From Conservatism to Catholicism

 Holy Saturday, what a day. What a service. My lass came with two of her friends and Nick who was inappropriately loud and set them in to a giggling fit. It was Stickers I felt sorry for, those three, all those candles, paper, long hair. What a pressure cooker.  The Deacon, John Wilford sang a huge great big long and tuneful solo. There was candlelight all around, it was wonderful.  There were five of us, from the class, and we lined up. Noel was my sponsor, he does the bingo calling, told me a) I'd never have to worry about anything ever again and b) it took him 46 years to convert and he'd been attending the Catholic Church all that time!  I was in charge of carrying the wine and Anna put it in my hand and said, 'not too quickly' so I slowly walked down what I can only describe as the aisle - Father Eddy was ahead of me, almost as if on a ship, I could see everyone behind him, it was wonderful and all in candlelight, it really was a special moment that.  Here'...

This has been briefly and very well touched on in the RCIA group i.e. 'Church school'. I have a way of explaining it, almost like we become a version of the Holy Spirit, apparently we will have a glorious body but of course, there will be no time. This is the thing that can be difficult to grasp. There is no time.  Was there ever? I know in the Bible, when it talked of hurling Satan out of Heaven and all his angels down with him, they do bad things knowing they don't have much time.  Not been writing much, lots of work, not all of it good, still constantly reevaluating my life, not getting to daily mass. Will have more time now.  Its a curious thing that the harder life gets, the closer one is to God. Even those that profess to be of no faith have no problem calling to the heavens in a time of need. I think that's a good thing.  I'm thinking a lot about ministry work. I don't think I can because I'm a girl. Also, the best way to bring people near to God is j...

When you are fitting a lot in, especially going away at the weekends, you don’t need to miss Mass. After all, it is only an hour. Let’s face it, the service is the same wherever you go. So the difference is purely circumstantial, and architectural.  Two huge differences adnuttedly, which change the entire feel of it. And yet, cement the important parts. I think spreading geographically and gaining experience at other churches deepens the faith rather than broadens it. Which is surely the aim, We need always to go deeper before we can go further.  The difference between the Church of England and Catholicism is profound. One simply can’t imagine going  This week its the first week of Advent. I’ve always detested Christmas but this year is going to be so different. Perhaps it’s a deep rooted jealousy of families all getting together - I don’t really think it’s that. More likely, I just got sick of people complaining about their families when I would have loved a brother or s...

 The RCIA  So I've started and will let you know how it finishes... 

 Thankfully I still have my online prayer retreat with St Beunos. Veronica has been wonderful and really helped me to focus on what matters.  This Jesuit way of going on is really very good you know. If only for the fact it is a real break. You have to believe, of course you do. But that's all.  I'm pleased that I have this Jesuit business on top, or rather, underneath Catholicism. I'm trying to explain it and struggling. I suppose its like being a mechanic and focusing on magnetos. Even better, more like being an artist but wedded to pastels. That's a better illustration if you'll pardon the expression. Perhaps its that Denis McBride book but there is a lot of art in the Catholic Church from what I can see and I like it. Never very artistic at school and always sceptical of 'artists' or the media type who I always felt should go out and get a proper job.  Compared the Jehovah's Witnesses, this is a very different way of looking at the Bible, they tend t...

  Good morning, I have just been to Buckingham Palace and accepted His Majesty The King’s invitation to form a government in his name. It is only right to explain why I am standing here as your new Prime Minister. Right now our country is facing a profound economic crisis.  The aftermath of Covid still lingers.  Putin’s war in Ukraine has destabilised energy markets and supply chains the world over. I want to pay tribute to my predecessor Liz Truss, she was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country, it is a noble aim.  And I admired her restlessness to create change. But some mistakes were made.  Not borne of ill will or bad intentions. Quite the opposite, in fact. But mistakes nonetheless.  And I have been elected as leader of my party, and your Prime Minister, in part, to fix them. And that work begins immediately. I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda.  This will mean difficult decisions to...

 Talks with Boris and Rishi have come to nothing apparently. I think as a party we should be hanging our heads in shame and its nice to see we are. Members are now allowed to vote online due to the timeframe. Which isn't overly fair on elderly voters in my opinion.  But when did the party last care about us or indeed the country? What annoys me is that none of the old boys came forward, no one stepped up. They are just standing by watching this happen. In a way, the selection process maybe to blame due to the lack of loyalty for they choose candidates with no experience in associations and lets face it, parliament is a scaled up parish council.  I think we can all see which way this is going...