me to my feet, and I was being offered a glass of water, opportunity to rest etc.
And now I'm at my computer, sorting out the hacking problem.
PLEASE don't telephone me or email me to say you have received an odd message and my email seems to have been hacked. I know. I am dealing with it.
Horrible experience, and it has taken much of today to sort it out. It all happened while I was in Yorkshire, so the sorting-out had to be done - with difficulty - using my mobile phone on the train...then when I got Kings Cross, and searched in a panicky way for my ticket, the wallet flew out and down into the gap between the train and the platform...quite bizarre...the railway team, were v..v. kind and a man was summoned who squeezed down into the gap and retrieved it. I've never hugged a railway official before: I think he was quite pleased.
Hurrying - a mistake, it was morning to take things slowly but surely - out from a bank a bit later, I slipped and fell. "Are you all right?" asked lots of kind people, coming to my aid. "Not completely" I said "But I will be in a minute." And they all helped me to my feet, and I was being offered a glass of water, opportunity to rest etc.
And now I'm at my computer, sorting out the hacking problem.
PLEASE don't telephone me or email me to say you have received an odd message and my email seems to have been hacked. I know. I am dealing with it.
Monday, June 23, 2014
...and all over Britain...
...Processions of the Blessed Sacrament were taking place on Sunday. The tradition slumped for a while but has now been revived on a wide scale and there are processions in hundreds of parishes...
I missed the opportunity of taking part in a Procession in the morning, as I was busy with the Martyrs' walk (see below). But the splendid Fr Alexander and team at St Patrick's in Soho always organise an evening one, preceded by an International Mass. And so I hurried there and at 7pm, with groups from Brazil and from China and so on, we set off through Soho, an acolyte bearing a great Cross and attended by servers with tall candles, then a long train of us all, and then Fr Alexander, holding the Blessed Sacrament aloft in its monstrance, beneath a great canopy. Lots of singing, wafts of incense...
But in the packed and noisy streets of Soho, no one seemed to notice or care! When I first went on this procession, 6 or 7 years ago, we got quite a few people crossing themselves, bowing in respect, or simply standing still and looking interested. This year...nothing - just the talking and shouting, the rock music blaring out, the noise of Soho...and Christ unnoticed by the crowds despite the bells and incense and singing and praying of the faithful walking along with Him...
We finished with Benediction in the churchyard of St Giles, where the Rector always makes us welcome. We had Benediction - the Tantum Ergo wafting up above the noise of Soho and traffic - and then the Rector and members of the parish served wine and fruit juices and there was friendly chat and it was good to be there...
I missed the opportunity of taking part in a Procession in the morning, as I was busy with the Martyrs' walk (see below). But the splendid Fr Alexander and team at St Patrick's in Soho always organise an evening one, preceded by an International Mass. And so I hurried there and at 7pm, with groups from Brazil and from China and so on, we set off through Soho, an acolyte bearing a great Cross and attended by servers with tall candles, then a long train of us all, and then Fr Alexander, holding the Blessed Sacrament aloft in its monstrance, beneath a great canopy. Lots of singing, wafts of incense...
But in the packed and noisy streets of Soho, no one seemed to notice or care! When I first went on this procession, 6 or 7 years ago, we got quite a few people crossing themselves, bowing in respect, or simply standing still and looking interested. This year...nothing - just the talking and shouting, the rock music blaring out, the noise of Soho...and Christ unnoticed by the crowds despite the bells and incense and singing and praying of the faithful walking along with Him...
We finished with Benediction in the churchyard of St Giles, where the Rector always makes us welcome. We had Benediction - the Tantum Ergo wafting up above the noise of Soho and traffic - and then the Rector and members of the parish served wine and fruit juices and there was friendly chat and it was good to be there...
...and in a sizzling, uncomfortable London...
...the annual Martyrs Walk, commemorating those who died in the grim years of the 16th and 17th centuries...and we prayed for religious freedom and a great revival of the Christian Faith in our poor country today.
The Walk takes us from Newgate to Tyburn, and we stop at the church of St Anselm and St Cecilia, thinking of Catholic martyrs who suffered at nearby Lincoln's Inn Fields...and at St-Giles-in-the-Fields (Anglican) where we commend to God all, Catholic and Protestant, who suffered in the tumultuous Reformation years...and at St Patrick's, Soho, where we completed the main part of our pilgrimage, dividing into smaller groups to make our way to Tyburn (impossible for a large group to go down Oxford Street with all the shoppers...)
At Tyburn Convent, we are always given a wonderful welcome by the nuns. We had a beautiful Benediction and then Tea.
Tyburn - at Marble Arch - is now a very Moslem part of London. The part of Hyde Park that adjoins the Bayswater Road and Edgware Road, is now packed with ladies in long dark robes, many with their faces covered, and all with children and large extended-family groups. I cannot imagine that any of them know of the history of the place: Speakers' Corner, the Tyburn Tree...
Speakers' Corner was established long years ago as a place where free speech is allowed - anyone can get up on a soapbox and say anything they like, at least in principle. The tradition goes back to the ghastly days when a man was allowed one last speech from the scaffold here at Tyburn, and could, if he wished, finally speak his mind - after all, he was about to die a grim and painful death, so he had nothing to lose...
The grim history gave way to something rather splendid. For much of the 20th century it was a rather jolly place, with lots of lively debates and some well-known speakers. It doesn't have quite the same feel now, and I felt that its heyday has somehow passed. But I would like to think that freedom of speech is still a cherished tradition in our country. We must pray that this freedom, hard-won, is kept alive...
The Walk takes us from Newgate to Tyburn, and we stop at the church of St Anselm and St Cecilia, thinking of Catholic martyrs who suffered at nearby Lincoln's Inn Fields...and at St-Giles-in-the-Fields (Anglican) where we commend to God all, Catholic and Protestant, who suffered in the tumultuous Reformation years...and at St Patrick's, Soho, where we completed the main part of our pilgrimage, dividing into smaller groups to make our way to Tyburn (impossible for a large group to go down Oxford Street with all the shoppers...)
At Tyburn Convent, we are always given a wonderful welcome by the nuns. We had a beautiful Benediction and then Tea.
Tyburn - at Marble Arch - is now a very Moslem part of London. The part of Hyde Park that adjoins the Bayswater Road and Edgware Road, is now packed with ladies in long dark robes, many with their faces covered, and all with children and large extended-family groups. I cannot imagine that any of them know of the history of the place: Speakers' Corner, the Tyburn Tree...
Speakers' Corner was established long years ago as a place where free speech is allowed - anyone can get up on a soapbox and say anything they like, at least in principle. The tradition goes back to the ghastly days when a man was allowed one last speech from the scaffold here at Tyburn, and could, if he wished, finally speak his mind - after all, he was about to die a grim and painful death, so he had nothing to lose...
