The Catholic (Universal) Church and Baptism

Yesterday we celebrated a happy and moving Rite of Baptism for Several Children - five in total, belonging to four lovely couples who took part in our Baptism Preparation class one week ago.

It was rather busy on the altar with the priest, Fr Kevin Dring, parents, godparents and infants. With one or two children we use the baptistery at the back of the church, but with several families it gets crowded and it is difficult for family and friends to see and participate effectively.

The word 'Catholic' in Catholic Church means 'universal' and I was reminded of it by the variety of nationalities present: among the four couples were nationals of Argentina, France, Cameroon, Ireland - and of course the United Kingdom. Several more nationalities were present among the friends and relations attending - and Fr Kevin's opening welcome in both English and Spanish clearly surprised and delighted one couple from Peru.

In the front porch is a poster underscoring the global nature of the Church. The parishioners attending the Sacred Heart Church come from more than 40 different nationalities - 46 at the last count.

The Church is considered Catholic/Universal in at least two key senses: as Christ is present in the Church, which is His visible body, and since He transcends dimensions, she is necessarily universal; she also has a mission and is organised to evangelize the entire world. The Sacrament of Baptism - the 'door to the Church' - is key to this. To Christ's own command to 'make disciples of all nations, baptizing them... (Matt 28:19) is the related promise that 'The one who believes and is baptized will be saved...' (Mark 16:16). So, yes, there's a lot of happiness involved in baptisms - the first stage on the journey to Heaven!  

(Almost) A Summer's Day

It’s a busy time of year but it was so beautiful this afternoon that I tore myself away from the computer with its reports, half-finished accounts and secretarial returns, to walk down the hill to Hove Park.

Bright blue skies, an unusually warm mid-April day at almost 70 degrees Farenheit and the flowers in our garden have started to come out...

 

...but our brown fingers are no competition to our neighbours Jim and Joyce who have true green-fingered skill and a passion for gardening. Their garden is an orderly riot of colour and good taste that probably adds value to every house in the street.

 

Walking down the hill towards Hove Park, there is evidence of vigorous life and growth everywhere, particularly the brilliant flowers – in fact once or twice as I passed gardens shielded from view by hedges or trees the enticing bouquet from hidden flowers sneaked out and tweaked my nose.

Certainly some of the blossoms and flowers are fading. The daffodils, still plentiful, are beginning to bow down while the blossom trees are starting to lose their blossoms.

 

Most of the deciduous trees are still bare and stark, their twisted limbs outlined against the sky. Whole streets are awaiting the restoration of their leafy canopies and, in some cases, the city council’s pruning seems to have been rather severe – a number one haircut!

 

 

But, elsewhere, there are signs of new growth and, looking closely, there are green buds and dwarf leaves. It won’t be long before all the city’s trees are wearing their summer green, providing shade and refuge for the birds.

 

In the park people are already sunbathing and enjoying games. Can you see the frisbee?

Clue: look closely at the seated couple in the middle of the picture.

 

 

 



 

There!

The earth is awakening and life is beginning anew.

An old friend of ours went home today. When I say old, she would have been 95 years old if she had lived another three months. She slipped away peacefully this morning at 6.30am. Fr Kevin had given her the last rites a day earlier and we visited her yesterday afternoon. She was not conscious of our presence and the only sign that she was still alive was the occasional movement of the throat as she breathed. Because the hearing is the last sense to go, we prayed the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be... at her bedside and said our farewells.

She was not destined to enjoy the summer in all its glory - but I’m sure her destination was infinitely more enjoyable.        

Summer has just arrived in Brighton (& Hove)

According to the meteorological view, summer in the Northern Hemisphere does not start until the 1^st of June and continues until the end of August. In Brighton & Hove it seems to have started already...

Today saw the opening of our ‘summer season’ with the Brighton Marathon. This is followed by various car meetings and displays throughout April, then, in three weeks time, the largest arts festival in England, Brighton's 49^th annual Festival of music, theatre, dance, circus, art, literature, debate and events – over 700 of them – during three weeks in May.

Then we’re into serious fun time with the London to Brighton bike and vintage car runs, Paddle Round the Pier tomfoolery, mud-spattered races, naturist bike ride, the Fiery Foods Festival, national speed trials, Pride Annual Parade, Rugby World Cup festivities and a few hundred other joyous events. Then the Veteran Car Run from London to Brighton in November signals the wind-down of Brighton’s season.

The Brighton Marathon – pardon me, it really should be called the Brighton & Hove Marathon – only started in 2010 so this is its sixth year, but it already attracts over 15,000  runners for the 26.2 mile course, many linked to the over 400 different charitable fundraising causes. This year the men’s winner was Duncan Maiyo, a Kenyan (in 2:10:15) and the women’s winner was Pennina Wanjiru, also Kenyan, in 2:34:25 - in fact, Kenyans have won eight of the 12 top men’s and women’s places since 2010.

