Josh Groban - O Holy Night

'O Holy Night' is one of the most popular carols nowadays, and here is Josh Groban singing it - a very good version I think.   Enjoy!

 

Merry Christmas

 A very happy, holy and safe Christmas to all who visit the Canon's Stall - and a big thankyou for making it worth it.

Here is our sanctuary and crib at St Brigid's as of Tuesday. Baby Jesus was in the crib for our Bambinelli hour that children could visit.

Annunciation

I never tire of reflecting on this version of the Annunciation. Painted by Antonello da Messina, it hangs in the gallery at Palermo. It offers us an archangel's view of the one to whom he has just delivered the greatest message of all time.  

Her veil, her book, the dark background, but most of all her hands and face say it all...

 

Churches remain open

 

Sunshine after dark

A few weeks ago I talked about discovering the classic Fleetwood Mac album "Rumours". Today I dug into another band I never quite caught up with: the Proclaimers. Described by Wikipedia as "a Scottish duo formed in 1983 by twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid, who were born on 5 March 1962"  they are famous mostly for the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)". Active from 1983 as an acoustic duo, they moved in a rock direction, and have sold over 5 million albums worldwide.

The song that has caught my eye is called "Sunshine on Leith". It is a ballad from 1988 and is deceptively simple. I think it's about someone who meets the love of their life after being hurt in a previous relationship, and unusually it includes thanksgiving to God ("the Chief") for bringing this about. But I think it touches anyone who has been helped by another - spouse, friend, parent, whoever - to get over any hurting situation. From the abrupt, in-your-face and repeated beginning through the simple lyrics, it's real, to use that overused word, and it's very touching.  It has come to be the anthem of Hibernians football team who offfer a lusty rendering of it after winning the Scottish Cup Final in 2016, giving the Principality Stadium a run for its money.

Here are the original video and the lyrics:

 

        1. My heart was broken,  my heart was broken 

            Sorrow, sorrow,  sorrow, sorrow

My heart was broken,  my heart was broken
You saw it, you claimed it,  you touched it, you saved it

 

2. My tears are drying,  my tears are drying..
Thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you

My tears are drying,  my tears are drying
Your beauty and kindness  made tears clear my blindness

 

While I'm worth my room on this Earth

I will be with you
While the Chief puts sunshine on Leith

I'll thank Him for His work
And your birth and my birth
Yeah, yeah, yeah

 

        (repeat verse 1 and chorus)

 

Charles Reid / Craig Reid 

Deacon and friend

Congratulations and blessings to Christian Mahoney of our parish, ordained deacon this afternoon by Archbishop George at the cathedral - excuse me, that should be Rev. Christian Mahoney!

Distancing meant a sparse cathedral and Advent meant a rather sparse sanctuary, but the liturgy was simple yet very moving. I always find the prostration during ordinations very inspiring, the candidate flat out before the Lord. I was very happy to share a pew with wife Esther and daughter Daniela. Daughter Alessia sang beautifully from the choir loft, Esther and Daniela read, and Esther helped vest Christian with his deacon robes, the stole and dalmatic.

Christian is the first deacon Archbishop Stack has ordained for a long time in Cardiff (ever?). Our parishes are very happy to have played a part in his journey and that of his family, and I personally count myself lucky to call myself their good friend.

Canons and candles

Yesterday the canons met at the cathedral on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the feast day of our diocese. After a business meeting in the morning - socially distanced of course - the Archbishop installed a new canon in the Chapter, Canon David Hayman, parish priest of Pontypool and Blaenavon, Chancellor of our diocese and Administrator of our Marriage Tribunal, where he works very closely with me. This took place during Mass, which was a solemn Mass but without the choir etc of course. We did have, however, a beautiful soloist to sing the Mass and hymns. Lovely day.

In our 3 Churches despite the Corona virus we are anxious to maintain the rhythm of the Church's year by still celebrating the seasons etc. So this evening we held an Advent Service which was live-streamed. By following the handing on of God's light through the Old Testament and then via Jesus on into the New, the light was then followed through Church history until the present, ending with the question 'Who will pass on the light now?'  During this a series of candles were lit, starting from the left side, up the steps to the crib and then back down to the right....  The picture shows the finished tableau.  I must say, it looked beautiful.

Walking with St Joseph during Advent

A nice video to help us in Advent - focussing on St Joseph, so often forgotten in the Advent/Christmas celebrations.  This is put together by Patrick van der Vorst of www.christian.art, who I have mentioned before. He is a student at my old seminary in Rome, but was a director of Southeby's in London.

 

He is the potter...

