Young Church

So young people are at the fore this week.

Yesterday and this coming Thursday we are having our annual celebrations of the sacrament of Confirmation. In the absence of an Archbishop (yes still) these are being celebrated by the local Deans in our diocese. Fr Allan Davies-Hale did an excellent job for St Brigid's and St Paul's yesterday. There were ten youngsters, and thanks to the dedicated catechists and parents, they were very well prepared. All went well, and now I'm looking forward to Christ the King on Thursday.

Also in St Brigid's church is the Corpus Christi Cross. This is a large bare cross that travels around our High School's partner parishes during Lent, spending three or four days at each church. It moves on to Christ the King and then St Paul's later this week. As a strong supporter of our Catholic schools, I'm very happy that we are reminded in this way of the bonds of faith that bind us to our schools.

Also in St Brigid's - as I write, there is 24 hour eucharistic adoration going on. This is organised by Jesus Youth, a movement that originated in Kerala, India. They have organised 100 days of adoration which started in Birmingham diocese a few weeks ago, and now passes to Cardiff. Young people are pledged to come for one, two or four hours throughout the next 24 hours from Mass this morning to Mass tomorrow morning. Very impressive.

60,000 ashes and 16 voices

A brief p.s. to yesterday's post... Flicking through Whispers in the Loggia, one of the zillions of Catholic blogs out there, I noticed that St Patrick's Cathedral in New York, one of my favourite churches in the world, was expecting about 60,000 - yes 60,000 - people to receive the ashes yesterday. There would be 12 liturgies during the day, but the demand meant that ashes would also be continually available at different points in the cathedral.

I'm also grateful to Whispers for a link to a performance of Allegri's stunning setting of Psalm 51, the Miserere. I think I saw this on TV not long ago, in one of Simon Russell Beale's programmes, and it's The Sixteen singing under Harry Christophers at St Luke's in London. Music for starting Lent...

Ashes, barbs - and emails

Although Easter is about as late as it can be this year, and therefore so also is Lent, nevertheless Ash Wednesday seems to have arrived very quickly. There were a lot of people at 9.30 Mass at St Paul's, after which Fr T and I went up to our parish primary school, Christ the King, for a liturgy with the juniors. As always with Christ the King, it was imaginative and thoughtful, centring on the three images of ashes, water and seeds. Then I also celebrated evening Mass at St Brigid's - not so full, but still a respectable number of folks.

For the season of Lent I've changed the header picture for this blog. I've used a close-up of barbed wire at Auschwitz, where I went on our September Pilgrimage six months ago. Auschwitz had an enormous effect on me, greater even than I expected in fact, and the wire there seems to stand for everything that traps us, from within and without, everything from which Jesus came to set us free. The wire at the camps was beautifully crafted, but hard and inpenetrable. It also, of course, bears a distinct resemblance to many images of the Crown of Thorns. Just something to contemplate this Lent... (acknowledgments to Paul for photos).

I have decided to give a series of so-called Twilight Retreats this Lent on Wednesday evenings for people involved in different ministries. These will replace the series of talks on various themes that I have given over previous Advents and Lents. It will be pretty demanding each week, but I am convinced that many people would enjoy and benefit from a little time apart, with some spiritual nourishment and challenge. We'll see how they go.

The use of email is great for a large organization like the Church, but it does, of course, have its drawbacks. One of them came back and bit me today when I discovered that a series of emails that I had sent over several months to a colleague, and which I had sort of concluded he was chosing to ignore, had, in fact, never reached him because he had changed his email address. So I had to repent of some evil-ish thoughts - and resend them!

Heavy week - light intervals

Whoa - bit of a busy week folks, and sorry about longish gap without postings...

Several bereavements and funerals going on, inside the parish and elsewhere. These included the funeral of Rita, of the lovely couple who organise our September Pilgrimages. Bill asked me to celebrate her Requiem Mass on Friday, which I felt privileged to do, after being present at her death a while ago. Funerals, I find, take a lot of what I may call inner energy, especially of course when it is that of someone whom I would call not only a parishioner but also a dear friend. However all went well on Friday and also for the funeral of Tim on Wednesday, Tim being only 39 years old.

So with quite a lot of issues around at the moment on the Canon Law side of my work, and with Lent around the corner, it's been a little on the heavy side. Vital, then, to lighten up too. So I went out Friday evening with friends for a drink, and last night spent a lovely evening at Christ the King parish's Quiz Night. I got a Bible question wrong, and will take ages to live it down - ho hum!!

O great St David

Daffodils are coming up all over the place, Wales won again (OK against Italy) it can mean only one thing - St David's Day tomorrow!

