Communication and conversion

Bit of a gap since my last post -  we lost our BT phone and internet on Sunday afternoon and it stayed off all day yesterday. I called BT and went through the whole process of - well, you know the feeling if you have encountered BT or one of the other utilities call centres. This morning the phone line sprang back into life, though we're told it sounds crackly from outside. Meanwhile the internet is coming and going at will!  Five years ago the same happened and it was the wire from the house to the pole rubbing against the ridge on the roof of the Hall until the insulation had gone. I'm thinking it's the same again, even though they were supposed to have raised it last time.. The engineers are coming this afternoon, so we shall see. Grrr...

One of the nuisances yesterday was that I'm doing my regular radio spot tomorrow, and the Monday before is when I communicate back and for with the BBC to choose my topic and send the script to the producer. Anyway, I've managed to get it all done this morning in the gaps when the internet is working. If you're interested, I'm talking about the Conversion of St Paul, tomorrow's feast, during Roy Noble's programme on Radio Wales, Wednesday at about 2.40pm.
The picture is Caravaggio's striking depiction of the Conversion, in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome.
LIve update! 12.45 BT man has just been with amazing gadget. He stuck it into the socket - and, yes, phone line crackly, internet intermittent etc. Then he pressed a few more buttons to find where the problem is, and on his little screen up comes "40 metres" - exactly the distance to the roof of the hall. That process took a couple of hours last time, this time a few minutes. The wonders of modern science, eh? So he's coming back this afternoon with his buddy and his cherry-picker to put up a new line with extra special binding stuff. Watch this space...

Runny noses, shimmering lights, new possibilities

Brrrr... cold snap as they say. I was up in Pontypool today for a Marriage Tribunal judging session. We three judges, ably managed by the adminstrator, concluded three cases. I'm always relieved when these sessions are over - so now I'm going to chill for the evening.

After a freezing few minutes' wait on Cwmbran Station, the train brought me back to Caaaardiff, joined by a bloke who got on at Newport who had a runny nose. He sniffed n snorted every 10 seconds to everyone's annoyance. Too much information, I suppose, but that's Newport for you (only kidding - a Cardiff joke!)

Coming back through Cardiff city centre, I had never noticed before the dancing lights display on the outside of the "helter skelter" ramp to the St David's multistorey car park. I know, I should get out more... Anyway, I though it was fascinating and even beautiful to watch, especially when you're caught in a rush hour traffic jam. Apparently it's called "The Shoal" and was installed last May. Catch 2 minutes of it in this video.

Lastly, a few little thoughts from Sunday's homily. Ponder, if you will, Jesus' brief words in the Gospel. First, "What do you want?", then "Come and see", then "You are Simon, you will be called Cephas." These three little phrases, so everyday sounding, can take us so far into faith. When Jesus asks you what you want, I think he's asking, or lets you ask yourself, a bit more than just "Why are you following me?"  What do I really want  - in life. His invitation to come and see is rather more than just asking if we want to see his house in Capernaum. Come and spend time with me, listen, watch, get to know me. And to change Simon's name to Peter-Rock is much more than simply giving him a new nickname. Come with me, be with me, learn from me, receive from me. I will lead you to where you could be, my Father's dream for you, that I can see, but you can't yet. You think that those hills across the Sea of Galilee are the limit of your vision. I can see Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, the world...

So this year of 2012, what do we want? Do we have the courage to move, to come and see? Are we ready for the Lord to maybe change our agenda, broaden our sights, expand our horizon? Here, in an icon at the church of St Peter in Gallicantu ("at the cockcrow") in Jerusalem, is Pete getting his new job...

Ahhh, Santiago...

Readers will know of my fascination with, and love for, pilgrimages. Admittedly, most of those that I have taken part in, and to varying degrees led, have travelled by plane. Santiago de Compostela, the shrine of St James in Spain - now there's a serious pilgrimage, if you're going to do it properly. I'm afraid the one time I went to Santiago - yes, you've guessed it - we flew there, direct to Santiago airport. The real pilgrimage is on foot, El Camino - The Way, and that is the title of an excellent film that came out last year, and that I watched on the newly out DVD last night. 

