Pastoralia

It’s been a busy time in the parish – the weekend before last we had an episcopal visitation and this coming week we have a Parish Mission, preached by the wonderful Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, based in Canning Town. They’ll be preaching at all Masses and conducting evening ‘sessions’ from Monday to Thursday. Hopefully they’ll shake us all up a bit.

Tonight, being All Souls Day, the parish had its first scheduled EF Mass (one of two being celebrated in the Deanery). It had only been advertised in two Sunday newsletters but about 60 parishioners eventually turned up. Many seemed familiar with the Usus Antiquior – though not intended to be a dialogue Mass, the congregation made the responses (and did it quite well). They also had no problems in acting accordingly at Holy Communion. Most impressive was the silence – never have I heard our church so quiet. There was no shuffling, no moving around the church and no mobiles going off. Cally’s Kitchen served and his sister took some photos - more can be found on his blog:

Weddings

There must be something in the air. I haven't officiated at a wedding for two and a half years now and was fast forgetting the niceties of matrimonial rubrics. I've done plenty of paperwork, for sure, but couples were tending to return home to get married - places like Mauritius, Venezuela, Mexico and Poland.

In the last few days, however, the wedding drought has ended for I have four wedding ceremonies in my diary. Hurrah! These include one in Westminster Cathedral in December and a rather splendid-sounding military wedding next year, involving a member of Her Majesty's Household Cavalry. For the first time ever (I suspect) the Balls Pond Road will see scarlet tunics and bearskins and the outside of the church will resemble Buckingham Palace!

Glad to see that matrimony is back in fashion - at least for the time being.

WYD '08

World Youth Day is old news, I know, but tonight the five young people (and one adult) from our parish who travelled to Sydney (forming 3.5% of the total number of Westminster pilgrims) gave a splendid presentation about their experience.

They all testified to returning from WYD as changed people - as could be seen in the confidence with which they spoke about the Faith. They said that it had made them proud to be Catholic, brought them closer to God and more devoted to the Church and the Holy Father. Some had been to confession for the first time in years, others found a new desire to pray and one has begun attending Mass on weekdays, whenever possible. Another pilgrim is now co-ordinating our Confirmation programme.

Being a young person in London, and especially in a place like Hackney (with its poverty and high crime rate), is not easy, but the spirit of WYD seems to have given them hope and a sort of utopian vision of what society can be like - they compared the coldness of London to the warmth of Sydney during the festival, where strangers greeted each other and many friendships made, united in the One Faith.

Even the non-Catholic representatives of a local charity that had donated a substantial amount of money to pay for the flights thought the whole thing a worthwhile 'investment.' It certainly is, but the challenge now is to ensure that this enthusiasm is channelled in the right direction and built upon, especially since some of the young people are now starting University.

The Church Universal

You don't need to go the Vatican to get a flavour of the Universal Church. Take my parish here in Hackney. This afternoon I baptized two children from Angola and said prayers with a refugee from Rwanda. We've also had a number of house guests this last week - including a Czech seminarian from the Archdiocese of Olomouc and a priest of the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia (which I visited in January).

And five minutes ago, as I was finishing my Sunday homily, the Archbishop of Ibaden (currently President of the Nigerian Bishops' Conference) walked into my room! He's been in London celebrating his 70th birthday with his family and was popping in to see my next-door neighbour, the National Nigerian Chaplain.

Just another typical parochial day!

I'm away for a few days next week, so let me wish you all a pleasant Bank Holiday weekend.

Joys and Sorrows

Often a day in the life of a parish presents you with extreme highs and lows. Today has been one such day. Early this morning I celebrated a Funeral for a 28 week year-old baby who died in her mother's womb after several months of struggle. It was the first time in my five years of Priesthood that I have been asked to do this and the grief of the occasion was very tangible. It was also very moving to remind people that, despite the age of the baby and the tiny size of the coffin, this was a human person, just as precious in the eyes of God as any of us - it was doubly appropriate to do this after the anti-life legislation passed this week by Parliament. Please say a prayer for little Cristiana and her parents.

Then, on returning from Enfield Cemetery, it was time to mark the traditional Feast of Corpus Christi at our Primary School with a procession and benediction. We started in the playground, where an altar had been set up, and processed to the school hall, singing hymns. We were led there by our First Communion candidates, who wore their suits and dress - some of them scattered petals.

