The Mass in English...

...at last!

After years of having poor translations and often bleak, ugly phrasing, we are going to get something that might be in real English. The Holy Father has approved the new English texts and in due course - and with, we can assume, due muddles and controversies - they will be in use in our parishes.

Cue for a barrage from (a) those who don't want any improvement that might emphasise the grandeur and glory of the Mass and (b) the school of thought that says that any new English text is irrelevant, tee hee, who cares about the Ordinary Form of the Mass anyway?

Actually, having the Mass in better English will be a massive help in ensuring beautiful worship. Papa Benedict has given us a vision that is worthwhile: the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Mass, a sense of continuity, an emphasis on God.

We need a focus on liturgy as worship. It is God that matters here. The introductory rites, with the Confiteor, draw us, hesitantly, into the presence of God and in due course we have the exultant singing of the Gloria before there is, as it were, a drawing back as the Scriptures are read, and then the priest's movement towards the altar and the Offertory and the drama as the "Holy,holy,holy..." begins the awesome build-up to the Consecration. All of this, in Latin or in English, in 1962 form or in a newer form, is something that should all be expressed in beauty.

There will be muddles and mumbles and mess as the new texts are introduced. People will say what is already familiar, and then hesitate and get confused and it will all sound ghastly. It will seem as though the whole thing isn't worthwhile. And those of us who rather like the Latin tend also be be among those who have also been pleading for better English, and we'll be in anguish as people will say "Oh, why do we need any changes anyway?" But it will work out well. The new texts will eventually become familiar, and while they are still taking root the more authentic doctrine they express will gradually become familiar too.

At Brompton Oratory...

...or, strictly speaking, at the Oratory House which adjoins the church, a meeting of the Board of the British section of Aid to the Church in Need. Much to discuss... projects, events, meetings - BTW, why not join us on the Pilgrimage to Walsingham?

Now, this Papal visit. Talking to the other people on the ACN Board, I realised how little we really all know about the plans. I mean, how do ordinary Catholics get to see the Pope? Airport arrival? Scottish Mass? London events? Beatification of John Henry Newman? How do people get to these events - how restricted will they be? When Pope John Paul came, back in 1982, there were coaches from parishes in the South of England to Gatwick airport - as I recall, in the parish where I was living at the time we gathered at about 3 am and arrived at the airport with hours to spare, which were spent singing and praying and it was all rather convivial. I suppose we must assume that this time, with threats from the likes of Hitchens and co (website of the National Secular Society is rallying people to turn up to do some hate-shouting etc), everything will be closely guarded, numbers restricted etc. Well, hmmmm, obviously there's a need for safety and so on, but it's also important that people are allowed to see and greet and cheer our Holy Father!

The Papal Visit website is, perhaps understandably, not at this stage hugely informative on details. But we do need info.

Do not let...

...the foul-up by the Foreign Office spoil the plans for the Papal visit. That is precisely what those who hate the Church want to happen. So it mustn't.

There are two issues here. First is the Foreign Office foul-up, which needs to be tackled. The perpetrator is said to have been "moved to other tasks" Uh??? Other tasks? Good grief. What other religions or nations is he going to insult next? It would be much more reassurring to know that he has been invited to use his creative and amusing talents elsewhere than in the public service.

But the more important issue is that the Papal visit is secured, that full-scale apologies from the Foreign Office to the Holy See are accepted, and that plans go ahead for the September events, with the Church's right of free speech emphasised and the traditions of courtesy and goodwill honoured to the full. Recriminations and "I told you not to trust this Government" and so on and so on are an indulgence we cannot afford as Catholics.

It has long been apparent that the present Government and many people in official positions in Britain dislike the Church and her moral teachings: our Catholic bishops have often appeared naive in their refual to accept this reality. But a successful Papal visit, a good gathering of Catholics to honour the successor of St Peter, the beatification of John Henry Newman, and a public celebration of the Faith, are great and large things, and well worth the time, sacrifice, dedication and prayer put into them.

Do not let those who hate the Church wreck this Papal visit.

In the middle...