Every so often someone in this pandemic period talks about "hope". That's what we all want, that's what we are all looking for.  The virtue of hope is far deeper than wishful thinking - "I hope I pass my exams despite not working" - or just wanting - "I hope I get what I want for Christmas".  Hope is what enables us to move into the future. It reminds us that we are going somewhere, that we are not on that endless treadmill. To be hope-less is crushing, because we then cannot see a way out, we cannot see a future.

The 7 and 8 year olds yesterday making their First Reconciliation were in hope that their sins would be forgiven, even if their understanding of that would not be the same as an adult's. Christian hope is rooted in Jesus, who shows us that God came among us to save us, suffered, died and rose again, and now lives in glory. 

So this season of Advent may righfully be called the season of hope. On this first Sunday the Church reminds us of our journey to Christmas, that Jesus has indeed come. It reminds us that we journey towards the Second Coming, that we are headed somewhere. And meanwhile the first reading in Mass today reminds us that we are just the clay and God is the potter. We are not in charge of everything - a tiny virus can knock us right off our superior perch, make us fly off the potter's wheel. We need the potter to pick us up in his strong and caring hands and put us back on the wheel. Then he can continue to mould us into... only he knows what. 

Why? Because he is our Father, he is the potter, we are the clay. Have a good Advent!  

Van Gogh finds out

And now... a little scene from 'Doctor Who'.  I can still remember watching the first episodes when I was in St Peter's Junior School.  It quickly became essential viewing among the lads especially. I watched it off and on over the years, sometimes more off than on!  I did like David Tennant's portrayal  (number 10), but didn't particularly pay much attention to Matt Smith (11), who followed him. 

However, I remember seeing in the paper that in one episode Matt Smith was to meet Vincent van Gogh in the nineteenth century, so I decided to watch, and was genuinely touched by a scene when the Doctor brings Van Gogh into the present day via the Tardis. As you probably know, van Gogh struggled to sell a single painting in his lifetime. "He was considered a madman and a failure", as Wikipedia reminds us.   What torment must have led to his suicide at age 37.  So the Doctor takes him to the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, to visit the van Gogh exhibition there And that's the scene in this little 4 minute sequence that I recently came across after 10 years or so. I can do without the music, but I think it hits the spot. Enjoy. 

ps watch out for the little sequence filmed, I think, on the steps inside our Museum in town.

      

Tears of Christ

 My reflection today comes from a man who is a seminarian at my former seminary in Rome, the Beda. It is about today's Gospel, and each day he uses a work of art to illustrate the gospel. 

"Jesus Himself was not immune to tears. In today’s Gospel reading we read that He shed tears. In John 11:35 we also read about Jesus weeping, at the tomb of his good friend Lazarus. Jesus was fully divine, and also fully human. So he felt pain, grief and sadness. When we shed tears, we share in the tears of Christ. 

We like to think of Jesus as always being super-confident and joyfully calm in any storm that may have come His way. But at times He did shed tears. His tears give us a glimpse into how God views our own suffering and pains. He understands them! Jesus wept for Lazarus as though he was simply a very close friend He had lost. But in our reading today, He wept for another reason: the tragedy of our sin. He simply wept that He had spent His last years proclaiming the Word of his Father, and so few people listened to Him or understood Him. As He could now see Jerusalem, as we read in our Gospel passage, he was probably also crying over his coming fate that would await him in the city.

In our watercolour on paper by James Tissot we see Jesus weeping outside Jerusalem. The people around Him probably didn’t know why He wept. For Him too, St Teresa of Avila’s words would have resonated: ‘tears water the soul, as rain waters the garden’…"

November with Verdi

I haven't yet put on here anything for November.  On Saturday BBC2 broadcast a performance of Mozart's "Requiem". That made me think of another great setting of the Requiem Mass - that of Verdi. I remember buying it on LPs in university, lashing out on an expensive Karajan recording. So I came across this later live recording, also by Karajan. The soloists, a stellar line-up as they say, includes Anna Tomova-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, Joe Carreras and Jose van Dam. Orchestra is the Vienna State Opera.  This is the "Larimosa", the final part of the Sequence from the Requiem Mass. Relax, listen, remember, and maybe pray... 

 

Good News and Judas Trees

So here we are again, again...  Out of our local Welsh lockdown, and so back to public Masses. As Fr Andy is away for a few days, I'm celebrating the weekday Masses this week. All is well, and, again, it's good to see the weekday Mass "regulars" once more.  News this week of course on the virus front. There are all kinds of reservations, but it is surely great news, and we are all in need of that, aren't we?