I'm having a rather heavy canon law-filled week, interspered with meetings every evening so far. So last night I was in need of relaxation, and a kind parishioner shoved the DVD in my sweaty little palm, as we had been chatting about "The Way" a while before. The film is about the pilgrimage, which dates back to the Middle Ages. It was usually done on foot, starting from various points around Europe (such as the Rue St-Jacques or St James Street, in Paris). The routes came together at the Pyrenees between France and Spain, and then it wounds its way across to Santiago, which took about a month.

The movie stars Martin Sheen, a Catholic, as Tom, a father who goes out to bring back the body of his son who has died while making the pilgrimage. The son is played by Emilio Estevez, Sheen's real son, who also directs. Tom ends up making the pilgrimage himself, and the film, beautifully shot across some stunning landscapes in the real locations, follows his journey to the shrine. The soundtrack uses music of different sorts, including a Coldplay song and a David Gray track.

It turns out to be a journey in many senses of the word, as pilgrimage so often does, and Tom's story is interwoven with that of three principal other pilgrims, plus several lesser characters. It is a spiritual (or just human) rather than a Christian film, and I found it compelling, watching  it until after midnight. At some points it is really intense and brought a tear to my eye, calling up all sorts of memories and reflections. It would have meaning for everyone, I think, and especially for those belonging to any group such as a church, where people journey together in life and faith.

If you haven't seen it, look out for it. We hope to show it at St Brigid's as our annual Palm Sunday evening film this year. Fr M approves very much.

Ahhh, Sicily...

At last, a sunny day after weeks of greyness in the weather. My thoughts turned to sunnier climes last night as I relaxed and turned on the telly. After a little brain-training with "Mastermind" I came across a wonderful new series called "Sicily Unpacked". Brit culture-person Andrew Graham-Dixon has teamed up with Italian food-person Giorgio Locatelli to present a short series on this amazing island, its history, culture - and food. For an hour I was whisked away on a diet of Baroque stucco and sardine pasta. Mmm...

I visited Sicily I think it was in 1991, 20 years ago now. I couldn't find anyone who wanted to come with me (ahhh), so I took a sharp intake of breath and booked myself onto a coach tour, my first ever. Stunning. Palermo, Monreale, Erice, Agrigento, Catania, Siracusa, Messina, and unforgettable Taormina. Even their names are beautiful aren't they? The history of the island is one long catalogue of invaders who become settlers. Greeks, Romans, Moors, Normans, French, Spanish etc etc.  The resulting architecture, culture (and not forgetting food!) carries this rich concoction through to today.

Our TV guides whisked us through some of the delights of Sicily, pausing for a few moments here and there, including the mosaic-covered Palatine Chapel in Palermo, certainly one of my candidates for Top Ten buildings in Europe. It was a beautiful programme in every sense, well made and presented, a delight. BBC2 Friday. Fr M approves.
Pics show the Palatine Chapel in Palermo and the pool at Fr M's Hotel in Taormina (I think - it's a long time!)

Passing it on, celebrating it together

A very happy New Year to everybody. Like I said, Christmas went very well here in our 3 Churches, and then I had a few days off with my family. So, a few thoughts for the beginning of 2012...

While staying with my brother I popped in one day to the parish church for a quiet minute. A dad came in with his two young sons and his own father. I couldn't help hearing their chat, as I was looking at the fine crib alongside them. It seemd young dad was not a church goer (evidently a lapsed or as I prefer "resting" Catholic), and so his boys weren't either. Grandad was determined that the lads should have an experience of the crib. Their faces lit up as he gave them a guided tour of all the figures in the stable, and they bubbled over with questions. They seemed to roughly know who Jesus was, but not much more... Grandad told the story with faith and love as the boys drank it all in, and even dad slowly seemed to move from an impatient embarrassment to a, well, warm-ish enthusiasm. How sad, I thought that the boys needed it all explained to them, but good on you, grandad. What it says about where we are in Britain today, I'm not quite sure... Evangelization is going to be one of our main areas for 2012 in our parishes, and here it was.

