The Marvels of the Rosary

A corner of the office

Our year seems to be speeding away, as we change season, we can't help but think of the past memories of the summer, of time spent with loved ones and friends in the heat of the sun. Now with autumn we find ourselves planning ahead, making provision for the cold, for nights in and for sunny but cold afternoon walks with the crunch of leaves underfoot, picking onions and searching in drawers for jumpers and hats.

Our life of Faith also has times of change and preparation, our prayers develop and grow like the season of our Year, also what is going on in our lives has an effect in and to our prayer. As you know October is the Month set aside in honour of Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Rosary can help us focus in the busy day to day of life with Our Lady's help to see Christ in our lives, in the change and decay of life, in the growth and new beginnings of life and in the waiting and dormant parts of life. The Rosary with Mary’s help, love and aid can help us connect our lives and join them to her Son, who wants us to give him everything.

The Rosary is made up of two things: mental prayer and vocal prayer. In the Rosary, mental prayer is none other than meditation of the chief mysteries of the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother. Vocal prayer consists in saying twenty decades of the Hail Mary, each decade headed by an Our Father, while at the same time meditating on and contemplating the twenty principal virtues which Jesus and Mary practised in the twenty mysteries of the Holy Rosary. So why not spend some time with Jesus in school of Mary.

 (From Crawley Parish Newsletter)

New Blog for St John's

St John's Horsham has a new blog. You can find it at http://stjohnshorshamrc.blogspot.com/

Here is one of the latest entries:

Crawley Circle Catenians

Many thanks to the catenians of the Crawley Circle for their hospitality at Ghyll Manor, Rusper this evening. We dined on excellent soup and sea bass. Mike Newman, the circle president and a Horsham parishioner welcomed the clergy and sisters. I was privileged to reply on behalf of the guests. We spent some time thinking about vocations. Happy priests inspire vocations to the priesthood and the happiness of priests is in no small part due to the care and concern and love of our parishioners. I think we were all inspired to pray hard for vocations. Mike gave Fr Terry Martin, vocations director for our diocese, a cheque to help towards his work. We were told that the dinner was a thank you to the clergy and sisters for their work. Since Fr Aaron and I have only just arrived we felt rather spoilt so early in our tenure.

From Fr. Terry's blog

Crawley Catenian

Over at Crawley Catenian you will find an informative blog telling us all about the life and mission of the local circle of the Catenian Association.  They're an impressive, generous and likeable bunch.

Once a year, so Catholic are their ways, they invite all the local clergy for supper in a nearby hotel/restaurant to say thank you for their ministry.  Priests, deacons and sisters gathered, together with brothers and their wives, for a lovely dinner and a congenial evening.

Very generously - and it came as a wonderful surprise - the circle presented the Vocations Director with a cheque to support the work throughout the diocese in promoting vocations to the priesthood.  This was a generous and gracious thing to do and every penny will be carefully spent.

God bless you all - and THANK YOU!

News from the USA

Our Immediate Past President, Bro. Dominic Moorhouse, and his wife Emily are travelling around the world. You can follow their adventures on Dom's Blog at http://dommoor.blogspot.com/.

An extract:

Thankfully both we and our Nissan Altima Coupe survived the week intact. It took a while to get used to the initially confusing road sign and numbering system, the ability to turn right on a red light and the habitual lethargic pace of traffic on most of the roads.

Only once during the week did I regret not ticking the GPS rental option - when we looked for and unfortunately, and inexplicably, couldn’t find Harpers Ferry, despite repeated frustrating attempts. Fuel in the USA is an amazing 50p per litre but our 2.5litre V6 automatic made every attempt to guzzle as much fuel as it could even at the slow moving pace, often due to the air conditioning necessitated by the 80 degree Fahrenheit temperatures. Washington was a nightmare of one way streets and poor directions.  We never did find the well sign posted visitors information centre having circumnavigated its supposed location repeatedly from all possible directions, but only once got caught in the apparently infamous commuter traffic that explodes out of the city every evening at a snails pace.

