Fisticuffs at Forum Christi!

On Sunday 18th May, Fr Behruz Rafat spoke to Forum Christi on "The Joyful Mysteries and the Gospel of Life". He gave a brief summary of John Paul II's teaching in the encyclical Evangelium Vitae, and then gave a meditation whilst we prayed the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. He suggested that as a follow-up to his talk, we read the whole encyclical for ourselves (download from www.vatican.va)After the talk we went for supper in the Nightingale. The evening ended with Fr Marcus beating Gavin in boxing on the new Wii games console.

Day with Mary 2008

40 Years after Humanae Vitae

On Sunday 11th May, Fr Marcus spoke to Forum Christi on "The Church, Contraception and the Culture War". He explained a number of arguments that we can use to explain the Church's teaching, and gave examples of statistics that can be used to destroy the argument that the Catholic Church's ban on condoms has been responsible for the spread of AIDS in the developing world.

Royal Albert Hall - Keeping the Faith

On Friday 9th May, the Keep the Faith groups met at the Royal Albert Hall. After games of football and rounders and a picnic in Hyde Park, they attended the Film Harmonic concert. Music from a number of film scores and television series were played, including Jurassic Park, Gladiator (Fr Marcus' favourite) and Chariots of Fire.

Pilgrimage at Forum Christi

On Sunday 27th April, Gareth Thomas spoke to Forum Christi on "The Road to Compostela". The talk began with some images of the pilgrimage, which was followed by discussion of the historical background, and reasons for present-day pilgrims completing the journey.Gareth will be making his own pilgrimage over the next couple of months, walking all the way from Balham to Santiago de Campostela. To keep track of his progress you can log onto his blog http://whizz-kidz-pilgrim.blogspot.com which is already showing details of his preparations, and which he will keep up as much as possible on the journey.

On Saturday 26th April, the Confirmation group made a retreat to the Carmelite Priory at Aylesford in Kent. The visit began with a tour of the site, including prayers at the relics of Saint Simon Stock. Fr Marcus celebrated Mass in one of the chapels, and then after a short break to visit the shop and tea rooms the group prayed the rosary in the Rosary Walk. After lunch, Sr Hyacinthe gave a meditation and there was the opportunity for confession. Shortly before leaving Aylesford each member of the group was presented with a brown scapular, and was encouraged to wear it. The group then travelled to Purley for ten-pin bowling. Competition was fierce - and that was just the adults! After a sausage and chips supper, it was time to return to Balham. Thankyou to Fr Marcus for arranging the trip, and to Sr Chiara, Sr Hyacinthe, Sarah and Clare for accompanying us.

Free 2 Become

On Sunday 20th April, Sr Camilla Oberding spoke to Forum Christi about discernment. She described discernment as "A process whereby a person grows in the self-awareness and freedom necessary in order to make choices according to God's spirit." She talked about some of her own experiences, and about the work her community does in helping young people discover their call in life.
For more information, see www.free2become.org

Christians in the Holy Land

On Sunday 16th March, John Pontifex, Head of Press and Information for Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), spoke to Forum Christi about The Christians of the Holy Land – Past, Present and Future. John gave us first-hand accounts of the situation that is faced by Christians living in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas. Christians are facing persecution from the growing Islamist and Jewish communities, and significant numbers of Christians are leaving the area. Bethlehem is also suffering because many Christians there rely on tourists visiting and buying their products, and due to violence in the area there has been a huge decrease in tourism. One of the ways in which ACN is helping is by buying olive wood products from workers in the area, and selling them around the world. John concluded his talk by discussing the current situation in Iraq, particularly in light of the recent kidnapping and death of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho.For more information on the work of Aid to the Church in Need, or to make a donation to their work, see http://www.acn.org.uk/

