Bishop Alan in Conversation

Last night (18/12/14), Fr Dominic Howarth hosted an evening of discussion with Bishop Alan Williams. The talk focused on Bishop Alan's discernment and journey of faith. 

It was prayerful, entertaining, inspiring and interesting in equal amounts. Fr James Mackay both 'live tweeted' the event and we have recorded our story here:

https://storify.com/iTeachRE/bishop-alan-in-conversation 

The evening finished with informal conversation over fish and chips. Bishop Alan told me that he has taught both physics and RE before. He said "Physics was easy, it's very straight forward... RE that the hard stuff!"

He is very much looking forward to visiting Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School as soon as his diary allows... and he admitted that he lets someone else look after that as it is so busy!

Fr James has also blogged: http://jamesm79.com/2014/12/19/an-evening-with-bishop-alan/ 

A full video of the evening is found here: http://brentwoodvocations.org/conversation/bishop-alan/

"Thank God! I've won The Voice!"

Picture from Sky News

An Italian nun has won the country's version of The Voice. Sister Cristina Scuccia, who has even sung a duet with Kylie Minogue on the way to the final, ensured that she thanked God and Pope Francis for her victory. She received an unprecedented 62% of the telephone vote.

After being announced as the winner, she led the TV studio audience in the prayer Our Father. She then broke down in tears, she then said: "My presence here is not up to me, it's thanks to the man upstairs."

A little later, stood next to the mother superior of her Ursuline order, Sister Agatha, she added: "I really didn't expect all this... My aim was to say that I have encountered Jesus. I have a gift and God gave me that gift and I have used it to say that God has taken nothing away from me. The priorities in my life are prayer, getting up early and teaching at my school. I will never give up on my vows and the greatest love of my life for a singing career."

This video already has 52million views on YouTube:

Do you think it is right for a nun to be entering competitions like The Voice? What will she do with the winnings? She now has a professional recording contract, do you think this is right? How do you think she will cope with the fame? Do you think people just voted for her because she was a nun?

Read more: http://news.sky.com/story/1276796/nun-thanks-god-after-winning-italys-the-voice 

Frank Skinner, Fatherhood & Meditation

Frank Skinner is most commonly associated with his popular Saturday morning radio show on Absolute. However he is also a stand up comedian, former prime time chat show host and committed Catholic. He regularly attends Mass at Farm Street Jesuit Church in Mayfair.

He returned to the Catholic Church in his late-20s, after being disillusioned with it in his teens. Now he feels he is able to discuss his faith openly, even on his radio show, "I find that the people in my line of work who talk to me about religion are often very interested, rather than very disparaging... Atheists and agnostics are often more interested in religion than the religious people."

His son, Buzz, was born in May 2012 and was baptised at Farm Street Jesuit Church in Mayfair; "When you've got a child, the love that you feel is like nothing else you feel in the rest of your life. And I think for the believer - certainly the parent - it gives you the clearer view of what a big painful, awful sacrifice that was. When they become your primary concern, ahead of yourself - for me, it's helped me to understand that sort of love of God, that selfless, forgiving love."

Frank Skinner has developed an interest in silent reflection and in his last book about life on the road as a stand up comedian he talks about Lectio Divina; "Through short periods of time, I developed the ability to stop thinking and clear my mind... And I suppose afterwards you feel peace. You start to feel very centred and that starts to inform the rest of your life. I feel that God is in that - in everything - and it's like that silence can make you feel it in yourself." 

Why do you think it is still unusual for celebrities to talk openly about their faith? Is there many Catholics who are as proud and as open about their faith as Frank Skinner? Do you think this helps others? Do you think its common for people to change their outlook to their faith as they go through life?

Read more <here>
Full interview: Read the interview with Frank Skinner - alongside features on the first Jesuit Pope (Francis), a preview of World Youth Day in Brazil and expressions of hope for Zimbabwe in the light of forthcoming elections - in the summer edition of Jesuits and Friends, available online at: www.jesuitmissions.org , from Jesuit parishes throughout Britain or by post from Jesuit Missions, 11 Edge Hill, London SW19 4LR.

Can modelling be a Christian job?

So during this busy exam season, the main motivation for many is the final job. Work hard at school, maybe go off to uni and then at some point most students want to be earning a decent salary to have a good lifestyle. But for Christians, does this job matter? Are Christians called to some form of vocation to live in a Christian way, not just in church, but in our daily lives? 