Today I walked  along the cordoned-off Church Road in Hove just before the Brighton (& Hove) Marathon began. It was a brilliant sunny day with bright blue skies and a forecast top temperature of 13 C (55 F). Volunteers were setting up the stalls for water supplies for the runners.

There was a raucous noise of horns in the distance and soon the official race car appeared heading the ‘honour guard’ of a convoy of scooterists and motorcyclists, moving slowly past Hove Town Hall, sounding their horns...

...followed by a fleet of a couple of dozen Minis and small cars, with balloons attached, weaving from side to side and also tooting.     

 They were followed by a police car, police motor cyclist, then pedal cyclists in orange tops, escorting the first runners.

 

(Eventual winner, Duncan Maiyo, is on the right)

 It seemed like a good 10 or 15 minutes before more runners arrived, first the occasional one or two, then the first woman runner, then a trickle and then a flood.  

Of course, being part of Hove, we're quite laid back about this sort of thing and if we can have a good brunch at the same time as enjoying the atmosphere...

Let's hear it for the caped crusader...

And for someone who's just full of life!

Alleluliah - He is Risen! - He is Risen Indeed!

As dusk fell, almost five hours ago, Georges the senior Altar Server and his daughter Cassandra lit the brazier. The wood caught fire and the flames leaped up as we gathered round warming our hands.

At the stroke of 8.00pm Father Kevin and Father Francis emerged from the Presbytery carrying the large Paschal candle. The congregation stood quietly in a semi-circle, holding their own unlit candles. Fr Kevin then performed the first ceremony of Easter Vigil, the lighting of the Easter candle, incising it and inserting grans of incense and blessing it before bearing it in procession into the darkened church.  As the congregation entered, they lit their candles from the Paschal candle, passing the light to their neighbours until everyone had a light and the church was lit by the warm glow of a couple of hundred flickering candles.

Then, by the light of these candles, the liturgy of readings began, the organ and choir high in the loft pouring out praise after each reading. Then came the point where the priest announced 'the light of Christ' and, in a sudden thunderous burst of bell-ringing and a blinding illumination, all the lights in the church were turned on and the altar servers scurried round lighting all the candles - even the candles high up on the side walls, lit just once a year. In a moment the church was ablaze with light.

This year we had eight candidates and catechumens join the Church and the beautiful ceremony then took place we all renewed our baptismal promises, the prospective members professed their faith, were blessed, anointed with holy oils and were joyfully welcomed into the Church as full members. The congregation broke into loud applause, sharing their joy and welcoming them into the family of Christ.

Finally, it was Mass, Easter Mass, a very special one for both the new and the old members. I was serving as a Eucharistic Minister and stood with my chalice to the left of the altar.

Then, almost three hours after we had begun, it was over and we left the church, wishing each other a Happy Easter, taking one of the proffered chocolates to break our Lenten fast - enjoying the sweet taste of Christ risen.

It's early the next morning now, I'm too tired to write much detail - apologies - but please enjoy the photos... (they are a bit grainy, it was rather dark!)    

***********************

 

It's now 11.20am on Sunday morning. The 9.30am Mass, traditionally the children's Mass, where they undertake the readings (from a children's simplified version of the Bible), sing their own hymn (with gestures!), take the collection and process the gifts, was packed, absolutely packed. All the pews were full, people scrunched up against each other like sardines, the overspill stood at the back of the church, down the sides and even in the entrance and in the porch outside. As we queued for Holy Communion I experienced something I've never seen before - the line came to a complete stop for a few minutes. Holy gridlock!

 

Alleluliah - He is Risen! - He is Risen Indeed!

Hove’s Ecumenical Good Friday Walk of Witness

The weather forecast  - ‘heavy rain all morning’ – did not bode well for today's Good Friday annual Walk of Witness with sister churches in Hove, especially since quite a few of the walkers were elderly. And, indeed, it rained all morning, a constant cold shower of rain from leaden grey skies, right up until we reached the final Station at St Andrew’s Church.

Surprisingly, there was a good turnout. Last year I counted about 150 walkers and this year I recorded 164 as we set off from St John’s Anglican Church at Palmeira Square at 11 am. Mind you, I only saw one four-legged marcher this year, compared to at least four dogs last year.   

Umbrellas were the order of the day as the Rev. Paul Doick of St. John’s switched on his megaphone and, after the first Station of the Cross (I. Jesus is Condemned to Death), and five verses of ‘Take up thy cross, the Saviour said,’ we set off in a long and straggly silent procession along Church Road.

As we crossed Church Road via the pedestrian crossing the traffic was forced to stop for a minute or two. Several impatient motorists sounded their horns; being a driver in Brighton & Hove can be a stressful matter without having to cope with a shuffling conga line of the devout.   

Our first stop was in front of the beautiful All Saints Anglican Church in the Drive, renowned for its lunchtime concerts of classical music. The second Station (II. Jesus Falls) was followed by the hymn ‘Crown him with many crowns,’ the words almost swallowed in the roar of traffic and the endless rain.