Death By Fatal Murder

Over thirty Brothers and wives gathered at The Capitol theatre in Horsham on Thursday night to enjoy this rib-tickling “Inspector Pratt” murder mystery set in an English country house during the Second World War. Bro Philip Hayden astutely observed that it seemed to be very much in the style of erstwhile TV comedy series ‘Allo ‘Allo and later research has proved that it does indeed come from the same stable! (Well done Bro Hayden, a great future as a theatre critic evidently awaits you.) In fact it even featured an ‘Allo ‘Allo star – Richard Gibson, aka Herr Flick, here again cast as a military man but this time a very charming English Squadron Leader. Also immediately recognisable in a distinguished cast was good old Dirty Den from Eastenders - sorry, I mean actor Leslie Grantham – playing an archetypal amorous Italian by name of Garibaldi.

The star of the stage, however, had to be Christopher Elderwood who gave an hysterically funny performance as the bungling Inspector Pratt and completely failed to solve the mystery of a murdered police constable or to figure out anyone’s real identity (hardly anyone proved to be quite who or what they said they were). Luckily more astute minds were on hand to piece together what really happened and all was finally revealed.

This was comedy at its best and there was scarcely a moment to catch breath between the laughs. An excellent evening, preceded for some of the party by a delicious meal at the China Brasserie across the road. Our thanks to Bro President and Bro Vice-President for organising the outing, and to Bro Gerry Lydon for coordinating the meal arrangements on the night. And of course to Ian Dickinson Productions Limited for an evening of good clean(ish) fun!

Tie Spotting

At this month's Circle meeting we were pleased to see our Bro. President's ties have returned to form.

A detail of the above

His example seems to have effected some other circle members.

Bros. Mike Georgeson and Jim Brophy

The Marne 2014

Mark Forster writes:

I mentioned at last night's Circle Meeting that I had had an idea for raising funds for charities, to include Catenian charities. I have recently returned from the Commemoration of the 97th Anniversary of the First Battle of the Marne in France, and it has struck me that in three years time it will be the 100th Anniversary. I am sure the French authorities, who keep this commemoration going faithfully year by year, will make a really big thing of the 100 year mark.

My idea is to do a sponsored walk over the entire route which my former unit, the 1st Battalion The Northumberland Fusiliers took during the Retreat from Mons, followed by the Advance to the Aisne. My idea is only in the very first stages of development at present, but I am hoping I can get the support of the military and civil authorities in France as well as my own former regiment. I have already got one new recruit, Bro. Mike Newman, who has enlisted as my batman for the duration!

Here is the map of the route taken from the regimental history. I have marked the retreat phase in red and the advance phase in green. Click on the image to see more detail.

Below is a photograph of the British Army monument at La Ferté sous Jouarre, showing the Mayor and other local dignitaries with our party and French standard bearers. The British War Memorial bears the names of over 3,000 members of the BEF who fell at Mons, the Retreat from Mons, Le Cateau, Marne and Aisne who have no known grave.  

Finally here is a link to a French video of the main commemoration at Mondement, where the main memorial to the battle of the Marne is situated.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkxlbo_commemoration-de-la-premiere-bataille-de-la-marne_news

If you want to skip the speeches in French, an extract from the leader of the British contingent's address is at 05.54

The Foley Niblick

Peter Frisby writes:

The players assembling for Niblick 2011

I am very pleased to confirm that we raised £350 last Tuesday during the 30th Playing of The Foley Niblick and I would like to thank those who took part in this most enjoyable day. Your presence and generosity ensured that a great time was had by all and that we raised a significant amount of money to help Fr Chris McGuinness in his ministry. A cheque has been sent to St Patrick's Missionary Society for the above amount to be forwarded to Fr Chris.

Our winner on the day For the Niblick was Phil Gidman. Second was Andrew Brzezina and Third Peter Frisby.

