Trials of a Reader and more

Parish Life
I serve the 8am Sunday Mass at my parish and am also on the reading rota. Today, I received a very rare treat: the chance to do all the readings. Unfortunately, this was because the second reader wasn't well so I hope that the treat, as good as it is, doesn't come round again for a long time to come.

The downside to doing all the readings was that, in the absence of the parish priest today, I had to lead the congregation in singing the Gospel Acclamation's Alleluia. There was no way I was going to inflict my singing voice - such as is - on the congregation, however, so I was getting ready to just read the Alleluia out when one of the congro began singing it herself. I made sure to say thank you to her afterwards!

Also, apologies for using the word 'doing' above. It sounds if not vulgar then definitely second rate but I didn't want to say 'read(ing)' right next to 'readings' as that would have been repetitious. Is there another word I could have used? I'll probably think of it tonight. 

A priest friend of the parish priest was with us today so he celebrated the 8am Mass. The former's presence meant that I got to listen to them chat about the Archbishop's installation yesterday. It is always interesting to get an 'inside' take on Church affairs. It helps remind me that priests are human, too, more than just the persons who stand at the altar in persona Christi.

f.t. Parish Notice

w.b. 15th February 2026

As I write this on the 15th, The Catholic Info website is loading quite slowly. It may just be my internet, but I mention it in case you experience the same problem at your end. 

Catholic Press

I love the Mission Impossible films and have been watching the third film in the series over the last couple of days. M.I. III features Tom Cruise dressing up as a priest in order to sneak into the Vatican to kidnap the baddie (played superbly by the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman). It is a very entertaining section of the film. I'm sure if Cruise was not a Scientologist he'd make an excellent Catholic priest. 

image: @isaacwithers | unsplash.com

Vespers Tonight

After writing my last post, I read this evening's Vespers. The intercessory prayers could not have opened in more apposite fashion.

Father, we pray for N, our Pope, and N, our bishop: - guide them and bless them in their work.

On the day of his installation as Archbishop of Westminster, therefore, Catholics in the diocese get to pray for their new archbishop at evening prayer.

Installation of Archbishop Richard Moth of Westminster

I have just finished watching the Installation Mass of the Most Reverend Richard Moth. He is now the twelfth Archbishop of Westminster. Whoop! You can watch it over on Westminster Cathedral's YouTube channel. 

I would have loved to have been at the cathedral but each parish in the archdiocese was only given two tickets so there was no chance of that. 

Not being able to go was a shame. On the plus side, however, I was able to watch the proceedings from the comfort of my own home, and with a much better view than if I had been present at the event. This is probably why in 39 years of watching Formula 1 races I have never been to one; well, that and the prices, but that is another matter.

As for the installation, it went very smoothly. Whoever was responsible for organising it can give themselves a big pat on the back tonight. The installation (which you can see taking place above) was carried out with all due decorum, Archbishop Richard said all the right things in his homily, retiring archbishop Cardinal Vincent Nichols was given his due, and we had a few nice words spoken by the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally. The music was well done as well, though I have to admit I only really woke up to it when I heard Sweet Sacrament Divine and Praise to The Holiest in the Height.

Sweet Sacrament Divine is as beautiful as it is famous a hymn. Whenever I hear it, though, I always think of the first, wonderful, days of my Catholic life in Dundee, 1996-97. They were great days. I googled the hymn as it played and discovered to my happy surprise that it was written by an English priest, Fr. Francis Stanfield (1835-1914). Praise to the Holiest in the Height, as you may well already know, was written by John Henry Newman, so I needed no encouragement from anyone to sing along to it!

When I started writing this post, I wondered whether to describe the installation as having been carried out reverently, and I suppose it was, but I wish there could have been a bit more formality like ye olde days - yes, pre-Vatican II, a time when I wasn't even alive, let alone a Catholic, so what: More Latin. More ritual. This is just my personal taste, though. It was good as it was.

Or maybe not just mine. The bidding prayers were read by representatives of various groups within the Archdiocese. The young woman who read on behalf of the Westminster Youth Ministry was dressed all in white - as if she was there for her first communion - complete with a white lace veil. Very traditional. Her hands remained together in prayer the whole time and her voice had a softness to it that I think you only get when you live deeply, really deeply, within the freedom of your faith (and are given the grace to express it through your voice). Maybe this woman loves a folk Mass but even if she does, I bet she loves the Extra Ordinary Form more.