On a more, um, stomach-centred level - a tale of meals. Christmas lunch was with parishioners of Scottish-Italian-Polish-Welsh influences and, as I said in my last post, scrummy. Then my visit to my brother and sister-in-law was punctuated, as always, with equally yummy food, such as a light but filling avocado and prawn salad or a tasty sardiney type of pasta. Then off to my sister's for our annual Christmas time family get-together with added new wife-of-nephew, around the cold ham and turkey, pickles, spuds etc.

Finally, back home and out to another parishioners' home for New Year's Day lunch with a French angle. Merveilleux!  A little salmon and prawn on rice n salad hors d'oeuvre was followed by a new one to me, Moroccan tajine or tagine. This is a kind of slow-cooked lamb stew with all kinds of veg, fruits and spices in, that is usually cooked in a special pot. Mmmm. Then we moved on to "les treize desserts", which is Provencal custom for this time of year, where thirteen different fruits and nuts are served. Finally a scrumbotious egg-custard was served with whipped egg-white on top. I had to guess what the flavour of the custard was, and was mystified with a strong taste that I was sure I knew, but could not identify. Eventually our hostess revealed the secret ingredient to be... lavender! Apparently it's very fashionable at the moment. Provencal heaven.

All of these meals shared with family, friends and parishioners give me enormous pleasure (as those who know me would confirm by my waist-line!) What a wonderful way of celebrating this joyful season - with lovely people around a table with good food. The Lord sure knew a thing or two when He left the gift of Himself in the form of a meal. There is nothing like sharing a meal - however simple or elaborate, at a table or at an altar - for building up all that is good in being human. Or in being Christian.

PS Pics are off the net, not as eaten!!

Venite adoremus

Phew - Christmas Day over, and chilling out on Boxing Day. 

Good attendance at Christmas Masses, especially at the Christmas Eve vigil ones. We have to have three to accommodate the crowds - one in each church. As there are only two of us, we have to "import" a priest, and this year one of the Rosminian fathers obliged at St Brigid's. I was at Christ the King, where the welcomers counted over 700 on their clicker...

After our morning Masses, it was out to parishioners for a scrummy lunch and civilised chat, then home for an hour or two gentle repose in my favourite armchair, and phonecalls to family. I spent the evening with other parishioners, where we indulged in the full two hour glory of "Downton", where you had to wait until the closing minutes to see Matthew ask Mary to marry him. Thank the Lord!!

Today I celebrated Mass at St Brigid's, and was joined by altar servers on their feast of St Stephen. Two were enrolled in their Guild, and I ordered them to finish off a pack of "Celebrations" from among a gluttonous pile of chocs and cakes given to us. With my post-Mass coffee I caught up with the Christmas episode of "Doctor Who" - a great take on "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe".

So now i'm off for a few days with my family, which I'm looking forward to. Catch up soon!

In royal David's city...

The annual Carol Service from King's College Cambridge is now a part of Christmas tradition. It always starts with a treble singing the first verse of "Once in Royal David's City". So here is that carol, sung in what I would describe as maybe the finest single building in Britain, the chapel of King's College, Cambridge. A very happy and holy, peaceful and joyful Christmas to all out there in the blogosphere!

In heavenly peace

We celebrated a lovely 3 Churches Carol Service yesterday evening at St Brigid's. Each of six sections had four parts. First a child brought a lamp to place in front of the relevant crib figure, then after the Gospel reading there was a reflection. Finally, of course we sang a carol. Four of the reflections were specially written for the service, while the other two were musical. Our wonderful 3 Churches choir sang the Taize "Magnificat" and young Ami sang "What child is this?" as a solo. Beautiful. Afterwards we all repaired to the Hall for mince pies and mulled wine.  The Christmas atmosphere has certainly begun...

Meanwhile, a little nostalgia. One of my 2011 highlights was our visit to Provence in September, and particularly to the Cistercian Abbey of Senanque, where we celebrated Mass. To see a beautifully edited video of Senanque accompanied by a piece written by Hildegard of Bingen (soon to be declared a Doctor of the Church apparently) please click here - and enjoy 9 minutes of peace...