The grim history gave way to something rather splendid. For much of the 20th century it was a rather jolly place, with lots of lively debates and some well-known speakers. It doesn't have quite the same feel now, and I felt that its heyday has somehow passed. But I would like to think that freedom of speech is still a cherished tradition in our country. We must pray that this freedom, hard-won, is kept alive...
Sunday, June 22, 2014
By the sea...
...at Whitstable in Kent. Seagulls calling, and sunshine and a seabreeze, and crowds and crowds of friends converging on the local church, where Fr Stephen Langridge was celebrating his Silver Jubilee with a glorious Mass and a most wonderful party. Great numbers of young people...and many of the young who buzzed around Balham when his parish was the home-base of Youth 2000 are now young-marrieds with babies of their own, so there was a wonderfully happy family-feel to the day. Baby noises of chirruping and gurgling and a bit of wailing during the Mass, but older children were beautifully behaved...and see note below about Communion.
And numbers of young men in training for the priesthod. Fr Stephen's work as Vocations Director is important, and it is so encouraging to meet the young men who will be tomorrow's priests. The whole day was fun. There was lots of delicious food - a hog roast,vast salads, great ice-buckets of chilled wine. There were bowls of strawberries served with jugs of cream. There were old friends to greet... priests who had taught Fr Stephen long ago, or trained with him at the seminary, or worked with him...and people from Balham whose weddings he had celebrated, or whose children he baptised, or to whom he had simply been a popular and hard-working parish priest.
The Vocations Centre at Whitstable adjoins the church and forms part of a square around a wide lawn, with the parish school. It was all delightful with roses in bloom and bunting strung all around the garden, and so much happy talk and laughter...
Later, instead of going straight to the train, I walked along by the sea, and was hailed by two young friends from the party who with their baby were enjoying the late summer evening too...and we had ice-creams and warm doughnuts, and paddled in the sea and it was all perfect...
Whitstable is the seaside as England best offers seaside, with the special addition of its famous oysters: pebbles and sand and families, a harbour with lots of boats, real activity with fishing and nets in proper muddly sheds and shelters, and with oysters and fish-and-chips on sale, and real pubs with noise and beery men and nothing too posh or pretentious. As one chap said, stopping to admire the baby while carefully handing over a brimming plate of oysters to his own family "Who needs to go Abroad? This is marvellous, innit?"
On Communion: I've noticed that today's small Catholics automaticaly fold their arms in the form of a cross and bow their heads for a blessing as their parents recieve Communion - this was not done at all when I was small, and instead we were left stranded in the pew. The young Catholic children of today walk up with their parents, and can see what happens at the reception of Holy Communion and so have some knowledge when their First Communion classes begin. In my long-ago First Communion lessons, we had a "This-is-what-to-do" session, but in our parish we had a rather awkward handing of the plate from one communicant to another, instead of a server holding it. My well-founded fear of dropping the plate - I have always been clumsy - lingers in the memory...
And numbers of young men in training for the priesthod. Fr Stephen's work as Vocations Director is important, and it is so encouraging to meet the young men who will be tomorrow's priests. The whole day was fun. There was lots of delicious food - a hog roast,vast salads, great ice-buckets of chilled wine. There were bowls of strawberries served with jugs of cream. There were old friends to greet... priests who had taught Fr Stephen long ago, or trained with him at the seminary, or worked with him...and people from Balham whose weddings he had celebrated, or whose children he baptised, or to whom he had simply been a popular and hard-working parish priest.
The Vocations Centre at Whitstable adjoins the church and forms part of a square around a wide lawn, with the parish school. It was all delightful with roses in bloom and bunting strung all around the garden, and so much happy talk and laughter...
Later, instead of going straight to the train, I walked along by the sea, and was hailed by two young friends from the party who with their baby were enjoying the late summer evening too...and we had ice-creams and warm doughnuts, and paddled in the sea and it was all perfect...
Whitstable is the seaside as England best offers seaside, with the special addition of its famous oysters: pebbles and sand and families, a harbour with lots of boats, real activity with fishing and nets in proper muddly sheds and shelters, and with oysters and fish-and-chips on sale, and real pubs with noise and beery men and nothing too posh or pretentious. As one chap said, stopping to admire the baby while carefully handing over a brimming plate of oysters to his own family "Who needs to go Abroad? This is marvellous, innit?"
On Communion: I've noticed that today's small Catholics automaticaly fold their arms in the form of a cross and bow their heads for a blessing as their parents recieve Communion - this was not done at all when I was small, and instead we were left stranded in the pew. The young Catholic children of today walk up with their parents, and can see what happens at the reception of Holy Communion and so have some knowledge when their First Communion classes begin. In my long-ago First Communion lessons, we had a "This-is-what-to-do" session, but in our parish we had a rather awkward handing of the plate from one communicant to another, instead of a server holding it. My well-founded fear of dropping the plate - I have always been clumsy - lingers in the memory...
Excellent...
...and haunting drama presented by the TenTen Theatre, on the theme of the misery of the sex-trade, or what is fashionably but accurately called "human trafficking". Well worth watching. It was presented on Friday in North London, at a hall near Arnos Grove tube station. A warm night, and the hall was packed. As the drama unfolded, there was a great tension, a tremendous engagement with the audience. Gripping, challenging, and thought-provoking - this is drama at its best. Go to see this play if you get the chance. And get TenTen into your local school. They are professional and superb. And this all costs money - so a donation would help. Like all top-quality arts work, this needs support and sponsorship. Go for it.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Graduation and hope...
...at St Patrick's, Soho. This year's students from SPES, the St Patrick's School of Evangelisation, graduated at a beautiful Mass celebrated by the Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, who came to Britain specially for the event. As I have been among the lecturer for the students, and have also taken them on History Walks around London, and joined in pilgrimages and other activities with them, it was a joy to be with them at their graduation. Afterwards, a reception with delicious food and wine, and a great mingling of many friends...all a delight.
BTW, excellent feature by the Bishop here, reflecting on St John Paul....
BTW, excellent feature by the Bishop here, reflecting on St John Paul....
Saturday, June 14, 2014
In an uncertain and frequently frightening world...
...Britain is having a rather panicky discussion about what "British values" are and how we can teach them. This latest chapter in our identity crisis emerged after revelations about the schools in the city of Birmingham. A good number of them are now exclusively Moslem. It is logical, indeed inevitable, that they teach Islam and are Islamic in culture and message. This is not something artificially imposed: it comes with the Islamic families who populate the city and therefore the schools.
If this is the reality in some of our cities, how can we foster some sort of unifying set of values that will enable the young people who inhabit Britain to live together in peace, Islamic and non-Islamic creating some sort of common community?
So the debate is on. The Prime Minister makes noises about values and culture. There are letters in the newspapers. But there are things that people find difficult to say. Here are some of them:
- Our British traditions and culture rest entirely and specifically on the family unit of a man and a woman united in marriage. We have no other family tradition, and this understanding of family is one that can unite people across the divisions of race, religion, and class.
