The Pensive Pilgrim

‘May you live in interesting times.’ So says the well-known ‘Chinese Curse’. In these days of ‘lockdown’ in response to the Covid-19 virus, we are indeed living in interesting times, and very much in the sense which the curse implies. In the Rectory household, the ‘interest’ started before the major Covid-19 crisis hit. At the beginning of February, I was due to attend the annual Priests’ and Deacons’ Pilgrimage and Retreat at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, as I have done for several years. I was looking forward to this, as it’s always an inspiring event that provides lots of opportunity for prayer and reflection. It feeds my Catholic spirituality and helps set me up for the rigours of Lent, Holy Week and Easter. Unfortunately, a few days before the retreat, our beloved dog, Nancy became seriously ill and died on Sunday 2 nd February, The Feast of the Presentation. Fellow pet owners will understand that this amounts to a family bereavement, with all the ...

Thoughts for Lent IV - Mothering Sunday 2020 It’s rather ironic that the first Sunday on which all our churches are closed for public worship as a precaution against Covid-19 should be Mothering Sunday. Traditionally, this fourth Sunday in Lent was the day on which people would return to their ‘Mother Church’ (the main church or cathedral of the area) for a special service. This simple form of pilgrimage was actually called ‘going a-mothering’. Domestic servants were given the day off and would usually visit their own families after church.   For many people, only the latter part of this tradition continues, and ‘Mother’s Day’ is about giving thanks for, and spending time with, our mothers and other family members. For Christians, the religious ‘Mothering Sunday’ and the secular ‘Mother’s Day’ often blend into one, and a visit to Church - where we give thanks for how the church ‘mothers’ (cares for) us and for Mary, the Mother of Jesus - is often followed by a family...