...of much family activity (see below) phone calls from TV and radio stations about the ridiculous, offensive, gross and vulgar rubbish produced in a Foreign Office memo about the Pope's visit. It is shaming to realise how low we have sunk as a nation: I suppose there have always been crude young men at the Foreign Office producing insolent material as a joke, but it is frightening that today such stuff gets taken seriously and circulated.

A new baby...

...in our family. Rushed to young relatives Edmund and Fiorella to share in the joy at the arrival of


NICHOLAS XAVIER NASH, born 24th April 2010

a brother for Hugh and Francesca.

A darling baby,warm against my heart as I cuddled him. The dear faces of a joyful young couple as they start this next exciting chapter of their family story. A house teeming with busyness and love, a fish-and-chip supper, cheerful grandparents arriving with hugs and with food and practical gifts and immediate quiet competence, great flurries of activity and much whooping and laughter combined with swapping of news and sudden tiredness and gratitude for togetherness. Joy, joy...

David Quinn...

...an Irish journalist who recently came to speak to us at The Keys, has an excellent analysis of Papa Benedict's first 5 years here.

A Meeting...

...of the committee of the Association of Catholic Women. Much discussion of current issues...state of the Church in Ireland (problems of too close connection between Irish Church and State throughout much of 20th century, clericalism, etc), current attacks on the Pope, ghastly new appointment at the Catholic Education Service...this last is absolutely weird, and prompts questions of a most serious kind.

What possible reason can there be to appoint, to an official Catholic position, some one as a public official has consistently opposed Catholic teaching on every possible occasion? This new Deputy Director of the CES is a former Member of Parliament with a consistent record of supporting the work of the pro-abortion International Planned Parenthood, Family Planning Association and Marie Stopes International. He is now going to earn some £60,000 a year as an official of the body in charge of Catholic schools in England and Wales.

The Catholic Education Service proved its ineptitude in a quite dramatic way recently by failing to stand up for the rights of Catholics in the Govt's horrible plans for compulsory sex education. Thanks to the courageous campaigning of other groups, and despite the efforts of the CES to shore things up, the Government's legislation was eventually abandonerd, leaving the Catholic Education Service looking extremely stupid. Cue for a major re-think: opportunity to disband the CES and reorganise. But no - instead, a supporter of this discredited Government and an enthusiastic campaigner for National Condom Week is appointed as CES Deputy Director.

You couldn't make it up...

THE GENERAL ELECTION...

...sometimes feels like a debate about rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic.

To get a sense of some of the real issues facing our country - and some questions to ask your local candidates - go to the Catholic Union website and use their excellent election booklet RESTORING FAITH IN POLITICS. This is also being distributed in booklet form with all the main Catholic newspapers, and is being sent to Catholic groups and organisations etc.

Christians of all denominations will find the material useful.

An ecumenical note...

...which may be of interest: as chairman of a Christian charity, Christian Projects, which runs a big nationwide Schools Bible Project, I recieved an encouraging letter today. Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, has kindly agreed to be a Patron of Christian Projects, and we are really delighted that he is giving us this support. Some years ago, when the Schools Bible Project was really in its infancy, he gladly consented to present the prizes, and invited us all to Lambeth Palace. It was a wonderful day which the young prizewinners hugely enjoyed - we were made warmly welcome, were shown around this fascinating building, learned something of its history, and had a lovely celebration.

Yesterday...

...thanks to kindness shown through a chance encounter at Westminster Cathedral, I had a lovely day with a cousin I had not seen for years. It was a day of swapping memories and talking over many things.

Hanging in the hall was a picture that swept me back to my childhood - the angel, drawn by our great-grandfather, in the style of Burne-Jones under whom he studied. I suddenly realised how childhood images stay with you, shape your ideas, form the background to your life.

And you simply must read...

...the excellent Round Table honouring Papa Benedict's anniversary produced by Ignatius Press.

Worth reading...

...the Holy Father's address to young people in Malta.

Under a silent sky...

...off to London for a meeting with Josephine Robinson of the Association of Catholic Women. Entries have been arriving for the Association's 2010 Schools' RE Project, in which children were invited to write about the Pope, explaining about St Peter being the first Pope and so on...a team of judges will be reading all the entries and, as in previous years, awarding book prizes generously donated by the CTS...

