Rome Reports...

The intrepid trio are being immortalised by Rome Reports as the "Trio-lars" ! I'm sure that they are used to all sorts of weird and wonderful pronunciations of their surname by now. Anyway, their tremendous achievement, cycling from Sidcup to Rome, made it onto Rome Reports TV (who left out the "Sidcup-to-Canterbury" bit of the journey!).

The two charities didn't get a plug, though, so I figure that I'll make up for the oversight by reminding you all that the Treloars funded the trip for themselves, and then decided to raise money for their two favourite charities on the back of their pilgrimage. The two charities are Mary's Meals and the Cardinal Winning Pro-Life Initiative. You can still make a donation via the donations page - they are currently at £3,912 - but they plan to close the page soon, so get those donations in as soon as possible.

Here's the news report...



Mantilla-twitch to Leutgeb who saw it first.

Faith Summer Session Photos...

Fr. Tim Finigan was the official photographer for the Faith Summer Session this year, and so he has put up the group photos onto Flickr where everyone can admire and download (or print off) any photos they want.

I didn't manage to take quite as many photos as I'd have liked, particularly the informal shots, because being on crutches made it a little difficult to wield a camera... However I have put up a selection of the best ones up on my own Flickr page.

Somehow or other, despite being corralled into the auditorium for the official photo session, I managed to avoid being included in any of the photos. I didn't quite escape unscathed... I was nabbed by one priest, but since he doesn't blog, I might just get away with it...

Poets' Day...

...or, push off early, tomorrow's Saturday!

(Even though I'm still on holiday, I'm considerate enough to think of those who are less fortunate!)

Day 4...

Call me paranoid, but I think Sylvester might be getting a trifle impatient...

Oh well... nothing a tin of tuna won't fix.

Ok. Make that two tins...

...smoked salmon, perhaps...?

Networking...

As Fr. Tim has pointed out, the Faith Summer Session is a great opportunity for networking. I suspect that there are quite a few bloggers around today, especially as it's the day for visitors. If we manage to get a bloggers' photo, it should prove interesting.

Two priests were giving out First Blessings after Mass today... I think both of them are leaving the Conference this evening, so they couldn't be spread out. I did, however, manage to get one of the First Blessings last night, so I was hopefully able to clock up two Plenary Indulgences for the Holy Souls.

I was delighted to be able to chat with James MacMillan last night - yes, it was the James MacMillan, the composer, not someone with the same name, nor a drug-induced hallucination. I was extremely flattered (and somewhat flabbergasted, to be frank) when he told me that he'd read my blog. Not very frequently, to be sure, but he'd read it. Yes, I'm name-dropping, and I don't care who knows it! So now I can claim to have bought a drink for Delia Smith (yes, the Delia Smith, she of the egg-cookery-instructions... though that was a few years ago) and James MacMillan. James was even kind enough to buy one for me too... (I discovered that the bar at Woldingham stocks Bailey's)

I'm really looking forward to his lecture this afternoon: it's not particularly concerned with music and the liturgy, but will address evangelisation through music (at least that's what I recall of the conversation from my alcohol-induced haze!)

I also got to meet up one of the speakers involved with Catholic Voices. Very nice chap... he seemed pretty on the ball and very articulate, so I'm quite encouraged. He said that he, too, read my blog... but only the spat with Mr. Ivereigh, which might explain why he seemed a little wary of me...

Heheheheh...

Getting Along...

I'd forgotten how big Woldingham School is. It's set in really beautiful grounds, but, being on crutches this year means that I'm not in the best position to appreciate them. Walking between my room, the Auditorium, the Chapel and the Dining Rooms is proving to be harder work than I anticipated. However, I am not complaining: the congenial company, excellent talks, and marvellous facilities more than compensate... The exercise may even go a little way towards helping me become less... errr... large. Then again, given the very nice food, perhaps not...! People have also been really kind to me, carrying trays, opening doors, and bringing me cups of tea... and something a little stronger in the evenings.

Faith has held its Summer Session here at Woldingham School for many years, and, as I have also been involved in the past as a helper on both the Faith Summer Break and the Southwark Diocese's Altar-Servers Break (also held at Woldingham), I've gotten to some of the staff quite well. They are really lovely people, always cheerful and very keen to help us in any way they can.

