Wednesday 4 April 2007

Westminster Chrism Mass


Yesterday we went to Westminster Cathedral to witness the Chrism Mass for the priests of the diocese. Today they renewed their vows to imitate Christ and to be good pastors for their people, for whom they lay down their lives. The oil used at Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders was also blessed by Cardinal Cormac so that it can be distributed to all the parishes for the coming year. That same oil will be used to initiate Sian, a catechumen in our parish, into the Church on the vigil at St. Patrick's this Saturday. We turned up early at the cathedral yesterday so that we could encourage people to pray for priests, and so that we could show thanks to the priests for all that they do for us lay faithful. We were joined by Joanna Bogle and the Catholic Women's League, who came like a whirlwind on the scene to get things really going. They've been coming now for a couple of years, and were glad to see that they had some reserves this year! Across the square was a group of women protesting the lack of women priests in the Church, saying that they felt they had a vocation and that the talents of women were being neglected. But most of the people on our side were women, and they seemed to have no problem with Church teaching on the matter. We made a lot of noise!

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