On to St Chad's in South Norwood, where a cheery group had gathered in the parish hall to hear Auntie speak about "Celebrating feasts and seasons". A well-attended gathering, organised initially for new converts who had been recieved into the Church at Easter, but open to everyone in the parish and we got a good mixture of people.

Home late, tackled emails, trawled through news on the Net. Continued attacks on the Pope...and I find the Comments on some Catholic blogs rather horrid, especially those sneering at ordinary parish life and at the Maltese enthusiasm for Papa B.

Over the past couple of years I've travelled more to different parishes and Catholic groups than ever before, and I realise that there is a living and thriving Faith that doesn't seem to get reflected in the blogosphere. It will be the loving prayers of ordinary Catholics rising to Heaven that support the Pope on this anniversary day of his succession.

You won't...

... hear about this in the British media, of course, but look here and here for what really happened when Papa B. visited Malta.

Children in their hundreds singing to him, vast enthusiastic crowds packing out the streets and squares, the harbour filled with boats and cheering people...and a huge rapport between him and all these people as he spoke of their values, their commitment to marriage and family and human life...

And this good and decent man wept when he met victims of abuse, and prayed with them and they have spoken of what this has meant to them...

The Jesuit...

...church in Wimbledon is having its floor relaid (over 100 years of use) so Masses have been transferred to the church hall, which has been transformed into a temporary church. They took a photograph of the (gothic arched) sanctuary, enlarged it to giant size and placed it to create a sanctuary in the hall, ditto with some pictures of the side-aisles, and all this, combined with clever use of curtains, has created a sort of church-atmosphere in which to house the altar and Tabernacle. The result is quite successful, and although the rows of chairs in the main part of the hall give a slight feel of a USA-style mega-church, there was a full sung Latin Mass complete with the "Domine, salvam fac.." for the Queen. Afterwards, at a food-sale in the lower hall, I bought a chocolate cake which I'm taking along to a friend this evening. She ought to be flying home to America but is marooned here in London because of the Icelandic ash, so we'll have cake and a DVD ("Lewis", successor to "Morse", recommended).

Jamie took Mother and me out to tea at Wimbledon and this was much appreciated. Blossom on the trees, bright sunshine, children running about, and Mother was delighted by the gardens at Cannizaro House.

There are good voices now telling the truth and defending the Holy Father against these vile attacks. Try here for instance. And the news reports about the trip to Malta are of interest. But there's something weird with The Times website: attempts to send in Comments seem to meet with resistance. What's going on?

And here...

...is an important analysis of that 1985 Cardinal Ratzinger letter too.

The election debate...

...was on the TV last night and I went to a friend's house to view it. Underwhelming. I thought Cameron sounded convincing on the subjects of crime and education. Nick Clegg sounded like a commentator rather than a potential leader. Gordon Brown looked a bit tired but was amusing on the subject of the election posters.

A meeting...

...in Chelsea on a spring evening, with judges of the Tamezin Young Journalists' Award. The Tamezin venture goes from strength to strength. It's a magazine produced by and for young people, it is attractive and glossy and fun to read and a subscription would be an excellent gift for any teenage girl you know...the annual presentation of the Young Journalists' Awards takes place soon and is always a wonderful day, with young people arriving from across Britain and a great air of excitement...winners get various prozes including opportunities for work experience at TV and radio stations and on newspapers and magazines. To find out more, click on that link...

Jack Valero...

...had a piece in yesterday's Guardian which is worth reading. Read it and also the 1985 letter from Cardinal Ratzinger which was taken out of context and used to make a fabricated story.

A gathering...

...of friends at the chapel of the John Fisher School, Purley, for the funeral of Aine Cooper, a dear and much-loved lady, wife of Daniel Cooper, a teacher at the school for many years. Aine was a friend to so many, a nurse whose medical skills and wisdom were of exceptional note and who shared them with loving generosity. Fr Roger Nesbitt was the principal celebrant, along with a good many other priests.Mgr Patrick Burke had flown from Rome and was the preacher, and spoke about the Eucharist,the real presence of Christ our Saviour...