Our Lady of Guadalupe

After the parish Mass today I headed off into central London to celebrate a second Mass for the Good Counsel Network. Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the pro-life movement and the Good Counsel Network had invited all mothers and their babies to come to the Mass. Most people contact the Good Counsel Network because they are looking to terminate a pregnancy. The Network offers pregnancy tests and counselling services. Through its tremendous work many mothers change their minds and decide to keep their babies.


These are some of the mothers the Good Counsel Network has helped in recent months. They are all with their beautiful babies. One mother is due to give birth next week. Please keep her in your prayers. Without the help and support of the Good Counsel Network these babies might never have been born and their mothers would have been left with a terrible emptiness. It was wonderful to see how happy they were today and how proud they are of their children.


The Good Counsel Network helps mums in all sort of different ways. Today there was a practical lesson in budgeting. Helpers were given £20 each and asked to see what they could get at various shops. Needless to say the corner shop was the most expensive. Marks & Spencers fared unexpectedly well. Asda was quite good but by universal consent the best value for money was Morrisons!

Apologies

Sorry if it's a bit noisy in the Church this week. Once again we have the workmen in to polish the marble. After a big restoration a couple of years ago, when it was as if a film of tracing paper had been lifted from the marble, I now get a company in every six months to bring it back to a full shine.
The Church stays open for prayer but it might be a little distracting.

Christmas Fayre

On Saturday we had our Christmas Fayre. Once again the weather was kind to us and, as you can see from the photo, we had a great turnout.

"Now, how do I explain to my wife I won them all on the bottle stall?"

"Lalage betrays her experience on the racecourse by signing to other vendors to fix the price of her plants"

"I'm not a sunflower. I'm a tiger"

As always a magnificent craft stall!

Father Christmas gets asked whether Rudolf's carrots are organic.

Sr Chiara just can't resist that glorious pink icing!

Holy Ghost Advent Party

This is Kathleen Ryan whom I first met in the early 1990s when she came to the parish I was in at the time to borrow some crockery for the Holy Ghost Old Folks' Party! Little did I think that one day I'd be at the Holy Ghost and Kathleen herself would be enjoying the fun at an elegantly re-branded Senior Citizens' knees up!

Now who else do we see? Ah, yes. Here's Alice who never fails to do her bit on a Friday morning and ensures that everything we have in the Church glistens and gleams at all times. Thanks, Alice!

And then there's Princess Norah of Balham, here seen displayed in all her regal splendour. It's good to see her on her feet again!

This year we have some special guests. Fr Marcus' parents have just celebrated their wedding anniversary and have come over for the weekend. Tomorrow Fr Marcus is taking them to France on the Eurostar. They'll be back Tuesday night. Meanwhile here they are picking up tips to take back to Tenby!

The Advent Party wouldn't take place at all without the hard work of Helen, Maxine and all the helpers. Yes, that's right - the same ones who worked so hard to put on yesterday's Christmas Fayre.

Now what's going on here...

"So let's work this out. 170 people needing to be fed, and all we've got is 4 Christmas puddings. Oh well, not to worry. I'm sure it will work out in the end"

"Listen lads, I hear there's a magician coming. He can cut one in half, and make another one disappear, but one of us is going to have to go home with his wife"

"The Fr Marcus fan-club just couldn't be kept under control..."

"Ahem. Sorry ladies, did you carry out a risk assessment before doing that?"

Is it Really for Young People?

Some people have asked for more information about the forthcoming Youth Retreat that will take place in the parish over New Year.
When is it? It starts on the evening of Friday 29th December and finishes after lunch on Monday 1st January.
Who will be there? Amongst others, the Friars of the Renewal (you remember Fr Benedict Groeschel who gave such an excellent evening of recollection recently?). Apart from them, other religious, and lots and lots of young adults.
Really? Are you just saying that? Check it out for yourself. This video was made using images from last year. You know, the one you missed!

