Father God, thank You for sending us Jesus at Christmas.
with every compliment of this blessed season to everyone; have a great day wherever you are.
Almost as smelly...
1 day ago
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Friday, 25 December 2009
Thursday, 24 December 2009
I saw an angel tonight...
Actually I saw several. A number of carved ones have appeared in strategic location around the Church but some genius flower arranger made two of the above. My rubbish skills as a photographer don't really do justice to these two installations at all.
A lovely Mass, great carol singing, a sermon that everyone from 4 to 94 could understand, and so good to see so many non-Catholic partners there with their Catholic other halves. The lovely Helen says she has never blessed so many people at communion.
In previous years, and for many years, I've gone back to sing at Midnight Mass, and then got up early to play bass at 0900 and/or 1100. But last year we got a new Parish Priest, the excellent Fr Terry Martin, and I decided in with the new priest out with the old ways. The new tradition thus established I'm staying home for the rest of the night, stuffing our turkey and getting a head start on other culinary tasks, hopefully lubricated with a nice chilled Fino sherry.
Merry Christmas, and thank you
So. The shopping is done. The family is gathered in the 'Sham although @sam_wise is temporarily AWOL nursing a monster hangover. The presents are wrapped and many of them are under the tree. The Christmas cards are hung on ribbons with golden painted wooden pegs; good call @bunnylake. The cards sent to our old address, just a few doors down from here, have been delivered by the lovely people who bought it from the people who bought it from us 8 years ago. The lovely Helen has been baking all day and is now out delivering mince pies to neighbours.
We are ready. About 18:00 we will set off for Church and give thanks to God for the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Christ.
So my thoughts turned to who else I needed to thank this year and who I should remember in my prayers this evening:
My family, for loving me despite the moods, and other ups and downs,
my work colleagues for working as a team with me in the lead and not lynching me along the way,
my friends old and new for the wine, beer and laughter we've shared,
the teams I've refereed at rugby, and the folk on the touchline who told me how rubbish I was,
the other referees who given me advice either in the flesh or in the forums at www.rugbyrefs.com,
the people I've played music or sung with, mostly only at Church this year as the bands have been in abeyance,
everyone at FNRttC for excellent company on what must be England's most eccentric cycling related activity
Matt for the Hell of Ashdown Forest, a ride I'll never forget
Simon and Michael for the South Downs Way, well 2/3rds of it anyway!
Everyone I've ever spoken to in Twitter, about rugby, playing bass, cycling or anything else; what an inspiring and impressive bunch you are.
So. There you are. A year enriched in all sorts of ways by all sorts of people.
However or wherever we've interacted this year, I'll light a candle and say a quiet word for each of you tonight. God bless you all and all whom you love.
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
A carolling we shall go....
On Sunday my dear friend F said she felt a big part of her Christmas ritual was missing. She wanted to go Christmas Carolling and would the lovely Helen and I care to join her and her husband D? The lovely Helen was a little apprehensive about the idea so we cloaked the venture in a veneer of respectability by deciding to collect money for my employers, a well known international charity. We agreed we would only go out for an hour or so and would visit some of the big houses on one of the roads out of our town
Around half past seven last night we set off. It was dark, it was very cold, and the pavements and roads were very icy. We decided against starting at the house of a local celebrity and D had the genius idea of kicking off at the home of a fellow parishioner so we were assured of a warm start. Such a start was duly given and with our confidence thus boosted we went from house to house.
We raised a little money, we learned some new carols along the way, or new arrangements of a few old favourites, and D and F have such lovely singing voices and are so clever at singing harmonies that we sounded much larger than we really were. Some of the porches on the houses also had amazing acoustics combined with the still cold night air that once or twice I thought to myself "We don't sound half bad!"
