Parish Visiting

Made two house visits this afternoon to discuss forthcoming baptisms. One was to a large Congolese family in a Council flat, where I was handed a can of Pepsi by the pater familias. The other to a large house in the elegant De Beauvoir Town (a masterpiece of early nineteenth century town planning). As I was sipping my cup of tea in the comfortable lounge the doorbell rang and a friend of the family came in, delivering three boxes of wine for the post-baptism party. It turned out to be the actor Aidan Gillen, the star of Queer as Folk and the 2004 Broadway production of Pinter's The Caretaker. Two very different experiences that neatly sum up the diversity of my new parish!

Tomorrow I take my first day of recollection, which my parish priest has advised so that I can regularly recharge my spiritual batteries. So I'll try to avoid the temptation of blogging.