Ladies' Night

Last night was Ladies’ Night for the Crawley Catenian Circle!  Bro Mark will no doubt make his own posting on this including photographs, but being a lady I felt eminently qualified to write something too - as well as taking the opportunity to say thank you to the “boys” for a lovely evening out. 

It was of course Ladies’ Night in a very profound sense, because we celebrated the annual Mass for deceased Catenian wives.  Fittingly they came first; the evening began with Mass at St Theodore’s Church in Gossops Green and included the mention by name of each wife.  I am more than sure they were all with us as we celebrated the Mass... that is the beauty of the Church as a place of timeless communion whose walls encompass both the living and the dead.

We were all delighted to welcome Fr Terry Martin as our celebrant.  Those of us from Horsham parish were particularly thrilled to have the chance to worship with him again and to exchange a few words.

After Mass we nipped round the corner (braving a sudden downpour) to Goffs Park Hotel, the usual venue for the Catenian Circle meetings.  The men took themselves off to do... um, whatever men do at a Catenian Circle meeting, whilst the ladies gathered to enjoy a glass or two of wine and have a chat.  The ladies’ get-togethers are always a nice opportunity to catch up with people you haven’t seen in a while.  We don’t all move in quite the same circles (or even live in the same town) and so it’s nice to let this particular Circle gather us in.  Amongst other things there was much talk about children and grandchildren, stressing the fact that the Catenians are far more about family and friendship than about some sort of gentlemen's club-type gathering (despite the secrecy surrounding the meetings, but that might just be because somehow I’ve never pinned Bro Edek down to give me a blow by blow account of what happens!).

Whatever men do at a Catenian Circle meeting was obviously particularly exciting last night, because we managed to get through a fair amount of wine and chat before they finally piled out. I know they had the pleasure of welcoming visitors from other parts of the Catenian world and I’m sure Bro Mark will tell more.

The evening finished with a meal which was unanimously pronounced to be very good and I daresay everyone slept rather well afterwards!  Thank you to all for an evening of family, faith and friendship which included those who, whilst no longer with us in one sense, are still very much here in another and still very much loved.

St John's Pro-Life Blog

I have added St John's Pro-Life Blog to the blog roll in the right margin. You can see at a glance when the last post was made on any of the blogs in the roll.

Blogging for life

A group from St John the Evangelist RC Church in Horsham, the parish from which many Crawley Circle Catenians hail, has just launched a new blog entitled St John's Pro Life (well, I have no doubt that he is and that he considers the pro-life message an important part of Evangelism!).

The group in question is the parish pro-life group, to which your Vice President's wife belongs. I have put up a link to the Crawley Catenian Association's blogsite on our pro-life group's blog, for an Association which aims to support family life is by definition "pro life".  Being pro life is about so much more than opposing abortion.  Indeed, at its heart it is a "for" rather than an "anti" ideology.  We aim to do our bit in the defence of human life from conception until natural death because we believe passionately in the dignity, sanctity and immeasurable worth of every human individual - in whatever stage or condition of life.  It is our support for each other that makes life worth living, and love that is at the heart of true quality of life.

By promoting the value of each and every person we hope to work towards a society in which families, friendship and faith can flourish.  Haven't I seen talk of those three somewhere before (eyes up)...?!

In short, I believe that the Crawley Catenians and the St John's Pro Life Group have lots in common.  Why not pop over to our blog and judge for yourself?

Christmas Charity: Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund

£200 of the money made by the raffle at our Christmas Dinner was given to the children of St Wilfrid's School to enable them to meet their target of raising £1,000 for the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.

A group of eleven year-10 student leaders here at St Wilfrid’s have been working to raise money for the Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund. We have been given a target to raise £1000 by 16th December and so far, through all commitment and dedication, have raised around £800. This has been through activities involving our school and parish such as raffles, a sponsored walk up Box Hill, cake sales and donations. All the money raised will go to Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund- a charity making Nelson Mandela’s final wish come true. Nelson Mandela’s final wish is to build a hospital in South Africa for children, as there are only 4 children’s hospitals in the whole of the continent, whereas there are 4 in London alone. We would be delighted by any donations and any support you and the circle of Catenians are offering as every penny, every pound counts towards the making of the children’s hospital. Thank you for your kind offering and support.

Visit to Epsom Circle 19th January 2012

Visit to Epsom Circle this week

The fact that we are visiting Epsom Circle later this week has revived memories of my schooldays in Epsom in the fifties.

One thing I remember is being told the story of the arms of Epsom by one of my masters. Before the war, a public competition was held to design a coat of arms for Epsom Council. The master in those days was a young man rather more irreverent than he had since become, so he decided to design a joke coat of arms and submit it to the competition.

"People have only ever heard of Epsom for three reasons," he said to himself. "Epsom races, Epsom Downs and Epsom salts. And nothing has ever happened in Epsom, except that Henry VIII built Nonsuch palace there, which got knocked down centuries ago".

So he designed a shield with horses on Epsom Downs over Epsom salts being swirled around in water, and added a satirical motto "None Such".

Of course he won the competition. Joke on him!

Problem Solved!

I was talking to a cousin of my sister-in-law at a family lunch yesterday. He's the finance director of a major investment bank.  He's a very active Anglican and somehow the conversation got onto the subject of church fund raising. I mentioned that I was in charge of the fund raising for the refurbishment of St John's (whatever form this eventually takes).

"Ah," he said, "you won't have any problem there. I've got a friend who's a Catholic and every time he wants money for his church he just asks the Carthusians and the money is there."

My ears pricked up. I had visions of the monks at Parkminster handing over a few hundred grand to St John's.

"Ask my wife", he said, "she knows the details."

Turns out he meant the Catenians. Be warned!