New this year is a sort of Tree of Memories outside in the grounds of St Brigid's. Following our Mass of Memories on Saturday, the names of people who we are remembering have been written on hearts which are then hung on the branches of  a small tree.  Amazingly, I have always been told it's a Judas tree, but I just discovered this is also known as as the love tree - how appropriate is that!  Here's a picture of one...

 

 

The wise and the foolish

In this Sunday's Gospel we hear about the wise and foolish bridesmaids or virgins or maidens. I found pictures of sculptures on the entrance portal of the cathedral at Erfurt in central Germany.  Here they are, the wise on the one side, heads held high, jars of oil in their hands. More fascinating are the foolish. Take a look at their images, some dozing and one yawning and stretching even.  Wonderful.

 

 

Incidentally, I discovered that the original Erfurt cathedral was built by St Boniface way back in the 8th century.  Also, it turns out that Martin Luther went to the university at Erfurt and was ordained as a Catholic priest, a member of the Augustinian Order here in the cathedral on 3rd April 1507.

 

Redemption Song

 

I expect most have heard of the Kanneh-Masons by now - the amazingly talented family of musicians from Nottingham.   They have an album out this month of them playing as a family. I caught this taster, and I think it's absolutely charming. Called "Redemption Song" it's arranged by cellist Sheku, perhaps the best-known of the family, who got wide acclaim for his playing at a royal occasion.

This month we remember the Holy Souls, and so something light and beautiful seemed just right - enjoy!

God and Man At Table

 

Welcome to the Feast of All Saints, the beginning of the month of November.  And what a beautiful way to begin the month as we celebrate all of those who are even now with the Lord, beholding Him as He really is!  Tomorrow we move on to All Souls, or the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, to give it its proper name.

Well, things atre getting complicated aren't they regarding lockdowns and all that. Here in Wales our 17 days end next weekend, but England is about to enter their month. Will Wales join them? Who knows. Health is a devolved issue, so....

The song is one I sang at Mass on Saturday evening, although with a "renewed chorus" - "In Christ there is a table set for all" - more PC!  The song is a description of the Feast of the Lamb from the First Reading at today's Mass. It's a dramatic reading, so we can forgive the extra drama in the last verse here...

What's Goin' On?

So here we are again - back in lockdown.  This time it was made quite clear by the Welsh Government that it includes places of worship, so Mass on Friday  - a Requiem as it happened - was our last for a few weeks. Since Saturday we have been back on live-stream Masses only. 

Celebrating this morning, I felt particularly aware of the echo of my voice, amplified for the benefit of the microphones, but projected into an empty space, devoid of the people for whom it exists.  So I have to populate the space with the unseen, those who have tuned in down the phonelines and the fibre and their desktops, laptops, tablets and phones.  It's not like doing radio broadcasts where the unseen is the normal, and you're surrounded in the studio by editors, producers and Eleri Sion, the presenter on Radio Wales. Here we are in uncharted territory, as they say. 

And, while I'm about it. how weird I find celebrating Mass with a church full of masked parishioners, as we have been doing recently until Friday. We read so much into one another's faces, don't we. Just to see the eyes I find dehumanising. I've mistaken people or confused one with another more than once. 

This year has been such a strange world, with few signposts to help us navigate. I find myself asking what's going on, what's going on in the "big picture". What changes are taking place deep down in our culture, our world. Or will everything be the same when, if, it is all over? 

 I'm reminded of one of my all-time favourite albums, Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On?" It will be 50 years old next year, but I return to it every so often. For some, Marvin Gaye is most famous for the single "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", but it's really his albums, especially this one and "Let's Get It On" from the early 70's that mark him out as one of the greats. Definitely one of my desert island discs. here he is performing the first two tracks of "What's Going On" live.

 

The Gospel in song

I found this beautiful song, "Little Things with Great Love", based on Sunday's Gospel, on the wonderful Pilgrim's Path site. I hope to quote it at Mass this Sunday.   

These are the words, by Audrey Assad and others

In the garden of our Saviour no flower grows unseen
His kindness rains like water on every humble seed
No simple act of mercy escapes His watchful eye
For there is One who loves me His hand is over mine

In the kingdom of the heavens no suffering is unknown
Each tear that falls is holy, each breaking heart a throne
There is a song of beauty in every weeping eye
For there is One who loves me His heart, it breaks with mine

O the deeds forgotten, O the works unseen
Every drink of water flowing graciously
Every tender mercy You’re making glorious
This You have asked of us:
Do little things with great love
Little things with great love

At the table of our Saviour, no mouth will go unfed
And His children in the shadows stream in and raise their heads
O give us ears to hear them, and give us eyes that see
For there is One who loves them. I am His hands and feet

21st October 1966

At 9.15 the tip slid down the hillside and onto the village of Aberfan. 116 children and 28 adults lost their lives. The photo captures the devastation of Pantglas School. 