Verbum caro hic factum est

Nazareth the place is not up to much. The modern basilica sits near the middle of the, well, basically average town. The courtyard is lined with representations of Our Lady from many countries of the world, including Wales. On entering the huge church, you notice a large gap in front of the main altar, where you can look down to the level of the earlier churches that have stood on this spot. At a modern altar down there I have been privileged to celebrate Mass four times, just a few feet from the actual grotto which traditionally marks the place of the Annunciation. There you find a much smaller altar, and on the front a brief inscription in Latin:

VERBUM CARO HIC FACTUM EST

Word for word: "The Word flesh here became" = "The Word here became flesh". That all-important litte word "hic" telling you that here, or hereabouts, the eternal Word of God became united with one human life, that God the Creator entered his own creation. Here, in this quiet backwater, then as now, Mary gave her accord...

Just think... No Annunciation would mean no Christmas. Just like no Gethsemane would mean no Calvary or Easter Tomb. These are the Places of Decision, where the "No!" of Eve and of Adam are reversed by the "Yes!" of Mary and her Son. Yes, God, yes! Yes to your plan, your desire, your way, your Word. In one word : "Amen!"

God reached out his hand...

Our Archbishop, George Stack, led a day of recollection for the priests of our diocese just before Advent. Among the handouts given were reflections for the Sundays of Advent. Here is an edited version of the one for the Third Sunday of Advent that I put on the front page of our newsletter this week. It seems to have touched people...

Someone is coming, a greater one than John the Baptist. If the 20^th century did anything it certainly tested our hope. Sometimes we forget to tell the Good news because we feel the mud of human sin is sinking us. Advent is a time of hope. Someone is coming. He is coming into the genocide and ethnic cleansing, into our hunger and thirst. We are waiting with Hope because we trust in the promise.

More than faith or even love, I believe that it is Hope that tests our idea of God.  Hope asks “Do you trust God to be God?  Am I confident about God?  Am I sure about God’s promise? It is hope which asks me to put my hand in His hand and plunge into the night, to leave the shore, to put my face to the wind, to confront the waves and do battle with the tide... The darkness will never overcome. That is the hope of Advent.

For those who wait every hope is a great hope – we hope that the wounds of yesterday will close, that memories will heal, that the telephone will ring, that a son will come home...

Once we start hoping ourselves, we start bringing hope to others. Advent calls us out of the rut, to leave Nazareth and to follow the star to Bethlehem... God reached out his hand in the silence of the night and love entered the darkness. We put out into the silence of the night. The face of God is emerging. We feel the deep water around us. At this Advent moment we feel ourselves letting go to a higher power. This is a sacred space, an Advent space, a Hope space.

Pictures are from our 2009 Pilgrimage - sunrise ove the Sea of Galilee and Mass at the Grotto of the Annunciation, Nazareth

MML - Modern & Medieval Languages - The Movie?

I saw a reference to this video in the newspaper yesterday. It's a kind of advert for the languages faculty at Cambridge, where I got my first degree. Produced by some students and staff, I thought at first it was a bit weird, playing up to the rather sentimentalised view of Oxbridge that lots of people have. Then, when I thought again, I remembered that in fact it was there that my vocation to the priesthood found its roots - not in the study of religion as such, but in Spanish literature, when I "discovered" St Teresa of Avila. So, yes, study, life, love and even life-long commitments can all happen among the lanes, courts and leafy Backs of Cambridge to the background of Baudelaire et al!

Wisdom and joy from across the Pond

Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, who is patroness of our diocese under this title. Hot on the heels of "2 minute Advent" - 2 more videos that have come my way.

I explored bustedhalo.com a little, and found this one on today's feast. Go for it Fr Jack!

Then in my email today someone sent me this charming one all the way from Quinhagak, Alaska, where they are anxious to share their seasonal joy with us. Lovely.

A snappy Advent

Mega busy these last few days. We're handling five funerals over these ten days, and four baptisms on Sunday. I had to prepare for my Advent Twilight Retreat this evening (which went well, I hope!) and for my next Wednesday Word tomorrow (Radio Wales approx 2.40pm). As well as, of course, all the usual stuff...

