This evening was one of those "busy parish priest" evenings. After the evening Mass, I met with a mother to arrange the baptism of her children, a couple who wanted to get married, and an elderly lady who needed a visit. Back then to the ranch, I called into the parish Social Club which had an anticipated celebration for the feast of St Patrick. (We'll also be celebrating on Tuesday with Mass and the hymn "Hail glorious St Patrick" - the Club will be open afterwards.)
We have an Irish Dancing Class in the parish and this evening they showed off their various dancing steps to great appreciation. The band was called "Celtic Craic" and they kept everyone entertained until late in the evening.
I took St Patrick as my Confirmation patron after reading a good CTS pamphlet on his life. The celebation of his feast day is always a source of joy for me.
This evening was one of those "busy parish priest" evenings. After the evening Mass, I met with a mother to arrange the baptism of her children, a couple who wanted to get married, and an elderly lady who needed a visit. Back then to the ranch, I called into the parish Social Club which had an anticipated celebration for the feast of St Patrick. (We'll also be celebrating on Tuesday with Mass and the hymn "Hail glorious St Patrick" - the Club will be open afterwards.)
We have an Irish Dancing Class in the parish and this evening they showed off their various dancing steps to great appreciation. The band was called "Celtic Craic" and they kept everyone entertained until late in the evening.
I took St Patrick as my Confirmation patron after reading a good CTS pamphlet on his life. The celebation of his feast day is always a source of joy for me.
12 comments:
Father you are certainly ticking all the boxes with your pastoral duties.
You must be pleased that you had a such a productive day in your parish, really I do not know how you manage to fit all in, what with all your blogging, campaigning in church politics, writing, organising your parish finances, visiting the sick, sitting on all the committees, maintaining your links with Rome.
It is really amazing - I bet your parishioners are absolutely delighted that you are their parish priest - shure they dont have to do very much - how lucky there are.
Great to be able to mark forthcoming St Patricks Day.
I do not see any reference to St Patricks on your previous blogs, must be an oversight, but I can see he was a very influential patron saint for you.
How do you manage to organise all these activities without any parish council - you really are a very talented man.
Sure God love you!
And you wouldn't be a wee bit Irish, would you, Timmy Finigan?
Looks like good fun :)
The ceiling is too greeeenn. Does the apostle of Ireland have something to do with the color?
Wow. Looks like a terribly divided and oppressed parish. ;-)
St Patrick 'Patron Saint of Ireland and Nigeria' pray for us!
On my return from a 'moving statue' tour of Ireland in 1985,when I visited Ballinaspittle and the Mount Mellory Cistercian Monastery,I dismissed the notion that any motion was involved and abandoned hope of finding any proof of miraculous movements.
As a contract surveyor I was due to start work for the London Borough of Southwark's Direct Works Organisation at Pelican House.The night before I commenced the Southwark contract I had a 'big dream' featuring the Virgin Mary.The archetypal feminine may have remained completely motionless in the outside world but inside my psyche she was 100% active.
When I attended Pelican House the next day I was appointed as surveyor for the UNITY PROJECT in Peckham High Street.This 'black' community project was staffed on site entirely with white contract labour and it was known in-house as 'COON DISCO'.I was therefore forced to take drastic remedial action and so I involved my old Addey & Stanhope School friend the Nigerian born film producer Faith Isiakpere.Faith had worked with UB40 and was at the time employed by Channel 4. A TV film called 'The Crossing' drew inspiration from the real life drama that we were confronted with.
Unfortunately Mandela's 'Children of Africa' film producer, the same Faith Isiakpere, refused to become involved in my Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) JUSTICE NOT VENGEANCE FOCUS case in 1991 after I was imprisoned following direct action taken after I had discovered that the BNP were being allowed to use the Old Addeyans F.C / Densitron International plc development space.
Following the intervention of John Austin MP and Lucy Faulkner, the English FA’s Ethics & Sports Equity Manager, my individual (FARE) JUSTICE NOT VENGEANCE FOCUS 1991-2009 case has reached a critical legal juncture following Judicial Review at the Royal Courts of Justice involving myself,the IPCC and the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis,and now in the 2008/9 season the MPA.
The dream that I had in 1985 and which has since found it's way into verse will I hope provide us all with some true UNITY IN THE COMMUNITY 2012 ODA development inspiration.
Songs And Dreams For Sad Sister Deptford : Part 5
A SINNER'S DREAM OF MARY
When I was out a wandering upon the hills so green.
I spied myself a vision of a bright celestial Queen.
(Refrain)
A rosary,a rosary with rainbows all around.
A blood red cross she gave to me upon that hallowed ground.
She wore a crown of silver and in her arms she bore.
A child who was the future of mans peace and not of war.
(Refrain)
A rosary,a rosary with rainbows all around.
A blood red cross she gave to me upon that hallowed ground.
Corpus Christi woman was the lady that I saw.
Build inside she said to me mans inner self once more.
(Refrain)
A rosary,a rosary with rainbows all around.
A blood red cross she gave to me upon that hallowed ground.
Well marked, Father, and a happy St Patrick's Day to all at Blackfen from St Patrick's, Leicester, in our Golden Jubilee year. It's usually quite an occasion here so if you're free for 11:00am tomorrow... you'll have plenty of time to get back to Blackfen!
No doubt the Tablet's intrepid reporter was there to take notes and pictures for an article, something like ...er...
'Blackfen - despite a chasm of liturgical division, the divisive parishioners enjoy a drink and a dance in honour of St Patrick'.
Looks like another great parish 'do' Fr Tim. Shame we couldn't make this one.
To quote various world leaders:
"We're all Blackfenners now."
Fr Tim, get that photographic calendar out there. I'll order one today. It needs sorting before May if it's going to get printed by October. I'd get the best snappers of the blogosphere.. Fr Blake, Mac, Jackie, Fr Dwight, Hilary, DT, Owl, Frs Julian Green and Richard Aladics, Richard M... - everyone to contribute 2 of their best, then sort them into months and find a publisher... it will bring in thousands.
If a WI in Yorkshire can do it by posing naked... then please... tap into the Catholic Community for the same return. We always get an Aid To The Church In Need Calendar..... why not a Catholic Bloggers Calendar ? I'll still buy one from ATCIN, but send it to someone else.
And do send a complimentary one to The Tablet for their office wall.
Happy Feast Day to you and every Patrick on the planet.
You know, I think this calendar idea might have legs ...
"If a WI in Yorkshire can do it by posing naked... then please... tap into the Catholic Community for the same return."
Well said, Bernadette; how about performing a ditty from "The Three Priests" in your local parish talent show?
Adding to the theme of amending words in hymns (but at the risk of opening a can of worms) I know that our parish hymnbook contains a fair amount of revisionist text. Today I looked up one of my favourite Passiontide hymns, 'O come and mourn with me awhile' and found two examples: "...while soldiers scoff and people sneer"; and "...for mercy on people's poor souls" or similar.
Now this is an interesting example because originally it was only the second verse that was altered so that "...men deride[d]" rather than the Jews. But this falls foul of the later tendency to gender-neutral references hence the second revision - but in my opinion, a very poor one, since it disrupts the rhyme of the verse. And "poor souls" seems rather condescending.
Whether the hymnwriters would accept that as the Church moves with the times, so must their words be suitably altered is a moot point, although there might be a risk that not to do so might also condemn some of their work to history. Perhaps the most balanced approach would be to just not use some verses rather than distort them in such clumsy fashion...
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