See you later this week

I hope everybody had a happy and peaceful Christmas Day. For us the Christmas season now continues at least another week.

Fr M is having a few days with his family this week, so no postings until the weekend.

Pope Benedict's "Thought for the Day"

Today, an historic first for Christmas Eve - Pope Benedict gave Radio 4's "Thought for the Day". For my Christmas gift to all of you out there in the blogosphere, I reproduce here his words.

Recalling with great fondness my four-day visit to the United Kingdom last September, I am glad to have the opportunity to greet you once again, and indeed to greet listeners everywhere as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ.

"Our thoughts turn back to a moment in history when God's chosen people, the children of Israel, were living in intense expectation. They were waiting for the Messiah that God had promised to send and they pictured him as a great leader who would rescue them from foreign domination and restore their freedom.

God is always faithful to his promises, but he often surprises us in the way he fulfills them. The child that was born in Bethlehem did indeed bring liberation, but not only for the people of that time and place - he was to be the Saviour of all people throughout the world and throughout history.

And it was not a political liberation that he brought, achieved through military means; rather, Christ destroyed death forever and restored life by means of his shameful death on the Cross. And while he was born in poverty and obscurity, far from the centres of earthly power, he was none other than the Son of God. Out of love for us, he took upon himself our human condition, our fragility, our vulnerability and he opened up for us the path that leads to the fullness of life to a share in the life of God himself.

As we ponder this great mystery in our hearts this Christmas, let us give thanks to God for his goodness to us and let us joyfully proclaim to those around us the good news that God offers us freedom from whatever weighs us down: he gives us hope, he brings us life.

Dear Friends from Scotland, England, Wales and indeed every part of the English-speaking world. I want you to know that I keep all of you very much in my prayers this Holy Season. I pray for your families, for your children, for those who are sick and for those who are going through any form of hardship at this time. I pray especially for the elderly and for those who are approaching the end of their days.

I ask Christ, the light of the nations, to dispel whatever darkness there may be in your lives and to grant to every one of you the grace of a peaceful and joyful Christmas.

May God bless all of you!

TCP, carols and a 2010 Christmas

Snow is still everywhere in Fr M world.  I'm ogling a scab below my knee, the likes of which hasn't been seen since childhood. Memories of grazed knees, witch hazel, TCP etc etc.

We had a wonderful Carol Service last night, which everybody seemed to appreciate. Simple, well prepared and carried out, thoughtful, warm and joyful. Congrats to the 3 Churches team - Fr M approves.

In the i-Phone Facebook Twitter age, digital Nativities were inevitable. There is a clever but, I'm told, rather disrespectful digital nativity video doing the rounds, but I found this one, and I think it is good. Fr M approves. As usual, double click to see full width. Enjoy...

Acknowledgements to Fr Tim Finegan

Shins, rings, and maybe sings

Thanks for enquiries about my shin bone. A very neat little plaster thingy left over from my earlier ankle thingy is protecting my right shin fine. I will survive. In fact, on Sunday we returned to the scene of the fall-flat-in-the-flowerbed-melodrama, when we were invited to lunch back at the golf club. I snarled at the offending wall. Grrrrr...

Snow... is falling even as I type on Monday morning. Folks turned out for all of our Masses over the weekend. Attendance was about 25-40%. Aren't Catholics wonderful! Here's a picture I took of Fr Tomy clearing snow on Friday before our heavier fall that day.
My nephew was due to propose to his beloved on the Acropolis in Athens this weekend - but had to resort to plan B, which was Basingstoke, where he lives. At the moment my brother and sister-in-law are stranded at Milan airport, where they were supposed to leave yesterday.

I was in Canada for two years in the 1980s, doing my canon law studies. Winters there were of course very, very cold - 20 below was common. But the winters were also very predictable, the same every year more or less. So although it's good to complain about how the authorities here are never prepared, I have some sympathy, given that we had about 25 years without serious snow!

Meanwhile, we have a 3 Churches Carol Service planned for Wednesday evening - not looking good. But the thing is, some of our wonderful Catholics will turn up, no matter what the weather!

Have a nice trip

Yesterday the Lord saw fit to allow me to fall flat on my face. Literally. In a flowerbed. I was on the way to the Christmas Dinner of our two ladies' groups, the UCM and the CWL (note that I said "On the way to" not "coming back from, at a late hour"). Walking across the car-park, I was looking over to my right at the clubhouse of the golf club where it was being held, and didn't spot the low wall surrounding a flower bed in my path, shrouded in darkness. Next minute, a bang on my two shins, hands out in front of me and into the earthy flower-bed I go. Damage to me was minimal, one grazed top of my shin, just about where you touch down when genuflecting. Damage to flower-bed - dunno, and don't care. Get some lighting in your car park!