- For well over a thousand years - in fact, for almost two thousand - our laws and culture have been based on the Christian religion and the Ten Commandments. Ignorance of Christianity and the Ten Commandments means ignorance of the driving force of our history, traditions, speech, music, literature and customs, the names of our towns and cities, our annual calendar, and hundreds of every things ranging from pub signs to nursery rhymes.
- Children in schools in Britain today are not taught history. They are blocked from studying the time-line that takes the history of these islands from the Roman Empire, via the arrival of the Angles and Saxons, to the Norman conquest, the Medieval era, the Reformation, the Tudors and Stuarts and on to the Civil War, and then the 18th and 19th centuries. They do not know why people speak English in India, Africa, Australia, and North America. They do not know why there are places in London named Waterloo and Trafalgar. They are only allowed to study certain events of the 20th century, repeatedly and without any background information.
- Moslems increasingly see British society as vulgar, gross, and nasty and our young people as drunken and sexually immoral. This perception discourages Moslems from wanting to associate themselves with the traditions and heritage of the country where they now form a majority in parts of several cities.
- It is possible - difficult, but possible - to create some sort of community together over the next years. It will require considerable courage and goodwill especially from Christians. Things are going to be difficult. The chief contribution from the public authorities should be to cease encouraging sexual activity among teenagers, and to promote male-female marriage and the birth of children.
If this is the reality in some of our cities, how can we foster some sort of unifying set of values that will enable the young people who inhabit Britain to live together in peace, Islamic and non-Islamic creating some sort of common community?
So the debate is on. The Prime Minister makes noises about values and culture. There are letters in the newspapers. But there are things that people find difficult to say. Here are some of them:
- Our British traditions and culture rest entirely and specifically on the family unit of a man and a woman united in marriage. We have no other family tradition, and this understanding of family is one that can unite people across the divisions of race, religion, and class.
- For well over a thousand years - in fact, for almost two thousand - our laws and culture have been based on the Christian religion and the Ten Commandments. Ignorance of Christianity and the Ten Commandments means ignorance of the driving force of our history, traditions, speech, music, literature and customs, the names of our towns and cities, our annual calendar, and hundreds of every things ranging from pub signs to nursery rhymes.
- Children in schools in Britain today are not taught history. They are blocked from studying the time-line that takes the history of these islands from the Roman Empire, via the arrival of the Angles and Saxons, to the Norman conquest, the Medieval era, the Reformation, the Tudors and Stuarts and on to the Civil War, and then the 18th and 19th centuries. They do not know why people speak English in India, Africa, Australia, and North America. They do not know why there are places in London named Waterloo and Trafalgar. They are only allowed to study certain events of the 20th century, repeatedly and without any background information.
- Moslems increasingly see British society as vulgar, gross, and nasty and our young people as drunken and sexually immoral. This perception discourages Moslems from wanting to associate themselves with the traditions and heritage of the country where they now form a majority in parts of several cities.
- It is possible - difficult, but possible - to create some sort of community together over the next years. It will require considerable courage and goodwill especially from Christians. Things are going to be difficult. The chief contribution from the public authorities should be to cease encouraging sexual activity among teenagers, and to promote male-female marriage and the birth of children.
Planning the...
....2014 Towards Advent Festival. It always seems odd to be hurrying off in summer heat to a meeting to organise brochures, check on speakers etc for this big November event. But it takes a lot of planning - and this year's looks set to be one of the best yet. We are unable to take any more bookings for stalls - the hall is now full. More info here
Friday, June 13, 2014
Summer events...
...to be noted include:
June 22nd, at Westerham in Kent, a grand CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION with the Guildford friary Brass Band. All welcome. Info here
The ORDINARIATE Pilgrimage to Walsingham, June 28th. Travelling from London? Contact this parish and travel in comfort on the coach.
Join in a really special History Walk on Wednesday July 2nd, starting at Westminster Cathedral (which is dedicated to the Precious Blood), and walking along the banks of the Thames to the Church of the Most Precious Blood at London Bridge. Meet 5.30pm (NOTE TIME) on the Cathedral steps. Mass at Precious Blood Church at 7pm. No need to book - just turn up at the Cathedral, and walk with us...
June 22nd, at Westerham in Kent, a grand CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION with the Guildford friary Brass Band. All welcome. Info here
The ORDINARIATE Pilgrimage to Walsingham, June 28th. Travelling from London? Contact this parish and travel in comfort on the coach.
Join in a really special History Walk on Wednesday July 2nd, starting at Westminster Cathedral (which is dedicated to the Precious Blood), and walking along the banks of the Thames to the Church of the Most Precious Blood at London Bridge. Meet 5.30pm (NOTE TIME) on the Cathedral steps. Mass at Precious Blood Church at 7pm. No need to book - just turn up at the Cathedral, and walk with us...
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Rome...
...and some unforgettable days in hot summer sunshine.
Sunday Mass at the Venerable English College, with a liturgy of great dignity and beauty with magnificent singing from the young men who are training to be our future priests, serving the English mission in the footsteps of the English Martyrs...
A conference in the Vatican, with representatives of Eastern European countries, including Poland's Lech Walesa, marking 25th anniversary of the extraordinary events of 1989.
A magnificent concert at the residence of the Australian ambassador to the Holy See - his wife is an accomplished concert pianist.
And much more, including a final evening with helicopters clattering overhead while an extraordinary gathering for prayer was taking place at the Vatican...
Sunday Mass at the Venerable English College, with a liturgy of great dignity and beauty with magnificent singing from the young men who are training to be our future priests, serving the English mission in the footsteps of the English Martyrs...
A conference in the Vatican, with representatives of Eastern European countries, including Poland's Lech Walesa, marking 25th anniversary of the extraordinary events of 1989.
A magnificent concert at the residence of the Australian ambassador to the Holy See - his wife is an accomplished concert pianist.
And much more, including a final evening with helicopters clattering overhead while an extraordinary gathering for prayer was taking place at the Vatican...
Wednesday, June 04, 2014
"Our Father..."
Do children in today's Britain know this prayer? Are they taught it in school? How can we help children to know it and to pray it?
Read a bit more here...
Read a bit more here...
A report on...
...the recent visit of the LOGS to the Vocations Centre is here with a rather charming formal pic of us by the shrine...
London is getting uglier...
...and uglier.
Leading some young people from SPES on a Catholic History Walk along the Thames from London Bridge to Tower Bridge, I noticed the large grey shields on the vast sheets of glass of the viciously ugly giant "mobile phone" block which now dominates the City skyline. These square grey shields are there because the fierce light blistering through the glass on this vast curved monstrosity had melted the cars in the street below and made it impossible for anyone to work in the shops or approach the area on foot. The shields are an attempt to mitigate the horror of the heat, but they won't work very well, and the whole street below has been blighted.
The ugly tower is just one of the horrible, huge, dominating chunks of masonry to wreck our city. The towers are not owned by Londoners, and do not contribute to the city's life. Across the river, great blocks of flats are being built, which are not offered for sale in Britain, but advertised overseas, and will not be family homes but simply used for overnight stays by rich potentates from far away.
