The School year may have ended ... but the life of the parish continues. As the four 2005/6 graduates who stayed for a year to look after the School and parish move on (to pastures new, or a well-earned break), things have been left for a few weeks in the eager hands of Mandy and myself, 2006/7 graduates.
The basement flooded in the recent heavy rains, though I was too busy scooping the water up to take a photo for the blog. Thanks to Arnold, our highly efficient housekeeper, there is no lasting damage. Nevertheless, it's a reminder that the fabric of the church and School need repairing. There will be a Parish Meeting tonight to update on progress with the £4m Appeal.
We were joined for supper on Sunday evening by Fr Stephen Langridge and ten Spanish seminarians . Fr Stephen is well known to the School, having been one of our visiting lecturers. He has a group of Spanish young men (some as young as 15, going to school in the week and attending seminary on Saturday), and two Spanish priests, staying in his parish for a few weeks for something of a 'spiritual holiday', and to learn English. It was wonderful to welcome so many young men thinking seriously about priesthood.
While they were here, they were shown SOS Prayerline, a service where anyone can call from 7-11pm every night, and a volunteer prays with the caller in a small chapel with Jesus exposed in the tabernacle. Just as we were visiting the chapel, Mandy received was receiving the 30,000th call. You can call SOS Prayerline on 0207 434 9211.
The basement flooded in the recent heavy rains, though I was too busy scooping the water up to take a photo for the blog. Thanks to Arnold, our highly efficient housekeeper, there is no lasting damage. Nevertheless, it's a reminder that the fabric of the church and School need repairing. There will be a Parish Meeting tonight to update on progress with the £4m Appeal.
We were joined for supper on Sunday evening by Fr Stephen Langridge and ten Spanish seminarians . Fr Stephen is well known to the School, having been one of our visiting lecturers. He has a group of Spanish young men (some as young as 15, going to school in the week and attending seminary on Saturday), and two Spanish priests, staying in his parish for a few weeks for something of a 'spiritual holiday', and to learn English. It was wonderful to welcome so many young men thinking seriously about priesthood.
While they were here, they were shown SOS Prayerline, a service where anyone can call from 7-11pm every night, and a volunteer prays with the caller in a small chapel with Jesus exposed in the tabernacle. Just as we were visiting the chapel, Mandy received was receiving the 30,000th call. You can call SOS Prayerline on 0207 434 9211.