I was 13 in form 2 (year 8 in present terms) at St Illtyd's school.  I remember someone interrupting our lesson to come and tell us what had happened. My family had some phone calls from friends living in distant parts, hoping we were OK. People rushed up to see if they could help. 

Aberfan was truly one of those events where you can remember where you were. Huge results came from this terrible disaster in terms of the clearance of many, many tips across the Valleys. But at what a price?

The name Aberfan is imprinted on our memories and hearts. Say a prayer today for the victims and for our care for the environment and for one another.

 

2 Teresas for the price of one

I have a particular devotion to St Teresa of Avila, who has played a part in my vocation story. So I was looking forward to celebrating her feast day this week on Tuesday the 15th October.  But I don't know what happened in my brain as I woke up on Tuesday - which was the 13th, not the 15th.

I announced to Fr Andy at breakfast that while he said Mass at Christ the King at 9.30, I would do likewise back at base at St Brigid's. And I would pay for us to have the very nice fish and chips from Fintan's in Llanishen.  And that we would have hake, please.

As I started Mass at 9.30 I heard the phone ring, but let it go as I had already started. It was - of course - Andy calling to point out that I had the wrong day!   Anyway later as I tucked into my hake 'n' chips, Andy spilled the beans. Wrong day, Matthew!

So, we celebrated St Teresa of Avila twice this week. And, you know I'm sure I heard some polite laughter coming from heaven, where I'm sure Teresa enjoyed the double honour!

Feelgood from 1967

Lockdown Cardiff

The reality of local lockdowns such as the one affecting Cardiff and much of South Wales gets suddenly highlighted when it bears down on something affecting ourselves. 

During the week I had to say no to a visit from my sister who lives in Hampshire, with her husband and one of my nephews. An improvised Zoom this evening was lovely - but it's not the same, is it? 

Then, I have been coordinating plans from now until Christmas to celebrate First Confessions postponed from March, our annual November Mass of Memories for the deceased, and about 12 baptisms, that have also built up since March. One of the Baptism families told me that they had been looking forward to one of the godparents coming from Ireland... but now it isn't possible.  Or is it?  We don't know...

 

Rosary for October

 

Yesterday evening I gave a little talk about Our Lady, the first of a series leading into the month of the Holy Rosary.  There is a session at 7.30pm each evenng from yesterday, and details are on the poster above.  The talks are given mostly by priests our diocese, including our own Fr Andy, and they are on the Cathedral's Facebook site as mentioned in the poster. . The whole project is the brainchld of one of our parishioners - great to see such initiatives!

Initiating the Initiations

 A very important part of parish life is our celebration of the Sacraments of I nitiation - Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist.  We'll leave Confimation fo rthe moment. as that involves the Bishop - or does usually!   Baptisms and First Communions ahev been on hold since lockdown in March, and here in our 3 Churches we are feeling it's time to catch up. There are about a dozen or more Baptisms in the queue and we have of course our annual First Confessions and Communions too - usually about 40.

So we now have to try and accommodate all these, and within the Covid restrictions. Saturday mornings are going to become busier!  So say a little prayer as we try to juggle dates and times to try and get as much done before Christmas as possible.

Path to Allegri

 I think I recommended "New Pilgrim Path" before. Coming from Ireland, it's a resource site for religious poetry, history and music.  Very well put together, it's a great place to browse if you have a moment. A good feature is that many of the ingredients are constantly being updated or changed, like "Poem of the Week"   Click here to visit it.

On the site at the moment is a stunning performance of the famous "Miserere" by Allegri, originally broadcast on TV. It is sung by the Sixteen under Harry Christopher.  If you have never heard it, please do. If you know it, take time to enjoy.

 

 

"The Repair House"

 

This is now two TV reviews in a  row - both from BBC 1.  After the excellent new "Us" I'd like to say how much I Iike the recently discovered (for me) "Repair Shop".  Idea is simple - people bring items old, damaged, worn out, but with a personal story behind them, for a team of experts to repair and restore.

This evening they ranged from bagpipes from WWI belonging to someone's grandfather, to a 17th century dining chair damaged apparently beyond repair, most recently by a teething puppy, to a crown from an Urdd Eisteddfod won by someone's grandmother when a teenager.  A bit like "Houses Under the Hammer" (yes, sad, I know) there is a beginning, middle and end. The item is brought in, its story told. Then we observe the expert doing the work, and then there is the "reveal" when the owner returns to claim the shiny, whole item anew. And this is often accompanied by tears as the owner is often taken back to a particular time, or a particular person, usually deceased. Excellent format, with so many ingredients hitting the target. Part of it is the joy of watching top people doing their job - I particularly like the clockwork guy (above) and Will the furniture man (below).