All of which sounds like the cue for something different. Here's a simple little video from somebody named bustedhalo.com, which turns out to be "a magazine for spiritual seekers" from American religious order the Paulists. It's called "Advent in 2 minutes", and I think it's pretty good. Enjoy.

Parish life fiction and fact

As I mentioned a few postings ago, I have become a fan of "Rev." on BBC2. Last week's, I felt, was a bit weaker. This week, however, it came back with a vengeance. Plot lines involving ecumenism, sexism, pride, jealousy and other aspects of the human and pastoral predicament, after making you wonder where they are going, suddenly come together without warning in an amazing last scene that I couldn't help watching three or four times straight off. Great acting by Tom Hollander and the whole cast, great script. If you're not offended by a few swear words, then make sure to catch it on iPlayer, but don't skip straight to the end, it's worth the 30 minutes journey. Wonderful.
Meanwhile, a few people outside our 3 Churches have been enquiring about our "Vision" process that has been going on through this year. So over the next few postings I'll share stuff about it. Things started back in the New Year when I felt that it was time for a pastoral overhaul of things 3 Churches. We had redecorated the outside of St Brigid's and extended and refurbished Christ the King Parish Centre. Time for something more pastoral! 

I recalled a "dream exercise" led by Fr Tony Nolan with our two Parish Councils some years ago. We were invited to dream our ideal parish and then note down how it would be different to the present. I tried this with our two Councils and then across all seven of our weekend Masses... This timetable takes up the story.,..
January My prayer and reflection on where our 3 churches “are at” suggest a major review of our pastoral life.

February I share these thoughts with our 2 Parish Councils, inviting them to share their “dream parishes”. This involves my leading a prayerful reflection: they fall asleep on Saturday, and dream that the parish has become their perfect one; they find that on Sunday this has become the reality, and then write down what is different from the present reality. This avoids too heady an approach, and hopefully catches a word from the Lord via his people! (acknowledgements to Tony Nolan for the exercise!) We also decide to move towards one 3 Churches Pastoral Council, supported by smaller bodies in each parish.

March  I repeat the “dream exercise” during all Sunday Masses homilies, with a very large response. The councils collate and reduce all the responses down to one Statement (attached). We decide to set up the new Pastoral Council by Easter.

Maundy Thursday At joint 3 Churches Mass of the Lord’s Supper at Corpus Christi School I speak, in the context of service, about the Vision, and commission 8 members of the 2 Parish Councils as the new 3 Churches Pastoral council. Their first task is to continue and implement the Vision process.

June All parishioners invited to sign a book in each church containing the Vision statement, in order to continue their ownership of the project. The Pastoral Council reflects on how to move from vision to reality.

September All parishioners invited to express willingness to get involved in one of the 4 main areas that had emerged in the process. Then a Forum evening held at Corpus Christi with the 4 resulting groups produces practical ideas and targets. The Pastoral Council refines them into decisions and actions, with at least one from each group for implementation by Christmas.

November  We publish and “sell” the decisions via newsletter and pulpit. First group of actions starts.

2012  Second group of decisions/actions happen, and work on “Big Ideas” begins.

From the "already" to the "not yet"

And so, amazingly, another church year has passed, and we arrive at Advent again. It's been a bright sunny day to mark the Church's New Year - but remember late November last year? Brrrrr...

Anyway, the Church messes with time a little in Advent, especially here at the first Sunday. We start a journey towards Christmas, which is in the future, four weeks away. Christmas, however, celebrates something which happened over 2000 years ago - the birth of Christ. So we are looking forward to something which has already happened. Then - we are also reminded that we are moving toward the second coming of Christ.  So we are living between the the two Comings, the "already" and the "not yet", and we are also about to celebrate the "already", but in the future. Hmmm....

I like the image of the spiral stairs that is sometimes used to illustrate religious education in Catholic schools - every year we revisit the same spot but on a higher level each time. Maybe it's the same with the Church's year. We revisit the seasons, ascending a little higher each time, celebrating the birth of Jesus and all the things from the "already", while we slowly reach for the heights of the "not yet", the future that is ours.