At the end of the Mass  the title card below appeared on the screen. I have not seen the proclamation 'Habemus Ducem!' before. I presume it means 'We have a bishop!'. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to use it on this blog's home page!

All things being well, Archbishop Richard will be with us for at least eight years, perhaps thirteen, before he too retires at 80 (if the Pope lets him, I guess). Time to get praying that he may be a faithful and fruitful servant of the Lord in this London vineyard.

St. Cyril - pray for our archbishop
St. Methodius - pray for our archbishop
St. Valentine - pray for our archbishop

John the Baptist's Messengers Question Jesus - Advent Wk 3

this post first appeared on my Contemplative Art page

St. Joseph's Dream
Matthew 1:18-24

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’

All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Emmanuel’ —
which means, God with us.

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife.’"

Source: Universalis

short meditation

Trust the Lord's call.

Trust in His love.

Have faith in Him,

He will not fail you.

St. Mary, Mother of God - pray for us

St. Joseph - pray for us

21st December 2025

photo: mortsangenoir | pinterest

For Week 3 of Ordinary Time 2026

This week, St .Thomas Aquinas and St. John Bosco steal the saintly show, and with good reason: Thomas for his intellect and John for the work he did for children. 

We shouldn’t ignore them, but as always when we see famous saints on the calendar, we might also let them inspire us to look at who else, among the less famous of their number, has their 

feast day this week.

With that in mind, I turn to St. Julian the Hospitaller. He is one of those saints who may not even be a saint. According to Catholic Saints Info, the story of how a stag prophesied that he would kill his parents, and of the (accidental) killings themselves happened, may be a fiction.

 

This doesn’t automatically mean that Julian never became a saint or even lived. Maybe the story of his life that we have now is simply a mythologised version of what really happened. Maybe. Whatever the truth of the matter, he is still worth praying to because our prayers, if not picked up, as it were, by St. Julian, will be taken by the Holy Spirit to God the Father, and answered by Him. Let’s keep praying and keep silence as we listen out for His voice!

image: St. Thomas Aquinas (Great Thinkers)

Updating Fratelli Tutti Pt. 2

This evening, I checked the Podcasts, Tik Tok, YouTube, Reddit, News & Media, and Teaching Church pages to make sure the links all still worked. A few were now defunct and so have been deleted. Fratelli Tutti is now, for now, up-to-date! 

God willing, I will check all the F.T. links again this time next year. 

Back when I started Fratelli Tutti, when it was still called and concerned with British Catholic Blogs, I wanted the list of blogs to be as comprehensive as possible. That is no longer possible with all these other social media formats. There are just too many accounts out there. Therefore, my aim is now - where possible - to include here around 25 Catholic accounts that represent the Faith, whether it is from a traditional, progressive or whatever stand point. This is easy with Reddit which - contrary to what I have said above - doesn't seem to have many Catholic related subreddits at all but hard with Tik Tok, which has a lot. I might start a new Catholic focused Tik Tok account and follow as many as I can so that I can mention them here. 

Updating Fratelli Tutti Pt. 1

It's that time of year again, when I check all the links contained on Fratelli Tutti to make sure that the social media sites they link to are still being updated.

Blogs
If they haven't been updated since 2023, I am removing them from the main list and putting them into the temporary archive. For more info about this process, visit the blog archive page here.

Everything Else
With all the other platforms, I will only be checking to make sure the links still work. I won't be concerned about when they were last updated. I know that this creates a double standard: why make sure that people's blogs are being kept up-to-date (or more-or-less so) and not their Tok Tok or YouTube channel? I have no answer to that. At the moment, I am just sticking to what I have always done with blogs and creating a new rule for everything else. That will probably change in the future.

