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« November 2005 | Main | January 2006 »
Posting has been light of late for good reason. One of my wife's cousins is at the point of deciding whether to keep or abort her baby. Please pray for her and the child. Thank you.
Albertus Minimus
Update 3 January 2006.
The matter is still not definitively decided, although I'm sorry to say that the young lady seems set on having an abortion. We have, I think, exhausted all avenues of persuasion and argument, so prayer is all that now remains.
As I mentioned in a previous post, earlier this year I was asked to take over as chairman of the parish council of my local church (and, yes, I was surprised). Anyway, this does mean I have the opportunity to bring forward ideas, both at parish council meetings and to the parish priest, for changes in the parish. The previous chairmen, together with previous parish priests, have done a great job in improving the fabric of the parish, both the church itself and in the building of a fine new parish hall. Although we are still paying off the debt incurred by this construction, we are ahead of schedule and seem to be in a financially sound position. In any case, these matters are being taken care of by people more competent than I in such fields. So, what was I going to do as chairman?
Well, the obvious answer seemed to be that now we had the facilities, what were we going to do with them? We are a fairly typical, largely but not exclusively middle class, parish, with six well-attended Masses each weekend. There is a backbone of devout parishioners who form the silent heart of all things in the parish, and many of these people also do a great deal of the practical work necessary to run a parish.
But what can we do to reach out to the greater part of parishioners, those whose only involvement is attendance at Mass, whether weekly or less frequently?
To put it simply, what can we do to make the parish a holier, more Christ-centred community? I would welcome any suggestions. After all, it's sometimes been said that members of St Blogs do nothing but complain, but are rarely willing to join in with the nitty gritty of running things. Now I have been given the chance to do something, it would be wonderful to really see some changes (for the better, hopefully!).
We've all heard them: bitter sermons from embittered priests, blaming the Church for the distress in their souls. And we've all sat quietly and listened as the bile has flowed, maybe making some futile remark to father afterwards, maybe praying but mostly keeping quiet. But what happens when a congregation has had enough?
"Jesus never said anything about Limbo. It's not in the Bible. It's in the Catechism..."
"No it isn't!" - Said a voice. Then I realized that voice was me. I would have stopped there but someone else took over! Another parishoner judged it was open season on Fr Pat and laid in to him explaining how he as ruined her faith and how "we don't come here to listen to your baggage". She demanded a vote to see if anyone else agreed with her but Fr Pat said no to voting.
Click on the link above for a (probably unexpected by the pastor concerned) example of lay involvement in parochial life.
I was about to begin this post by saying, well, Christmas is over now, but of course it isn't. Epiphany is still to come, for which we can be thankful. After all, while Christmas itself may struggle before the waves of consumerism, Epiphany is an unregarded, and thus quieter, feast, which we can enjoy as the secular world recovers from its hangover with a splurge of sale shopping. But as we await the Magi let me tell you a little of Christmas in the Minimus household and parish. Mrs Minimus sings in the parish choir. Before she joined it the average age was probably seventy. On her own she could probably only reduce that number by a decade, but her example has produced three other new singers in their thirties and forties, so hopefully the depredations of age can be fought off by a new generation. With two young children to look after I had to stay home, but the Good Lady Wife tells me that Midnight Mass went very well, with a real quiet intensity to proceedings, and a packed congregation. The choir imported a couple of professional singers for the occasion as well, who obviously had quite an impact since after the Mass the singers were applauded by the congregation - something very rare here in England. And Mrs Minimus, who was once an actress, also did the second reading from St Paul. If I may permit myself a small moment of husbandly pride here, she really does read better than anyone else in our parish and her example has produced a marked improvement in standards in this department - from readers who, if they ever happened to surprise themselves with some unexpected tonal variation would promptly stifle the passage with a stern monotone, to people who apparently now understand that the Bible is a text of somewhat greater interest than somebody else's tax return. Anyway, the Good Wife was also delighted with her own reading at Midnight Mass, particularly since she had struggled through the previous few days to find the sense of it.