I'm sure there is a sermon in this somewhere, but as it feels like it might be something to do with humility, I'm not going to rush into that one. At least it gave the good ladies of the 3 Churches something to laugh about...

Mind the gap?

The months continue to pass by, and we still do not have an Archbishop. Yes, we know that the Roman summer has come and gone, when the Vatican shuts down, the Pope too has come and gone in September, and, sadly, the Nuncio, one of the key people in the process of appointment, is gone as well, through ill health. 

I'm told that one or two other British appointments have taken as long as this - getting on for eight months - over the last few years. There is much reference among the clergy at the moment to that fact that we seem to be getting on fine, thank you very much! Some whisper that they are finding it hard to get someone to come here, that Bishop X or Y has turned it down (yes, you can).

All joking aside, the bishop in a diocese has absolutely the key role. Canonically he holds full power - judicial, executive and legislative. Pastorally, he is first shepherd and father of the diocesan family. He has the potential to influence every single aspect of diocesan life, and personally I would see one of his primary roles as being to inspire and uplift the people of God.

In a circular to the clergy today Mgr Bob Readon, Diocesan Administrator, urges us to keep up the prayers for this vital appointment. Will do, Bob!
Picture shows the "Cathedra, or bishop's throne, of St Gregory" in the church named after him in Rome.

Thankyou and Hallelujah!

Many, many thanks to all those - eight at the last count - who sent me links to this Christmassy flash mob. So I thought I'd better put up a link here. Folks at a shopping mall food court near Niagara Falls got a surprise just a few weeks ago....  Enjoy - 17 million already have! 

Mass with a swing

Fr M loves a bit of (melo)drama with his religion, and you can't get much more dramatic than the botafumeiro. This is the enormous thurible in the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, the great shrine in north-west Spain. We went there on our September pilgrimage about ten years ago, and witnessed the botafumeiro in action. It swings from the roof 80 or 90 feet up, and at its wildest almost swings horizontal. Sparks fly everywhere, and the whooooosh as it passes over is very loud. It's very difficult to film it, so I was delighted to find a link to this video of Pope Benedict in Santiago a few weeks ago. It's the best film I've seen for giving an idea of what an amazing experience it is to see, hear, smell and almost feel the thing flying over your head. Check out too the looks on the faces of the Vatican officials. Enjoy a little Catholic drama. Thanks to Catholic and Lovin It.

Faster, faster, faster

Sorry guys - a six day gap between blogs. Partly it's just Advent busy-ness, and partly this cold weather sort of slows down the canonical braincells, I think.

Now, this week I'm due to do one of my "Wednesday Word" broadcasts for Radio Wales. A few moments ago, I had just put on the kettle for my post-Mass cup of coffee when the producer rang. We decide the topic on Monday, I write the piece during the day, email it to her, then she comes back to me on the Tuesday with any, er, observations, then I go in to do the broadcast live on Wednesday.

So this time it's going to be based on the news today that the Government want us all to be on "superfast broadband" by 2015. Faster, faster, faster - everything must be faster. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't imagine going back to dial-up broadband myself. But we just seem to worship at the shrine of instant everything nowadays - and life, especially some of the most important aspects of life, ain't like that.

All of this is very Advent, when we are asked to wait, to pause and to reflect - to slow down and appreciate. My producer thought this was an excellent theme, and proclaimed it to be appropriately "countercultural" - which is BBC language for a good idea. So I'd better get down to it, and see where I can get with it. If you would like to hear it, it is on Radio Wales this Wednesday roughly 2.40pm.

Fished and frozen

Well, a very happy St Andrew's Day to any Scottish readers. At Mass at Christ the King I was pondering how it felt to be someone like Andrew. One day you are a fisherman by the Sea of Galilee, with your brother Peter and your mates James and John. The next thing, this Jesus from Nazareth comes into your life, and suddenly the whole picture changes. The Gospels tell us that actually it was Andrew who met the Lord first and introduced Peter to him.
I wonder whether Andrew was a little quieter, and, if so, how he handled various moments with his brother. Like when Peter steps out on the lake at the Lord's bidding. "What you doing? Are you crazy?" Or, did Peter confide in Andrew when he denied Our Lord? Well, of couse, we'll never know. But I think it's good to ask ourselves these sort of questions, as it brings the apostles to life, makes them more real. And therefore we can learn more from them.