The rich mix of people who felt that London was their home, and who knew and loved their own special corner of it, and who identified with London's history...all this is disappearing.
Some day, the ugly towers may come down, and the city be allowed to operate on a human scale again. Meanwhile, it is sad to walk along by the river and to know that the rich history...Saxons and Viking battles, and kings and saints and soldiers and heroes and families...is being crushed by concrete and by the loss of ordinary homes in which Londoners can afford to live..
Leading some young people from SPES on a Catholic History Walk along the Thames from London Bridge to Tower Bridge, I noticed the large grey shields on the vast sheets of glass of the viciously ugly giant "mobile phone" block which now dominates the City skyline. These square grey shields are there because the fierce light blistering through the glass on this vast curved monstrosity had melted the cars in the street below and made it impossible for anyone to work in the shops or approach the area on foot. The shields are an attempt to mitigate the horror of the heat, but they won't work very well, and the whole street below has been blighted.
The ugly tower is just one of the horrible, huge, dominating chunks of masonry to wreck our city. The towers are not owned by Londoners, and do not contribute to the city's life. Across the river, great blocks of flats are being built, which are not offered for sale in Britain, but advertised overseas, and will not be family homes but simply used for overnight stays by rich potentates from far away.
The rich mix of people who felt that London was their home, and who knew and loved their own special corner of it, and who identified with London's history...all this is disappearing.
Some day, the ugly towers may come down, and the city be allowed to operate on a human scale again. Meanwhile, it is sad to walk along by the river and to know that the rich history...Saxons and Viking battles, and kings and saints and soldiers and heroes and families...is being crushed by concrete and by the loss of ordinary homes in which Londoners can afford to live..
Sunday, June 01, 2014
...and...
...after a beautiful day at the Vocations Centre in Whitstable, I've come to understand more and more the urgency with which we must pray for more priests, young men of faith, courage, piety and zeal, committed to the New Evangelisation and inspired by Saint John Paul the Great to do great and holy things in this new Millenium...
Dear Bishops: WE WANT OUR FEAST-DAYS BACK!!!
PLEASE!!!
Today we had to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. But the message got a bit lost: this is a wonderful Feast and it just melted away as it all just felt like an ordinary Sunday.
It just isn't working out. The idea of "moving a feast-day to the nearest Sunday" has muddled everyone. It means that Catholic schools miss out: they can't celebrate the feast with the children. And it's no use saying that the children will celebrate on the Sunday because in too many cases THEIR PARENTS DON'T TAKE THEM TO MASS ON SUNDAYS. So a Catholic school must evangelise them. Why rob the school of this task?
And how do you teach about what a "Novena" is? It's all based on the Scriptural account of the days between the Ascension and Pentecost - and we've been robbed of those days.
Please, dear Bishops of England and Wales: GIVE US BACK OUR FEAST-DAYS.
Today we had to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. But the message got a bit lost: this is a wonderful Feast and it just melted away as it all just felt like an ordinary Sunday.
It just isn't working out. The idea of "moving a feast-day to the nearest Sunday" has muddled everyone. It means that Catholic schools miss out: they can't celebrate the feast with the children. And it's no use saying that the children will celebrate on the Sunday because in too many cases THEIR PARENTS DON'T TAKE THEM TO MASS ON SUNDAYS. So a Catholic school must evangelise them. Why rob the school of this task?
And how do you teach about what a "Novena" is? It's all based on the Scriptural account of the days between the Ascension and Pentecost - and we've been robbed of those days.
Please, dear Bishops of England and Wales: GIVE US BACK OUR FEAST-DAYS.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
The Thames and the sea...
...and yesterday began on London Bridge. The final day of filming for a new TV history series about London and the Church. From London Bridge there is a fine view of Tower Bridge - useful for TV as an icon of London - and then in the opposite direction the river makes a wide curve and heads off to Westminster. I stood there, talking about Romans and Saxons and Normans and the Middle Ages and Tudors and Stuarts and on to modern times... and people hurried past, and the river rolled along beneath, with those big new wide fat tourist box-boats creating great surges and the wake rushing up along the shore...
Wonderful TV crew and producer, all Polish, all delightful. Much of the filming has been in churches where the whole team genuflected, spoke in very low voices, walked very quietly and behaved with great reverence while doing a superb and professional job. Whenever things have been difficult with cold wet weather there has been good cheer and laughter and everyone working to get on despite the hassles. And there was a cheery evening when we finished with a quick visit to Polish restaurant with glasses of vodka (I wimped out: talking into a microphone all day makes one terribly thirsty and I had apple juice.)
It's been a wonderful time. Saying goodbye was quite gulpy - hugs and hand-kissing and thank-yous. Then I hurried off towards the Monument to catch the Tube to Victoria and the seaside, where I was due to meet members of LOGS (annual trip to Whistable - more on that in a moment). Work done, I was free,...and then I realised I wasn't: one of the crew came hurrying up behind me "Meecrow! Your meecrow!" We'd forgotten: I was still wearing the micro clipped to my lapel, the heavy receiver-unit clipped to my waistband, the line trailing up under my coat. We sorted it out, the traffic and the crowds and the wind and rain and our laughter all mingling to make a final absurd memory of a week's filming.
Wonderful TV crew and producer, all Polish, all delightful. Much of the filming has been in churches where the whole team genuflected, spoke in very low voices, walked very quietly and behaved with great reverence while doing a superb and professional job. Whenever things have been difficult with cold wet weather there has been good cheer and laughter and everyone working to get on despite the hassles. And there was a cheery evening when we finished with a quick visit to Polish restaurant with glasses of vodka (I wimped out: talking into a microphone all day makes one terribly thirsty and I had apple juice.)
It's been a wonderful time. Saying goodbye was quite gulpy - hugs and hand-kissing and thank-yous. Then I hurried off towards the Monument to catch the Tube to Victoria and the seaside, where I was due to meet members of LOGS (annual trip to Whistable - more on that in a moment). Work done, I was free,...and then I realised I wasn't: one of the crew came hurrying up behind me "Meecrow! Your meecrow!" We'd forgotten: I was still wearing the micro clipped to my lapel, the heavy receiver-unit clipped to my waistband, the line trailing up under my coat. We sorted it out, the traffic and the crowds and the wind and rain and our laughter all mingling to make a final absurd memory of a week's filming.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Your opportunity to take part in a glorious CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION...
...with a band, and all the trimmings, in a most beautiful setting, within easy reach of London.
Sunday June 22nd, 3pm, WESTERHAM, Kent. No need to book, just turn up. More info here or just go to Westerham and head for St John the Baptist Church, Hosey Hill.
Traditional Corpus Christi processions have made a BIG comeback in recent years. This one sounds particularly attractive. Spread the word, take along a friend or two, and be part of it!