Resolution@Balham

The theme for this year's New Year Youth Retreat at Balham is "Resolution". You can view more details about the retreat by clicking this link to the relevant page on the Youth 2000 website. The retreat is an annual event in the parish organised by Youth 2000. Last year we attracted 300 young people between the ages of 16 & 35. This year the organisers are hoping to hit five hundred!

The Retreat includes talks on concrete aspects of Christian life, Holy Mass, and lots of opportunities for Confession. The Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the Church throughout the Retreat and there is all-night Adoration (optional!).

Interested? Check out the link above then send us an email at the Holy Ghost. Too shy to come alone? Then bring a friend!!

Servers' Winter Trip

The servers' winter trip took place today. This year we made a visit Farnborough Abbey. 27 servers, together with helpers, made the hour long journey south whilst watching the animated film 'Joseph: King of Dreams'. Upon arrival we were greeted by Br Thomas the guest master who brought us into the Abbey church. We then celebrated a votive mass of Our Blessed Lady. The Abbot of Farnborough, Don Cuthbert Brogan, gave us short talk on the monastic life and a tour of the monastery. We visited the crypt where the Emperor Napoleon III is buried. After praying the the divine office with the community we had a short lunch in the south lodge just by the monastery farm.

Before setting back we had time to stop for ten-pin bowling at Bracknell. Much fun was had by all. On the way home we prayed the glorious mysteries of the rosary. The day we a great success with a good balance of activities. We now look forward to the summer trip...

The Miraculous Medal

During the week over 200 'miraculous medals' were distributed to the pupils of the Holy Ghost School. These were donated by the Legion of Mary. The design of the medal of the Immaculate Conception (the official name) was given by Our Lady to St Catherine Laboure in 1830 during an apparition in Paris. It is the most widespread devotional medal in the Catholic Church today.

Sexual Orientation Regulations

You will have seen a lot of concern from Christians about the Sexual Orientation Regulations currently being forced through by the Government without debate. You can read the regulations for yourself by clicking this link.

Christians believe in tolerance and freedom. So why are they opposing these regulations? Recently the parish newsletter has carried an advert from some parishioners advertising a room to rent in their home that would suit a 'practising Catholic'. Under these new regulations they wouldn't be able to place that advert unless they were willing to accept into their home someone who applied who was a practising homosexual (see paragraph 6 of the Regulations).
We don't let out Visitation House but if I were to and the Society of Militant Transexuals (I don't think there is one!) wanted to use it, I wouldn't be able to reject them on the grounds that they're ethos isn't in accord with the Church's understanding of human sexuality.
In our Catholic schools we seek to present the ideal of marriage as a faithful, monagomous union between a man and a woman. Under the proposed regulations, as we have seen recently with Christian Unions in some universities, this could be challenged as discriminatory. For further information about how the regulations would affect what is taught in schools it is worth clicking here to download an explanatory document from the Christian Institute - you will be surprised!

At present not all discrimination is illegal. Nor should it be if we are all to live in freedom.

Universities Ban Christian Unions

In our parish we have a group who carry out a very specific mission: their task is to see how we can be more effective in our influence in the local area and in society in general. The group was formed in the wake of the emergency appeal from the Catholic bishops of England and Wales to defend our schools against an attempt to force them to take non-Catholic children. The Group invites us to be aware of what is happening in society today. Recently they drew my attention to the fact that four universities have now banned Christian Unions. Here's an article on the issue from Independent Catholic News:

LONDON - 20 November 2006
Christian Unions seek legal advice after campus ban
Dan Bergin

Christian Unions in four British universities are seeking legal advice after they were banned or restricted for not meeting with equal opportunity legislation.

Exeter University's Guild of Students said the Christian Union (CU) is not open to all, because members must sign a form saying they follow Christ. The university has temporarily suspended them from the official list of student societies on campus. The Union has also had its bank account frozen and has been banned from free use of students' guild premises or advertising within guild facilities. Exeter University's student guild claims the CU constitution and activities do not conform to its equal opportunities policies.

