Pope on advent

Advent is under way, but while I ponder what I have to say on it I leave you with the Pope and his wise words...

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Pope declares 2012 a Year of Faith

Pope Benedict has declared 2012 a Year of Faith, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the start of Vatican II.

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Posted in: 2012,blog,catholic church,pope benedict,prayer,year of faith

Papal Visit: pondering on the past helps us going forward

I've been sitting on writing this post for awhile - well since the Mass of thanksgiving for the Papal Visit - not for any particularly profound reason, just because I'm not sure how I feel now a year has passed since the Pope's state visit to the UK. 

Pope Benedict XVI

Last  Sunday I gathered with other Catholics to remember the Pope's visit to the UK. Strangely it doesn't seem that long ago that the Pope was stepping off that plane, visiting Westminster Cathedral and speaking to thousands of people who were calling out his name in Cofton Park, but in other ways it seems like the person experiencing the mayhem of those few days wasn't me at all.

Certainly the Mass brought home how far I've journeyed since those four days. I'm no longer an intern with the Diocese of Westminster, I'm now back to pouring over books pretending to study and nursing a case of repetitive strain injury from all the writing I've been doing - so it's easier to see why those intense couple of days seem far removed from my life now.

Thankfully Masses like the thanksgiving Mass at the Cathedral remind us - especially me - that the Pope did visit us. Archbishop Nichols reminded us of the Pope's message, his words of wisdom. His gentle manner, his powerful words that struck such a chord with everyone who heard them. 

Perhaps the anniversary could not come at a better time, with the likes of Dawkins rallying cries peppered throughout the 'papers as he dons the cape for another crusade against faith in schools and well faith in general. 

It is always good to hark back and read the Pope's words again, mull over them and ponder on them again. After all reflecting on what has been prepares us what is to come.

Note: you can find out what everyone has been up to after the papal visit on the CBCEW website. They've reported some events that ran to celebrate a year on from the Papal visit, Archbishop Nichols' homily and message for Home Mission Sunday, and people share stories and memories a year on. Visit http://www.thepapalvisit.co.uk/

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Posted in: cathedral,catholic,catholic church,cofton park,diocese of westminster,papal visit,pope,pope benedict,westminster,westminster cathedral

Papal visit: A year on

On Sunday I traveled into London for the Mass of Thanksgiving for the Papal Visit – an anniversary celebration to mark a year since the Holy Father’s state visit to Britain.

The Mass was a wonderful celebration of the busy year the Catholic Church has had following the visit of the Holy Father. It’s amazing that a year has passed since I was stood in Westminster Cathedral celebrating Mass with thousands of other pilgrims and Catholics along with the Pope. It was a great opportunity – and reminder of what we can achieve – to get together again and simply ‘be Catholic’. Hopefully everyone went away feeling that the Papal Visit is not just something we will mark each year as something that has passed, but something that we can act on, build on and live out. WYD made this possible, now we have to look for new ways to spread this spirit of faith.

The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, who presided and preached at the Mass,provided suggestions in his Homily on how to act on our faith and ensure the message from the papal visit continues into the next year.

His homily drew on young people’s reflections on the papal visit and how we should life our lives following those four days last year.

In his Homily he said that the anniversary was “a moment of hope and confidence in the gifts that our Catholic faith offers to our world.”

Deepening a life of prayer

The Archbishop focused on the importance of prayer in our lives. He said that the message brought by Pope Benedict included an encouragement for Catholics to give  witness to the beauty of holiness, to the splendour of the truth and to the joy and freedom born of a relationship with Jesus Christ. This witness, he said, would best grow through a deepening of a life of prayer.

“Only prayer roots us in Christ. Only prayer sustains the poise and purpose in life that becomes a witness to the reality of God’s presence. Only prayer produces the reverence we are to show to all things holy. Only prayer sustains the space and silence our spirits need if we are indeed to be guided and formed by God’s Holy Spirit. As Cardinal Newman said: without prayer we cannot “radiate Christ; we become just another ‘clashing symbol’ in a world filled with growing noise and confusion.”

“In the words of Pope Benedict, prayer is simply being in silent inward communion with God at the heart of our thinking, our meditating, and our being. Prayer is letting the Lord have the right of free speech.”