Now, if only the British Summer would start (sorry, I mean stop... we've had torrential rain and thunder and lightning this afternoon!) things would be perfect.

A Real Treat...

I am awfully excited... I have just found out that the Guest Speaker for tomorrow evening's session is none other than James MacMillan.

I seriously hope that I haven't gotten the wrong end of the stick in my Tramadol-and-diazepam induced haze, and it turns out to be some other James MacMillan...

...that would be embarassing!

Faith Summer Session Well Under Way...

I promised Sir Dan of the Nesbitry that I would post something about the Conference...

There are over 200 young people present at the Faith Summer Session in Woldingham, including over 30 priests and more than seminarians, and it's going really well so far. Last night, Fr. Michael John Galbraith opened the proceedings with a good introduction, entitled The Church: Foreshadowed from the beginning.

Among other things, he explained that Catholicism is attracting a lot of antagonism, and there is an almost visceral hatred of the Church, because she claims to teach objective Truth. This is a real challenge to our society which wants everything to be seen as relative.

This morning it was the turn of Fr. Tim Finigan to give his talk, The Church: Our living link to Christ. Despite my speculations as to whether any new technological breakthroughs would be forthcoming, Fr. Tim stuck to PowerPoint for the presentation; I really hope that he will make the slides available online, because there were several very fascinating quotes which I'd really like to look at in more detail.

Fr. Tim explained that the Faith vision particularly took the Scotist view of the Incarnation, namely that Christ would have become incarnate even if our first parents had not sinned. He then showed how this lead organically to the conclusion that the Church must also have been intended. There was a quote from one of the earliest Christian literary works, The Shepherd of Hermas (I think) which described the Church as an old woman because she had been the first to be created, and the world was made for her sake. This seems to me to be one of the most powerful arguments against those people who say things like "Oh yes, I believe in God, and in Jesus, but not in all that Church stuff..."

I'm having a really great time (no surprise there) and I'll post again as soon as I get the chance...

Oooooh... Time For A Video!

Leutgeb of Bara Brith fame thinks that it's a real shame that this video has had less than 3000 hits, and wants it to go much higher. The computer I've found at the school doesn't have speakers (and the earphones I have for my iPhone don't seem to work on it) so I have absolutely no idea what the soundtrack is... I shall find out on Friday.

In the meantime, though, I shall do my bit to raise the hit rate on the video...

Day 2...

The second day of the Faith Summer Session sees His Hermeneuticalness giving one of the talks. I'm interested in what he might have up his sleeve this year, because, after having championed it for many years, he has started to refer to PowerPoint as terribly passé.

I shall endeavour to stay alert and take photos.

I'm still on painkillers, though, so I don't actually hold out much hope...

Blogging Lite...

I'm off to the Faith Summer Session at Woldingham this week. I don't know if I'll get a chance to blog - I'll certainly have a go.

I have to say that the titles of the talks look a little daunting: they're all about the Church. I expect that the recordings will find their way onto the website in due course - in the meantime you can listen to the talks from last year's Summer and Winter Conferences.

Normal blogging will hopefully resume on Friday.

Siberian Hamster...

The inimitable Fr. Z has been having hamster trouble.

It seems that the little hamster in the sidebar has been causing some browsers to load slowly, or to scream "malware detected," and so, Fr. Z has decided that maybe the hamster has to go to join all the other little hamsters in the skies...

...though Vincenzo (the Photoshop whizzkid) decided that perhaps the hamster ought to be sent on pilgrimage to Rome...

I'm afraid that every time I hear "hamster," I start chortling. The classic BBC series Fawlty Towers had an episode called Basil the Rat (I used to think it was The Health Inspector, but apparently not.) Now, unless you have seen the episode, you won't appreciate the connections between rats and hamsters. I have looked in vain for the relevant clip on YouTube, but they only have a later part of the episode.

The health inspector pays a visit to the hotel, and Basil Fawlty goes up to Manuel the waiter's room to get him to sort out the dead pigeons in the water tank. Then he spots Manuel's pet...

I can't remember my favourite scene exactly, and searching Google hasn't helped. But basically, it goes like this:

Basil:"What's that?"
Manuel: "He my hamster."
Basil: "It's a rat!"
Manuel: "I think so too... I say to man in shop, he rat, he say no, he filigree Siberian hamster, only one in shop, special price only five pound."
Basil: "It's a bloody rat. Don't you have rats in Spain, or did Franco have 'em all shot?"