Then it was off again, dodging the cars until we reached my own church, Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Norton Road. Fr. Kevin Dring led the worship and ended with the ‘Hail Mary’, particularly appropriate since the third Station was ‘III. Jesus Meets His Mother.’ After four verses of ‘Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord’ our sodden procession squelched on to the Central United Reformed Church at Ventnor Villas, a couple of streets away.

There is no traffic island or barrier in front of the church so the photograph of this Station (IV. Simon of Cyrene Helps Carry the Cross’) usually gives a good idea of the size of the procession – but not today, the umbrellas obscure much of the gathering. After a more tuneful offering of ‘My Song is Love unknown’ we continued on to George Street, the main shopping street of Hove.

Truth to tell, George Street isn’t much of a shopping street. It has a handful of high-street chain stores such as Boots the chemists, WH Smith books and Robert Dyas for home and garden supplies. Then there is a bank branch, a couple of pubs, several coffee shops, a few small shops and a great many charity shops, more a statement on the present economic situation than the locals’ love of thrift and bargains. (That said, at least George Street saves us from having to travel into Brighton for the essentials in life, like browsing the latest magazine issues).     

Today, George Street was virtually deserted, shoppers were sheltering indoors. We prayed the next Station (V. Jesus is Stripped) and, in the reflection, pondered on our behaviour to others, including the homeless and destitute. At this, one of the homeless men sheltering in the doorway of the closed-down Phones4U shop loudly applauded (see the extreme left of the photo above). Two verses of ‘O sacred head, sore wounded’ and we were on the move again – just a hundred yards further on to the bottom of George Street where we prayed the next Station (VI. Jesus is Nailed to the Cross) and sang ‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord?’ a hauntingly beautiful  American spiritual.    

Then the Revs. Douglas Holt Paul and Phil Ritchie with cross-bearer Michael Rainbow led us on the final stage to our last stop, St. Andrew's Anglican Church. St. Andrew’s is a fine early Victorian structure surrounded by a churchyard (which includes the grave of Sir George Everest, once Surveyor-General of India, whose name was given to the world’s highest mountain).

The rain had finally stopped and we stood outside the church, among the gravestones, praying the final Station ‘VII. Jesus Dies on the Cross’ and singing ‘When I survey the wondrous cross’  probably Isaac Watts’ best hymn. There is a haunting melancholy to the words, a solemn and aching wonder at the extent of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. The lyrics are over 300 years old but they still have the power to move the spirit.

...Love so amazing, so divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

 Then it was hot drinks and food in the parish hall - Deo gratias!

Homeless Night Shelter Wrap-up

The Brighton & Hove Churches' Winter Night Shelter has just completed its 18-week run from November 2014 to March 2015. Tonight, we had the Church Coordinators' final wrap-up meeting.

A total of 108 homeless men and women were referred to the Shelter by four of the city's front-line agencies that deal with the homeless on a daily basis; First Base, Project AntiFreeze, YMCA and the Crime Reduction Initiative. About half (52) of these individuals gained places in the Shelter. A total of 16 persons - including all four women - out of the 52 that entered the Shelter were subsequently provided with housing by the local authority - a great result. It is a condition of entering the Shelter programme that individuals have to engage with initiatives to improve their lot, such as attend housing or work interviews, attend addiction programmes or undertake relevant training.

At Sacred Heart Church we looked after 21 separate homeless guests during our nine-week spell, including three women.

Interestingly, this season we have seen more individuals with deep-seated problems that, in many cases, arose at an early age, whether it was mental health issues, trauma or a particularly negative experience. Also, there seems to have been more fractiousness between individuals, particularly over the Christmas and New Year holiday period. Finally, the baleful influence of 'legal highs' on the behaviour of several guests was quite evident this year. 

This was the first time that the Shelter made places available for homeless women (in previous years other specialist agencies had looked after them, or they remained on the streets) and the innovation was an undoubted success. Apart from the guests that were successfully housed, there were other examples of individuals who began to transform their lives, and, in at least one case, embraced faith. Of course, there are others who returned to the streets with little to look forward to and will revert to their addictions. But, as Tom, one of the Central Coordinators, remarked, all the guests' lives were impacted by the love and care they experienced from the Shelter volunteers and, in God's own time, and if it is His will, the love they experienced will bear fruit. Similarly, it seems to have been a common experienced that, once again, the Shelter volunteers were greatly enriched by caring for those who have so little.

‘For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow...’

Three days ago it was our parish priest Fr. Kevin’s 50^th birthday. He became aware that some of the parishioners were arranging a hush-hush party for him in the Parish Room and – a little embarrassed - agreed to attend, but requested that there be no gifts.

The expression ‘blind bit of notice’ describes well what followed. On Saturday evening the tables were laden with a huge variety of food, there were streamers and balloons galore, the wine flowed - and he was presented with a very generous gift, the result of stealthy collections organised by a ‘well known lady of the parish.’

This morning, when our little team of counters arrived at the presbytery to count and bank the weekend’s collections, the dining room table that we normally use was somewhat occupied...

 

So, it's Happy Birthday to Fr. Kevin.