Moral Values

Archbishop Nichols also recalled Pope Benedict’s call during his State Visit for clearer moral values, needed for a peaceful and harmonious society.

He particularly drew attention to the recent riots. He said: “Scandals in the world of the media and the violence and looting on the streets of some English cities in mid-August revealed how profoundly true his observations were. He said, “If the moral principles underpinning the democratic process are themselves determined by nothing more solid than social consensus, then the fragility of the process becomes all too evident.”

He reminded us of the Holy Father’s ability to challenge us with questions by asking:  “Where is the ethical foundation for (political) choices to be found?”

He told us that “Catholic tradition maintains that the objective norms governing right action are accessible to reason, prescinding from the content of revelation.”

He added: “Our Catholic faith, illuminating reason, gives us that gift. We see life whole when we recognise the true nature of the unborn child. We see life whole when we see in every pupil not only a future contributor to our economic prosperity, not only a future parent and leader, but also a spiritual being whose deepest needs and surest happiness can be answered only in the mystery of God and in a personal relationship with Him. We see life whole when we recognise the limited value of our personal experience as the criterion of moral truth. We see life whole when we recognise that the well-being of every human person has to be at the centre of our economic life, the ultimate purpose of our striving and the measure by which we are to judge success. We see life whole when, in sickness and terminal illness, we both treasure life as it is and do not fear death when it comes, so that we neither deny the dignity of life at its endings, nor fail to welcome our journey to God when He calls.”

The full Homily and audio are on the www.rcdow.org.uk website.

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Posted in: archbishop vincent nichols,catholic,catholic church,diocese of westminster,papal visit,pope,pope benedict,westminster cathedral

Papal Visit 2010: I saw red shoes stepping out of the car

On the anniversary of the Papal Visit I've dug our my reflections from the time - this appeared in the Catholic Herald at the time.


As I stood waiting for the Holy Father I remembered my friend’s advice, “Don’t cry,” he said. “You know what you’re like.”

I was preparing to greet the Pope, scrambling among the others for a place. There was nervous laughter and excited chatter, then deafening silence.

“I can see his foot,” someone whispered. Peering over heads to see, I spotted the famous red shoes stepping from the car. My heart stopped, and I felt an overwhelming sense of excitement. Time seemed to slow down as I waited for the Pope to come into view.

Then I spotted him, a few feet away, nodding and smiling at us all. In that moment, despite my friend’s warning, tears blurred my vision – the momentous nature of the occasion, the whole papal visit, came to me in that second. The Pope had come to reaffirm our faith; my faith. I was struck that I could reach out and touch the successor of Peter, this humble and gentle man who exuded so much warmth. My heart was bursting, overcome with love for this frail figure.

Photos were taken in a flurry of clicking, and as quickly as they’d marked his entrance, I glimpsed the red shoes walking away marking his exit.

It was only the next day at Cofton that I finally understood my emotional epiphany. As we sang as one, I felt connected. Part of something beyond comprehension, the Pope had given me ­– no, us – hope. I’d never been so proud to be a Catholic.

This appeared in Catholic Herald 

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WYD 2011: What the Pope intended to say at the WYD Vigil

Due to the storm, or hurricane, depending on who you ask, the Pope was unable to deliver his address at Cuatro Vientos airfield. Here's what he intended to say:

Dear Young Friends, I greet all of you, especially the young people who have asked me their questions, and I thank them for the sincerity with which they set forth their concerns, that express the longing which all of you have to achieve something great in life, something which can bring you fulfilment and happiness.

How can a young person be true to the faith and yet continue to aspire to high ideals in today’s society? In the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus gives us an answer to this urgent question: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love” (Jn 15:9).

Yes, dear friends, God loves us. This is the great truth of our life; it is what makes everything else meaningful. We are not the product of blind chance or absurdity; instead our life originates as part of a loving plan of God. To abide in his love, then, means living a life rooted in faith, since faith is more than the mere acceptance of certain abstract truths: it is an intimate relationship with Christ, who enables us to open our hearts to this mystery of love and to live as men and women conscious of being loved by God.

