Catholic and Loving it!

We've all missed monthly events, it's easily done. Often they are planned on dates like the "3rd Tuesday of the Month". It's easy to miss the 3rd Tuesday of the Month, very few calendars have "3rd Sunday of the Month" written on them and I scarcely look at my calendar anyway. Calendars, it has to be said, are not as good as wives.

Fr Peter Haverty kindly comes and runs recollections for us here at St Joseph's. He's a busy man, so his 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Sundays of the month are already spoken for. He comes to St. Joseph's every the 5th Sunday of the Month (if you think this is confusing, try going to the Synod of Whitby sometime). Not many months have a 5th Sunday so if you miss one it's a while until the next one comes around. Add that to the fact that the recollections alternate between men's and women's recollections every other other 5th Sunday and you're looking at a rare event indeed (the next mens recollection won't be until October).

Fortunately, this month, I made it.

A men's day of recollection for men. Not very PC. You know those drippy woman courses, the ones with an atmosphere of faith being shared by equals, of a conversation among fellow disciples, not the atmosphere of the classroom or lecture hall. This is the opposite. Because we are manly men. Grr.

Fr Haverty talks, we listen. He has wisdom to offer. We learn from him. The guy sat to my right might be thinking something really stupid, but I don't hear that. I don't hear the guy on my left either. Except when he laughs, because Fr Haverty says some very funny things. He also says some very serious things. Listening to him I went through the full rainbow of emotions from "Ha! I'm right! I knew it all along!" through to "Oh... he's right, I got that one wrong. I hope Fr Massie hasn't noticed or he'll be rubbing that in later... I'd better change my ways..."

It's all so quaint and simple... we go in to Church and an old man tells us stuff.

It's great.