I gave Fr T a quick run-down on our saint today, so that he's all geared up for Mass in the morning. I was trying to describe the beautiful mini-city named after St David in West Wales. Its Latin name was Menevia, giving us the name of the modern diocese covering south-west Wales today, whose cathedral and bishop are in Swansea. The little town at the end of Pembrokeshire should have a special place in the heart of all Welsh people as the place where David eventually settled and was buried. The spot is now marked by the cathedral, now of course in Anglican hands. It's situated down in a  little dell, like other Welsh Celtic churches at Llantwit Major and our own Llandaff here in Cardiff. Although often the medieval bishops lived away, at Carmarthen, there are the fine remains of the Bishop's Palace still there, with their beautiful arcading from the time of Bishop Gower.

David's mother was Non, also revered as a saint. A short walk south from St David's brings you to her chapel, perched on the top of the cliffs, and adjoining a retreat-house. St Non's lies on the wonderful Pembrokeshire Coast Path.

If you have never been to St David's, and especially if you call yourself a Welshman - or woman - get down there this year, and soak in the atmosphere of our patron. Listen and digest his famous last words - "Be joyful, keep the faith!"

Saints near and far

It got very busy recently, especially in the bereavements part of ministry. We have three funerals coming up in the parishes, and also that of Rita, wife of Billy, my close friends who run our September Pilgrimages, that mean so much to me and to so many others. I've known them for thirty years. Rita passed away on Monday evening, and I was privileged to be present with Billy and some of his family. Lord grant her - and the others of course - eternal rest. And if you need any typing, Lord, I can recommend Rita.

I was reading the magazine of the Companions of the Cross, a religious congregation, friends of mine, based in Ottawa, Canada, and came across a link to an excellent site on saints. Now I know that the saints are not exactly the absolute centre of our faith, but I love them. The more "human" the better! And people ask  questions about them surprisingly often - who's the patron of this, what do you know about Saint that? So I can recommend Saints at SQPN.  SQPN seems to be a large site covering all kinds of Catholic stuff, much of it hosted for individuals, as is the case with this saints section. It seems to cover everything you want to know about them all! Another huge saints resource is at catholic.org

Some people seem to think that interest in, or devotion to the saints is somehow old-fashioned. Rubbish! They are our friends, part of the family. Just like we keep photos of our own family, so we have images, shrines etc of the Christian family. I've got a whole list of my special buddy-saints - Peter, John, Teresa of Avila, Matthew (of course!)... Many of our September pilgrimages have centred on shrines and places associated with saints - Francis and Clare (Assisi), Benedict (Subiaco and Monte Cassino), Teresa and John of the Cross (Avila, Segovia, Alba de Tormes), Therese (Lisieux), James (Santiago de Compostela), and so on.  Love 'em all.

New Stanbrook Abbey

While I was pp at Ledbury in Herefordshire during the 1980s, I came across one of the most impressive groups of Catholic women I'd ever met. I was taken by a parishioner to visit a friend of hers who was a nun at Stanbrook Abbey near Worcester. What an amazing lady! Intelligent, spiritual, inspiring, sensible etc etc.

The story of this enclosed community dates back centuries to recusant times, and a few years ago they took the momentous decision to leave their Victorian Gothic pile and build a new sustainable abbey in Yorkshire, not too far from the men's Ampleforth Abbey, where Cardinal Hume was abbot. Also close by are the beautiful ruins of the medieval Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx.

They are now installed there, and I found this 5 minute video giving a glimpse of their new place. Listen to the wisdom of the nuns, and I liked the compliment paid them by one of the architects too... Their website tells you a lot more about these two dozen women of faith. 

An amazing young man

Friday, 11th February, was the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, and Pope John Paul proclaimed it World Day of Prayer for the Sick. Ministry with the sick is a vital part of Christianity, parishes, and priests. I say "with" the sick, because almost always I end up receiving more than I give. From little ten year old Christopher whom I met on the HCPT pilgrimage in 1979, through hundreds and hundreds of people I have visited at home, to the Holm Tower cancer hospice in Penarth, to the extraordinary sensation I experienced last year during a Mass with the sick here at St Brigid's when I was aware that it was not only me that was anointing them, I know that in the sick we are very, very close to Jesus.

Over the last couple of years I have heard from time to time about Philip Johnson, a remarkable young man from North Carolina who is studying for the priesthood while suffering from an inoperable brain tumour. Today I came across a video of him recently giving a talk to high school students. If you have a spare half an hour, and want to be challenged and inspired by a young man's story, then listen to Stephen. It almost sounds redundant to say, Fr M approves.