The new translation of the Missal is now in full use from today throughout most of the English-speaking world. Here in our 3 Churches we started using the new version of the priest's presidential prayers (the Collect, Prayer over the Gifts and Post-Communion) last week to mark the feast of Christ the King. I'm starting to get the hang of the new version. I read a lot of comments, negative and positive, about the translation, but find a lot of it actually quite prejudiced - literally pre-judged - rather than reflecting on the practical question of "Does it work?" Some seem to be saying it can't be right, because it's from the Benedict XVI world and had such a tortuous history, others say it can't be wrong - for the same reasons. 

I'm finding much of it "works" fine. Sentences are longer, and therefore demand more expression and preparation from the clergy, but that's no bad thing. Words and phrases I still find difficult, but, well, you can't please everybody etc. A few balances have been restored, but run the risk of swinging to the other extreme. And so on. I'm just trying my best to pray it with faith and life, and most of the time, if it's not too everyday a phrase, the new translation "does its job".

Happy Advent!

Glimpses of the future

And so the annual cycle of parish life continues...

This evening we held the parents' evening that precedes the First Reconciliation and Communion programme at Christ the King. A high proportion of "first timer" parents were there, and seemed eager to cooperate with our great team of catechists and us clergy in doing the best for their children. 

Our plans for Advent are also rapidly taking shape (just as well, he says, as Advent starts on Sunday!) We will have a 3 Churches Penitential Service in week 3 and Carol Service in Week 4 - both now have their planning groups in place. Week 2 I am going to try to do something myself - yikes, that's only two weeks away!

Last night we had the reunion meeting for this year's September Pilgrimage, which also doubled, as usual, as the selling of next year's pilgrimage. 2012 will see us returning to one of our favourite haunts - Assisi, home, of course, of St Francis and St Clare. The group has visited it several times before, but not since 2002 when we twinned it with Venice. This time we will spend four nights in Spoleto, near Assisi, then four nights in Montecatini Terme in Tuscany, from where we will visit Florence, Pisa, Lucca and Viareggio. As always, we appear to have sold out. Amazing.

Picture shows the Porziuncola, the chapel built by St Francis for his first community.

Rev-erent relaxation

A long, full day yesterday - Mass with Year 6 school kids at 9.45 at Christ the King, Requiem and cremation back at St Brigid's at 11 and 12.30. After lunch, do my parts of the weekly newsletter before zipping back up to Christ the King to receive the body for another Requiem today. Cup of tea, then meeting with our 3 Churches Pastoral Council to firm up the decisions and actions flowing from this year's Vision project. Great group to work with - committed, enthusiastic and well gelled together. But... I was ready to relax. Then I remembered a review or two of "Rev." on BBC2. 

So I parked myself before my computer, went onto iPlayer and sat back to munch and watch both episodes, as it turned out, of series two. Fantastic. I did catch some of the first series and it didn't grab me, but I'm glad I gave it a second chance. In case you haven't seen it, Tom Hollander plays the vicar in a Hackney Anglican parish. It's a sitcom but a kind of gentle one. As another blogger puts it, "Rev. Smallbone is an ordinary person, an ordinary man. Not a comedy vicar like Dawn French, Ardal O’Hanlon or Derek Nimmo, but a kind and humorous man who is riddled with self doubt, who makes mistakes, and who truly cares about his parishioners and believes he can make a difference, however ill-judged some of his endeavours turn out to be" (hat-tip Wartime housewife). There's no canned laughter, very well crafted characters and great acting. And it's good to see a clergy man on the TV that doesn't conform to the usual caricatures, and who is, at the end of the day, treated sympathetically. Many of the scenes I can imagine all too well. There's a bit of "language" or what the BBC calls "adult humour", if you are offended by that.

One of my favourite scenes is in episode one - the visit to the vicar by the Bishop of London, played completely straight by Ralph Fiennes. The acting by both is superb, at the same time hilarious and cringe-making. A kind of ecclesiatical "Gavin and Stacey" in that way. Episode 1 is here and episode 2 here.