In the hall, we listened to a powerful sermon from Fr Albert, the Nigerian chaplain - seen here carrying the frame for the canopy to the school:

Then it was time for Benediction. This didn't quite go to plan because when I turned round to beckon the pupil who was holding the boat, I discovered that he had just vomitted all over it - so no incensation was possible during the Tantum ergo! Still, as one of the other priests pointed out, it made the occasion even more 'incarnational'!!!

Maundy Thursday

I've just celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper. There were about 500 present and much excitement was caused amongst the servers when they thought they spotted a member of the Kaiser Chiefs in the congregation (they are an indie rock band and I see from wikipedia that three of them attended a Catholic school in Leeds, so I suppose the sighting is credible).

Although there have been many preparations to make these last few days, it hasn't really 'felt' like Holy Week, perhaps because of the early date of Easter and the unusually cold weather (we're half-expecting a white Easter, even down in the south-east). However, now that the first of the ceremonies is over, there is a sense of the grreat drama of our salvation unfolding. The thing I love about these days as a priest is that all the bureaucracy, meetings and 'other responsibilities' (like, for me, the archive) take a secondary place and we can concentrate on what is truly important, the unum necessarium. This is helped by the ceremonies, with their changing themes and moods - I especially love the sudden change tonight from the splendour of the Mass and procession to the Altar of Repose to the starkness and severity of the stripping of the altars, as we prepare for Good Friday.

Talking of drama, I was very sorry to hear of the death of my namesake, Paul Scofield (though he spelt his surname without an 'h'), the great actor who so memorably played St Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons (1966). May he rest in peace and may St Thomas intercede for him.

Goodbye to the World

I've just had an extraordinary evening. A member of the parish's young adults group is entering an enclosed Benedictine monastery on Friday. So, tonight a group of us went to a local Indian to bid her farewell. I'm not sure how to refer to such a gathering - not quite a Hen Night but certainly a closing of a chapter in her life! Yet, although the parting of friends is not easy, I think her heart is already in the convent and she is visibly excited about becoming a postulant.

She is the second religious vocation from the parish this year - another girl has just joined the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate. Please remember them in your prayers, together with all young people discerning their vocation.

Happy New Year!

I'm now back in the parish, having spent a few days at home doing absolutely nothing. In the absence of the parish priest, it was my task to celebrate last night's Midnight Mass (for the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God). When I first came across these New Year Midnight Masses, I was rather dubious since they seemed to have no precedent in tradition and I wasn't sure whether they were officially approved. However, more and more parishes organise them and they are particularly popular with the African and West Indian communities.

Following on from last night, I think that organising some sort of religious service for New Year's Eve is an excellent idea since it effectively Christianizes a very secular celebration and provides a viable alternative to getting drunk or watching ridiculous TV shows like 'The Most Annoying People of 2007.' What better way is there to start the new calendar year than by adoring the Blessed Sacrament or attending Mass?

About 500 people came last night (which far exceeded my expectations). We started with half an hour's adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. At the moment of Midnight (more or less) Benediction was given, surrounded by bells (inside the church) and fireworks (outside). I then exchanged my cope for a gold chasuble and Mass began. We sang the Veni Creator, which is customary for the New Year and is also indulgenced. Another time it would be good to sing the Te Deum in the last moments of the old year, which is an indulgenced devotion for 31 December.

The Catholic papers recently had a report about the many (mostly urban) parishes that move the Christmas Midnight Mass to an earlier time due to security concerns (both for church and pasrishioners). I sympathise with them. However, living in a parish that straddles, according to a 2007 survey, two of the most 'undesirable' London Boroughs (Islington and Hackney), I'm delighted to report that there was absolutely no trouble at either of the Midnight Masses we've had this last week. And fears of security did not put off the 500 faithful who chose to attend each of them.

Christmas Cat

Meet Bobby, the organist's Burmese cat who is 'living' in my study over the next 24 hours. She is very friendly and is proving quite a distraction as I finish my Christmas sermons. The presbytery dogs are extremely excited at her presence and Oscar has already been in to play that favourite Christmas parlour game - 'Find Kittie.'

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Parish Cinema

Just back from our Young Adults group. Normally we have prayer and discussion (I'm thinking about taking up the Holy Father's suggestion and focussing on Spe Salvi in the new year). Tonight, though, 12 of us (including a Hindu!) watched a DVD - The Nun's Story. This is one of my favourite films, mixing plenty of exterior action with Sister Luke (Audrey Hepburn)'s interior struggle against her pride. Although she does not persevere in the end, both she and the nuns come across very well. One of the leitmotifs of the film is particularly striking: 'You can cheat your sisters but you cannot cheat yourself or God.'

