Congratulations to Naomi Bull and Andrew Greenwood who were married today in a splendid ceremony at the Holy Ghost. Here they are photographed signing the register. their mothers, in the background, were the witnesses. Music for the ceremony was provided by Jeremy de Satge and members of his schola Cantamus.
Richard Dawkins continues his personal crusade against religion in his latest book. Recently, however, he met his match in a debate on Irish Radio with the philosopher David Quinn. I have transcripts of the debate but they are too long to put on this blog. You can, however, hear it for yourself by clicking this link. Once there, scroll down to Monday 9th October to hear the programme in question. The debate is from minutes 8-25 or so of the 59 minute programme.
On Saturday I was giving a Day of Recollection to the Folkestone Deanery. The theme was Vocation and about thirty people attended. The photo is of two young lads who served on the day. The Catholic Church in Mongeham is very interesting. It is quite small but a lot of care has gone into its design. Many of its early parishioners worked in the local coal mine (there were about five coal fields in Kent) and the Sanctuary Light is converted from an old miner's Davey Lamp. 
On Thursday evening we were very pleased to welcome Fr Benedict Groeschel to the parish. During an Evening of Recollection Fr Benedict spoke to a packed Church about the 'Spirituality of Pope Benedict XVI'. He spoke with his usual candour and good humour. If you weren't there you missed a real treat!
Fr Benedict was very badly injured in a car accident some years ago and has only recently resumed his weekly television show on EWTN, so we were exceptionally lucky that he came to Balham. It was a great grace to have him here.
One of the impressive things about the evening was the sheer number of young people who turned out to meet him, as you can see in this photo. During his inaugural Mass Pope Benedict said that one of the legacies of Pope John Paul II was a more youthful Church. Fr Benedict speaks of the "John Paul Generation". We certainly saw them present this evening.
After Benediction Fr Benedict met people as they left the Church and then went into the school hall to talk to more people while coffee and tea were being served. We'd like to thank all those who helped out in various way and contributed to making this evening such a significant one in the history of our parish. Fr Benedict was greatly impressed by our parish. As he said when he walked into the Church his first thought was, "Thank God! A CATHOLIC Church!".
Fr Benedict Groeschel today addressed a gathering of priests at St. Bede's parish, Clapham Park. He spoke to the group of about 30 clergymen about the turn around taking place in modern pyschology and how the concept of virtue has returned to mainstream discussion. Groeschel who is a professor of pastoral psychology explained that many in his field are now abandoning the 'value neutral' understanding of life, by which we make our own truth and decide on our own good, for a more meaning and goal directed approach based on objective reality. He was very well received and joined the group for Benediction and Lunch afterwards.
Yesterday I was up at 5.00am in order to leave at 6.00am to get to Birmingham for a meeting at the Maryvale Institute at 9.00. When I got there the meeting had been postponed to 10 but, since others who left London later got horribly delayed in traffic, I was glad for the early start. Maryvale was celebrating its Silver Jubilee as an institute dedicated to catechesis and further education and its guerst of honour for the day was Archbishop Michael Miller, the Secretary of the Congregation for Education in Rome. 
Forum Christi is the parish group for 16-30s. It meets every Sunday in Visitation House. It brings young Catholics together to meet one another, to pray, to receive some catechesis and to hear some of London's best Catholic speakers (addressing a wide variety of topics relating to faith and life). This Sunday Matt O'Gorman, the dynamic press secretary of the charity LIFE, addressed the group. He spoke about the various pro-life challenges that young Catholics face today. As always at Forum Christi the evening was completed with prayer and then some 'theology on tap' at the local.
The celebration of Mass went well and the students were very kind about the sermon afterwards. I even met two of our parishioners who had travelled up for an annual Cathsoc football match. In the afternoon I attended a meeting of the Vocations Group and was able to talk to them about vocations discernment, seminary formation and the process of application. This is a really good initiative and is a credit to Fr Jeremy Fairhead the chaplain. 
Over the years the parish Marriage Preparation Course has become very popular. We often get enquiries from engaged couples in other parishes who have heard about our course and would like to attend.
Every Wednesday and Thursday we have 'Faith and Life' classes in the parish for children in years 4, 5 and 6. This week each class celebrated an 'All Saints Party'. The children had to choose a saint, research about their life, find a costume and make a presentation to the class. Much fun was had and the performances showed a depth of imagination and a great interest in the lives of the saints. Here are some of the photos from the classes.
There are three Masses in the parish today for the Feast of All Saints which is a Holy Day of Obligation.The 6.45am Mass was well attended and, as usual the 9.30am Mass was packed. Tonight there will be a sung Mass at 8.00pm with Jeremy de Satge and the parish choir providing the music.
In his sermon this morning Fr Marcus reminded the children present that they are all called to be saints and that they can live out this call to holiness in very simple and practical ways.
The readings and music for the Mass were prepared by the children of our parish school and, as always there were lots of comments afterwards about how well our children read and sing. This is not something that comes naturally! It is due to the hard work and commitment of Miss Lawless and her staff. In our parish we also have a number of private schools. Today we were able to welcome children from Hornsby House, Northcote Lodge and Broomwood Hall. Oliver House, the independent Catholic school in the parish, is still on half term.
This evening saw our first ever 'Saints and Angels Party'. This was an opportunity to celebrate the All Hallows/Saints Eve (Halloween) in an appropriate and exciting way. It allowed our children to enjoy the traditional games and customs like 'apple dunking' without the all too common and unnecessary reference to devils and witches.
The party was a great sucess with over 35 children participating. Each participant (aged from 8-12) dressed as a saint or angel and had an interview with St Don Bosco (Fr Marcus) and St Theresa of the Child Jesus (Marie Jones - Youth Officer). They were asked 'how did you get to heaven?'. There were prizes for the best costumes and the best perfomances.
After the three judges had awarded their marks we all had traditional Halloween treats and games (which included a quiz about the lives of the saints). The evening was very enjoyable and we hope to host it again next year.
We've had a number of people asking for more details of Fr Benedict Groeschel's visit to the parish. Fr Benedict will be here next Thursday evening (9th November) and will lead us in an evening of prayer and reflection. The timetable is as follows:
7.00pm Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Vespers
Reflection on "The Spirituality of Pope Benedict XVI"
Period of quiet prayer during which Confessions will be heard
8.45pm Benediction
9.00pm Refreshments until 9.30pm
We look forward to seeing you there.
This evening the parish Finance Committee met to scrutinise the income and expenditure for the last quarter. The Committee is Chaired by Denis Cross who keeps us in good order. Each year it approves our budget which is prepared in draft form by Denis and Fr Stephen working from the previous year's income and expenditure.
On Sunday we were able to welcome Isabella Squires into the Church through the sacrament of Baptism. In the picture she is pictured with her parents Christopher and Cristina, and also with both her maternal grandmother and great-grandmother. I always like meeting great-grandmothers at baptisms. It brings home how the faith is passed on through the generations. But I was particularly pleased on this occasion because Isabella's great-grandmother told me that she was married in this Church in November 1942! 
On Saturday 28th October Fr Stephen drove down to Glastonbury as part of his work as Diocesan Vocations Director. Each year there is a big Youth Retreat hosted by the Catholic parish in Glastonbury, attracting young people from all over the country including a number of Holy Ghost parishioners. The photo was taken at the top of Glastonbury Tor which we walked up and where we read an account of the cruel execution of the Glastonbury Martyrs. For a fuller account (including a short video clip) visit the Southwark Vocations Blog.