 

Serious stuff

Thursday was a very unusual day for me. After Mass at Christ the King, I was at the Law School in the University from 11 to 4. They have a project on at the moment on, er, social cohesion, religion and society. Basically my involvement is that they are studying the way that three faiths look at the role of law, and marriage and family law in particular. So as Judicial Vicar (ie boss) of the National Tribunal for Wales, I am representing Christianity (no pressure there!), while London Beth Din (the court of the Chief Rabbi) and the Shariah Court of the Central Mosque in Birmingham represent Judaism and Islam respectively.

We've already been interviewed, as have various of the other people who work with me on the Tribunal, and now the University was bringing reps together for a dialogue (should that be trialogue?). So we had two professors and two other academics from the Uni, myself for the Catholics, a woman from Birmingham for the Moslems and a very imposing chap from the Beth Din, who was unable to come down to Cardiff, and took part via  Skype video-conference. Very hi-tech...

It was a hard day, but fascinating. We hear so much for example about shariah law, some of it negative, yet here was the opportunity to hear about it from the inside. What about all those laws about which Jesus got very agitated? Here was the top man in Britain, to explain how they see God Law operating. I too got griled about some of the more obscure aspects of canon law. While there was lots of questioning, by the university and by one another, the atmosphere was very good, and there can't be many canon lawyers like me who have the visiting card of a woman member of a shariah council!

I got home about 5, belatedly did my weekly task of my contribution to the newsletter and emailed it off to Luke the editor, and the day was rounded off with St Brigid's and St Paul's Finance Committee. They feel that Christ the King should be coughing up a bit more to the running costs of  the presbytery and clergy - so that should test the warm relations of Tuesday's meeting (see last posting)!

Bright future, bright serving faces

Yesterday evening I led a joint meeting of our Parish Councils. We were discussing nothing less than the future direction of our 3 Churches, and in particular the developing relationship between them. I'll be saying much more about that in coming weeks. I'll just say here that it went very well, and the atmosphere was very optimistic and practical. Our people are wonderful, and as I often say, I am sure that the future of the Church is safe. As long as it's not left to the clergy! 

Meanwhile I had a few things to do in town today, so I took the opportunity to have a wander and see how things are doing in the city centre, something I don't do very often. Good ol' Queen Street rolls on as ever, but, oh dear, it seems to me that some other parts are sort of slipping. I cut through the Queens Arcade, for example, to find it, well, heading towards running down. Even the older part of St David's (Centre) to me doesn't look as good as it used to. I ask myself whether everything been sacrificed on the altar of the extension to St David's and devotion to the Blessed John Lewis?

I'm fascinated by customer service, spurred on by Mary what's-her-name on the telly. Treatment at the Queen Street branch of my bank, Barclays, was excellent, just the right balance of helpfulness without the gushing. St Davids eateries looked heaving, so I headed over to the Shop-formerly-known-as-Howells via Waterstones.  I discovered some old book vouchers in a drawer, and bought something on Provence, goal of our September Pilgrimage this year, with helpful assistant making the experience a good one. The restaurant at the Shop-formerly-known-as is usually quietish, and I hadn't been there for ages. Food was, er, OK, but at least lots of smiles were in evidence.  I was heading off to my next bit of business when I was distracted by the presence of an in-store Caffe Nero, whose cappuccino turned out to be the culinary highpoint of the day. The two serving were both very good - a young chap who called every male "man" in that sort of pretend-American which he pulled off well, and a girl of indeterminate European background who was also efficient and friendly. Caffe Nero also opens onto Trinity Street. Fr M approves.

Variations on a theme

A good weekend, lots going on. Here in our 3 Churches we celebrate seven Masses between Saturday evening and Sunday. So, one weekend  Fr Tomy and I do three, the next weekend four etc. I was in Christ the King this time, so I was on three... but all three were different. Now, of course, usually we preach more or less the same homily at all three (or four) Masses, but this time it had to be three very diferent versions around the same theme, the words of Jesus in the Gospel, "You are the light of the world".

Saturday evening the Confirmation candidates were with us after their day retreat at Porthcawl. For them, to be the light of the world is an amazing challenge, so amazing that we need the gift of the Holy Spirit to carry it out. At 8.30 this morning we were observing Poverty and Homelessness Week, so here we talked about specific ways that we can be a light in our world, noting that the first reading specifically mentioned those who are poor or without shelter. Then at 10.30 we had the First Holy Communion children with us, so we thought about torches lighting up the dark and how we can be like torches, bringing light into other children's and people's lives.

I found another feel-good video today, this time about bringing some fun into an otherwise tedious aspect of life.