There's something maybe a little deeper going on as well. Is it too much to see these stories of restoration as capturing all our wishes for renewal - of ourselves, our world, our Church? The BBC blurb describes the programme as "an antidote to throwaway culture". Pope Francis asked for the Church to be a field hospital.  Do these women and men in their barn in Kent or Sussex hint at a God who can and will remake, repair, refresh us, if we put ourselves into His hands... 

 

"Us"

Just watched "Us" on TV, which got good previews, and in particular because Tom Hollander is in it. I think he's a great actor, ever since "Rev" through "The Night Manager" to the present.  Take the scene this evening, when having been told  by his wife that the marriage is over, he goes to take stuff to the dump, cries in his car and kicks a cardboard box to death.  Though I'm not sure about the whole premise that a couple would go on holiday with their son in these circumstances, I was glued...  Great stuff.

We all moan about what's on the telly, but in fact there is indeed great stuff out there. And even the perhaps not-so-good is good for relaxing with having my supper after an evening Mass or whatever. And hqving spent time in Spain, Italy and Canada/USA, we could do a lot worse!

Here are the stars of "Us" visiting the Louvre... 

 

Our own Tabghas

We are strange beings aren't we, us human beings? Take for example a visit to a consultant, like I did today.  Half of us wants to know what the situation is, the other half doesn't, in case the news is not so good.  And then, either way, afterwards we feel much better just to know the answer - whatever that answer was!  Ho hum. Well my news was basically good, I was given good advice, I was helped to understand what is going on, and had any questions answered. So Andy bought fish and chips for us for lunch...

Another thing that's interesting to me when going to see a specialist in the medical world, is to remember that some of the thoughts and feelings I have going there might well be similar to what people experience coming to see us clergy. And that might be especially true for me when folks come for a potentially difficult meeting to discuss a possible annulment. That nervousness, that uncertainty, sometimes hidden behind nonchalance - after 42 years of priesthood I am familiar with all of these and many other reactions in God's people. So why should it be any different when the shoe is on the other foot?  As always, we are all sisters and brothers in this life aren't we, all with our own joys and sorrows - and slight wobble as we await the expert's answer...

Below, one of my very favourite places of peace and beauty - the breaking of bread at Mass at Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee, site of the "breakfast on the beach", with Jesus lifting up Peter in the background.

 

Life and energy

This coming weekend we return to our full schedule of Masses in our 3 Churches. This is very heart-warming, as it shows both the faith of the communities and the determination of the communities. It's not easy to jump through all the hoops to achieve this, and we are hugely indebted to the individuals who have planned and carried out the re-openings and those who maintain it, especially the stewards. All wonderful people! 

On this upbeat theme - a while ago I posted the original video of "Jerusalema", the song that has swept a lot of the world this year. It has given rise to the "Jerusalema Challenge" - basically to do a particular dance, (part of which was to dance eating food!) that has now spawned endless varieties and endless videos on YouTube, all of which you can see if you just put "Jerusalema" into the search box.  So here are two of them - first a priest and servers dancing the original dance in Montreal (seriously)  and secondly a group, from South Africa doing a more creative version.  With people getting anxious about the virus, just enjoy the energy...

 

HS2 to be

A video today that's very "niche", as they say.  I've always been fascinated by maps since I was a boy.  A more recent fascination has been those engineering programmes you spot on obscure TV channels - "Abandoned Engineering" etc. So I found a video which is a "fly-through" of the HS2 project from Birmingham to London. It's a computer generated image of what it will look like when (if?) finished, its effect on the environment and the landscaping etc that it will require. Among those I learnt a new phrase - a balancing pond, of which there are many involved in HS". It's a means of controlling excess rain water when there's a downpour, which then releases it slowly.  You live and learn...  So take a trip from Birmingham Curzon Street to London Euston!

Magnificat

                                          

Time for some  choral music.  

When I was in the cathedral choir in Cardiff, this was one of our favourite pieces - a setting of the Magnificat by Charles Villiers Stanford. This version is sung by the choir of St John's College Cambridge, one of the great choirs of the city.   

Whoever put it on Youtube has teamed it with some tasteful and appropriate visuals, including a painting of the Visitation, when according to St Luke Our Lady first proclaimed the great prayer, and Rembrandt's famous "Return of the Prodigal Son" in the Hermitage at St Petersburg. This is placed at the end of the prayer, when it speaks of God's mercy to all generations.

The setting is for solo soprano/treble and choir. I'm afraid I was not chosen for the solo, but we all enjoyed this beautiful piece, and I still do.

