De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

I have spent the last week on Pilgrimage in Lourdes , France. Lourdes is a small town in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains, on the border with Spain. The town is famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes which occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous . Lourdes is a very special place for me. It is where I met my wonderful wife in 1989, and has become one of those places which seem central to the story of our lives. I went back to Lourdes last year for the first time in some 16 years, after spending many springs and summers there as a youngster with the HCPT and ACROSS, helping handicapped children and adults. You can read about that here . This year, the Parish went on pilgrimage there and Louise suggested I take our youngest son John. This meant I was in Lourdes without Louise for the first time ever, which was a bit strange. It was also the first time I have been with my dear friend and parish priest, Father Kevin Hale. Also, I got to travel with all ...

Mike at the Pantheon in Rome Lou & I had a lovely surprise this week when some friends contacted us to let us know that our second son, Michael, was featured in the local newspaper. The report was about a local public speaking competition which Mike had been representing his school at the finals of. His teacher had this to say about his performance: Michael Lambert performed admirably well in the Jack Petchey public speaking regional finals, delivering a very passionate and moving speech about his faith. It was great to hear such a powerful Catholic message delivered so eloquently by one of our pupils. While he did not get through to the national finals, many people congratulated him and even said he should have won! —Mr P Griffin. Established in 1999, The Jack Petchey Foundation gives grants to programmes and projects that benefit young people aged 11-25. The Foundation exists to raise the aspirations of young people, to help them take advantage of opportunities an...