A. Pinder presenting the Niblick to the winner, P. Gidman

The Winning guest was Bob Sparks, second Simon Hulme and third Michael Frisby.

B. Sparks the guest winner

The winner of the Pat McDermott Memorial Trophy was Francis Benham.

John Maher presenting the Pat McDermott Trophy to Francis Benham

Our congratulations to all the worthy winners. They were delighted with their lavish prizes!

We raised £190 through the raffle. Thank you to all who gave prizes for the raffle - most generous.

A big thank you to Manus McDermott for all his help before and on the day and thanks too to David Tillson for his help with the raffle.

Crawley Wins the Visitors Cup!

Mike Newman writes:

Seven Brothers from Crawley Circle all successfully made it to Seaford Circle's meeting last night (12 September). A total of 62 attended the meeting, including 2 visiting gentlemen and 32 visitors. Their Treasurer is now receiving therapy (or would be if they had the funds).

Martin Klust was presented with a cheque for over £500 from the Province in thanks for all the work he has done at Circle and Provincial level since 1968.

The visitors came from Circles from all across the Province so our seven proved to be a sufficient number to enable us to collect the Visitors Cup. Seaford President Paul Allen will present the Cup to George Powell at the Provincial Council meeting on Wednesday.
[In the absence of a photo of the Visitors Cup, your editor has used a photo of a completely different cup for illustrative purposes.]

Arundel and Brighton Diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes 2011

Jim in the Grotto

 Jim Warren writes:


Pauline and I are back from Lourdes, just a month ago now, and on Sunday 4th September the pilgrimage reunion was held at St Wilfrid’s school, an opportunity to share memories and photographs with new friends and old.

There is something about the A & B pilgrimage to Lourdes. People ask if we go expecting to witness a miracle - the 66th miracle of Lourdes was officially recognised in 1999 and this was for a cure which occurred in 1987. 1858 was the year Our Lady revealed herself to Bernadette - so in something over 150 years and with visitors and pilgrims amounting to 6 million a year, no, we don’t go on pilgrimage anticipating a “miracle”. It could be said the biggest cause for wonder and amazement is that the pilgrimage occurs at all. The organization is incredible and all credit must go to the small dedicated team of volunteers who bring it all together. Everything is thought through, right down to the provision of colour-coded labels for our luggage.

Some 750 pilgrims make the journey each year. Of those upwards of 200 or so will be requiring quite a lot of support, and so there is the need for 450 or so helpers including doctors and nurses. Now in today’s secular and egocentric world, a helper is an odd one. He or she gives up a week's holiday, hands over £600 to the A&B Pilgrimage Trust and spends the week helping strangers.

The pilgrimage has the same slot year on year. We  begin our journey on the morning of the first Thursday of the school summer holidays, arriving in Lourdes on the Friday morning, and we leave Lourdes on the following Thursday afternoon, arriving back in England about mid-day on the Friday - so nine days then, during which the helpers have to pretty much stop thinking about themselves and concentrate on making sure fellow pilgrims, sick and disabled, are happy, fed, watered, etc. It is quite a challenge and the wonderful thing is about a third of those helpers have just finished school, 18 year olds, girls and boys, often spending their first time away abroad without their parents. These young people of the “must have it now” generation rise to this challenge and give of themselves in a manner which would amaze those who watched the recent riots on TV.

We all witness small miracles everyday at Lourdes in the caring and love which everyone shows for each other, and there are many who say “why can’t the other 51 weeks be like this?”

Catenians of the diocese share in this love by the support which they give to the pilgrimage, in many cases assisting these young people with the cost and supporting the  Sick Fund, which aims to ensure that all sick people who want to go on pilgrimage with the diocese can do so whatever their financial circumstances.

In Lourdes we said a prayer for all Catenians and their families worldwide, and in that we were joined by many brothers. It is perhaps not surprising a good contingent make the pilgrimage each year.