At 19, Kylie Busetti beat 10,000 other young women to win Victoria’s Secret Model Search back in 2009. She travelled the world, modelling lingerie as a Victoria’s Secret Angel - an absolute dream job for many. Even she said, "I thought the models I saw defined beauty, and beauty meant you were important". 

A year ago, she gave up the job for good.

Why? In an interview she said:

“My body should only be for my husband and it’s just a sacred thing. I didn’t really want to be that kind of role model for younger girls because I had a lot of younger Christian girls that were looking up to me and then thinking that it was okay for them to walk around and show their bodies in lingerie to guys.”

She has recently been back in the news after Victoria's Secret have claimed that the stories in her book, "I'm No Angel: From Victoria's Secret Model to Role Model", are not true. They claim that despite them asking her repeatedly she did not do as much modelling as she claimed.

However the industry is notoriously tough on its models and it is well believable that as her Christian husband was not a celebrity she was encouraged to tell people she was single. 

Her final decision came at an FHM magazine shoot when a photographer instructed her to pull up her top and "hold up the covers like you don't have any panties on". This was the moment for her when she fully realised that she was being paid to strip down and pose provocatively to titillate men. She said, "It wasn't about modelling clothes anymore; I felt like a piece of meat."

In an interview with LifeTeen she said, "The Lord graciously opened my eyes and heart to the fact that I was not honoring him with my body and I was not being a Godly role model to other young women. The Lord showed me that it was not respectful to model lingerie for other men to see me in and that my body should be for my husband. I had a desire to have a Christ centered, Godly marriage and I was not living out that desire by modeling in lingerie."

Watch a 2min clip of her story here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3m-J8enM3A

Read full interview with LifeTeen <here>

Read news articles <here> and <here> 

What do you think about Kylie's decision? How do you think her family reacted? Is this a classic case of the dream not matching the reality? Do you think young women should read Kylie's story to make them think about their career choice? Are there 'more' and 'less' Christian jobs? Does a Christian's job matter? Lots to think about with this...

Vocations: On the RISE

Last Sunday was Vocations Sunday in the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales; also known as Good Shepherd Sunday.
In 2010, it made the news that vocations were on the rise (Read more here). This was largely reported just after Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the UK. However many suggested that this very visit would have an impact on the Catholics of England and Wales and prompt more young Catholics to consider a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. This seems to have been the case:

"Entry to religious orders has continued to rise in England and Wales during 2012. For the third year running, the number of women entering religious communities has grown and this year has seen a noticeable increase in the number of men joining as well."
"Last year also saw the highest number of ordinations to the diocesan priesthood in nearly ten years, with 31 priests ordained for the dioceses of England and Wales." (Read more here)

This looks set to grow with with 41 projected for 2013. This is a rapid increase from just 20 in 2011.

Why do you think that this is happening? Does this indicate a bright future for the Catholic Church in the UK? Is the change in the way young people are encouraged to discren their vocation? Is there better support for those who consider this type of vocation?
The National Office for Vocation is found here: http://www.ukvocation.org
They have published a variety of resources for Vocations Sunday here: http://www.ukvocation.org/vocations-sunday-resources
GCSE students may also find this site helpful: http://www.calledtoday.com/

What does it mean to be a Catholic priest?

Many people think they know what it means to be a Catholic priest. It certainly is a 'job' that is above and beyond most others. It is also a calling that increasingly brings with it difficulty and struggle in our contemporary society.  

Fr Stephen Wang is a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Westminster, London. He is the Dean of Studies at Allen Hall seminary, where he teaches philosophy and theology. He was recently asked to summarise the meaning of being a Catholic priest in 1100 words. 

He begins: "The Catholic priesthood is an extraordinary vocation. Every Christian is called to bring the love of Christ to others. The ministerial priest, through the sacrament of ordination, is called to show that love in a special way."


"His vocation is to preach the Gospel and teach the Catholic faith; to lead God’s people in love, as a shepherd, as a spiritual father; and to celebrate the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, ‘for the glory of God and the sanctification of Christ’s people’ (Rite of Ordination). His whole being is transformed, so that he can be an icon of Christ for others, filled with the Holy Spirit, and a minister of grace."