Tom Hollander (centre) with cast members

Art on ice

Somebody asked me if I had any more "flash mob" videos for The Canon's Stall. Well, there have been quite a few made, it seems, but the, er, Americans turned the concept into a TV programme and, well, that's kinda the knell of doom isn't it? If you want to see the sort of thing, take a look at "The best proposal ever" starting with a stranger throwing water in the face of a chap who is out for a quiet drink with his girl-friend, and ending up with (sob.sob) their wedding.  Another, rather more tasteful one I found is a symphony orchestra playing Ravel's "Bolero" in the station at Copenhagen. Very nice, but not a patch on the totally wonderful and one of the originals, "Doh, a deer" at Antwerp Station, that I have posted here before, and which has received over 24 million hits. 

However, the "Bolero" one did remind me of Torville and Dean's ice-dancing performances back in the early 1980's. I think that their "Bolero" is simply one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. As sport and athleticism it is magnificent, but for me it takes those things into the realms of art. So, here is their "Bolero" from the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo, when they gained perfect 6's for artistic expression. Indeed, this is high art. Fr M joins the judges in giving a perfect 6.0. Video quality is not perfect - it is from 1984! Enjoy...

Can we have that every day?

As the boy joined the queue for his lunch in the hall at Christ the King School on Thursday, he looked up at me and asked “Father, can we have that every day?” But “that” was nothing to do with the lunch that he was about to eat. “That” was a period of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that he had just experienced with his class as part of the School Mission this week.

Each of the Juniors classes came into one of the rooms in turn for just twenty minutes with Jesus. The Sion Community members who were giving the mission had prepared the space. They had pushed back and covered the tables and made an altar for the monstrance. Each group of 30 came in to gentle guitar music, and so entered a very special time and place. I was very impressed with the way the Sion Community were able to both explain what that white disc is, and establish the atmosphere so well that the children were soon fully engaged in this divine encounter.

During moments of quiet some opened their hands on their laps, some covered or rested their faces in their hands, some shut their eyes, some gazed at Jesus who was gazing at them. Afterwards, another child asked me whether when I had my eyes shut I was talking to Jesus. I said I was, and she said she was too... In one group the leader invited them to write with their finger on the palm of their other hand the name of someone for whom they were praying, and then to lift that hand up towards the monstrance, literally handing them over to the Lord. A few shed a tear, just a small, gentle one...

If ever I needed proof that children “understand” Jesus and his ways - as he does theirs - it was there in that room. When the subject of Adoration comes up with adults, we have so many questions, hesitations, and smoke-screens of sophistication. But Jesus said “Let the children come to me”. May I add gently after Thursday morning, “And let them teach the grown-ups too..”.

Talking and listening

Lots going on - as usual! On Saturday I gave a Day of Recollection on "The Saints for Today - Heroes and Friends". It went well, and I devoted part of it to one of my favourite topics, namely tracing the relationship between Jesus and Peter through the Gospels. 

At our parish primary school, Christ the King, there is a Mission this week led by the Sion Community, well-known in the UK and beyond for their parish and school work. I'm looking forward to being involved in the later stages of the mission on Thursday and Friday, though it means I will miss the annual Requiem for Deceased Clergy in the Cathedral on Thursday. As the saying goes, you can't do everything. 

Many of the clergy are vexed by another of Archbishop George Stack's innovations. He has asked us all to suggest two priests for his consideration as Vicar General for our diocese. I suspect some of the brethren have been caught out. Having expressed the wish to be consulted over various matters in the past, now that they are being consulted they don't quite know what to do! Suggestions have to be in by this Friday - and, no, I'm not going to say who I have proposed!

Then, today I had two pastoral visits, one after a sudden death and one months after another sudden one. How important it in this priesthood life to be able to listen - to listen with empathy, patience and compassion. So often it take a while to come to the place where feelings are real, truths can be voiced, tears shed.  I always maintain that two of the most important weeks in seminary all those years ago were those devoted to basic counselling skills, and especially how to listen.  What else appears to be so simple, has so many pitfalls, but can lead to such grace-filled encounters.