It will take a time before we come down from the “high” that the pilgrimage gives us, and when we do we start to look forward to next year.

A Warm Catenian Welcome in Sunny Seaford

Edek and I were delighted recently to receive an invitation, via George Powell, to attend a barbecue thrown by Seaford Circle in the hall and garden of St Thomas More Catholic Church, Seaford. The occasion was a “come and see” for local parishioners who were interested in finding out more about the Association.

It was a glorious blue-skied, late summer’s day as we travelled over the Downs last Saturday; the gentle roll of the green hills and that first glimpse of the sea sparkling as one mounts the crest of the downs never fail to prompt a satisfied sigh and stretch! There is just more room to breathe up there...

This sense of relaxation did not abate when we arrived at our destination, however, as we could not have received a sunnier welcome. We found the members of the Seaford Circle to be very friendly. They would also have made excellent PR officers for Seaford’s estate agents or tourist offices as they extolled the virtues of the town to us! Seaford is certainly pleasantly located with a backdrop of rolling downs to one side and the sea to the other, bang next to Newhaven and with Brighton and Eastbourne both within easy reach. (However I am conscious that this is the Crawley Circle blog so perhaps had better finish this particular digression now...!)

George, Edek and I enjoyed our burgers and hot dogs seated at a table with Paul Allen, the President of Seaford Circle, whose wife Brenda (pictured left with Paul) and some other local ladies had greeted us on arrival. It was a pleasure to meet and chat with Martin and Mercia Lamprecht, originally from South Africa; Martin disclosed that he had first been invited along to a Catenian function some months earlier and ever since had kept an information leaflet sitting in his desk at work, where it greeted him every time he opened his top drawer. Hopefully the barbecue will have prompted him to take things a step further.

All in all we had a hugely enjoyable afternoon, meeting amongst others Michael Logan, Seaford Circle Membership Secretary (eyes right), who we trust made some rich pickings! We would have joined! Afterwards Edek and I attended Mass in St Thomas More Church where the welcome was continued by parish priest Fr Niven. We were treated to a presentation at the end of Mass by one of the parish’s young people who had attended World Youth Day: an impressive 14 youngsters had attended from Seaford.

The occasion was an example of Catenian brother (and sister) hood at its best and we would like to say a big “thank you” to the Seaford Circle for welcoming us along.

Visit to Houses of Parliament - 31 August 2011

Wow! What a roof!

Bro. President gets some ideas for his next tie

Bro. Peter shows off his German translation skills

Meeting our guide

Counting the historical errors made by the guide

Too hot to handle? Maria and the world's first fire door

"Where do they keep the jewels?" Anneli explores the Jewel Tower

Recovering from the exertions of climbing the Jewel Tower

Sealed Knot at Loseley Park

Crawley Circle President Mike Newman will be taking to the field with the Sealed Knot over the August Bank Holiday at Loseley Park Near Guildford. He has been a Musketeer with the Tower Hamlets Regiment of the London Trayned Bandes for over 20 years.

  The Sealed Knot charity commemorates our history in a number of ways. Principally by performing re-enactments based around battles, skirmishes and sieges of the English Civil War. Where possible, they try to perform re-enactments on actual Civil War battlefields, which the Sealed Knot may well have been involved in preserving for future generations and in key locations, where possible on the anniversary of the event. This includes annual events at Nantwich, Cheriton, Basing House, Stratton, Marston Moor, Naseby, Edgehill and Ripple. The Sealed Knot take part in about 200 events a year. These vary from large battles with over 1,000 infantry, cavalry and artillery combatants to schools visits, battle field walks, talks and memorial services.

 The Society has long had a tradition of self-sufficiency in its membership and members equip themselves as per the roles they portray. Within regiments you will find a family atmosphere and people willing to help. Details of the arrangements for events are published in the society magazine "Orders of the Day" and each event has a camp site, supply of drinking water and toilet facilities. Often there are additional facilities such as beer tents, caterers, and evening entertainment.