Sunday June 22nd, 3pm, WESTERHAM, Kent. No need to book, just turn up. More info here or just go to Westerham and head for St John the Baptist Church, Hosey Hill.
Traditional Corpus Christi processions have made a BIG comeback in recent years. This one sounds particularly attractive. Spread the word, take along a friend or two, and be part of it!
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
History and the Church...
...and the story of Britain. A new TV series, and I've been walking along the banks of the Thames, mostly in heavy rain and under an umbrella, with TV cameras and a producer, and talking about Saxons and Vikings and Henry VII and Henry VIII and Elizabeth I and pirate ships and more...
Monday, May 26, 2014
Walsingham...
...looks beautiful even in pouring rain, and even when you are camping in a nearby meadow. The National Association of Catholic Families holds an annual Pilgrimage at the shrine each May, taking advantage of the Bank Holiday weekend. We set off very late on Friday evening, car packed with camping equipment, and arrived well past one o'clock in the morning - but there were a couple of families still up and about, on what was still a clear night, with the most glorious array of stars. They had been enjoying this magnificent display ( incidentally something very much in keeping with the whole place, because the traditional old English name for what we today call the Milky Way, was the Walsingham Way, because the myriad of stars looks liked the hordes of pilgrims that walked to Walsingham along the crowded lanes for great feast-days....) They immediately hurried to help us, and soon they had out tent up, and we were getting everything settled and organised. It was a happy start to a happy weekend.
We were warm and snug in the tent, and the dawn began with a most beautiful rosy sky...but then, when the morning arrived in its fullness, so did the rain - torrential sheets of it, rather magnificent in its way, but rendering any attempts at cooking breakfast out of doors impossible. It turned the lane into a splashy series of interlocking rivers, but we whooshed down it in our car and enjoyed a hearty breakfast in the village. The NACF campers are all much more organised, with tents that include special cooking areas, and proper stoves and all sorts of handy equipment, but...well...there are compensations to being in late-middle-age, and our breakfast in a café was one of them.
A happy weekend. All sorts of talks and activities, ranging from a film on St John Paul the Great (the weekend was dedicated to him, as "Pope of the Family"), to a briefing on the Govt's (ghastly!) Equality Act, a Mass in the shrine's big Barn Church, and pleasant times chatting to old friends... late on Saturday I had to return to London, for a week's filming with EWTN (of which more later) but Jamie stayed on, and enjoyed talks with the priests from the Community of St John, and the soon-to-be-Bishop Fr Alan Williams who has been in charge of the Shrine and is now appointed Bishop of Brentwood, and the lovely Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal...
We were warm and snug in the tent, and the dawn began with a most beautiful rosy sky...but then, when the morning arrived in its fullness, so did the rain - torrential sheets of it, rather magnificent in its way, but rendering any attempts at cooking breakfast out of doors impossible. It turned the lane into a splashy series of interlocking rivers, but we whooshed down it in our car and enjoyed a hearty breakfast in the village. The NACF campers are all much more organised, with tents that include special cooking areas, and proper stoves and all sorts of handy equipment, but...well...there are compensations to being in late-middle-age, and our breakfast in a café was one of them.
A happy weekend. All sorts of talks and activities, ranging from a film on St John Paul the Great (the weekend was dedicated to him, as "Pope of the Family"), to a briefing on the Govt's (ghastly!) Equality Act, a Mass in the shrine's big Barn Church, and pleasant times chatting to old friends... late on Saturday I had to return to London, for a week's filming with EWTN (of which more later) but Jamie stayed on, and enjoyed talks with the priests from the Community of St John, and the soon-to-be-Bishop Fr Alan Williams who has been in charge of the Shrine and is now appointed Bishop of Brentwood, and the lovely Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal...
At Mass today...
...we were urged to pray this afternoon for the H. Father's visit to the Holy Land, especially for his visit with the Ecumenical Patriarch. The Pope's straightforward, sort of neighbourly, style strikes an attractive note, refreshingly unpompous, as for example in his plea to the Israeli and the Palestine leaders: "I offer my house in the Vatican as a place to meet and pray"
Sunday, May 25, 2014
ZENIT...
...the Rome-based news agency, has a feature which might be of interest to readers of this blog...
Thursday, May 22, 2014
YOUCAT...
...the Youth Catechism which was a gift to the young people of the Church from Pope Benedict, is proving its worth. Today, I was arranging for copies to go out as prizes in a schools project organised through the Southwark Vocations office. This offered an opportunity to spend the day at Whitstable, meeting the team of young men working there as part of their formation for the priesthood. They have created a garden out of a messy area - or, rather, rediscovered a garden that had been there a long while back and was overgrown and had turned into a wilderness. A statue of Our Lady has been cleaned up and now stands in her own shrine beneath a graceful arch around which flowers thrive.
A hearty lunch, a time of prayer in the chapel, and then a recreation period during which I was invited to talk about the book on St John Paul. Then everyone to various allotted tasks, and I wrote out names on prizes and sorted them for wrapping and posting.. then.a train journey back to London past lovely seaside scenes. Whitstable is a charming town and I'll be back there next week with a group from LOGS, the Ladies Ordinariate Group for our summer pilgrimage.
A hearty lunch, a time of prayer in the chapel, and then a recreation period during which I was invited to talk about the book on St John Paul. Then everyone to various allotted tasks, and I wrote out names on prizes and sorted them for wrapping and posting.. then.a train journey back to London past lovely seaside scenes. Whitstable is a charming town and I'll be back there next week with a group from LOGS, the Ladies Ordinariate Group for our summer pilgrimage.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Auntie is of to the seaside...
...well, a day at Whitstable in Kent, anyway. I'll be visiting the Vocations Centre and will also take some time out for a walk by the sea...
The day will start early, because before I catch the train to Victoria and thence to Kent, I will hurry to vote in the European and local elections.
...and the day will finish in London where I plan to attend Evensong here...
The day will start early, because before I catch the train to Victoria and thence to Kent, I will hurry to vote in the European and local elections.
...and the day will finish in London where I plan to attend Evensong here...
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Monday, May 19, 2014
...and don't forget...
The Martyrs' walk. Annual Prayer Walk through London. SUNDAY June 22nd. Meet 1.30pm for a 2pm start: churchyard of St Sepulchre's church (opposite the Old Bailey). Nearest Tube: St Paul's.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
A hot sunny day...
