He is Risen, Alleluia!

Happy Easter everyone!

After a tiring but always uplifting Holy Week, we finally arrive at Easter, a fantastic celebration of Christ's power over death, and hope for us all.

Our Holy Week followed much the same pattern as it has always done for the past thirty years or so. That's not to say it's been 'boring' though I really don't like using that word in any context, and especially not in terms of Church or liturgy.

I love the way the week unfolds with a gradual building of expectation until we reach the climax of the Triduum at the Easter Vigil.

On Wednesday I was able to attend the Chrism Mass at Arundel Cathedral with our older son. That really is a marker for me; it really feels as if we are getting close by then . . .  It's very moving to see the long line of priests processing into the Cathedral at the beginning of Mass.  It really makes an impression seeing how many men have answered God's call to the sacred priesthood and is a reminder of how much we, the laity, owe to our priests. 

Maundy Thurday back in the parish, a hectic day in the office making sure all is ready; readers and EMOHC allocated, twelve people allocated for the Washing of the Feet etc.   Finally the beautiful Mass of the Lord's Supper itself.  There was a wonderful atmosphere in church, a deep reverent silence permeated the Mass.  The sight of our parish priest on his knees washing the feet of parishioners never fails to impress.

I love to join others watching at the Altar of Repose after Mass.  It's such a special time and a great privilege to be there with Our Lord.

Good Friday morning saw us once  again joining members of other churches locally to walk through the High Street in the Procession  of Witness.  We (I use the term loosely) carry a large wooden cross and pause at 'Stations' along the High Street for a brief mediation. We sing appropriate hymns between Stations.  It always makes me smile to see the description of the 'Stations' in the booklet.  Alongside the description of religious significance, you see things like ' Third Station, outside Marks and Spencer's'.  Try as I might I have never been able to find a booklet giving a meditation for the time Our Lord stopped outside Marks and Spencer's!

A brief break and then we return to church for the Liturgy of the Passion and Veneration of the Cross.  This is always the best attended of the liturgies of the Triduum and it's a great witness to see the seemingly endless procession of parishioners waiting to venerate the Cross.  The Church is far from dead!

We did manage to light the Paschal candle outside at the Easter Vigil despite the bitterly cold weather and the light dusting of snow on top of the cars.  Numbers seem to be reducing each year for the Vigil which is such a shame as it is such a magnificent liturgy and of course the highlight of our Easter celebrations and the Church's year.  I think many of our older parishioners don't like coming out in the evening and perhaps many of our younger ones have other things to do.

After Mass we joined others in the parish hall for the now-traditional glass of wine and simnel cake.  

Finally, I went back to the main morning Mass this morning with our son who was serving.  This Mass, as always, was absolutely packed with the gallery full and people standing at the back of the church - fantastic!

There was the usual scramble after Mass as the little ones rushed to claim their creme egg.  I managed to escape the scrum by doing a bit of tidying up in the church.

So, all in all, a wonderful Holy Week and Easter; beautiful liturgies and a truly joyful celebration.

He is truly Risen, Alleluia!

Taking things for granted . . .

It's early Sunday evening and I've just been catching up on what's going on in the blogosphere which is one of my favourite ways of relaxing at the end of the weekend.

I try not to take anything for granted and I do appreciate how fortunate we are to have a comfortable home, loving children, employment etc. etc. but it has never really occurred to me quite how fortunate we are with our parish. There is a theme underlying some blogs of discontentment, of a yearning for certain things that are apparently not readily available to all.

I had not realised that it is fairly unusual to have regular Rosary and Benediction, for example, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament several days a week and frequent Confession. Is it really very unusual, I wonder, or are those blogs that I've been looking at describing some sort of minority ghetto where such devotions are not practised?

I thought everyone was encouraged to go to Confession regularly and have reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. Maybe I've just been taking things for granted after all. At Mass tomorrow, during the silence after Holy Communion (which I gather is not kept universally) I will try and remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive as members of our parish where everything possible is done to encourage us in our spiritual development. Thanks of course to our parish priest.

My Cup Runneth Over . . .

My cup runneth over . . .

A wonderful Solemnity celebrated with a beautiful Mass; amazing weather and a very prayerful Rosary and Benediction in the afternoon.

And . . . we now have worktops on our new kitchen units, and . . . a working oven - still waiting for a sink and a hob but hey, you can't rush perfection!!

Just one little blot on the landscape - we were invaded by ants in the dining room! OK, not exactly a plague but enough for me to declare war on the formicidae. All gone now and hopefully they've got the message after being sprayed with ant powder and shown the insides of our hoover!