Acknowledgements to Greg Stewart

Good ol' Google

Hey folks, we didn't quite make it to the 1,000 visits last month!  993 - 7 short! Why couldn't a few have gone out 'n' come back in again... boo hoo.

Anyway, by way of consolation I paid a visit to Google's latest venture, Google Art Project. I like wandering around museums and galleries, I know not everybody does. I've hit lots of the greatest ones, like the Brera in Milan where I was in July.  In this project, Google allow you to wander around various rooms in some of the world's greatest museums. Then, they have filmed some masterpieces of each collection in extraordinary detail, so that you can zoom in to an amazing degree. I happened to notice that one of these is Rembrandt's "Return of the Prodigal Son" in the Hermitage, St Petersburg. This has in recent years become one of the world's best-known religious paintings, especially after Henri Nouwen wrote a book based on it. If you want to study the detail of this wonderful work by the master of painting teh humanity of human beings, then go to the new site www.googleartproject.com . Click on the Hermitage, and you can then click on the image of the painting. Stunning. Fr M approves - bigtime. 

The Big Push

I was just checking how we're doing for visitors to this blog, and discovered that January has been a record month! Up until this morning there have been 962 visits during the month, beating the previous record of 820 in May.  Now you may notice that 962 is not far off 1,000, and that this is the last day of the month. On normal rate we might get there by midnight, but if, by accident of course, some people actually popped in more than once today, then we would surely pass that landmark. Childish, moi? Go on, make Fr M happy!

Talking of being happy, it's time for a Fr M feel-good video. It's the birthday of Mukhtar, a bus-driver in Denmark who is very popular with his regular passengers... Enjoy.

A new year...

There seems to be an air of newness in the Church in some ways. Christ the King have our extended and refurbished Parish Centre. St Brigid's has a refurbished kitchen. Even St Paul's has new altar cloths!  The new translation of the Missal is on its way (more of that in later posts), the new Ordinariate is up and running. And, of course, in the not too distant future, we will hopefully have a new Archbishop.

In a few weeks, on February 8th, our two Parish Councils are meeting to discuss a new body to oversee the pastoral life of our 3 Churches. Christ the King is reviewing the adminstration aspect of parish life, with St B and St P to follow possibly later in the year. Several new people seem to have come forward in recent weeks to help in various ways in parish life. And so on.  Maybe it's the beginning of a new year, 2011. An old Latin saying is ecclesia semper reformanda - the Church, always to-be-reformed or renewed.

Here is another of my favourite photos that I took during 2010. This was a simple bowl of summer flowers on a window sill in the church at Rhulen, hidden away in the hills of Radnorshire. The sun lit up the flowers - and the whole church, giving it this warm orangey glow. A lovely sight, a lovely moment - summer 2010.

Facing the past and the future

Oops  - bit of a gap since my last posting. Not an extraordinary week - just a busy one!

I just came back from the Service of Prayer for Christian Unity arranged by our local CYTUN Churches Together in Llanishen and District. It was held in the very cosy and intimate local United Reformed Church and led by their husband-and-wife lay pastors. I enjoyed it, and there were quite a few Catholics to fly the flag.

I always pick up some good idea, thought or practice from visits to other parishes and denominations. At the very end of this evening's service, before the blessing, we were invited to turn towards the door while the Apocalypse reading about a new heavenand a new earth was read. It was a lovely way of sending us out back into the world. Nice tea, coffee and variety of cakes to finish!

This week came the news that the first part of the introduction of a revised translation of our Missal is to be implemented this coming September. This will mainly cover the ordinary of the Mass - the parts that don't change from week to week. This will include the famous mutation from "And also with you" to "And with your spirit". I'm surprised that this is the timescale, because at our in-service day a while ago, I got the distinct impression that it would be after Advent at the earliest. Remembering that nothing much happens in the summer, and Lent and Easter have their own priorities, that does not leave much time! Ho hum...

The picture shows worship at the ecumenical Taize community in Burgundy France, which I visited back in 1993.

The Ordinariate

So, Saturday saw the ordination to the priesthood of three former Anglican bishops at Westminster Cathedral, and the setting up of the eagerly anticipated Ordinariate in England and Wales. We welcome these men, and of course all who become Catholics. I have voiced a few uncertainties about the whole thing here before, so I have been following some of the discussion on other blogs more prominent than my own! 

On one someone asked the question "Why wasn't it perfectly fine for Anglicans to come through the front door directly, as they've done in the past?" This captures the bit of uncertainty that may be in the mind of some people at the moment. There seem to be many issues surrounding this development, some of which, I must confess, I am still coming to understand... The Church thinks according to the Big Picture and the Long Run, so hopefully things will become a little clearer...