...and a beautiful walk through Chelsea, with an enthusiastic group discovering the sites linked to St Thomas More. We began at the church in Cheyne Row, went on to his statue facing the Thames, by his own chapel in Chelsea Old Church, stopped again at Roper's Orchard and viewed More's town house - which was transported to Chelsea in the 1900s - and then finished at Allen Hall in Beaufort Street. This is the seminary which trains priests for the Westminster diocese, and the Rector and students gave us a most wonderful welcome, with Tea waiting for us at tables set on the wide green lawn...absolute bliss. After we'd all relaxed over tea and delicious cakes, we gathered in the refectory and Fr Rector told us the history of the seminary, dating back, of course, to penal times and Cardinal Allen, and Douai...and then, after we'd visited St Thomas More's mulberry tree in the garden - and everyone had plucked some leaves as a memento, an established tradition for visitors - we went to the chapel for Vespers and Benediction. It was so moving and inspiring to hear the strong male voices filling the chapel with glorious singing, and leading the prayers. Over tea we had been introduced to several of them: in addition to those training for the Westminster diocese there are some from overseas and several from other dioceses in England and Wales. Before we left, we gave them all three hearty cheers...and took up a collection to help with the seminary funds, and promised them lots of prayers...it was a wonderful day.
Young Catholics from across London...
...gathered in good numbers to spend a day reflecting on St John Paul the Great's message about the complementarity of the sexes and the collaboration of men and women in the Church and in the world, on Saturday at St Mary of the Angels church at Notting Hill, welcomed by the parish priest Mgr Keith Barltrop. Full marks to Sarah de Nordwall for organising and chairing this event - and doing so with much sparkle and enthusiasm. Father Hugh Mackenzie got us thinking about the deeper philosophical aspects of the subject, Dr Jenny Lochner spoke about discovering what "theology of the body" really meant, Auntie spoke about St John Paul and his message, with reference to his "Letter to Women" and so on. There was time for reflection and prayer, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and Benediction - and for this it was a joy to gather in the splendid church which I had never visited before, although I've been a Londoner for most of my life. The talks and discussions took place in the parish room, originally designed for the small community established by Father - later Cardinal - Manning when the parish was first established. There was a good lunch with crusty French bread and salads and cheeses and delicious cakes. There was a great atmosphere of trust and freedom in the discussions. All in all a very good day...
There's a good report, with pic...
...of the latest news from LOGS, the Ladies Ordinariate Group, on the Ordinariate website: view here.
Friday, May 16, 2014
A project for schools...thanksgiving...
...and a Silver anniversary.
The Schools Bible Project has been running for 25 years. It is a simple idea which is working well: pupils have to imagine themselves present at one of the events in the life of Christ and write about it. A list of six events, different each year, is offered: Christ walking on the water, calming the storm at sea, calling the Apostles, healing Jairus' daughter...the Crucifixion, appearances after the Resurrection...
There are cash prizes for the winning schools, plus individual prizes for the pupils, who come to London to receive them in a special ceremony at the House of Lords in the Autumn.
Christian Projects is a group bringing together Christians from the mainstream denominations in Britain, and the Schools Bible Project is its main activity.
This year, we are holding a special ecumenical THANKSGIVING SERVICE on Friday July 11th at St Margaret's, Westminster, to which groups from ALL SCHOOLS THAT HAVE EVER TAKEN PART IN THE SCHOOLS BIBLE PROJECT, OR ARE PARTICIPATING FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR are invited. Send an email to: schoolsbibleproject@gmail.com if you are interested. More info here , or send a Comment to this blog with an email address to which I can reply to you...
The Schools Bible Project has been running for 25 years. It is a simple idea which is working well: pupils have to imagine themselves present at one of the events in the life of Christ and write about it. A list of six events, different each year, is offered: Christ walking on the water, calming the storm at sea, calling the Apostles, healing Jairus' daughter...the Crucifixion, appearances after the Resurrection...
There are cash prizes for the winning schools, plus individual prizes for the pupils, who come to London to receive them in a special ceremony at the House of Lords in the Autumn.
Christian Projects is a group bringing together Christians from the mainstream denominations in Britain, and the Schools Bible Project is its main activity.
This year, we are holding a special ecumenical THANKSGIVING SERVICE on Friday July 11th at St Margaret's, Westminster, to which groups from ALL SCHOOLS THAT HAVE EVER TAKEN PART IN THE SCHOOLS BIBLE PROJECT, OR ARE PARTICIPATING FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR are invited. Send an email to: schoolsbibleproject@gmail.com if you are interested. More info here , or send a Comment to this blog with an email address to which I can reply to you...
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
The Feast of Our Lady of Fatima...
.... is observed today around the world, and the bullet that so nearly brought the martyrdom of a Pope in 1981 on this day is now in the centre of the crown in the great statue of Mary at Fatima. And the Pope went on to serve the Church magnificently for a further two decades and more, and is today a Saint in Heaven. Read here to get the deeper perspective on the Fatima visions...it reads even more profoundly in the light of subsequent events and especially of the role played by its author in the following years and especially in the canonisation of Saint John Paul...his opinion on Saint JP is worth reading again too...
Canon Luiz Ruscillo...
...from the diocese of Lancaster, will be speaking at the EVENING OF FAITH at London's Warwick St Church of St Gregory and the Assumption tomorrow (Wednesday May 14th) at 7.30pm. All welcome.
The meeting is in the parish hall: 24 Golden Square WI. Nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus. Fr Luiz is an excellent speaker: this is not to be missed. Sponsored by the Faith Movement...
The meeting is in the parish hall: 24 Golden Square WI. Nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus. Fr Luiz is an excellent speaker: this is not to be missed. Sponsored by the Faith Movement...
Monday, May 12, 2014
On Sunday, May 18th...
come and celebrate the life of St Thomas More, and visit the diocesan seminary that stands in what was once his garden.
Meet 2.30pm at Holy Redeemer Church, Cheyne Row, London SW3 (nearest tube: Sloane Square, then bus or walk along the Kings Road). We will visit sites associated with More, including his statue facing the Thames, and finish with a visit to Allen Hall, where we will have a tour, and Tea, and pray with and for the students. THE CHURCH NEEDS GOOD PRIESTS!
Be prompt: 2.30pm at Holy Redeemer Church....and wear suitable clothing....we'll be walking whatever the weather.
And on Monday May 19th, 4pm (NOTE TIME) meet at the Mary Garden, St Joseph's Church, Kingston Road, New Malden. We are going on a walk to the shrine of Our Lady of Westminster at Hampton Wick, the pray for vocations to the priesthood. New Malden is 20 minutes from London Waterloo on the main line. Wear suitable shoes for a 3-mile walk.
Meet 2.30pm at Holy Redeemer Church, Cheyne Row, London SW3 (nearest tube: Sloane Square, then bus or walk along the Kings Road). We will visit sites associated with More, including his statue facing the Thames, and finish with a visit to Allen Hall, where we will have a tour, and Tea, and pray with and for the students. THE CHURCH NEEDS GOOD PRIESTS!
Be prompt: 2.30pm at Holy Redeemer Church....and wear suitable clothing....we'll be walking whatever the weather.
And on Monday May 19th, 4pm (NOTE TIME) meet at the Mary Garden, St Joseph's Church, Kingston Road, New Malden. We are going on a walk to the shrine of Our Lady of Westminster at Hampton Wick, the pray for vocations to the priesthood. New Malden is 20 minutes from London Waterloo on the main line. Wear suitable shoes for a 3-mile walk.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Working closely with Pius XII...