Anyway, Polly the maid pretends to give the rat to a friend to look after. In reality, they hide it in an outbuilding... and, predictably, the rat escapes. Polly, Terry the chef and Manuel all try to find the rat before Basil Fawlty discovers the deception...



This is just such a funny episode, and there's no more on YouTube, so I'm going to download it from iTunes.

It's Getting Closer...

There has been a lot of negative publicity given to the visit of the Holy Father. I have to admit, when the organisers were making such a hash of the preparations, I was extremely dubious about the whole thing.

However, now that details of the Holy Father's itinerary have been published, and the ticket allocations for each parish have been dished out, I sense more excitement about the visit. This is despite attempts to put a dampener on the events by focussing on the cost of the tickets. Leutgeb has countered that hoary old chestnut very adroitly.

Our parish's ticket allocation for Birmingham has been snapped up, and the Hyde Park tickets are pretty much all gone, so our Parish Priest is busy trying to get hold of spares from other parishes.

Stuart McCullough alerted people to the fact that Fr. Armand de Malleray, FSSP is encouraging people without tickets for the Hyde Park event to turn up to a different part of the park and pray the Rosary, accompanied by some of the priests from the FSSP. There are details given on their own website.

I definitely won't be able to go to either event - I was doubtful before, but my recent ligament injury has confirmed it - though I still hope to be able to go and line up along a route somewhere to wave a flag. The mood has changed, and the organisers of the Papal visit are encouraging the faithful to line the streets, while the use of the popemobile will help to make the Holy Father more visible.

Our parish newsletter has been giving suggestions for how we can prepare for the Holy Father's visit, and I was delighted to see that the FSSP have much the same idea:

"...please make sure you devote special time to pray for the spiritual success of Pope Benedict’s visit. Let us not underestimate the great power of prayer and of mortification. This is a unique opportunity. Our Blessed Lord surely expects all souls of good will to intensify their prayers for His Vicar on earth as he is about to visit Our Lady’s Dowry."

Excellent suggestion!

The Next Leg Of My Recovery...

Sorry about that blog post title...

Today I had the 7-day follow-up appointment at the hospital fracture clinic. I was a little bit naughty - my appointment was actually for 10:30am, but I wanted to go to Mass first. Working on the assumption that hospital outpatient departments never succeed in seeing anyone on time, I decided to risk a late arrival, on the understanding that I might have to end up waiting until everyone who was on time had been seen first.

I was delighted to see, when I got there, that the clinic was running an hour and twenty minutes late.

First I had to have some more X-rays taken. I was a little confused, because the doctor in A&E had told me that I had torn a muscle. I had been slightly dubious at the time, as I had distinctly heard (and felt) a cracking/snapping in my knee, and my not inconsiderable experience of knee problems had led me to assume that this indicated damage to a tendon or ligament, as muscles don't crack, but I was willing to accept that I could be wrong. To be honest, I liked the idea of it being a muscle, because they heal relatively quickly, with nothing other than rest, elevation of the affected limb, ice packs and painkillers. Anyway, torn muscles don't show up on X-ray, and I thought it was a rather unnecessary waste of time, but, since I was doing my cooperative patient bit for the Holy Souls, I dutifully hopped off.

When I finally got to see the orthopaedic chappie, he gave me a thorough examination (rather more thorough than the one I had last week, but then again, this week I wasn't screaming my head off every time someone touched my leg). It still hurt, but not as much. He proceeded to zoom in on the X-rays - they were on the computer screen, and I was dying to hand over a USB stick to ask for a copy, but I refrained. He didn't strike me as having much of a sense of humour. Then the discouraging noises started.

It seems that I have damaged the medial collateral ligament, and may have damaged the meniscus as well. I have been given a knee brace to wear - a horrendously uncomfortable hinged thing, which is designed to stop the knee from bending too much in the wrong direction. I will also have to have physiotherapy - but there is a waiting list for this, despite the doctor writing "urgent" on the form. Finally, I have to have an MRI scan - luckily they had a slot at the end of August. A follow-up appointment with the orthopaedic chappie will then decide whether or not any surgical intervention is needed...

Ho hum...