Just as I only keep blogs last updated in the two years prior to the current year (so for 2026 it will be 2024-5) on the main blog list, so the Blog Archive now holds blogs that were last updated between 2022-23. Those last updated in 2021 have now been deleted. But, since I am now writing blog posts for Fratelli Tutti, I can use this space to give one last mention to the 2021 blogs. Here they are: 

2021

Auntie Joanna Writes

De La Mennais Brothers, The

Friends With Christ

Full of Prayers

Latin Mass, The

Lectionary Study Aid

Lone Veiler, The

Thomas More Institute

Society of St John Chrysostom

With Burning Sorrow

World is my Cloister, The

Hopefully they won't be deleted by their owners. Since they haven't been updated in four plus years, however, don't be surprised if you click the link and find that it goes nowhere.

Coming back to my own update, today (4th Jan. 2026), I checked the blog main list. In the coming days/weeks, I will attend to the other platforms. 

PS: I almost forgot! I have also updated the sidebar that shows all the latest blog posts.

John the Baptist's Messengers Question Jesus - Advent Wk 3

this post first appeared on my Contemplative Art page

John the Baptist's Messengers Question Jesus
Matthew 11:2-11

"At that time: When John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’

And Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.’”

short meditation

I must decrease,

So that He may increase

When I am utterly His,

I will be utterly myself.

St. John the Baptist - pray for us

19th December 2025

photo: radio veritas asia

Wounded by God - St. John of the Cross

Last night, I started reading the opening stanzas of St. John of the Cross's Spiritual Canticle. Stanza 9 really spoke to me:

Why, since you wounded
this heart, don't you heal it?
And why, since you stole it form
me,
do you leave it so,
and fail to carry off what you have
stolen?

A warning: I am not a scholar of St. John of the Cross's poetry so my reading of his poem could be completely wrong. This, however, is how I interpreted it: the wounding that the poet speaks of is not a literal but spiritual wounding. It is not a negative wounding, either, but rather, one that is positive: This is because the poet has been 'wounded' by God as a result of God revealing Himself to him. When the poet asks God to heal him, he is asking God for more of His spirit, His love: having tasted that spirit, the poet wants, needs, more of it.

In the third line, the poet refers to God having stolen his heart. This is his wounding by another name. Curiously, as it may seem, despite having stolen the poet's heart, God has then left it behind. Is he a bad thief? No, of course not! The reason God has not taken the heart away with Him is because the poet has not yet allowed himself to be consumed by God's spirit, His love. In reality, God steals nothing. We give Him everything. If that is the case, why does the poet refer to God stealing his heart? I think he does so for the same reason song writers do when they write love songs. It is a neat figure of speech that expresses their love for their beloved.

Well, it has been a long, long time since I wrote a poetry criticism. I hope I have done so at least half-adequately here. I love the images that St. John of the Cross uses. Because of all the love songs and romances I have read/watched they are very familiar. The ultimate value of the stanza is that it reminds me of what our relationship with God is all about: us being consumed by His divine fire, His spirit, His love because it is there (and only there) that true happiness lies.

Adent - 19

John the Baptist Preaches in the Wilderness - Advent Wk 2

this post first appeared on my Contemplative Art page

John the Baptist Preaches in the Wilderness

Matthew 3:1-3

"In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.”

 

The Lord is Coming

I am not worthy of Him

But He comes for me.

St. John the Baptist - pray for us

10th December 2025

photo: flikr | pinterest

Gabriel Appears to Mary - Advent Wk 1

this post first appeared on my Contemplative Art page

Gabriel Appears to Mary

Luke 1:26-28

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

 

The Lord is coming.

The Lord is here.

The Lord will come again.

St. Mary, Mother of God - pray for us

Gabriel, Archangel - pray for us

30th November 2025

photo: janiejones80 |pinterest

quotation: biblegateway

Doorway to Holiness

I am by nature an impatient person. In recent years, however, I have started making more of an effort to try and be more patient. I've made progress but some days are definitely better than others.

A while ago, we got new springs for our front door. They are funny (peculiar) in the way they work. When you close the door, it will start to close quickly only to slow down suddenly and complete its action very slowly.

Up until a few months ago, I would always - when the door got to its slow point - force it closed. I had no desire to hang around the extra seconds waiting for it to do so by itself. But then, one day, I thought to myself, Hold on. Here is an excellent opportunity to practice patience. Don't force the door. Let it close at its own pace. Wait. Be still. Be patient.