Well, I haven't posted on here since Thursday. Strange how the snow slooooows everything down - even blogging! The weatherpersons got it wrong on Friday and didn't predict snow for Cardiff. Our car park at St B's is like an ice-rink. Personally I'm glad to hear the drip drip drip of the thaw...

The great James Cagney

One of Fr M's all-time favourite stars is Jimmy Cagney. Love the gangster films - Angels With Dirty Faces, Public Enemy No.1, White Heat etc. But he was, of course, also a brilliant dancer and entertainer. So here are two videos. The first is Jimmy with Bob Hope doing a fantastic dance routine from the film "The Seven Little Foys" (1955). Boy, could they teach some of today's dancers a thing or two. Thanks to Lorna for drawing my attention to this one.

Next, I could only find a small snippet of one of the best TV interviews I ever saw - Jimmy Cagney on Parkinson. Here he is with buddy Pat O'Brien, reminding us how in real life Jimmy was very different to his gangster persona. Cagney fans will get his story about the kid who asked him whether he really did chicken out. In the interview Parky was trying to draw Jimmy out - surely he had a few little dalliances in Hollywood during his long marriage?  Nope. What, faithful for all that time?  Yep.  So here are Jimmy and Pat, two great old-timers. And for once on TV, I think the emotion is real...

A people rich and varied

All kinds of different things have been happening recently.

On Friday evening a special service in Christ the King brought together many who have been through the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) over the last twenty years or so there. We started in the Hall talking about and sharing our own faith stories, then after scripture readings we moved across to the Church for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. I built my parts of the Mass around the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. It all went well and people seemed to get a lot from the celebration. (ps I pinched the pic from another Christ the King parish - shhhh)

Saturday morning it was good to see Sister Margaret of the Little Company of Mary at 9.30 Mass in St Brigid's. She was one of the sisters in Ty Gwyn Road who started off what is now the George Thomas Hospice, but who left us about five years ago. Margaret was elected provincial of the sisters, but she likes to keep in touch with Cardiff.

Later on Saturday many Iraqis gathered here at St Brigid's to celebrate a special Mass in their Chaldean Rite for those who were murdered a few weeks ago in a cathedral in Iraq. They laid fifty or sixty roses and candles over the sanctuary steps, each with the name of a victim, and some of the congregation had relatives among them. Several thanked me for supporting them in their terrible plight.

Sunday was the Feast of Christ the King. Fr Tomy celebrated the Youth Mass on Saturday and the School Mass on Sunday, and he certainly enjoyed them. I had a baptism down at St Brigid's. Then later, in the evening, was the official opening of the refurbished and extended Parish Centre at Christ the King. Monsignor Bob Reardon performed the ceremomy as Diocesan Administrator and former parish priest. Everyone brought food to share and we all chatted for a long while.  Everyone continues to be delighted with the project. Lovely occasion.

Meanwhile, the annual cycle of sacramental preparation, for First Communion and Confirmation is gearing up, and kicked off this evening with the parents meeting for children receiving Communion at Christ the King. I'm so glad that the catechists team who took this on last year have pledged themselves to carry on for another four or five years. They're a great group of mothers, and have clearly gained a lot from it themselves.

Cameras and bottles

So I did my filming bit on Irish immigration into Cardiff (see previous posting) and on the tradition of Corpus Christi yesterday afternoon, and all went well. It was out at the ITV studios at Culverhouse Cross, and took about an hour. First I chatted with the director/interviewer, who told me that the main audience would be children of about 10-11, and was I OK with explaining Corpus Christi to kids with no religious background at all? Oooh yeah, of course... Anyway, lights - camera - action and we were off. I was sat in front of one of those green screen things, enabling them to put videos etc behind me. I took with me, for them to use, some pictures of my great-grandmother who came over from Ireland as a tiny baby. I wonder what she would have thought if she'd known that her picture would be seen by thousands of kids a century later. The exhibition, on Immigration into Cardiff, will probably start at the Old Library in the spring.

Now, time for a Fr M feel-good video. Meet Michel Lauziere, a man who makes music by very unusual means. Watch - and enjoy. Acknowledgements to Charles McD.

  

Anointings and filmings

After our Mass of Memories last week, we celebrated a Mass of Healing with the sick of the 3 Churches this Saturday. As always, this too was a very meaningful Mass, with the Anointing of the Sick. Afterwards we repaired to the newly refurbished Parish Centre at C the K. Everybody delighted with it. The hall itself is almost unrecognisable - so airy and light. Toilets, kitchen, meeting rooms etc etc, all are great. I'm looking forward to the official opening this coming Sunday - the Feast of Christ the King.  

