Wednesday 29 August 2007

More Greenbelt

We went to Greenbelt for the day on Monday and met up with our old friends from my husband's old church.

It was a lovely day and it was great to meet up with people we haven't seen for a long time.
In the main arena a very good stage play cum musical was put on by a theatre company who had worked with the children for a couple of days to make the production. It was basically telling the story of 18th century slavery and William Wilberforce.
At the end there was a short film about modern day slavery. Very good.

Then much to everyone's delight a couple of episodes of Shaun the Sheep were shown.

In the Film tent this year they showed Amazing Grace (of course) but also to my surprise Into Great Silence.

We had a good day. I enjoyed chillin' at the Tiny Tea Tent and the kids just enjoyed the sights and chocolate chip cookies.

We had a chat with those running the Iona Community.
Had a look in the book tent,
Heard Chaz'n'Dave singing from somewhere
Noticed that one of the seminars was by that Sister who set up Helen House the children's hospice. I would have liked to hear her speak as I've worked in a children's hospice and loved it.

A stronger Catholic presence could be good there. Lets see more habits and dog collars around the place. Let's see Confession at the counselling tent.
Let's see Catholic books for sale and Catholic papers.
Pro-life topics tackling abortion and euthanasia, stem cell research and adoption.

There's a lot at Greenbelt that worries me.
A couple of years ago some friends found me after they had been to a seminar and wanted to know why John Paul II was so opposed to Liberation Theology. They had been fed a right load of ...anyway they asked me about it and I was fortunate to be able to explain the reality of those suffering under so-called Liberation Theology and how the Holy Father never did like priests with guns etc. They had not been told that side of the story.
A couple of weeks later at my husband's church a girl from some Methodist seminary preached on Lib Theo-obviously Greenbelt inspired and said that no one with any wealth could receive the Gospel. It was only for the poor.
Umm.

But despite all the problems, there is just something about Greenbelt...love it, hate it...I bet we'll be there next year.

4 comments:

Rita said...

I should probably go along too. I sometimes get asked by my Christian friends why I'm not going. I get the feeling they think we Catholics are happier going into the dark woods and mumbling to ourselves.

On the side of the angels said...

I would appreciate some help please:
http://onthesideoftheangels.blogspot.com/2007/08/to-allany-help-will-be-gratefully.html

Tear me to shreds if necessary; my intentions are sincere but I'm only emphasising the detrimental aspects of the issue. I desperately need the voices and intellects of others to assist and clarify the root causes and the remedies.

Phil said...

I'm always nervous about anyone that talks in that 'Evo-Speak' - you know, "Let us have fellowship in this single McDonald's Big Mac Meal, for we are poor, as Christ's disciples were poor and unable to afford an extra serving of fries." I kid not, I heard something very similar a few years ago and decided that I could never do the lingo.

Phil said...

The sister who founded Helen House is Sister Francis Dominica. She's a treasure!