...the slightly-built and rather quiet Monsignor was a hard-working, courteous figure who carried out discreet and - because it was wartime and Italy was bound in alliance with Nazi Germany - often dangerous work. One of his tasks was to liaise with convents and monasteries that were able to hide Jewish refugees. With Pius XII, he was able to help save many lives.
He was home-educated, from a devout family, and had discerned his vocation to the priesthood while still young. He was traditional in his beliefs and practices, well-read, academically gifted, and with a reserved but friendly manner.
Now he is to be beatified. I learned about his wartime work while researching my book Courage and Conviction, about Brigettine nuns who hid Jewish refugees in their convent in Rome during World War II. He was Monsignor Montini then, but became better known when he was elected as successor of St Peter and took the name Paul VI.
I have today read some horrible Internet attacks on him, attacks both ignorant and unkind, some from Catholics who should know better. As Pope, Paul VI was often villified, but he stood firm, while unhappy and too often lonely, amid the storms that so often hurtle viciously in and around the Church: he upheld the Faith, he gave us Humanae Vitae and the Credo of the People of God, and Evangeli Nuntiandi, he merits our thanks.
He will be a patron of home-schoolers, and also of all who feel lonely or abandoned within the Church. He seemed unexciting to those of us who were young, and pictures showed him looking solemn, dwarfed by the big egg-shaped jewelled headpiece then in use, thin and tired. I personally knew little about him: I think I simply considered him rather feeble. The mass media were unkind to him.
We live in a different world from the one Paul VI knew. There were some 653 million Catholics in 1970: today the figure is over 1.196 billion. There were 198.398 parishes in 1970, and now it has grown to 221,055. Paul VI knew a Church that was still largely centred on Europe: today the Church is growing in vast numbers in China and in Africa. He was perhaps the last Pope of the "traditional" style. His successor took on the challenge of taking the Church into a new Millenium.
Paul VI can now intercede from Heaven for the Church he loved, and is probably praying for those who are now attacking him. He was a good and holy man.
He was home-educated, from a devout family, and had discerned his vocation to the priesthood while still young. He was traditional in his beliefs and practices, well-read, academically gifted, and with a reserved but friendly manner.
Now he is to be beatified. I learned about his wartime work while researching my book Courage and Conviction, about Brigettine nuns who hid Jewish refugees in their convent in Rome during World War II. He was Monsignor Montini then, but became better known when he was elected as successor of St Peter and took the name Paul VI.
I have today read some horrible Internet attacks on him, attacks both ignorant and unkind, some from Catholics who should know better. As Pope, Paul VI was often villified, but he stood firm, while unhappy and too often lonely, amid the storms that so often hurtle viciously in and around the Church: he upheld the Faith, he gave us Humanae Vitae and the Credo of the People of God, and Evangeli Nuntiandi, he merits our thanks.
He will be a patron of home-schoolers, and also of all who feel lonely or abandoned within the Church. He seemed unexciting to those of us who were young, and pictures showed him looking solemn, dwarfed by the big egg-shaped jewelled headpiece then in use, thin and tired. I personally knew little about him: I think I simply considered him rather feeble. The mass media were unkind to him.
We live in a different world from the one Paul VI knew. There were some 653 million Catholics in 1970: today the figure is over 1.196 billion. There were 198.398 parishes in 1970, and now it has grown to 221,055. Paul VI knew a Church that was still largely centred on Europe: today the Church is growing in vast numbers in China and in Africa. He was perhaps the last Pope of the "traditional" style. His successor took on the challenge of taking the Church into a new Millenium.
Paul VI can now intercede from Heaven for the Church he loved, and is probably praying for those who are now attacking him. He was a good and holy man.
Auntie is among the speakers at....
The Vocation of Man and Woman retreat day at St Mary of the Angels, Bayswater, Saturday 17th May 10am – 4.30pm
If we don't know who we are, how can we know who we're called to become?
A contemplative and interactive day for men and women interested in asking “What in the modern world, is the vocation of Man and Woman? Are femininity and masculinity sacramental realities or is matter just meaningless? Do our bodies ‘preach the Gospel’ or are they merely ‘raw material for our own experiment?’ Is gender something we choose for ourselves or has God always had a plan for Woman and Man that evokes His nature?
Explore, with the help of speakers, reflection groups and prayer, what is at stake if we underestimate the importance of our calling to be male and female. Discover in depth how the Church helps us fulfil our destiny. “Purifying all things and bringing them to their finest expression”. Blessed John Henry Newman
To register for the event go to Eventbrite : https:// www.eventbrite.com/e/ the-vocation-of-man-and-wom an-retreat-day-tickets-115 70731369?ref=estw
Or simply call Sarah de Nordwall on 07849 641 899, leaving your name and number.
There is no charge for the day, although donations to help cover expenses are welcome. Please bring a packed lunch. Basic refreshments and some sandwiches will be provided.
The day begins with Mass at 10am in the main church. The rest of the event takes place in the Panelled Room. Enter through the Parish House. The Event is sponsored by Fr Richard Nesbitt and the Vocations Department of the Diocese of Westminster
On Tuesday May 13th...
...there will be a CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK, starting at 6.30pm at Precious Blood Church (O'Meara Street) London SEI. Nearest tube BOROUGH or LONDON BRIDGE. We will be discovering the Bishop of Winchester's Palace, Catherine of Aragon's house, and the Southwark Martyrs, among much else.
All welcome. Wear suitable clothing - we'll be walking whatever the weather!
All welcome. Wear suitable clothing - we'll be walking whatever the weather!
Friday, May 09, 2014
In London...
...a big "Alpha" rally was held the other day in the Royal Albert Hall. I was told about this, and I found it rather moving.
Your thoughts?
Your thoughts?
Took a group...
...of wonderful American Catholics and their excellent priest, Father John Riccardo on a hearty History Walk from Westminster Cathedral to the Tower...all hugely enjoyable, everyone cheerful despite insistent rain...at London Bridge Fr John concelebrated a lunchtime Mass with Fr Christopher at Precious Blood Church, before we enjoyed sandwiches and coffee and then crossed Tower Bridge to pray at Tower Hill...
Later, we sat relaxing over mugs of tea and the talk turned to many things: saints, and Christ, and the Church, and the Resurrection... and how and why St Thomas initially failed to believe that Christ had risen. Fr John said "What do we know about Thomas? What was he?" and we all said "um...an Apostle? One of the Twelve...?"
"Yes, but what else?"
"Er..." and none of us could think.
"He was also known as Didymus."
"Yes! He was a twin!"
"Exactly. And twins are often mistaken for one another. Think about it. He had spent his life being mistaken for his twin. So he thought it perfectly natural that they had mistaken some one for Christ. He was all ready to say 'look, it happens all the time - you've just made a normal mistake'. And then when he saw the wounds in the Lord's hands and side..."