Talking of the sick - I was called today to a 97 year old in a neighbouring parish where the priest is on holiday. What a lovely lady, so dignified in her advanced years, and so appreciative of the visit. Originally from Grangetown, we knew a few people in common, not least the late and very much missed Fr Jack Fahy, the former parish priest of St Patricks.

This coming Thursday - something different. They are putting together a new museum in town, in the Old Library building. It's going to be all trendy with video displays etc. One of them is going to be about the waves of immigration into Cardiff, including the Irish in the nineteenth century. So yours truly is going to feature in the film, talking about the Catholic dimension and sharing a bit about my mother's forbears, who came over during and after the famine. So this Thursday I've got to go out to Culverhouse Cross to record it. Should be interesting!

Destroy or rebuild

I was checking up on a few other blogs I look at once in a while. It never ceases to amaze me what is out there. Here are two morsels I came across, both absolutely extraordinary in very different ways.

First, here is "The Independent" columnist Virginia Ironside telling us what "any good mother" would do...   Health warning - even the BBC presenter is shocked , so prepare to be upset/annoyed!

 

Thanks to Fr Ray Blake for that link. After that, here is something very different. I found this site on a youth ministry site. Very creative and challenging, it's a series of images with commentary that gets us to reflect on the Eucharist. Scroll the main images left or right then click on one. It will open up and then just follow the text and images. Close each section at the bottom of its page. It's called Tabled and here's one image from it. Acknowledgements to Rethinking Youth Ministry, which I think must be Methodist or Baptist.

Arles, Anglicans and eye-drops

"Sur le pont d'Avignon...." Bienvenu au blog du Pere M. Yes, the September Pilgrims are heading to France next year, to Provence to be precise. And we are already full with a waiting list - and that's on the day of our reunion meeting from this year's trip. Each year I am bowled over by how folks will put their deposits down in such numbers. After I proposed Provence for 2011, organizer Billy has been working extra hard to put a deal together, with problems concerning companies, hotels etc etc. We're going to stay in Arles (left), visiting Avignon, Nimes, the Camargue, Aix-en-Provence, the Pont du Gard and many other sites. It's somewhere I've wanted to see for ages, so it looks like I'll have 49 others with me when at last I get there!

Now, in the news we've got this business of Anglican bishops becoming Catholic, and joining an Ordinariate. In theory sounds like "a good thing", but I don't quite get it. Why can't they just become Catholic? What are these bits of Anglican inheritance that they are going to be allowed to keep?  I'd like to think that I'm as ecumenical as the next man, but, like so much else in life and particularly in religion it's no good if it ain't real. And I'm not sure that this is... I need to look into it a bit more, I think.

Poor old Fr Tomy had chicken pox two weeks ago and now he's got a viral infection in his eye from it. Welcome to Britain!  Seems that as it's not so common in India, their immunity is lower, and the chicken pox virus, which lies dormant in all of us once we've had it, decided to make a bid for freedom and go for his left eyeball! Anyway, he's fine, and taking loads of eyedrops and stuff. He'll survive.

Love revisited

Some peace and quiet at the end of a good weekend. A chance to catch up with myself and reflect on some good things.

One good thing was our Mass of Memories yesterday. 140 people came this time - a few more each year... We remember, we listen to the words of Jesus, we offer our loved ones to the God who gave them to us, we give thanks and praise for them - and for everything. We receive Jesus - and ask him to receive us too in our bereavement. And we ask Him to hold them - and us - for ever, as he sends us back out into our world. I am very grateful for the Bereavement Group which works so hard to organize this annual event. And, as I tried to say at the end of the Mass, I thank all the wonderful people of our 3 Churches, who give me so much as I try to walk with them.

Another good thing this weekend - the beautiful singing of Matt Cardle on "The X Factor". Don't knock the programme if you haven't heard the likes of him and Rebecca. The song "The First Time" takes me straight back to 1971, my first year in university at Cambridge. I can remember hearing this song sung by Roberta Flack late one evening in my buddy's room - it blew me away as they say, and it still does something special. I've never liked other singers trampling on the sacred ground of Roberta Flack - until I heard Matt sing it last night. What he can do with his voice and his heart is just amazing, and extraordinarily beautiful.