The English Cardinals

On Sunday 9th March, Fr Nicholas Schofield talked to Forum Christi on The English Cardinals (which is also the title of a book he has recently co-written with Fr Gerard Skinner). The talk was a look at some of the 50 English cardinals that there have been over the years, and included some well- known names, for example Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Newman, as well as lesser known figures. Fr Nicholas began by explaining that there are three types of Cardinal - Cardinal Bishops, for example Cardinal Arinze; Cardinal Priests, who lead the churches in their country, for example our own Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor; and Cardinal Deacons, who are theologians working for the Vatican, for example Cardinal Avery Dulles. (All three names mentioned above came and preached/spoke in Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy during my time there. CV) Fr Nicholas began by talking about the Mediaeval English cardinals. The first one, although largely forgotten, was Robert Pullen. The second was Nicholas Breakspear, who is better known as Pope Adrian IV, the only English Pope (so far). Cardinal Wolsey is more widely known than any of these, although the popular view, as exemplified by his portrayal in "A Man for all Seasons", was described by Fr Nicholas as "perhaps a little unfair". Fr Nicholas described the Cardinal Duke of York, Henry Stuart as his "favourite cardinal". Cardinal Stuart lived like a king, and is even claimed by some to have been King Henry IX of England, Scotland and Wales.The talk then moved on to the Reformation cardinals, of whom the most well-known is probably the only English Cardinal to be martyred - St John Fisher. He (unlike Wolsey) refused to sanction King Henry VIII's divorce. Other cardinals mentioned in this section included Reginald Pole - the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, and a relative of Henry VIII; and William Allen, who founded an English college in Douai to train seminarians. His legacy lives on today in the seminaries of Allen Hall in London and Ushaw in Durham.Since the Catholic hierarchy was restored and new dioceses established, the Archbishop of Westminster has been the head of the Catholic church in England, and every Archbishop of Westminster has been made a cardinal. The first of these was Cardinal Wiseman, and the latest is Cardinal Murphy O'Connor. In modern times there have been other English cardinals, for example Cardinal Newman. Most of the recent cardinals are buried in the crypt of Westminster Cathedral, with their red hats hanging above them. Apparantly tradition has it that when the hat falls, it signifies the cardinal's soul being released from purgatory. All the hats are so far still hanging.

Our Lady of Fatima

Over the last two weeks the Heralds of the Gospel have visited the parish to talk to some of our groups of young people. They brought with them a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which had been crowned by the Pope. Br Aldo Leone explained what happened at Fatima, and encouraged the youngsters to pray to Mary to intercede for them. The rosary was prayed. The sessions ended with games for the younger groups, and a meal for the older ones.

An Introduction to St Thomas Aquinas

On Sunday 3rd March, Fr Bruno Witchells spoke to Forum Christi on "An Introduction to St Thomas Aquinas". He gave us a brief summary of St Thomas's life, from his birth in 1224, through being educated by Benedictines, and later Dominicans (whom he joined, although with initial disapproval from his family), to his death aged 49 in 1274, and his later canonisation in 1323, and instituition as a Doctor of the Church. Fr Bruno explained that the part of St Thomas's life that made him a saint was his thought, which shows us something of the mind of Christ. He then took us through a number of parallels between St Thomas and Pope Benedict XVI. He recommended reading GK Chesterton's "The Dumb Ox" as a good introduction to St Thomas, and "Salt of the Earth" (Paul Seeward and Joseph Ratzinger) as an introduction to the theology of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI.

Virtue and Vice

On Sunday 3rd February Fr Marcus spoke to Forum Christi on the topic of 'The Seven Deadly Vices and their Antidotes'. He began with a descripton of the four cardinal virtues (fortitude, temperance, prudence and justice) and the three theological virtues (faith, hope and charity). The talk then moved on to the vices (pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony and lust), which were illustrated by both a picture by Hieronymous Bosch, and a box of chocolates. There was also audience participation, as we were asked to contribute examples of each of the vices in today's world. Fr Marcus left us with the comforting thought that even the saints struggled to achieve all the virtues in this world. After all, if you thought that you'd got there, that would be the vice of pride!

The Ultimate Catholic Quiz Over the past month

Members of our Keep the Faith, Confirmation, Post-Confirmation and Faithform groups have been challenged with the Ultimate Catholic Quiz (prepared by Fr Marcus). They have had to identify events, people and places from pictures, work out the key phrases being defined, and then answer written questions. The results have shown that many of them have a good knowledge of their faith (although the majority did not recognise a picture of Westminster Cathedral). Could you write out the Creed, or the 20 mysteries of the Rosary, or the Ten Commandments in order?