"No longer called “Forsaken,” your land no longer called “Desolate,”you will be called “My pleasure in her,” and your land “The Wedded”;for the Lord has been well pleased with you, and your land will receive its bridegroom."
Paul OTSOTA wrote somewhere on Damian Thompson's blog about how the Church in England could actually spend its money doing something really worthwhile such as true evangelisation with a TV station, website that actually teaches something good and True and so on.
It hit a nerve with me.
I wanted this blog to be a witness to my new found Faith. I wanted to witness to it all in a straightforward way without becoming some kind of apologist. I'm afraid I am too bad tempered to make a good apologist. I just wanted to be someone who could say clearly that I believe and why I do.
Okay, I haven't made a stella achievement in that area and frankly over the last three months I have been seriously toying with the idea of ditching this blog altogether.
Partly because I am going through a "What the heck does God WANT from me?" phase at the moment.
Meanwhile the First Born is trying his best to get back to America so he can study at FUS and do the very thing Paul is saying needs doing here. But First Born-as much as he would love to be part of a TV station putting out Catholic programmes, especially dramas, can't see that happening any time soon. Nevertheless, he did wonder if one day he might be able to start something small himself.
A great deal could be done at parish level if priests were not afraid to allow it. Fr Lawler in Leeds has, according to a member of his own parish, done wonderful work in renewing the understanding of the Faith and bringing people closer to God and in the process closer to one another. Here was a priest, we are told, not only allowing the renewal, but leading it as a father to his people.
I am sure there are many talented people in the UK who could set the country on fire with Truth. But they are scattered and have no father to lead them.
But if we pray God will raise up priests and fathers for the people and we will no longer be orphans, desolate and forsaken. We will be beloved and wedded and renewed.
7 comments:
You have my prayers for you all. Speaking personally, I hope that you won't stop blogging.
I remember your hopes re EWTN and FUS. I hope that this too will come to fruition. The renaissance in the American Church has been greatly aided by the various medias, something similar over here seems to be very likely.
God bless!
Perhaps our own Catholic Radio and TV programmes would be the way to go?
It's a pretty sad state of affairs that we're always looking to Catholics in America for our education,apologetics, catholic entertainment (EWTN) and spirtual sustainance (at least to some extent; Catholic Answers, EWTN etc)
But i have to say that in my own parish, the parishioners are so reticent to get involved in things that i wonder, if or many of us 'we' don't just want a Sunday only faith over here.
I've even heard people remark 'thank bleep that's done with for another week' after having just come out of Mass.
We have a history of superb knowledgeable British Catholic's, sadly most of 'em are dead now, but why should that mean that there can't be modern day British G.K Chesteron's or even British Scott Hahn and Peter Kreeft types. And just why the hell does every Brit we have who starts to become something, desert us and sod off to America?
It really gets up my nose, it really does.
I'n not having a dig at your lad here, i'm actually thinking about a Brit Catholic author i only fairly recently heard about, but who the Americans are crazy about, Joseph Pearce...of course, he's not the only one, but i wonder, sometimes, okay the big money may be in the U.S. but what hope is there for the future of Catholicism in the U.K if no one ever gets motivated to do anything here?
So many parish priests don't want to get involved with Catechetial Ministry or with anything that wil be a further drain on their time, some of them won't even pick up their phones if it's after 6pm in the evening.
But when our own priests are either so self promoting that it's impossible to make this about anyone other than themselves, or when they are so reluctant to get involved in anyhting 'extra' to their normal duties, then it's a fight all the way.
One things for sure, we're on a slippery slope if something doesn't change somewhere down the line. And Catholic Schools, oh don't even get me started. Our school educated catholic kids , the future of our very church in the UK don't even stand a chance when their schools emply atheists, they teach contrary to the faith, they don;t promote Christian values etc...
WSNS,
Every bishop in the land should direct that his priests lead public prayers for vocations every day of the year.
Thanks for the prayers Philip. Getting the money together for FUS is a huge undertaking.
Deb-I have to agree. It's a point of regular discussion in our house. WHERE are the Catholic publishers;radio stations; TV etc? Two of my kids want to take up the challenge First Born and Big Daughter (who wants to write). What saddens and frustrates me is that if FB is going to get trained and supported he has to go to America.
I get the impression that Joseph Pierce ended up over the pond because that was where the support and infrastructure was (and he married an American). He wasn't going to get his books published over here and even his magazine which I used to subscribe to was nose diving over here.
Even John Pridmore only gets noticed when he's over the pond and getting interviewed on Life on the Rock (EWTN) or Catholic Answers.
It frustrates me no end that even English Catholicism is now American-the Chesterton Society and Gilbert Magazine is published over there.
I am praying hard for God to give me and my children a direction; how to answer the call. Got a couple of ideas. I'll blog on them as we try them out...maybe.
Martin- they should shouldn't they? Why doesn't it happen? My PP (who I think is a good man) seems too scared to implement too much. He wants to say the EF (he told me when I asked) but he wont. I am quite sure it is not in a priest's interest to be noticed.
Take heart - (and please don't stop blogging - your individual voice, whether you know it or not is very encouraging. We all go through periods of time where we feel like we are just "spitting" into the wind.)
FWIW I do know the guy who started Catholic Answers, Karl Keating. He started on a shoe string. Are there places for this next year your son (and later daughter who wants to write) can go and pick up the basics of media? Doesn't have to be *catholic* media - he can adapt what he knows to Catholic media later - but get the "how tos." Here in the US for instance, there's a local community college which has classes in Media - you can learn how to do anything from getting the basics of how to be a dejay to running tv cameras etc. Any possibilities of that over there?
Karen
Karen you know some very interesting people!
I think First Born will have to look at some basic stuff over hear because we aint got the money for FUS any time soon.
He has a couple of ideas.
We'll pray and see.
Are you familiar with KTO TV, which is operated by the diocese of Paris?
It has, for example, excellent coverage of papal events (via CTV), albeit with French commentary. I expect that after next week's papal visit, all the televised events will be archived and be available to view on demand.
http://www.ktotv.com/
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