As for the rest of the family, we all went together to Mass on Christmas morning, although to a somewhat later service than originally intended. Once various toy trains were confiscated from the Minimus Minors (metal Thomas the Tank Engines produce a curious but penetrating reverberation when run along wooden pews) we managed not to disrupt proceedings for everyone else too much. Is it usual for parents of young children to spend the entire Mass with one eye scanning the doings of small progeny, and making constant judgements as to whether the noise and movement levels are within acceptable boundaries? I suspect it is. In my case, since I normally look after both children while my wife sings in the choir, this involves a fairly major level of distraction. But I assume (or at least hope) that God looks kindly on harassed fathers trying to hold a small child on each arm. Of course, the possibility for embarassment is rather magnified in our case as we usually sit in the first pew, since the choir is positioned just to the left of the front of the church. That way the Minimus Minors can see their mother, and also watch proceedings at the altar, rather than having a view of the backs of people's heads.
And I was particularly chuffed after Mass, when speaking to our parish priest, when he remarked how well some of the ideas I have proposed about improving prayer life in the parish have worked out. (To my astonishment I was asked to take over as chairman of the parish council earlier in the year.)
So all in all Christmas passed well. How was it for you?
That pretty well says it all. Thank you for visiting this blog over the last few months; it's immensely gratifying to find that there are some people out there interested in what I write. My particular gratitude is extended to all those who have commented, whether you have agreed with me or not.
And I'll be back blogging full time - with computer problems hopefully behind me - on the 27 December.
My best wishes to you all,
Albertus Minimus
Major computer problems, dear readers. I'm trying to sort them out, but until they are things are likely to be a little quiet around here. Hopefully it won't take too long and in the meantime, well, there are many excellent blogs linked in the blogroll, so why not take the chance to travel the world. All my best wishes to you for the moment and I hope to be back on line soon.
As an Englishman of the same opinion as Chesterton, Lewis and Tolkien concerning beer - and who can now drink it again - this ranks as one of my all time favourite quotes:
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
Benjamin Franklin.
(And, yes, I have just returned from the pub.)
This is not a question I would ever have to face myself, and I'm glad for that, but what would you do if you found out that you were pregnant and that you had cancer, and treating the cancer would cause the death of your baby? Bernadette Mimura chose to forgo the treatment. She lived long enough to see her son, Nathan, but died a week after his birth. For the full story, go here.
With thanks to Familia Matters.
...to two new German Catholic blogs, as recommended by the estimable Petra of (currently on hiatus) Lumen de Lumine. They are Echo Romeo, which is worth visiting even if your only word in German is Achtung! for the cartoons and art, and Catholicum, which probably does require some knowledge of German to appreciate.
When I was growing up and attending a Catholic boys' school, the favourite slang term for the school toilets was the bog. And of course, bog roll was a favoured item for throwing out of the window in a long unwinding descending path. This is just in explanation for the rather juvenile reason I always smile whenever I update my blogroll (and, lest I offend anyone, has nothing whatsoever to do with the sites linked to from here).
Anyway, digression over, there are some changes and additions to draw your attention to.
First, the Austrian Catholic blogs category has been restored after Typepad rather annoyingly removed it, with Lumen de lumine and Paxvobis as the first two sites. Petra has currently suspended 'Lumen de lumine' while she works on her dissertation, but she will be posting extracts (in English) regularly on her blog, so check back if you're as interested in 'English Catholic Literature in the 2nd Half of the 20th Century' as I am. Even if you don't speak German (and I don't) Paxvobis is worth taking a look at for one of the best laid out blogs I've seen, with some beautiful artwork and photographs.
Next, Familia matters has been added to Filippino Catholic blogs. It's in English, well worth a look for information on Asia's only Catholic country and there's a lovely Flash presentation of three beautiful children having a wonderful time on a boat.
Finally, two new entries for American Catholic blogs. A crowded field, I know, but you might be interested in the Middle-Aged Leech-Gatherer. Sadly, gathering leeches is obviously a time consuming business and he doesn't post that often (or he's busy trying to brush off the blood-suckers!) but what he does write is clever, thoughtful and often funny. As for Theocoid, I can relate to anyone born Catholic who returns to the Faith he never knew via a long and tortuous path (in his case via agnosticism, Buddhism and existentialim). Besides, Theocoid has black belts in karate and kung fu (so we know who'd win any fights among Catholic bloggers).
If you have come across any new blogs recently that you think should be added to the blogroll, particularly from countries other than the USA, please let me know in the comments or via email.
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