My friend Peter

As anyone from the parishes where I have served will know, I love St Peter. He jumps out of the pages of the New Testament and sort of grabs me.  So whenever he is in the Sunday gospel I can never resist talking about him, and especially about his humanity. 

So this evening I went on the internet to try and find an image that would capture this.  There are loads of paintings of him denying Our Lord, walking on water etc. But in all of them he looks so serious. I'm sure a fisherman from Galilee would have enjoyed a good laugh too, so I was very happy when I found this depiction of him. Here he is, human, approachable, full of faith and love - and smiling a great big smile. I've only ever seen one picture of Jesus himself laughing, so I'm glad I found this one of Peter too.

   

Master KG - Jerusalema

                                           

This video has been viewed over 100 million times. It originates in South Africa and has spread across the world. You can catch different versions on YouTube. And the surprise is that it's a religious song. Opening words are "Jerusalem is my home, Guard me, Walk with me, Don't leave me here".  Try NOT tapping your foot!

The next stage?

Some interesting things are emerging now in the process of reopening our churches and streaming from St Brigid's.

On Saturday evening Mass at Christ the King we reached our maximum number for the first time, amd so not everyone could get in.  A nice problem to have, but not so nice for the unlucky late arrival. We now have to do some thinking about times etc. maybe.

Secondly, some statistics came through about people watching services via the camera in St Brigid's. There's quite a variation in the Sunday numbers, which there is anyway in normal times, but also every so often on a weekday we seem to also get a big number. This was puzzling me until I realised it was the days of funerals, and so many mourners were watching who could not be present.  I think that alone makes our buying into 24/7 streaming worthwhile.

I also realised recently how few churches of other denominations have reopened. We have even had enquiries from folks with no connection to the Catholic Church about weddings, as their churches are shut and not taking any queries.

As so many have said - strange times indeed! 

 

A Hungarian theme

Time for music - and it's off to Hungary and Croatia...

I recently came across a video here of a performance of John Williams' music for "Schindler's List", the film about Oskar Schindler who saved about a thousand Jews during World War II. It takes place in what is apparently the biggest synagogue in Europe, the Dohany Street Synagogue in Buda pest, Hungary. A packed audience (or is it congregation?) listens attentively as a young solo violinist plays the haunting theme accompanied by organs. The camera lingers here and there, capturing various human reactions. Watch out for the elderly lady gently resting her head against the pew end, and the young couple, she resting her head on her man's shoulder. Left is a picture of the synagogue's interior, that you can see in the video. 

 

On a lighter note but keeping up the Hungarian theme, here are Croatian cellist  Hauser and American violinist Caroline Campbell (right) hamming it up playing some czardas (Hungarian dances) from the festival he has promoted in his hometown of Pula. He used to be one half of the duo "2 Cellos" but has fashionably dropped his first name, grown his hair longer and, yes, plays a mean cello...

 

Learning from Dominica

Back in 1988 I was in Dominica over Pentecost and Trinity Sunday. On Pentecost I was invited to go and celebrate Mass in one of the outstations of the cathedral, the village of Trafalgar, situated in the interior of the island. Near the village are the beautiful Trafalgar Falls (left, with viewing platform not there in 1988!)

Someone came to pick me up in a Jeep kind of thing, and when I asked what time Mass would be, he said "When you get there, Father", as if it was the most obvious answer. First leson of the day - we are obsessed with time. Clock time that is, the time by our watches and clocks. When we reached Trafalgar, the whole village was already there in the square, chatting and laughing, men on one side, women on the other. After lots of smiling greetings and a little while after I disappeared into the sacristy, they slowly made their way in too. Lesson #2 - the celebration of Mass grew from their own gathering, a natural progression. When I got to the sacristy I was greeted by a lady in her 30s I would say, who introducd herself as the pastoral leader there. She told me everything I needed to know about celebrating Mass there, and clearly knew it all herself . She was charming and exactly what a priest wants when you waft into a strange sacristy. I discovered she had a diploma from the island's Pastoral Institute (the chapel below don't forget the whole population was only 75,000, yet it supported such a place). Lesson #3 - invest in your people. At the end of her ultra-helpful chat she asked how many hymns I would like, clarifying that she meant at the beginning of Mass. "Whatever is usual" I answered, a bit quizzically. Sometimes they had two, sometimes three, just at the beginning before the rest of the Mass! Lesson #4 - let the music help the celebration, build the community.

As with the Mass I took part in at San Sauveur with the Caribs, there was tremendous joy and deep reverence. With that and with the lessons I learned, I felt I received far more than I gave. As so often in life and priesthood, you go expecting to give, you come back overflowing with what you have received. The lady at Trafalgar politely turned down my offer that if she ever wanted a job in my parish back home...