Adoremus

Now, not every reader will like some details of this picture - namely the guitar and keyboard to the right of the photo and the use of a parish hall for Exposition (the church was in use). But what is happening here was pretty amazing - 30 or so inner city teenagers kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament. Five Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, based in nearby Canning Town, came to my parish today to lead a day of recollection for our confirmandi. They have a great way of preaching the fullness of the Faith in a way that young people find dynamic and appealing. The authenticity of their lives add weight to their message, as do the habits and long beards! The programme was simple but effective - a couple of talks, group discussion and a Holy Hour, during which almost all of the candidates made their Confession. This was concluded by Benediction in Latin. It was the first meeting of our Confirmation programme and we will be continuing in January.

An Early Christmas Present

One of my parishioners - and a leading light in our Young Adults Group - is the great-nephew of Mgr Ronald Knox. We sometimes speak about his famous relation and I recently lent him Fr Milton Walsh's Ronald Knox As Apologist: Wit, Laughter and the Popish Creed.

Anyway this evening he gave me a handmade Christmas card and inside, as an early Christmas present, was a letter from his great-uncle which he had recently found in an old book. It is dated 30 April 1924 from Courtfield, Herefordshire (where Cardinal Vaughan grew up). The contents aren't particularly amazing but they show the author's great gifts as a man of letters.

Mgr Knox refers to a tour in the country he recently completed with 'the bard' and says: 'I will only emphasize the undesirability of going at any time or for any purpose to the Lamb inn at Wallingford, which is a whited sepulchre and a wolf-cub in Lamb's clothing.' One wonders what was so objectionable about this establishment and trusts that it has improved in more recent years (though the fact it was once visited by William of Orange doesn't bode well).

Knox seems to have done something of a pub crawl, in the Chesterbelloc tradition, for he also refers to a don he met at the Bear Inn at Wantage who is 'now at Oxford, extending the Universities, and boring the countryside.'

A few weeks ago I passed through Mells, the little Somerset village where Mgr Knox is buried. It is a quintessentially English village - a medieval church, with a little row of almshouses leading to the front gate:

Next to the church is a sixteenth century manor house, the home of the Asquiths, where Mgr Knox spent his latter years. The manor was purportedly procured by Jack Horner upon discovering the deed in a pie given to him to carry to London by Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury. Here is the gate, designed by Lutyens:

The churchyard unusually contains the graves of some distinguished Catholics. Here is Mgr Knox's:

The tombstone also has an inscription on the back - ''You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God':

Nearby are the tombs of the war poet and convert, Siegfried Sassoon, who asked to be buried near Knox, and Christopher Hollis, Catholic politician and writer (and father of the present bishop of Portsmouth!).

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Youth Group

Phew! - the end of another Sunday. Apart from the clocks changing this morning and a man fainting at the beginning of my sermon at one Mass, it was a fairly ordinary Sunday. I've just returned from the young adults group (18-35) which I run every fortnight. We normally start with sung Compline in the semi-darkened church. Then we adjourn for either shared lectio divina, based on the Sunday readings (which the young people organise themselves), or a discussion based on a presentation from one of the members. Then we have refreshments!

At present we're tackling the theme of 'Sanctity and Sexuality'. Last time we looked at chastity; this week we tackled the issue of homosexuality; and next month we're continuing with a session on contraception. The great thing is that these were the topics suggested by the young people, and the discussions have been very fruitful. Tonight there were about 12 people, including two Czechs, an Italian and a couple of Nigerians. Every meeting seems to bring new faces.

I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to these 'youth' groups (a term which I don't particularly like) so I'd be interested to hear what activities you may provide for this age range in your parish.

The Church as the Defender of Women

Josephine Robinson, Chairman of the Association of Catholic Women, will be speaking on this subject on Friday 12 October at 7pm in our parish hall (Our Lady & St Joseph's, 100a Balls Pond Rd). This is part of the on-going 'William Lockhart Circle,' a speaker meeting group founded in honour of our founding parish priest. All are welcome!

Cardinal in the House

Parish life is full of the unexpected - and especially when the parish priest is away, as he is at present (leading a pilgrimage in Spain).

Last night, for example, I was called to give the sacraments to a dying parishioner - always a great privilege but not a very common event here since the local hospital has a full-time priest chaplain.

Then this evening, on returning to my room after Mass, who should I find wandering around the presbytery but a member of the Sacred College! No, not the Archbishop of Westminster but his opposite number in Lagos, Nigeria: H.E. Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie. He is visiting the Nigerian Chaplain, who is my next-door neighbour, and it now appears that he will celebrate Mass here on Sunday. I was actually thinking about getting a supply priest to help me with the parish's six Masses, but I wasn't expecting a Prince of the Church to help out!