The 150-strong Christian Union in Birmingham was also suspended this year after refusing to alter its constitution to allow non-Christians to address meetings, and refusing to amend its literature to include references to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and those of transgender sexuality.

Christian Unions at Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and Birmingham universities say they have been accused of excluding non-Christians, promoting homophobia and discriminating against those of transgender sexuality. Edinburgh University has banned an event run by the Christian Union called PURE which promotes a traditional biblical view of personal and sexual relationships. The university defended the ban, saying that PURE was in breach of its equality and diversity policy because PURE claims that any sexual activity outside heterosexual marriage is not God-ordained.

Last year Edinburgh university banned copies of the Bible in its halls of residence after protests from the Students' Union. Exeter Christian Union said on Thursday that it would take legal action after 14 days if it was not fully re-instated as a student society by the guild with full rights and was allowed to call itself the Christian Union. Emma Brewster, CU representative at Exeter University told the BBC: "This is a fundamental issue of freedom of speech and of common sense. Legal action is the last thing we want to take, and we certainly don't relish it, but we are fully prepared to stand our ground for truth and freedom."
© Independent Catholic News 2006

Advent Pastoral Letter

Archbishop Kevin McDonald has published a Pastoral Letter to be read at all Masses on the first Sunday in Advent. In it he announces a period of reflection and consultation throughout the diocese during Lent next year. The Archbishop recognises that "fears for the future persist and they centre particularly on the fact that over the next few years we will have fewer priests than we have been used to having in the past". He encourages us both to pray for vocations to the priesthood, "strongly" recommending "the practice of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament for an increase in vocations", and to discern plans and strategies for living with fewer priests. He wants us to focus particularly on three particular issues: alongside facing the future he asks us to reflect on how we might grow in communion and reach out in mission.
The Archbishop's Pastoral Letter will appear in a few days on the diocesan website. You can access it by clicking this link.

Caption Competition

"Once again, it was the written part of the "Is yours the true religion?" exam where Pope Benedict would really shine. And as always, he was a good sport about it. "

photo: REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

h/t: American Papist

Pope Benedict visits Turkey amid unrest

On Tuesday the Holy Father will go to Turkey for his first official visit to an Islamic country. The prospect of a Papal visit has not been received well in Turkey which is ruled by an Islamist party. Posters condemning the visit, such as the ones in this picture, have appeared everywhere. They advertise an anti-Pope rally and read "No to the Crusaders alliance! The ignorant and sneaky Pope should not come to Turkey" (AP Photo/Osman Orsal).

There have also been heated demonstr-ations. Recently the 'Hagia Sophia' was invaded by demonstr-ators protesting against the Pope. The Hagia Sophia was, of course, a Christian Church which was converted into a Mosque when the Islamic invaders captured Istanbul. Since the last century it has been a museum.

After 700 years of occupation and discrimination the remaining Christian community has dwindled to a small proprtion of the Turkish population. In recent years, with the rise of militant Islam it has suffered greatly once again. The Pope is going to Turkey primarily to meet Patriarch Bartolomeos, the 270th successor of St Andrew, first amongst equals of the Orthodox patriarchs, and leader of the worlds 300 million orthodox Christians.

The Turkish authorities make life difficult for Patriarch Bartolomeos. They refuse to recognise the Patriarchate's international role. The law states that no one but a Turkish citizen can become Patriarch yet in 1971 they closed the only high-level theological school in the country, on the island of Halki, which means that the Patriarchate cannot train Turkish-born Greeks for ministry within the country. Despite talk of tolerance, Turkey pursues a policy of slow strangulation of non-Islamic religious minorities. The Patriarchate's small cathedral, the Phanar or Fener, is squeezed into the back streets near the polluted inlet of the Golden Horn. It has frequently been a target of bomb attacks, in 1993, '94, '96, '97, '98, 2004.