If you abide in the love of Christ, rooted in the faith, you will encounter, even amid setbacks and suffering, the source of true happiness and joy. Faith does not run counter to your highest ideals; on the contrary, it elevates and perfects those ideals. Dear young people, do not be satisfied with anything less than Truth and Love, do not be content with anything less than Christ.

Nowadays, although the dominant culture of relativism all around us has given up on the search for truth, even if it is the highest aspiration of the human spirit, we need to speak with courage and humility of the universal significance of Christ as the Saviour of humanity and the source of hope for our lives. He who took upon himself our afflictions, is well acquainted with the mystery of human suffering and manifests his loving presence in those who suffer. They in their turn, united to the passion of Christ, share closely in his work of redemption. Furthermore, our disinterested attention towards the sick and the forgotten will always be a humble and warm testimony of God’s compassionate regard.

Dear friends, may no adversity paralyze you. Be afraid neither of the world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord has allowed you to live in this moment of history so that, by your faith, his name will continue to resound throughout the world.

During this prayer vigil, I urge you to ask God to help you find your vocation in society and in the Church, and to persevere in that vocation with joy and fidelity. It is a good thing to open our hearts to Christ’s call and to follow with courage and generosity the path he maps out for us.

The Lord calls many people to marriage, in which a man and a woman, in becoming one flesh (cf. Gen 2:24), find fulfilment in a profound life of communion. It is a prospect that is both bright and demanding. It is a project for true love which is daily renewed and deepened by sharing joys and sorrows, one marked by complete self-giving. For this reason, to acknowledge the beauty and goodness of marriage is to realize that only a setting of fidelity and indissolubility, along with openness to God’s gift of life, is adequate to the grandeur and dignity of marital love.

Christ calls others to follow him more closely in the priesthood or in consecrated life. It is hard to put into words the happiness you feel when you know that Jesus seeks you, trusts in you, and with his unmistakable voice also says to you: “Follow me!” (cf. Mk 2:14).

Dear young people, if you wish to discover and to live faithfully the form of life to which the Lord is calling each of you, you must remain in his love as his friends. And how do we preserve friendship except through frequent contact, conversation, being together in good times and bad? St Teresa of Jesus used to say that prayer is just such “friendly contact, often spending time alone with the one who we know loves us” (cf. Autobiography, 8). And so I now ask you to “abide” in the adoration of Christ, truly present in the Eucharist. I ask you to enter into conversation with him, to bring before him your questions and to listen to his voice. Dear friends, I pray for you with all my heart. And I ask you to pray for me. Tonight let us ask the Lord to grant that, attracted by the beauty of his love, we may always live faithfully as his disciples. Amen.

In French: Dear young French-speakers, be proud of the gift of faith which you have received, as it will illumine your life at every moment. Draw strength from the faith of your neighbours, from the faith of the Church! Through faith we are grounded in Christ. Gather with others to deepen it, be faithful to the celebration of the Eucharist, the mystery of faith par excellence. Christ alone can respond to your aspirations. Let yourselves be seized by God, so that your presence in the Church will give her new life!

In English: Dear young people, in these moments of silence before the Blessed Sacrament, let us raise our minds and hearts to Jesus Christ, the Lord of our lives and of the future. May he pour out his Spirit upon us and upon the whole Church, that we may be a beacon of freedom, reconciliation and peace for the whole world.

In German: Dear young Christians from the German-speaking countries! Deep in our hearts we yearn for what is grand and beautiful in life. Do not let your desires and aspirations dissipate, but ground them in Jesus Christ. He himself is the sure foundation, the point of reference, for building up your life.

In Italian: I now turn to the Italian-speaking young people. Dear friends, this vigil will remain as an unforgettable experience in your lives. Guard the flame which God has lit in your hearts tonight. Never let it go out, renew it each day, share it with your contemporaries who live in darkness and who are seeking a light for their way. Thank you! Until tomorrow morning!

In Portuguese: My dear friends, I invite each of you to enter into a personal dialogue with Christ, sharing with him your hesitations and above all listening to his voice. The Lord is here and he is calling you! Young friends, it is good to hear within us the word of Jesus and to follow in his footsteps. Ask the Lord to help you to discover your vocation in life and in the Church, and to persevere in it with joy and fidelity, knowing that he never abandons you or betrays you! He remains with us until the end of the world.