Blessed John Paul II?

I came across a good video of the late Pope John Paul II today. Professionally edited with music, it seems to capture the excitement and optimism which the man generated wherever he went. It seems he is on his way to beatification. I saw him on several occasions, including Cardiff in 1982, of course, but met him to shake hands and exchange a few words on our very first September Pilgrimage back in 1990. He surely radiated Christian faith, hope and love, and I think the video gets that right. Watch out for the moments from his last years, and the time when a dove settles on his head! Enjoy.
ps Thanks to Rocco Palmo of "Whispers in the Loggia"
pps  Bit of a rumour that Bishop Tom Burns of Menevia is coming to Cardiff as our archbishop. Watch this space.

Quadri-location

So what were you doing at 7.30 this evening? Here is an interesting insight into parish life....

At 7pm this evening, parents of children at St Brigid's and St Paul's who are receiving their First Holy Communion this year were meeting with myself and the two catechists in St Brigid's Hall meeting room.

At the same time in Christ the King Centre, confirmation candidates from all 3 Churches were starting their first session of preparation for the Sacrament in March.

At 7.15 our regular Sunday evening Prayer Group gathered in the sacristy at St Brigid's for their time of prayer and praise. Usually I join them but...

And at the same time our 3 Churches United for Justice and Peace group were starting their monthly meeting in the main hall at St Brigid's. I switched to them after time with the mums.

First Communion parents, Confirmation candidates, charismatic prayer group, Justice and Peace workers. Who said that parish life is boring?  And that is just one evening, and a Sunday one at that! Oh, and by the way, anyone know how to be in four places at once? If being in two places at once is bilocation, I think this must be called "quadri-location".

For a little tranquility, here is a photo from my 2010 archives of the farmhouse near Llangynwyd, south of Maesteg, where my ancestors lived 350 year ago...

Adoration

I usually listen to Radio 4 in the morning, the (in)famous "Today" programme. About 7.45 there comes their "Thought for the Day", and this morning, which should be, of course, the Epiphany, it was a reflection on a painting of the Adoration of the Magi by Peter Brueghel. The speaker pointed out the travel-weary Magi, the birth-weary Mary and the generally weary Joseph. Soldiers lurk ominously in the background. The Baby seems to recoil a little from the whole thing.

It's all very Brueghel, and we have to say, it has the ring of truth about it - if a painting can have a ring about it!! Resplendent Adorations, like the Rubens I have at the moment on the right, are amazing and uplifting. The reality, we fancy, was a bit more down to earth, maybe a bit more Brueghel. Very appropriate, for a Messiah come down from heaven - to earth.
As usual click on the picture to see it enlarged. 

Happy New Year!

A very happy New Year to all in the blogosphere!

Had a great Christmas, except for the weather... not that I'm worried about finding how much the Christmas Offering was reduced or anything like that...no...  Spent a lovely few days with my family during last week. Everything went well there, especially with my eldest nephew having got engaged recently.

I did a kind of review of 2010 during a few quiet moments. I can recommend that practice, as it's very easy to forget events, both good and not so good. Blessed John Hnery Newman tells us that we can only understand events when looking back - very true. Now, of course, we face a new year. I suppose the event in my own life dominating this first part will be discovering who my new archbishop-boss will be. Hopefully we will not have too long to wait to find out, especially as there is now a new Nuncio in place in London. 

As I do from time to time, I also add here my front page thoughts from the newsletter this week - entitled "New Year - New Directions??"

St Paul’s, Christ the King and St Brigid’s have now been together for six years. We have all moved along in our own journeys and our journey as a cluster of churches. From a position of friendly co-existence we have made progress in so many ways – probably far more than most of us realise! Just at present, for example, we are looking at closer ties in administration and in Baptism preparation. I believe that it is now time to review that progress, and to plan for the next period in our 3 Churches growth. While we are aware of possible developments also coming from the diocesan level, that should not deter us from seeking the Lord’s wisdom for what we already have. And what we have is one of the largest clusters in Wales, and one to which others are increasingly looking for a model.

Although I definitely think this review should be undertaken, I do not have set ideas about where it should go. It does seem that some kind of body for the 3 churches would now be feasible - and both strategic and pastoral. At present St Brigid and St Paul constitute one parish and Christ the King another. That could not be changed without a new Archbishop’s consent, and the consultation of the Council of Priests. However, a title like Three Churches Council would avoid that minefield. Perhaps each of the three could then have a smaller body to handle its own particular issues. Just one idea...

There are many issues to think about – and pray about. Let’s begin 2011 with a commitment to seek a vision for our part of the vineyard – and let everyone feel part of that search!