Pope Benedict's visit comes at a difficult time. That it is not welcome is shown by the fact that the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Minister for Religious Affairs will all be absent during the visit. It important therefore that we pray for the Pope, especially for his safety at this time.

Go Karting

Last Friday our new 'Keep the Faith' group (Year 7) made a visit to Mitcham race track for an evening of Go Karting. It seems that the rain and wind added to the fun! This group meets twice a month and provides a way for our young people to keep in touch, to pray together and learn more about their faith. It has so far been very popular with an average of 20 at each meeting since September.

Reclaiming Christmas

After the success of our 'Catholicism for the Curious' posters last Lent, we decided to try something similar for Advent and Christmas this year. In many places the stranglehold of secularism is such that the word 'Christmas' itself is studiously avoided. Some people send cards with the words "Season's Greetings", a strange sentiment given that the season in question is 'the bleak midwinter'! In other places we can hear the greeting "Happy Holidays" - which I always think is best uttered by one of those grinning, battery-operated flowers that wiggle about in reaction to noise. And of course we also hear of those dour, humourless local authorities that celebrate 'Winterval' - wasn't it Oliver Cromwell who abolished Christmas and forbade mince-pies?
Where was I? Oh yes, Advent and Christmas! Wouldn't it be great, we thought, if all our parishioners were to display the same poster from the beginning of Advent until the Feast of the Epiphany? If we all had the same poster - a simple Nativity image - in our windows, it would say to the people of Balham that Christmas means more to us than office parties and tinsel. And then we thought, why stop there? It's not just Catholics who rejoice at Christmas time. All Christians are united in celebrating our Saviour's birth. Why not invite other Christian communities to join us in giving witness? So we did. I'm very pleased to say that they were just as enthusiastic about the project as we are. It will be wonderful to get all the Christians of our parish to give this united witness.
So the posters are at the printers and we hope they will be delivered this week. We can then begin distributing them on Sunday. Experience shows that it is good to generate some prior interest, so why not talk to your Christian friends about what we are doing. If they don't attend a local Christian church you could pick up a poster for them from the Holy Ghost. The idea is to give a powerful, joint testimony to Christ in the two important liturgical seasons of Advent and Christmas.
Simple. Easy. Effective.

Just what you would expect from the Holy Ghost!

November

November is the month when we pray for the repose of the souls of those who have died. In Catholic families it is customary to pray for deceased relatives, and in the parish it is no different. On Sunday we celebrated the 11.30am Mass for all our parishioners who died during the course of the last twelve months.

We don't get many sick calls in the parish but in the last few days we've been called out four times. On three occasions we were able to arrive in time to give the Last Rites to prepare the person for their transition from this 'vale of tears' to the life to come. On the fourth occasion the person had died peacefully in her sleep and we were able to say the prayers for the dead asking God to have mercy on her and receive her into his heavenly home.

It can sometimes be difficult to catch a priest at home in the presbytery, and sometimes we get the dreaded answerphone. At the Holy Ghost we try not to leave the answerphone on at night - although inevitably sometimes we forget. It is always worth leaving a message during the day and calling again at night. The priest will happily drop everything he can to attend a soul in its last agony.

Today's Wedding

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.

Back from Ireland

I flew back from Dublin airport on Wednesday evening having been at a priests' conference in Meath since Monday. I was invited over to speak on Fostering Vocations in Today's Culture. It was a good meeting and was well-attended. I met a number of interesting people over there including the Bishop of Meath and Fr Vincent Toomey, former professor at Maynooth, the Irish seminary, and personal friend and ex-student of the present Holy Father.
I travelled with Ryanair and was impressed by its efficiency. We were a bit late leaving Gatwick, but that was nothing to do with the airline. On the return journey everything from check-in to arrival went smoothly and efficiently.

Richard Dawkins meets his match

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.

Mongeham & Sandwich

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.