But what really left a lasting impression on me was the look on people's faces when the opened the door. Rather than us being an unwelcome intrusion we were greeted with beaming smiles and "How lovely, Carol singers! We haven't had carol singers in years" with whole families coming to the doorstep to hear us. One family even got the children out of bed, invited us in and asked us to sing "O Come all Ye Faithful" Which we gladly did whilst exchanging a few panic stricken glances, it wasn't on the sheets we had prepared; it turns out each person needs to memorise the first line of one verse and then everyone follows on and the words come back without any effort. Just that first line.
The evening ended with mulled wine, and beer and ham and cheeses and as usual with F and D great conversation.
So if you are struggling to find the Spirit of Christmas, or if you've already found it but are struggling to share it; GO CAROL SINGING. You get back so much more than you put into it.
God bless us! God Bless us everyone!
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
One Refugee in Brighton
I found this on the splendid Parish blog of St Mary Magdalen Church in Brighton. The Parish Priest there, Fr. Ray Blake, was assistant priest at St. John the Baptist in Brighton when the lovely Helen and I settled there after marriage. Fr Ray does an amazing balancing act, a man who loves Liturgy, is a supporter and frequent celebrant of the Latin Mass whilst retaining a flair for social activism. There aren't many priests about who manage to honour both in equal measure.
Momo, whom this video is about, is a visitor to Fr Ray's Parish house. Asylum seekers aren't restricted to our cities, like Brighton & Hove, but can be found everywhere.
Let's remember Momo and everyone like him in our prayers this Christmas, recalling the journey of the Holy Family, fleeing to refuge in Egypt. Mary Joseph and the child Jesus had 'well founded fear of persecution'.
If they turned up today in my town what sort of welcome would they face? An unmarried couple, teenage mother, a much older 'father', something isn't right, their story doesn't add up. They don't speak my language properly, they don't share my culture, their values are different to mine, they don't share my religion. Some far fetched tale about facing death at home that doesn't sound too credible. Aliens, foreign, on the take, looking for a handout, scroungers, economic migrants?
Lord God, by Your Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus our Lord and Saviour, help me to see the face of the Christ-child in every stranger I meet today and everyday. Give me a heart of compassion for all Your poor and dispossessed, all those who find themselves as strangers in a strange land. Still the voices within me that ask 'do they deserver?' and 'are they worthy?'. Give me the strength to give and not count the cost of giving. To love without fixing a price on love. In His Holy name. Amen
St Joseph, pray for us.
Mary, mother of the Christ, pray for us.
St Nicholas, pray for us.
Saturday, 19 December 2009
Christmas is coming
Off to shop for ma in laws home made hamper today. She gives it all away n the end!
Friday, 18 December 2009
The view at the office
Is pretty and pretty amazing this morning. The downside is it makes our grounds an H & S nightmare!
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Horsham comes good and puts up more lights
Cllr Scrooge and Cllr Marley of the Humbug Party must have been stung by the criticism in the national press. They've only gone and put more lights up. Well done the 'sham for times are hard and people need their spirits lifted.
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Grab yourself an early Christmas present - Free Music from Steve Lawson
Steve Lawson isn't just a great musician, a superb teacher, a social media genius, a husband and a recent Dad. He's also one of the kindest and gentlest of the lovely people on this good Earth. So kind and generous he's giving us all the chance to download his new album for free. Gratis. Without charge. Though if you want to press pictures of the Queen into his hands he won't say no; an extra mouth to feed and all that.
Simply put Steve writes the music for the soundtrack for the day you WISHED you'd had. Gorgeous, multi-textured, subtle music that can transport you to another place as you relax in its embrace. And he writes and plays it all himself on his bass. I've no idea why he isn't a household name, except that, of course, in our house he is.
Download it, your ears, and your soul, will thank you.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Greek Rocket War at Easter
via youtube.com
Now I belong to a pretty dynamic and lively Roman Catholic parish here in Horsham. At Easter we do the whole bonfire and candles routine and do it well, the church looks amazing when only lit by candles. But nothing we do holds a candle (ouch!) to this spectacle.
I wonder if Fr Terry would let us launch some rockets from the church car park...?
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
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