  As an educational charity the Sealed Knot encourages an interest in our heritage through performing re-enactments, but also by providing educational support through school visits, discussions and lectures.

 The Loseley Park events will fall in the large battle category.  There will also be a Living History camp plus displays by groups re-enacting other historical periods.

The George Batty Cup

Rookwood Golf Course

George Powell writes:

On Friday 23rd. September, the golfers from Crawley Circle will be competing against Reigate Circle’s golfers for the return of the George Batty trophy at Rookwood Golf Course in Horsham. We lost it to Reigate, after a tough game at Betchworth two years ago.

Competitions for the Cup between Crawley and our neighbouring circle to the north have been held for many years, and have covered a number of friendly activities, but in the last ten years these have concentrated on golf, usually played at Rookwood when it is Crawley’s challenge and either Reigate Hill or Betchworth when it is Reigate’s.

We always remember George Batty in our prayers at the beginning of our Meetings, but not all our members will know that Brother George was a founder member of Crawley Circle, and he became its inaugural President at the Circle’s first meeting on 12th. April 1961, when 24 Brothers signed the Roll. Brother George played an active role in the Circle’s early years and served as Provincial President for the year 1967/1968.

The cup was donated by the late Brother Bill Ridgers of Reigate and Purley Circles, as a tribute to Brother George, after his death in 1975, and this has become a symbol of the friendship between the two circles ever since.

New Technology

Do you have trouble keeping up with new technology?

Never fear - it's been the same throughout all history.

Kindred Spirits

Whatever you may have read to the contrary, and despite the faults and flaws of the fallen human beings who belong to it, the Catholic Church is alive, well and thriving! Lay organisations like the Catenians are a great sign of the activity of the Holy Spirit in the Church and it’s good to know there are many such movements out there, each with their own charism and particular area of ministry.

One movement that has a good deal in common with the Catenians is Equipes Notre Dame (“Teams of Our Lady”). It’s an international organisation known in Britain as Teams GB and exists to support married couples as they live out the sacrament of matrimony with all its implications. Catholic in origin but by no means exclusively Catholic in membership, Teams was started in France in the 1940’s by Fr Caffarel and has flourished so much that there are now 10,000 Teams across the world with over 100 in Britain. Just over a year ago Fr Terry Martin, parish priest of St John’s, founded a Team in Horsham – known, logically enough, as Horsham 1 – to which Edek and myself belong.

The “Teams method” of living out married spirituality consists of attending monthly meetings and of following a flexible rule of life on a daily basis. At the meetings four or five couples meet together with a chaplain to eat, share the highs and lows of their lives, pray, read Scripture and study a spiritual topic. The meetings are relaxed and joyful affairs in which we experience support and spiritual sustenance alongside friendship and, inevitably, loads of laughter! The rule of life consists of a set of “Endeavours”: essentially encouragements to help us pray and read Scripture daily and sit down regularly with our spouse to really talk.

I can’t over-emphasise how valuable Edek and I have found Teams GB. Marriage is as much a path to personal sanctity as the religious or clerical life and it’s good to be reminded of that and helped in our efforts. Marriage and family life are enormous blessings but we all know they ain’t always easy! I do feel that the Teams movement has loads in common with the Catenian Association – they are kindred spirits in that both share the aims of “strengthening family life through friendship and faith”. Our witness to the love of God as expressed in the commitment of marriage is much needed in a world that often has difficulty understanding either.

Sadly, as Fr Terry moves on from his post as Horsham’s parish priest, he is also unable to continue being Horsham 1’s chaplain and so we have a vacancy to fill... Last night he attended his last Team meeting and here you can see him with the Holy Family icon we presented to him as a token of our (very great) appreciation.

You can find out more about Teams GB at their website, www.teamsgb.org.uk.

