Welcome, Archbishop George

The news about our new Archbishop has been sinking in slowly. When it eventually came, it caught some of us by surprise. Traditionally the appointment of British bishops has been announced on Thursday or Friday, so we had in our minds put it off until after Easter. People seem to be very happy with the news. Bishop George Stack has "come up through the ranks" as a curate and parish priest, so that will please many of the clergy, who hope he will therefore have a good handle on the realities of parish life.  The fact that he has not, on the whole, graced the headlines ecclesiatical or otherwise, is also probably a good thing. Above all, we are just glad that someone has been appointed!

Meanwhile Holy Week is underway. After Palm Sunday and the wonderful "Of Gods and Men" we moved on to the Passover Meal at St Brigid's Hall last night. Once again, this was an extremely enjoyable and special evening, and we are enormously grateful to the St Brigid's and St Paul's Social Group for its planning.

Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday. I imagine the new Arch will be a main topic of clergy chat before and after Mass. I'll see if I can pick up any inside scoop! Then it's on to our 3 Churches Mass of the Lord's Supper in the evening at Corpus Christi High School. This will be very similar to last year's celebration, and will therefore be, once again, one of our more creative liturgies. However, any uncertainties people had last year about the earlier parts of the evening were lost in the beautiful experience of the Altar of Repose in the Courtyard Garden at the school, which was one of the high points of the year for many. And so we will be into the Sacred Triduum, carried along towards the high-point of Easter...