De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

  I know I moan a lot on here but part of the reason I do that is so everyone knows where we are and why things are the way they are. Not just in the Church at large, but locally. Despite the great gifts given to our dioceses in terms of time, money, buildings, etc, there is a great tendency to do nothing or support the wrong things. I suppose the obvious element here is leadership. You have to have strong leadership in any successful project. You have to know you can ask the leader if you don't know what to do. You have to be confident that the people in specific jobs know what they are their for and that they have the confidence of the person in charge. A bishop is not like the boss of a business. He is WAY more powerful! The bishops are sovereigns in their dioceses. The pope doesn't tell them what to do - the pope is the bishop of Rome and he does have universal jurisdiction but this is something which is very seldom exercised. It doesn't matter if there's an annoyin...

This blog is subtitled: “It is written,  ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.” We had a beautiful Corpus Christi procession on Sunday in Leigh-on-Sea, Deo gratias! The Church was fairly full, but really one would hope that the whole Parish family would turn out to this event. Indeed, Father Kevin has expressed his own sadness that this is not the case in his homilies leading up to the feast. As my wife expressed it, a large part of the congregation is made up of the First Holy Communion families as the children take part in the procession, the rest are the stalwart parishioners. So why is this? The institution of Corpus Christi as a feast resulted from approximately forty years of work on the part of Juliana of Liège, a 13th-century Norbertine canoness, also known as Juliana de Cornillon, born in 1191 or 1192 in Liège, Belgium, a city where there were groups of women d...

Steve delivering his Speech at the Southend-on-Sea Catenian meeting last week. As I reported on the 28th of June , Southend-on-Sea Catenians were fortunate to be joined by Steve Webb, director of BCCS who gave a truly inspirational speech linking together the themes of community, BCCS and the Catenian Association. Steve has been good enough to provide a transcript of his speech in order that I can share his wisdom with my readers. So here it is—enjoy!! SOUTHEND ON SEA CATENIANS 27TH June 2013 COMMUNITY—BCCS—Catenians. Groucho Marx famously claimed that he did not want to be a member of a club that would have him as a member, but that has never been my feeling. I have always been happy to be a part of something where people have common interests and can share experiences. Right from day one I was a member of my family and that served me very well for many years. Family has to be at the heart of everything. When I was 11 I joined the scouts and I got a woggle, lot...

 We had an excellent Catenian meeting last night. It was great to meet up with the brothers after a month and catch up on how everyone has been. We meet every month at the Park View Suite , who always do us proud with a wonderful dinner, and last night was certainly no exception, with a sumptuous three course meal, brushcetta, followed by roast lamb and chocolate souffle with mint ice-cream. Lots of visiting gentlemen from  Chelmsford's Catenian Circle and Steve Webb was also present, director of Brentwood Catholic Children's Society . Steve Webb with Archbishop Vincent Nichols Brentwood Catholic Children's Society provides counseling for children and young adults up to the age of eighteen, regardless of their beliefs, together with their families, who could be experiencing emotional difficulties.It was started in 1984 by Mgr. John Armitage, much beloved priest of our diocese, who, following the closure of the Children’s Homes in Basildon, adopted the role of ...