Catenians go to jail for lunch

Laurie Harding writes:

Sixteen Catenians from the Circle invited themselves to lunch at the Clink restaurant at the High Down Prison, Banstead. The establishment operates as a genuine restaurant with the object of training inmates for a job when they are released. We weren’t quite sure what to expect but everyone who attended was unanimous in their praise for the excellent service and  wonderful food that we were served.

There were a number of security checks before getting into the restaurant, which is situated within the prison itself. Photo ID was required and items including mobile phones, cameras, sharp objects and chewing gum were not allowed to be taken in. We were escorted from security as a group to the restaurant where we were locked in. The interior is furnished as one would expect for a good class restaurant with the exception of the cutlery which is plastic and no alcohol is allowed. The waiters were dressed in smart waistcoats and trousers and their attention to customers would put many restaurants to shame.

The lunch itself was three course with two or three selections for each and everyone said how delicious the food was.  Everything is prepared in house including the bread and ice cream.

At the end of lunch we had to be escorted back to security as a group and as the restaurant barred door was locked we realised that we had one person missing who turned out to be Gerry Lydon who had gone to the loo. There followed a small debate as to whether we should leave him there but on consulting Betty we decided to tell security we were missing someone - principally because he was our provincial councillor.

Everyone agreed that it was a great experience and also what a brilliant idea it was to prepare the inmates for an occupation on their release.  

Friends of Lisiecki Homes in Poland

Andrew Brzezina writes:

In the photograph I am handing over a cheque for £720 to Renata Sapieha, President of FLHIP - my charity as Provincial President.The charity Friends of Lisiecki Homes in Poland helps the most disadvantaged children in Poland.

The photographs shows members of the FLHIP Committee. Some Eastbourne Circle brothers are members and David Hiley is Treasurer.

Renata is a real Princess. I have never been kissed by a princess before and I did not turn into a frog!

Cathedral Spire Topping Out Ceremony

 

It's good to report that the new Cathedral Spire was successfully "topped out" by Bishop Kieran last Thursday. Read all about it here.

Your Editor is pleased to see that the Bishop uses the same make of camera as he does.

Diocesan Clerical Manning

I've mentioned before that prayer for vocations is one of the major ministries of the Catenian Association and is something every Circle does at every meeting. This should of course extend into our own private prayers and actions.

The importance of this is emphasized by the following summary from a recent address by Bishop Kieran concerning Diocesan clerical manning:

• The Bishop explained that since 1963 the number of priests has declined while the number of parishes has increased. The Catholic Church nationally, including the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, is facing a demographic time bomb with more priests retiring and dying than are being ordained.
• There are about 80 priests in the diocese. The diocese is just coping at the moment but the unexpected illness of 2 priests and the death of another has caused major challenges for the diocesan clerical manning pot. Put simply, the bishop said, the status quo cannot continue; something has to change.
• The ratio of priests to laity in the Diocese is 48,000 to 80 priests.
• The Bishop mentioned that he is often asked to look at sources of overseas priests, from Africa or Poland. He counselled against this approach citing the difficulties experienced by the Diocese of Southwark, who have tried this option. He also stated that we should not be exploiting Africa where, contrary to popular belief, there is a much greater shortage of priests than in UK.

With acknowledgements to Our Lady of Sorrows RC Church, Effingham.

A Rallying Cry

There has of course been one major news item this week – the riots in London and other major cities. Now, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to associate the Crawley Catenian blogsite with my personal opinions on the topic. I’m certainly not going to opine whose fault the riots were. In any case the media are already packed with analyses far more astute than any I’m qualified to make!

However, I think I can venture that this sort of scenario is not what Jesus had in mind when (in Luke 6:20) He said “Blessed are you who are poor”: and that when He promised “for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven” He did not mean the first-century equivalent of plasma TVs and cool trainers. Neither is it just the “disadvantaged” sector of society that indulges in dangerously selfish behaviour, even if it's often manifested in ways that are less physically violent (though for that reason more insidious and therefore, in a sense, even more dangerous). As has been widely commented, our society seems to lack an overarching value system that enables us to get on together and promotes cooperation and therefore social cohesiveness. Morals are eminently practical things whether one has religious belief or not.