Last Friday's Procession

As promised, here are some photos of last Friday's Corpus Christi procession at our primary school, courtesy of one of the teachers. In case any liturgical purists are tempted to leave copious comments about the number of candles or use of albs or the lack of kneeling in one picture or whatever, let me just say that we did our best with rather last minute preparation and in the absence of a proper MC. The children and parents seemed to have genuinely benefitted from it - especially the First Communion children, who you can see in their suits and dresses. The Headmaster has now requested that we have a regular Benediction at the school and the music master has just been asked to teach the children O salutaris, Tantum ergo and some Eucharistic hymns.

Procession

Just back from our Eucharistic Procession at the primary school, in honour of the Sacred Heart and the Octave (!) of Corpus Christi. Despite the lack of an MC and a few last-minute panics, it went really well and the children were impeccably behaved - especially last Sunday's First Communion children, who were dressed up in their finery and preceded the Blessed Sacrament (while the rest of the school followed behind). The Headmaster was, luckily, happy to avoid the usual temptation of minimalising the liturgy for the perceived sake of the children. So, alongside the childrens hymns, we had old favourites like Sweet Sacrament Divine, and we kept to the traditional Rite of Benediction (in Latin). It is good for the children to be exposed to such things.

Of course, the Lord always comes to our aid in these special occasions, especially in providing a burst of sunshine as we processed outside and had open-air benediction. There was also a good flow to proceedings and the 50 minute ceremonial only felt as if it lasted 10 minutes - even from my sweaty perspective (and it DID get rather warm)!

Pictures to follow when I get them.

A Picture of Parish Life

I don't often write about parochial life and so, at the risk of boring you, allow me to write a little about the last 24 hours or so.

It's been a non-stop weekend, culminating with our First Holy Communion Mass this afternoon. This is, of course, one of the highlights of the parish year and the goal of much preparation and hard work. However, it was hard to fully enter into the joy of the occasion - especially because of the sweltering temperatures, which must have made priests up and down the country look rather miserable under their multi-layers of vestments!

Added to that was the usual problem of crowd control. The 55 children behaved very well and you could see the delight and excitement on their faces. The same did not apply to many of the guests, who seemed to be either lapsed or non-Catholic. Despite an announcement about Church etiquette before the Mass and regular reminders, there was a lot of noise and chatter. However, this is part of the 'First Holy Communion experience' and, with about 600 people packed into a hot and sticky church, largely beyond anybody's control.

A quieter moment was provided half an hour before the Mass. We realised at the last minute - due to some lack of communication - that two of the candidates had not yet been baptised! So it fell to me to correct that deficiency, trying terribly hard (but not very successfully) to avoid messing up their hair as I washed them in the waters of baptism.

Yesterday I had a rather edifying experience, showing the fruits of wearing a collar and being recognisable as a priest. As I walked past the bus stop near our church, a young lady asked if I was a Catholic priest and whether the church was Catholic. We started chatting and she asked if she could make her confession, since she hadn't been since the time of her First Communion, nearly two decades ago. So we went into the church and, on the way out, she asked about Mass times and whether she could join the choir. Such are the random meetings that fill a priest's life!
I had a rather late night since I was invited to the presbytery at Hackney (St John the Baptist) to celebrate the 5th birthday of the two resident dogs, Bosco and Tomas (boxers), who spent the evening slobbering over me. So I think I'll have a quiet and early evening to prepare for the coming week. Noctem quietam et finem perfectum concedat nobis Dominus omnipotens.

A Victorian Curate

This is one of my predeccessors, Fr William Lewthwaite - a Cambridge graduate and former Anglican clergyman - who was curate at my parish between 1856 and 1874. I love his top hat and gloves!

Where I'll Be Spending the Bank Holiday

Our parish was founded by the Rosminians in 1854. I'm currently working on two projects: a history of our parish school (est. 1855 and still going strong) and a life of our first parish priest, Fr William Lockhart (the first of Newman's disciples to be received into the Church). Unfortunately (!), the Rosminian archives are centralised at their house in Stresa, on the southern shore of Lago Maggiore and not far from the Swiss border. So I pulled the short straw and the school is funding my short trip to the Italian Lakes to look at the Kingsland file! Before coming to this parish, I didn't know much about Rosmini (a sometimes controversial figure, whose works were formerly placed on the Index) and his Institute of Charity, so it will be a fascinating few days.