Dominica

Dominica is located in the Eastern Caribbean, the most northerly of the Windward Islands. It lies between the French Overseas Departments (DOMS) of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Dominica is only about 29 miles long and 16 miles at its widest point. Even though it's small its highest point is Morne Diablotin at 4,747ft. Dominica has some of the richest mountain rainforest in the Caribbean. Dominica is volcanic in origin with rich fertile soil and abundant tropical rain forests. Sometimes it's called “The Nature Island of the Caribbean”, with rugged landscape of green slopes, waterfalls, and cloud-drenched mountain peaks. It boasts about 130 species of birds including the Sisserou Parrot (Amazona Imperialis) which is endemic to Dominica and is on the endangered species list. Morne Trois Pitons National Park is a World Heritage Site, and is home to one of the largest boiling lakes in the world.

There are fewer than 75,000 inhabitants nowadays. The original inhabitants were Arawaks, driven out later by the Caribs. In colonial times, it was discovered by Columbus in 1493 on a Sunday, hence "Dominica", but the Spanish didn't stay. It became a French colony, which is why the name is pronounced with the stress on the second "i"  - "domineeka" - as in French. However, it became British in 1761, and part of the slave trade. It has now been a republic since 1978. It's very prone to hurricanes such as in 1979, 2007 and 2017.

Because it has few beaches and is mostly volcanic, tourism is not very developed. When I was thee in 1987 I stayed at the cathedral clergy house in the small capital, Roseau (right). The vast majority are of African descent, with a small number of Europeans descent, and with a unique community of about 3,000 Kalinago (formerly known as Caribs) living in villages on the east coast. They were either wiped out or driven out on the neighbouring islands. I attended an amazing feast day of patron St Isidore there at the village of San Sauveur. A beautiful memory is the ladies dancing the offertory procession with baskets of fruit on their head.

There are storms and storms

 

I'm writing this in the middle of a terrific thunderstorm. Lightning, thunder, rain - it's all happening.  About time really, as it's been threatening for quite a while, and has happened already in different parts of the country. It's been sticky hot today and earlier I had that particular kind of headache I sometimes get before storms.  

Of course it never really lasts very long here, but we had great storms in Rome when I was in seminary there. A few weeks after we got out there each September, the hot summer would collapse into a mild autumn in a few days of downpours in October maybe, where the thunder and lightning might go on for an hour.

 

 Another place where I experienced a completely different kind of downpour was the island of  Dominica in the Caribbean, where I spent a week half way through my canon law studies in Canada in the 80s. I was staying in the cathedral clergy house where there was a courtyard with luscious trees.  I was warned not to walk there in the evening as most days the rain would suddenly come and the breadfruit (right) would drop off the trees. And if one of those landed on your head you would certainly know it. 

Dominica is a brilliant place. I also visited Antigua and Barbados, but this was different. No tourists because no white beaches, no big resorts, no cruiseliners (there are a few of those now). I was one of very few white people, and the bishop was the last European bishop in the Caribbean.  I think I'll share a bit more about Dominica next time...

ps This is not the Dominican Republic, a completely different place, but confusingly also in the Caribbean!

The gentle breeze

Today's first reading in Mass spoke of Elijah's hearing God in the gentle breeze. The icon shows him listening hard. That breeze does not have to be purely spiritual or "internal". It can be something small, even casual or passing.

Twice today people have thanked me for small efforts. And one was nothing but a quick response to a Facebook posting.  A lady who was one of our housekeepers in St Francis, Ely,  had her 88th birthday today and her daughter took her out for a meal then posted pictures of it on her page. It brought back many memories of important years there, 1989-97, difficult sometimes but very fulfilling. The birthday girl was very much part of the team, keeping the presbytery going and Father's tummy well supplied. So I just added a comment for best wishes and love, remembering old times.  Quick as a flash, daughter came back and said my quick comment had made her Mum's day.

 

As the saying goes, it doesn't take much to reach out.  I suppose doing work in 3 churches and a big job for the diocese in canon law, it can be easy to forget these little things. I always remind myself, the Church - and the world - is made up of people, each with a story, all of us with our joys and hopes, our fears and sadnesses. 

So let the gentle breeze of your words and love blow this week, and, through that, the very breath of God. 

If it's September...

We're in August, so September is on its way. For 30 years September has meant pilgrimage time for me with the aptly named "September Pilgrims". Last year unfortunately it was at the time of our lovely trip to Burgundy that my arthritis flared up, so I withdrew from any plans for this year. A reduced plan for some to go to the Holy Land was got together, but of course the wretched pandemic put pay to that.... 