To go just a little deeper, I don’t think I’ll be courting controversy to state on a Catenian blogsite that, as a Christian, I believe in the fundamental role of a strong family to nurture individuals, give them a sense of identity and self-worth and an appreciation of the dignity of the human person; a worldview, in fact, that does not set the acquisition of power and material possessions as the pinnacles of aspiration but sees a deeper value to life.

Yes, all this has already been said. Let’s take the opportunity, though, to relate it to ourselves as members and wives of the Catenian Association. We belong to an organisation dedicated to the support not only of a group of people, but to the values and beliefs they (we) espouse. More accurately, perhaps, it’s an organisation dedicated to supporting us as we espouse our values and beliefs. In short, the Catenian Association provides us with fellowship as we work to build a society that recognises a shared value system: one that treasures individuals rather than being individualistic and aspires to a quality of life that is more than merely material.

We may each feel we can only make a humble contribution to that building work, but make it we must. If we each just lay a brick or two we’ll build a house... and eventually a whole Kingdom. Belonging to the Catenians and flying a public flag for our faith is a good start.

He died between the 'drest crab' and the boeuf en daube

I don't know if anyone else in Crawley Catenians knew Brian Brindley, once Chairman of the Business Sub-Committee of the General Synod of the Church of England. There is a reminiscence of him in Saturday's Daily Telegraph by Damian Thompson, who was present at his death ten years ago, .

I knew him for a few years, while we were both working for the Diocese of Chichester, prior to his defection to Rome (followed many years later by my own). He was someone not easily forgotten.

Transfiguration thoughts and thanksgivings

Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, a feast I love because it is so rich both in encouragement and in gritty reality. As our parish priest at St John’s, Horsham – Fr Terry - pointed out at Mass this morning, the disciples could not prolong their mountain-top experience with Jesus, Elijah and Moses indefinitely, but had to learn to bring the inspiration they had received back down into the valley of everyday life and, further, into the difficult times that lay ahead in Jerusalem. In the same way, this is for us a feast that fires us up with a vision of the glory of God and of the ultimate destiny of our humanity. At the same time it reminds us that in the here and now we will have to struggle, but always with hope.

For me, the white crucifix at St John’s (pictured here courtesy of the parish web site) speaks of both these elements: future hope and present comfort. When I lift up my eyes and heart to the Lord at Mass, I see a broken God-man hanging in shining-white glory. The glory gives hope; but the broken man offers me the comfort of a Saviour who has walked where I have walked and grieved as I have grieved.

When we walk and grieve with others, we are extending to them this glorious-broken comfort of the Cross. Our family has been blessed to experience a great deal of such comfort in the difficult times a child’s illness has brought to us over the past year or two. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Crawley Catenian Circle for their kind prayers, which have helped to transfigure our own experience of the challenges of daily life. I know there are many others too who are indebted to Catenian prayers and support.

The Priesthood: Alter Christus

What is a priest? What does a priest do? What makes a good priest?

These and other questions are posed to young Catholics, seminarians and priests throughout the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in this DVD resource (£9.99) especially produced in the Year of the Priest by Mary's Dowry Productions.

"This excellent presentation is perfect for use in schools, youth groups, prayer groups, Confirmation classes and RCIA and gives a dynamic, relevant and interesting look at the priest and his ministry. Filmed on location at Brighton beach, Arundel Cathedral and Saint Pancras Catholic Church in Lewes, this important DVD resource has an accompanying question booklet for further discussion and information. Produced in collaboration with the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.  Many thanks to the Diocesan parishes and Catenian circles that have financially supported the production of this DVD."

 The Parish Priest of St Pancras, Lewes, is Fr Richard Biggerstaff who will be moving to St John's, Horsham, next month.