As an interesting aside, during the consultation I made a reference to myself as "fat." The doctor told me that they weren't allowed to say that any more, but he was having difficulty in remembering the "acceptable" terminology while trying to ascertain whether there was an underlying medical reason for me being "...ummm, errr... large." My comment that I liked eating and didn't like exercise seemed to disconcert him just a trifle.

Home Are The Wanderers...

They made it back to Blighty, safe and sound, and with bicycles.

This morning, after Mass, the trio of cyclists posed for a photo-shoot (at the insistence of His Hermeneuticalness) - I was pretty miffed, because I didn't have my camera handy.

I did have my iPhone, but, as I have noted before, the camera really sucks. No flash. Very poor colour balance. No zoom...

The photo I took was awful. I altered the colour balance and lighting as much as possible, which is the only reason that anyone's face can be seen. I think I am going to have to start carrying my snazzy Canon IXUS 100 around with me all the time, because I've been caught short on several occasions...

However, the trio also agreed to pose outside (mostly on the insistence of their mother, who wanted them to stand by the statue of Our Lady, where they had posed at the beginning of their epic voyage) and the iPhone camera is much better in natural light (though still leaving a lot to be desired.)

I was already running late for my hospital appointment, so I didn't have time to get a properly posed shot, nor to chat to the three pilgrims. Bless them - they seemed more concerned about my recent misadventure than with their own achievements.

Do go over to their donations page if you haven't done so already...

What Goes Around, Comes Around...

I wondered if this would happen.

I have been tagged for the three favourite prayers meme...

It took ten days to make it back to me!

Antidote To The Olympics...

This made me chuckle...



Twitch of the mantilla to the indomitable Anna Arco (although she actually posted it on Facebook!)

Difficulties In Communication...

When I originally got broadband, there was a special offer on the bundle package of internet, phone and cable TV. I soon realised that the TV part of the deal was a complete waste, as I rarely watched it. I then decided that I resented paying the license fee for the anti-Catholic rubbish produced by the BBC. I promptly sent the set-top box and activation card back to the cable company, and gave the TV away.

In common with many teachers, I put off lots of little jobs until the Summer holidays, when I have the time to deal with them. One such item was sorting out the phone and internet package, and I decided that today would be a good time to attend to it.

After negotiating those irritating automated menus (You now have two options. Press 1 if you are ready to gnaw open your radial artery with your own teeth; press 2 if you have given up the will to live...) I got through to a real human being.

I explained that I wanted to arrange the best broadband-only deal, or to arrange a better broadband and phone package deal. I didn't want TV included in the package.

Unfortunately, the human being was working from a pre-arranged script.

"That's ok, the TV package is included free with the phone and the internet. There's no extra charge."

"No, really... I don't want the TV package."

"But it's free. It doesn't cost anything."

"I don't want the TV package. I don't actually have a TV."

"Ummmm...??!  No TV...?? Can I put you on hold for a minute...?"

*Sigh*  We got there... eventually...

Book Alert...

I have a confession to make: I still haven't finished reading Jesus of Nazareth, by the Holy Father. It's on my "to do whilst horizontal" list - unfortunately, if the past few days are anything to go by, I won't get much reading done, as the painkillers tend to make me zonk out as soon as I put my feet up.

The bits I have read are very good, though, so I intend to persevere. I've even downloaded a copy of the audiobook version onto my iPhone, so that if the words start wandering around the page (the painkillers are very good) I can try to listen to it.

Jane, from her Oasis over there in France, reports that the Holy Father is working on a book about the infancy of Jesus. I think that he has a book due out this Autumn - but I wasn't sure if this was the infancy book, or whether it's the third one in the series. I recall reading somewhere that the Holy Father had planned his work to be in three parts, each of which would be capable of being read alone...

Anyway, it looks as if I'm going to have to invest in another bookshelf...

They Made It...!

It seems that the triumphant trio arrived in St. Peter's Square, Rome on Saturday evening.

They made it in 20 days - 19 days if you make allowances for the day they spent in hospital with Gregory after his collision with a lamp-post. I still want to hear how he managed that one.

The trio have been enjoying the sights of Rome, and will be returning to Blighty in a couple of days. There is still time to make a donation via their charity fundraising page, and absolutely all of the money raised will be divided between Mary's Meals and the Cardinal Winning Pro-Life Initiative, as they funded the trip themselves.

Many, many congratulations on this amazing achievement.