I know all you ant-lovers out there are muttering about how marvellous ants are; performing important tasks in the ecosystems where they live; turning and aerating the soil, dispersing seeds, helping pollination etc. etc. . . .

I'm sure you're right and that's fine with me. Well done all you helpful ants but please do all those useful things outside in the garden and don't invade my indoor ecosystem!

This day was made by the Lord; we rejoice and are glad . . .

Our Easter Vigil lived up to expectations! It was a beautiful liturgy made all the more special by the fact that we had baptisms and receptions during the Mass.

Back to Mass this morning which has quite a different 'feel' to it. As people were leaving, a young family passed by and we exchanged Easter greetings; the youngest child proudly showed me an Easter basket left by the Easter Bunny whilst his older sister was displaying her Easter Bunny toy pinned to her cardigan - and why not? I would be very disappointed if the Easter Bunny hadn't left me something edible of the chocolate variety on the breakfast table this morning!

Not much more to add really except to wish everyone a very Happy Easter. I hope you enjoy the beautiful video, chosen for the music as much as for the images.

Aahhh - Beautiful Benediction . . .

I've not long since got back from Rosary and Benediction.

I always enjoy this devotion. N0 matter how busy a Sunday or weekend it's been, it provides a little oasis of calm in the middle of the afternoon and I come away calm and refreshed, ready to tackle the rest of the day.

Today was extra special as our organist was able to play for us and we sang O Salutaris; Tantum Ergo;and Adoremus in Aeternum - you can't beat a little bit of Latin now and again!

Afterwards no-one is ever in a hurry to rush you away and as our organist quietly played Schubert's Ave Maria, the altar servers reverently cleared the altar and many people stayed behind to continue praying. Ah, bliss . . .

A little more serious - honestly! . . .

Oh upside down pudding
your troubles never stop,
‘cos upside down pudding,
your bottom is your top!!

The homily at the 10am Mass today was directed at the children and our parish priest spoke about the human tendency to wish for or even expect to be rewarded for our good behaviour (the Gospel, you remember, was about James and John asking to be seated on Jesus' right and left in heaven)

Fr was explaining to the children how Jesus turned the world upside down with his teaching and that his answer was that none of us should expect to be rewarded in this way but rather we should follow Christ's example and serve others.

I gather that at the earlier Mass, Fr had used the example of the 'upside - down pudding' to explain how when Jesus came he turned the ways of the world upside down - what looks like the top of the pudding, and is very ordinary- looking, is turned upside down to reveal a delicious and attractive topping. In the same way, when we follow Christ's example rather than the 'ways of the world' we see the very best way to live our lives.

It reminded me of the silly rhyme the Pater Familias always quoted when I used to make this pudding years ago (sadly, we're all watching our figures now and such puddings are now rare in our house - strictly high days and holidays only!)

I couldn't remember the rhyme so had to email the PF as he's away on a business trip in foreign climes. He replied straight away but said to make sure I credited the source!

Mmmm . . . . I'm feeling a little peckish now.

Venerating the Relics of Ste Thérèse . .

I joined our parish outing to The Friars at Aylesford today and am very pleased that I did. It was quite a cool day today but having visited Aylesford before I knew what to expect and wrapped up well.

It was worth it. There were plenty of people there including lots of children and young people but we all managed to find a seat easily and had a good view as the relics arrived by car as far as the Gatehouse and were then carried by the 'Knights' to the place of honour in the main shrine.

A slight embarrassment as we were sitting in the front row of the rear seats and were surprised when one of the local media thrust a microphone in our faces and asked why we were here! Nothing like being put on the spot - I mumbled something barely coherent so I'm sure it would have been scrapped straightaway. (Note to self - when sitting in a visible spot and there are media people around, don't make eye contact!)

Off to Wonersh tomorrow for the Teams Conference - it's all go!

Another day off ...

Well I'm pleased to report that the new phone is living up to expectations. Mind you I very nearly messed it up big time! Having set it up and played around with it for a while, I decided to see if I could download Skype to really make it an amazing piece of useful equipment .... NOT a good idea! I managed to download Skype and that was fine but I also succeeded in losing all the BT pre-sets.

After a lot of experimentation (and quite a bit of anxiety) I finally managed to restore the original settings. I've now removed Skype and hopefully learned my lesson - leave well alone!

We had an enjoyable evening last night joining golfers from the parish for the dinner after the Parish Golf Day. I must say, I didn't envy those playing golf in awful conditions yesterday. Never mind, lots of smiles afterwards and hopefully a tidy sum of money raised for our parish school's building fund.

A glorious day today weather-wise and I spent a happy hour or so this afternoon planting about 100 tulip bulbs in the new raised beds - roll on Spring!