And lastly, something hilarious from a different Matt - one of my friends on Facebook: ‎1. Go to Google maps  2. Go to "Get Directions"  3. Type Japan as the start location  4. Type China as the end location  5. Go to direction #43  6. Laugh.    Excellent.

Where God weeps

Last Sunday, the Syrian Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad was attacked, leaving 58 dead and 75 wounded. Fathers Wasim Sabieh and Thaier Saad Abdal were killed during the attack. A third priest, Father Qatin, was wounded and died later in hospital. The event has shocked and horrified the people of Iraq, as well as Christians around the world.

Our Lady of Salvation Syrian Catholic Church was attacked by men with suicide bombs attached to their belts who took the priests and many people hostage, demanding the release of people being held in Iraq and Egypt. They also made the preposterous claim that Muslim girls from Christian backgrounds were being held prisoner in Egyptian Coptic monasteries and demanded their "release." In response, the Iraqi security forces stormed the Church, killing eight of the terrorists. Unfortunately, the ninth activated his suicide bomb.

At the recent Synod in Rome on the Church in the Middle East, the Iraqi bishops told of the terrorism and violence Christians, as well as other minorities, are facing: kidnappings, bombings of churches, schools and other Christian properties, and threats to Christian businesses, as well as to their lives. Christians have been forced to leave their homes in search of safety, with little hope of returning to Iraq in the near future.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols has said "This massacre has taken a terrible toll on a vulnerable and diminishing Christian community that, along with other religious minorities, continues to suffer persecution. My thoughts and prayers are with all those Iraqis who struggle against violence and extremism. The Christians of the Middle East have a special vocation as peace builders, as the recent Synod emphasised. I know that they will continue to be faithful to that mission and that Catholics in this country will continue to support the Iraqi Church". Pope Benedict declared during the week “Our Lord asked Saul ‘Why do you persecute me?’ He is being persecuted today in the suffering Church of Iraq.”

For a good succinct introduction to the position of Christians in Iraq watch this brief video "Where God weeps", from Aid to the Church in Need. The photo above shows the image of Our Lady damaged in the shooting.

Six months later

So the day arrived, as announced last week. I have been discharged, signed off, dismissed by the nurses of Llanishen Court surgery, God bless 'em! My insect-bite-cellulitis-nasty-remaining-ulcery-thing has been left to my own tender care now that is has ceased its crying and appears to be a small and reassuringly normal scabette. No more Tuesday trips... no more meeting with surprised parishioners a little embarrassed to ask what the parish priest is doing at the surgery etc etc.

In celebration of this momentous event, a little fun video I came across on another Catholic blog. Just five minutes of the human race doing wonderful and crazy things - fellow doing a ski-jump type thing in a  wheelchair, a guy running on water, another one vaulting on a moving car, various mad skateboarders and skiers and basketball players, a man standing on two fingers, people running up walls, moonwalking, and my favourite, a chap balancing on a chair on the edge of a highrise building. Enjoy.

Acknowledgements to James Preece

As November begins

Every so often someone asks me to put the front page article from our 3 Churches newsletter on here, as some folks read the blog but not the newsletter. So here's what I wrote for this week...

I’ve always loved music, and recently I’ve been recalling some of the songs that I remember being around when I was a very little boy (I was, once upon a time!). “Under the Bridges of Paris with Me” was written in the 30s but made popular by Dean Martin (and Eartha Kitt) in 1955. To a little lad Paris might just as well have been on the moon, but thet song just somehow hung in the air.. Another Dean Martin song that I remember being hummed was “Memories are Made of This” from 1956. Memories are so powerful, and they are made up of all kinds of things too... which leads us nicely into November, the month of memories and of the Holy Souls.

Memories and remembering are important parts of our life - and our faith. The very Eucharist itself is a “memorial sacrifice”, where the Jesus whom we remember becomes present among us. In turn, we also bring into the gathering all those whom we wish to remember. We pray for the living and the dead, “those who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again.”

So let’s bring all our memories into this month of the Holy Souls. You can enter your loved ones’ names in the Book of Remembrance that you will find in each of our 3 Churches. Mass will be offered for them all. You can come along to our very special annual Mass of Memories this coming Saturday at Christ the King 10am. In your day, make a little extra time and space for remembering, praying for those you remember - and don’t forget those who have left few or none to remember them.

The words of “Memories are Made of This” invite us to bring all of our memories together, like a beautiful feast. Then Dean Martin ends by urging us, “With his blessings from above, serve it generously with love”. To my surprise I find myself saying : Amen, Dino.