In Polish: Dear young friends from Poland! This prayer vigil is filled with the presence of Christ. Grounded in his love, draw near to him with the flame of your faith. He will fill your hearts with his life. Build your lives on Christ and on his Gospel. I willingly bless all of you.

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Posted in: address,benedict xvi,pope,pope benedict,vigil,world youth day,wyd

WYD 2011: The end is nigh

All of lifes responses surrounded the Westminster gorup, from apathy to revernece, to deep emotional reactions to the disinterested. All of life was present, nearby a girl so overcome by Christ's love for us, the suffering he went through broke down into tears.

As the hammer sounded echoing the nailing of Jesus to the Cross people hung their heads listening to the resounding sound pounding, the definite resolute knocking captured the spirit of the moment.

The pain Jesus went through, the suffering he must have endured. The realisation that Jesus is not just simply a man that was crucified in a romantic fashion, he isn't the picture perfect Jesus often shown on a cross. He was in pain, he bled, he sweated. The pain was so bad he cried out to God to come to his aid.

Pilgrims around me were touched. The reality of the banging hammer struck home. Jesus' death was reality in that moment, the reality of his love. The enormity of it all, I was back in that place over 2000 years ago, at the bottom of the cross looking at Jesus feeling his pain, and overcome with his love for us. 

Jessica from the USA said: "You can read and meditate of the Way of the Cross alone and you get a small, minute idea of the suffering Jesus endured. When that hammer sounded, just the banging. The loud echo. It was silent and still and I forgot there was anyone else there. I felt it, inside I was deeply moved. How could you not cry? That amount of love is overwhelming."

Our Magnificat books included the lyrics to This is the Way of the Cross. The lyrics couldn't have summed it up more for me. This is the Way of the Cross. The Saviour of the World.

Via Crucis. The Way of the Cross. The way it should be. Reverent, thought provoking, moving. 

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Posted in: madrid11,pope,pope benedict,world youth day,wyd

WYD 2011: Pope tells youth to help those in suffering

Last night the mood of WYD shifted. Last night wasn't about joy and celebration, it was about suffering, the pain and hurt in the world. 

14 vivid stations of the cross lined the route between Plaza de Cibeles and Colon, pilgrims arrived hours before hand waiting in the heat of the sun, scorched and tired in dedication to seeing the cross pass by en route. 

Between each Station the bearers of the cross changed over, representing different people from countries where there is particular suffering in the community. 

Groups carrying included Iraqis, immigrants, unemployed, recovering drug addicts and people from Rwanda and Burundi.

Each station involved a stop for a meditation. These included prayers for the defence of human life, for peace in the Holy Land and areas where there is conflict, for the victims of natural disasters, for the unemployed, for those who suffer racial discrimination or religious persecution, for those with alcohol or drug addictions, and for the victims of sexual abuse.

Pope Benedict XVI also focused his address on suffering. At the end of the liturgy he said that everyone knows or has experience suffering. He urged youth to focus on Christ's suffering - out of love for us, and to imitate this by committing themselves to help the suffering of others. 

The Pope said that meditating on Christ’s Passion and death should make Christians ask: “What can we do for him?”

He added: “Christ’s Passion urges us to take upon our own shoulders the sufferings of the world, in the certainty that God is not distant or far removed from man and his troubles." He reminded us that Christ became human himself, enduring suffering and death. 

The Pope prayed that this love would “increase your joy and encourage you to go in search of those less fortunate. You are open to the idea of sharing your lives with others, so be sure not to pass by on the other side” of the road “in the face of human suffering, for it is here that God expects you to give of your very best: your capacity for love and compassion.”

He continued: “The different forms of suffering that have unfolded before our eyes in the course of this Way of the Cross are the Lord’s ways of summoning us to spend our lives, following in his footsteps and becoming signs of his consolation and salvation."

The Pope said that the harsh wood of the Cross is a sign of the self-giving love that will give eternal life to all who ask.

“The Cross was not a sign of failure, but an expression of self-giving love,” the pope said. The cross “teaches us to love what God loves and in the way that he loves. This is the good news that gives hope to the world,” he said. 

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Posted in: benedict xvi,madrid11,pope,pope benedict,world youth day,wyd