Visit to Haywards Heath Circle 2nd August

Ten of us went to Haywards Heath with high hopes of winning the visitors cup. Our intelligence had reported that nine brothers from Seaford Circle would be attending. Was our intelligence correct? Did we win? Watch the video to find out.

Editor's Recommendation: Rick Stein's Spain

Having made my first recommendation recently, I'm now feeling like getting into the swing of it. So here's another:

If you love food and/or you love Spain (and I love both) then you must watch Rick Stein's Spain. Be prepared to literally drool. You can still catch the entire series on BBC iPlayer - but hurry because the whole of the series is only available until 17th August.

A Little Known Fact

It's a little known fact that the Crawley Catenian Circle also includes Horsham - where's that? you may ask. But never mind - Horsham has noticed us!

"Just" having fun

I will admit that before I got to the stage of encouraging my husband Edek to join the Catenians, I had a few mental obstacles to overcome (it took me a while to recognise a good thing when I saw it!). One of them concerned spending a certain amount of time and money (as “middle Britons” with a family, we don’t have either of those in as much abundance as we’d like) on membership of an organisation that was, as I thought, purely social. I could see the value of the Association in the days when Catholics were struggling for acceptance in the business world and needed their own network of support. But this hardly applied in the twenty-first century. Shouldn’t we join something “worthy” and do good, instead?

Before the Crawley Catenians rise up en masse to quite rightly debunk what I have just said, I will emphasise that the Catenian Association and its members actually do loads of good – for example, raising substantial amounts of money for local and national charities and supporting parishes and dioceses in a number of ways. And of course, being a Catenian doesn’t preclude membership of a charitable organisation: plenty of our members do both!

Above and beyond all that, though, I have learned not to turn my nose up at the “purely social”. Like everything else in our created world, relaxation, fun and companionship are gifts from God. Like everything else in our world, they can be horribly abused and exploited. They can be mindless distractions from the deeper realities of life or they can be grace-filled means to grow closer to Christ. One way or another, what we do in our spare time will shape us. It will either diminish us and contribute to the debasing of the world, or it will enrich us and empower us to fulfil the fundamental calling of the lay person – to order the world in accordance with God’s will. One good way of doing this is to share the warmth of the fellowship we have experienced with others (aka evangelisation).

In short, I realised that encouraging my husband to join a Catholic social network was a very “worthy” choice to make. Here’s to having fun... Cheers!

New Arundel & Brighton Vocations Blog

February 2011, Fr Gerard Hatton, then the Diocese's newest priest,
assisted at the altar by then-deacon, now newest priest, Fr David King

Fr. Terry Martin, still Parish Priest of St John the Evangelist Crawley, has already been getting moving on his new post as Diocesan Vocations Director by starting up a new blog called "I will give you shepherds ... "

The priestly vocation is a gift from God. It is undoubtedly a great good for the person who is its first recipient. But it is also a gift to the Church as a whole, a benefit to her life and mission. The Church, therefore, is called to safeguard this gift, to esteem it and love it. (Pastores dabo vobis, 41)

As Catenians, one of the things we pray for at every meeting is vocations to the Priesthood, Diaconate and the Religious Life. We should take seriously this call to prayer, and following from that our responsibility both for encouraging others to think about their vocations and for discerning the path to which the Holy Spirit is calling us personally.

Catenian Pilgrimage Banner

A new Catenian pilgrimage banner is now available for use. It features our three patron saints - St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas More. Whilst it was designed for Pilgrimages, it can also be used on many other Catenian occasions.

The Banner's first outing was during the Province 4 Pilgrimage to the Shrine of St Winefride at Holywell, North Wales, where it was blessed by the Parish Priest, Fr Salvatore.

For details of how to hire it, see the Catenian Association Website.

New Spire Installed on Arundel Cathedral

If you visit our Cathedral or even just view it at a distance from the road passing Arundel, you will see that a new spire has just been installed. It's expected that it will be a few weeks yet before the scaffolding is removed, but it's hoped to have a topping-out ceremony with the Bishop sometime this month.