Never thought of that before. It really made us think, and we got talking about the New Testament and all sorts of other details that occur in the various accounts...and finally the waiter came up to say that they were closing and we really must go, and we realised we were the last group there and everything was being cleared away... "Oh, sorry..." I said "It was just that what we were discussing was so interesting - " "I know. he said "We've all been listening! I'm Brazilian. I am sort of a believer, but I'm not really certain..." , and I gave him one of the holy-cards of St John Paul from Rome and he was happy and so were we, and then later when we were outside and making our farewells, he came out and gave us bowls of unsold fresh fruit, to take away...
Later, we sat relaxing over mugs of tea and the talk turned to many things: saints, and Christ, and the Church, and the Resurrection... and how and why St Thomas initially failed to believe that Christ had risen. Fr John said "What do we know about Thomas? What was he?" and we all said "um...an Apostle? One of the Twelve...?"
"Yes, but what else?"
"Er..." and none of us could think.
"He was also known as Didymus."
"Yes! He was a twin!"
"Exactly. And twins are often mistaken for one another. Think about it. He had spent his life being mistaken for his twin. So he thought it perfectly natural that they had mistaken some one for Christ. He was all ready to say 'look, it happens all the time - you've just made a normal mistake'. And then when he saw the wounds in the Lord's hands and side..."
Never thought of that before. It really made us think, and we got talking about the New Testament and all sorts of other details that occur in the various accounts...and finally the waiter came up to say that they were closing and we really must go, and we realised we were the last group there and everything was being cleared away... "Oh, sorry..." I said "It was just that what we were discussing was so interesting - " "I know. he said "We've all been listening! I'm Brazilian. I am sort of a believer, but I'm not really certain..." , and I gave him one of the holy-cards of St John Paul from Rome and he was happy and so were we, and then later when we were outside and making our farewells, he came out and gave us bowls of unsold fresh fruit, to take away...
If you think....
...that the Euro-election is just a big piece of irrelevance, read this and find out what your Euro-candidates think.
The ghastly Eurocracy is trying to stop ordinary advertisments showing a married couple (man and woman) and teachers talking about the normality of male/female marriage. Vote for some one who will defend freedom to talk about marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
The ghastly Eurocracy is trying to stop ordinary advertisments showing a married couple (man and woman) and teachers talking about the normality of male/female marriage. Vote for some one who will defend freedom to talk about marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
Wednesday, May 07, 2014
An ordinary sort of day...
...filled with extraordinary small blessings. To Pr. Blood church for a meeting w. the secretary of the Ordinariate Ladies Group. I was late and missed her, but she had only just left, so I went to her usual bus-stop just in case she hadn't yet caught the bus - and we met in the High St! Sandwich lunch, on me, and over brews of coffee we sorted out arrangements for a Walsingham weekend in the summer, and organised prizes and certificates for the winners of the "Our Father" project organised for RC and CofE primary schools. The children have been writing out the "Our Father" in good handwriting, and decorating and illustrating it, and answering simple questions to show their understanding of it. Some howlers: "I will be done on earth...." "Our Father, who heart in heaven..." We had a satisfying time ordering prizes etc - every child is going to get a small gospel book, and there are special prizes for the best work.
A troop of small First Communicants arrived for their class, organised themselves round the table and were handed their books (and I'm making a link to the book, because it really is excellent, and warmly recommended) by their catechist. Another Ordinariate lady was doing the flowers - which at this church are absolutely superb. As we worked at the parish computer, the Rector came through with the children, all trooping into church as part of their First Communion class.
Evening fell: out in the rainy London street I hurried to the station, and was joined there by J. - he was running late so 'phoned me "Get yourself a gin-and-tonic and let's eat at the Italian place". So we did, a sudden agreeable treat on an ordinary Wednesday. Sitting sipping g-and-t, with railway noises and London bustle all around, I suddenly felt grateful for life's blessings.
A troop of small First Communicants arrived for their class, organised themselves round the table and were handed their books (and I'm making a link to the book, because it really is excellent, and warmly recommended) by their catechist. Another Ordinariate lady was doing the flowers - which at this church are absolutely superb. As we worked at the parish computer, the Rector came through with the children, all trooping into church as part of their First Communion class.
Evening fell: out in the rainy London street I hurried to the station, and was joined there by J. - he was running late so 'phoned me "Get yourself a gin-and-tonic and let's eat at the Italian place". So we did, a sudden agreeable treat on an ordinary Wednesday. Sitting sipping g-and-t, with railway noises and London bustle all around, I suddenly felt grateful for life's blessings.
Sunday, May 04, 2014
To the John Fisher School....
...in Purley, to talk to give a talk about St John Paul the Great and the canonisation. This is an excellent school, and one with which our family has strong associations. The boys all look smart in their blue blazers with the golden fish emblem, and the mood was welcoming, cheerful, and upbeat. The meeting was chaired by a pupil, who led prayers beforehand: it is moving to hear a strong chorus of boys voices saying the Lord's Prayer together.
Hurrah for the excellent Mr Dan Cooper, who has been running this Faith Group for more years than anyone can remember, including himself, and it flourishes and flourishes.
So many young men from this school have served the Church as priests, and the service continues. The school chaplain, Father James Clark, is among them: he was at the meeting and I asked him to bless the rosaries etc that I had brought back from Rome.
The school grounds have great trees and stretches of green - it all looked grand on a May evening. The Headmaster was at the meeting: he is doing a superb job and it was a privilege to be invited to speak at this school.
Hurrah for the excellent Mr Dan Cooper, who has been running this Faith Group for more years than anyone can remember, including himself, and it flourishes and flourishes.
So many young men from this school have served the Church as priests, and the service continues. The school chaplain, Father James Clark, is among them: he was at the meeting and I asked him to bless the rosaries etc that I had brought back from Rome.
The school grounds have great trees and stretches of green - it all looked grand on a May evening. The Headmaster was at the meeting: he is doing a superb job and it was a privilege to be invited to speak at this school.
Saturday, May 03, 2014
And the book...
...with authors Clare Anderson and JB, with Neville Kyrke Smith, Director of Aid to the Church in Need in Britain, who wrote the Foreword.
"John Paul II:Man of Prayer". And did you see the EWTN documentary, with us walking in his footsteps in Krakow and Wadowice?
Thursday, May 01, 2014
And as the celebratory mood continues...
...this brief word-picture describes some scenes of the canonisation...
A party...
...to launch the book John Paul II: Man of Prayer. Held at the Rectory of the Ordinariate Church (Warwick St), by kind invitation of Mgr and Mrs Keith Newton...wine, a celebration cake, speeches...
...and just because it is so splendid...
The formula of canonisation read by Pope Francis on Sunday April 27th
:
“For the honour of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother Bishops, we declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II be Saints and we enroll them among the Saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
:
“For the honour of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother Bishops, we declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II be Saints and we enroll them among the Saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
The May issue of The Portal...
...the one-line magazine of the Ordinariate of OL of Walsingham, is now out, and you can read it here
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