"Catholic priests are ordinary men who never lose their humanity. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They have different backgrounds and personalities, different strengths and weaknesses. Yet they have all been called like the first disciples: ‘Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’ (Mt 4)."

"This is not just an ‘external’ call to do something for Jesus, but an invitation to draw closer to him and share his life more intimately; just as the Apostles, before they were sent out to preach and heal, spent time with the Lord in friendship."

After detailing some of the differences between priests in religious congregations, he goes on to detail further, the roles and responsibilities of the parish priest:


"Parish ministry is incredibly varied. In a single day a priest might visit children in the school, bring Holy Communion to the sick, support a bereaved family, help a couple prepare for their wedding, hear someone’s confession, prepare sandwiches for the homeless, and lead a sacramental programme in the evening. And so much of priesthood is simply being with others – sitting, listening, talking, praying."

"The heart of each day is the celebration of Mass, when all these concerns are offered to the Father in the Holy Sacrifice, and the priest leads his people in worship, repentance, thanksgiving and intercession."

"Some diocesan priests work full-time in more specialised ministries, for example, as chaplains in prisons, hospitals, universities or the armed forces. Some even work abroad as missionaries – a reminder that every priest is called to evangelise."

Fr Wang goes one to detail the vows that priests take and what these mean before continuing:


"The priesthood brings incredible joys, especially in seeing God’s grace transform people’s lives, and in the special bonds that are formed with laypeople and brother priests."

"There are also real difficulties and challenges. These can be in the spiritual life, in ministry, or in the ordinary human struggles that afflict everyone at different moments: tiredness, loneliness, stress, failure, sin. Like every Christian, the priest tries to live through his difficulties with faith and hope, staying close to the Lord, trusting in him."

He concludes with advice for young men considering the priesthood in forming their vocation. 

His reflections concisely explain something of what it means to be a Catholic priest, and some of the roles and responsibilities that a parish priest carries out. It is a careful reflection explaining some of Fr Wang's personal views on the role of the parish priest.

Is this what you expected a Catholic priest to say about his vocation? What surprised you about this account? What jobs didn't you realise a priest carries out? Could you sum up the meaning of Catholic priesthood in a few words?

Read it in full here: http://bridgesandtangents.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/the-meaning-of-the-catholic-priesthood/
Buy copies of the leaflet he has written here: http://www.cts-online.org.uk/acatalog/info_LF67.html 

BBC4: Catholics (Priests)

Filmed over six months and with extraordinary access, an intimate behind-the-scenes portrait of Allen Hall in London, one of only three remaining Roman Catholic seminaries in Britain.

This is the first of a new three-part series directed by award-winning filmmaker Richard Alwyn about being Catholic in Britain today. Each film - one about men, one about women, one about children - reveals a different Catholic world, showing Catholicism to be a rich but complex identity and observing how this shapes people's lives.

As the Catholic priesthood struggles to recover from the scandal of child abuse, numbers of men applying to join have fallen greatly. Just 19 men were ordained in England and Wales in 2010. In this first film, Alwyn meets the men who still feel themselves called to this role, including funk band roadie turned first-year student, Rob Hunt. A cradle Catholic, Rob ignored his faith for years before deciding his life was veering off course. With little education, he thought he had as much chance of becoming a priest as becoming an astronaut. Today, surrounded by boxsets of The Sweeney, he is adapting to seminary life.

Andrew Gallagher is in his final year at Allen Hall. Now 30, he previously worked in a City law firm, but felt he couldn't ignore a lifelong calling - at school, his nickname was Priest.

The film follows the seminarians through a timetable which ranges from Biblical Greek to lessons on how to live a celibate life. Everything builds towards priestly ordination when the seminarians believe they will be fundamentally altered as human beings, only then able to celebrate the Eucharist and perform the act that is central to Catholic life, the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

'I will give you shepherds after my own heart', said the prophet Jeremiah, stating God's chosen method for guiding His people. This film brings rare and moving insight into those who believe themselves to be God's shepherds in the 21st Century.

Watch on iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cl83g/sign/Catholics_Priests/

The reviews of this have been very positive (for example: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9100313/Catholics-episode-one-BBC-Four-review.html)

Have you watched it? Does it help you understand why some men still choose the Catholic priesthood? What difficulties do these men still face?

The following two episodes cover women and children apparently!