Just in the last few days I've been toying with the idea of putting together a virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Land, using YouTube, Zoom etc. One advantage over real pilgrimages is that we could visit the sites according to the chronological order of Our Lord's life, something it's impossoble to do there. So Nazareth - Bethlehem - Nazareth - Galilee - Jerusalem could work well, perhaps linking the events of Holy Week to their appropriate days of the week.  It's in very early days and may prove impractical, but we'll see...

Meanwhile, a couple of pictures from the gorgeous Senanque Abbey in Provence, where we visited and celebrated Mass in 2011. First with the lavender in full bloom, and second a monk harvesting the lavender in the last few days.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow

Many people appreciated words that Fr Andy quoted at the end of his homily at St Brigid's on Sunday and asked to see them.  So here they are.... author anonymous.

PS In looking up the poem on the net I discovered there is also a flowering plant called Yesterday today tomorrow plant, brunfelsia pauciflora (picture below).

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry,

two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is Yesterday with all its mistakes and cares,
its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.
Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control.
All the money in the world cannot bring back Yesterday.
We cannot undo a single act we performed;
we cannot erase a single word we said.
Yesterday is gone forever.

The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow
with all its possible adversities, its burdens,
its large promise and its poor performance;
Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.
Tomorrow's sun will rise,
either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise.
Until it does, we have no stake in Tomorrow,
for it is yet to be born.

This leaves only one day, Today.
Any person can fight the battle of just one day.
It is when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities

Yesterday and Tomorrow that we break down.
It is not the experience of Today that drives a person mad,
it is the remorse or bitterness of something which happened Yesterday

and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring.

Let us, therefore, Live but one day at a time.

Faith in the family

As a parish priest I often have access to people's lives, both everyday and at special moments. I never cease to be fascinated by family life, with all its varieties, variations, virtues and, sadly, sometimes vices.

How heart-warming is a loving family, and what a difference it makes at that most difficult of moments, the death of one of its own. Yet in those very tears there can be something particulalry heart-warming. This was the case in a funeral today where one could sense the love that a family has had and will continue to have for Mum, grandma and so on. I referred to this in the homily, talking about the two 'f's  of Faith and Family, which were at the heart of Maria's life.

Sometimes an image can capture this unique and beautiful reality of family love. I came across this little video today when it popped up in that righthand list that appears down the side of YouTube as users of that will know.  Take a look then at some random dad at Disney in Florida, joining a resident pianist for an impromptu "Ave Maria".  But, more particularly take a look at his daughter, gazing at daddy with utter pride and love. Call me a big softie, but I love it...  Click on this link

Come back, drink and believe

This evening I celebrated my first Mass in Christ the King church since the beginning of March, when the works started there before the lockdown. The church is looking lovely and brighter, and the floor of the sanctuary, which is  large stone tiles, has been very well restored. Everybody was very carefully following instructions that had been worked out based on Church and national directives. I was told there were 32 present, which was also good. All in all, it was great to be back there.

I felt a good strong message in the readings today. The Lord in the Old Testament through the prophet Isaiah invites us to come to the water, no matter who we are. In the Gospel Jesus invited all the 5,000 to come to him for food. When the apostles wondered how that was going to work out, a little divine frustration with them shows through, as the crowds are fed through the loving generosity of God.  Then in the second reading St Paul, in Romans, steeped in the OT has immersed himself in the person and mission of Jesus. This leads him to consier that nothing can separate us from the love of God made real in Jesus. I love this reading for its positive faith-filled message. In fact I chose it for my parents' funerals because of that. Great stuff, Paul! 

Here is John Foley SJ's well-known setting of the first reading from its original recording:

Past, present and future

Afte celebrating Saturday and Sunday Mass in public, now I celebrate Thursday and Friday at St Brigid's, then my first at Christ the King on the weekend.  I am 90% very very happy to be back doing this - after all, it's a central part of what we priests are here for.  yet, at the same time, there are other emotions too. There is the whole sitation in which we find ourselves, there are the missing faces, not just those who are not yet venturing out, but also some who have gone home to the Lord. And there is some kind of apprehensiveness after a long gap, made a little more so with my arthritis.

However, over all this I am overwhelmed by the kindness and spirit of our people, who are really great, and of course, the mercy, patience and grace of our loving God. 

So much of this comes together in the Mass. So here is a talk about the Mass, why should we  go back and what's it all about anyway. It's given by Fr Matt Roche-Saunders, the youngest priest in Menevia and probably Wales. I've known him for about 15 years, great man and great sign for the future.