I've been doing this ever since. Well, almost. Sometimes impatience still gets the better of me but the vast majority of times now I stop. I wait. I remain still. And I am patient - grateful for the opportunity given to me by this humble rectangular piece of wood. Humble? Wonderful, too, for it is helping me towards God, too. If only I could tell it Thank you!

image: niejunknie | pinterest

Advent 3

The Richness of Spiritual Poverty

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs shall be the kingdom of heaven.

(Matt. 5.3)

I wanted to write a post for today, but wasn't sure what to say.

I thought about the topic of 'what makes a Christian' but then my mind turned to the Beatitudes.

I started reading them and was immediately struck by the very first one. Blessed are the poor in spirit... What did it mean? 

According to Catholic Answers, there are several answers. Once agains, it was the first that struck me. It begins:

Someone poor in spirit is someone who lives in his spiritual life the way a man who is poor in body lives in his physical life. The physically poor man works each day to receive his bread. The spiritual poor man prays each day to receive spiritual nourishment from the Lord: “Give us this day our daily bread.” 

The part that really spoke to me, however, was this:

The physically poor man does not have time for unnecessary distractions. The spiritually poor man sees that he must always attend to the necessities of the spiritual life: prayer, works of mercy, confession of sins, and he does not give in to unnecessary distractions. 

- prayer

- works of mercy

- confession of sins

- no unnecessary distractions

Why did these spiritual necessities speak to me? I guess because they are a roadmap, a roadmap to holiness. Now, to be sure, none of this is new to me - I am not that spiritually simple. However, there is nothing like seeing things written down in clear-as-day fashion for their relevance to be made clear. And so, I now have an unexpected opportunity to ask myself about how my prayer life is going, what works of mercy do I do, when should I next go to confession, and what distracts me (because, boy do I already know that certain things do! Cough cough social media). What a blessing!

image: aaronianthuisba | pinterest

Advent - 2

That Time The OP were OP

What a blessing!

I have known about the Godzdogz website for years but it's only in these last few days that I have properly discovered its YouTube website.

When I say 'properly discovered' I mean that I was vaguely aware of it but had not paid much attention to it.

Last week, I watched a homily given by one of the Oxford Dominican Fathers. On Sunday, I followed the livestream of its morning Mass. This was a special blessing because I was recovering from illness and couldn't go to my own parish. I actually only realised that they live-streamed Mass a couple of hours after it ended but that didn't matter. At least I could watch what had happened.

The Dominicans have a special place in my heart because they are one of the orders I discerned a vocation to at the turn of the century. I met a really friendly young man at Blackfriars in Oxford who was getting ready to enter the order. After I realised that I didn't have a priestly vocation (of any kind) we lost touch with each other. Fast forward twenty plus years and a while ago, I started following the Oxford Dominicans on Facebook. One day, my friend of all those years ago appeared in a photo. His name is Dominic White. Or, as I should say now, Fr. Dominic White OP! To my delight, I saw that he was now the prior of Blackfriars in Oxford! And, it was his homily that I watched on YouTube.

Last year, a friend and I visited Oxford and I did something that for me was very daring. I went armed with a little letter addressed to Fr. Dominic - just one to say 'hello!'. It had been over twenty years. Would he remember me? If he didn't, that would be very embarrassing. Hoping for the best, I handed the letter over to the Blackfriars reception office. Some time later, a reply from Fr. Dominic came. He did remember!

Fr. Dominic, therefore, is part of the reason why I like the Dominicans. Then there is the fact that they are a community, a community devoted to God, and men who have put their intellects at God's service. Not long out of university, (and thanks to Newman) community and intellect was important to me at the turn of the century. It still is even though I am not a priest or religious.

Anyway, the blessing that I have received is all the richer because not only do the Dominicans broadcast their Sunday Masses but also Vespers every evening. I listened to it last night and hope that I can do so as often as possible from now on even though I usually say evening prayer myself every evening.

I have to admit, a part of me wishes I was part of a religious community (well, Oratorian, Carmelite, or Dominicans really) even though I don't have a religious vocation. The greater part of me, however, is more than happy to be where the good Lord has placed me. I have received many, many blessings here as well.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

I have written about the Dominicans before; or rather, one who makes my heart beat fast. Here is my August 2025 post on Bede Jarrett. And Dominic and Francis in London.

Advent 1