Polycarp, Micah & Pastoral Issues

Hello.

I just thought I'd blog a couple of things:

1. Today is the feast of St. Polycarp, who was runner up to be my name saint (bet he's well miffed).

Now, as Polycarp was entering into the stadium, there came to him a voice from heaven, saying, "Be strong, and show yourself a man, O Polycarp!" No one saw who it was that spoke to him; but those of our brethren who were present heard the voice. And as he was brought forward, the tumult became great when they heard that Polycarp was taken. And when he came near, the proconsul asked him whether he was Polycarp. On his confessing that he was, [the proconsul] sought to persuade him to deny [Christ], saying, "Have respect to your old age," and other similar things, according to their custom, [such as], "Swear by the fortune of Cæsar; repent, and say, Away with the Atheists." But Polycarp, gazing with a stern countenance on all the multitude of the wicked heathen then in the stadium, and waving his hand towards them, while with groans he looked up to heaven, said, "Away with the Atheists." Then, the proconsul urging him, and saying, "Swear, and I will set you at liberty, reproach Christ;" Polycarp declared, "Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?" - from The Martyrdom of Polycarp

2. I liked today's Old Testament reading, which I wasn't familiar with:

With shepherd’s crook lead your people to pasture,
the flock that is your heritage,
living confined in a forest
with meadow land all around.
Let them pasture in Bashan and Gilead
as in the days of old.
As in the days when you came out of Egypt
grant us to see wonders.

What god can compare with you: taking fault away,
pardoning crime,
not cherishing anger for ever
but delighting in showing mercy?
Once more have pity on us,
tread down our faults,
to the bottom of the sea
throw all our sins.
Grant Jacob your faithfulness,
and Abraham your mercy,
as you swore to our fathers
from the days of long ago. - Micah 7:14-20

3. A, presumably homeless, guy came into church after mass while we were waiting for confession and some people were praying the Rosary. He firmly told us that our religion was of the devil, and man-made, and that God wouldn't hear our prayers. What can you do eh? He didn't hang around to chat long after that. I gather that it was provoked because he approached our priest and didn't get what he was after. Tough one that; it reminds me of a story that was on Sunday on R4 a while back, which unfortunately I only seem to be able to find on the Daily Mail's web-site. I can't remember what Dad does when someone comes to his door. Luckily in Exeter we have a couple of excellent organisations which we can refer people to, St. Petrock's who we explicitly support periodically, and Crossline, which is student-led. People expect a lot of church leaders however, and mostly don't have an understanding of what a tough job it is, so I guess it's only to be expected that they're slammed for hypocrisy. This also reminds me of something I heard from Fr. Mike at an RCIA class - when a priest takes on a parish, he takes on the care of all the souls in that parish, which is a big deal when you think about it.

Dress, Christmas

I've got a dress! I found it on Saturday. It wasn't like they say, that you try it on and you recognise it. It was more like they all agreed it was really nice but I wasn't sure. Then the more I looked at it the more I liked it so I said yes. It's really smooth and soft I kept on touching it for the all time and Giò told me off.

I think I might go to the convent (Marghe's convent) tonight for midnight mass. They are having a small reception afterwards. These nuns really enjoy eating!

Today I'll help my mum preparing food for tomorrow. I should go to confession and look out for bagpipes! They are coming to my village, I really like them, it's so Christmassy.

It's almost a week now that I'm back home. I'm relaxing, sleeping, seeing my friends , not studying, everything is fine. But I left Mark behind and I really miss him. He misses me too, so much that he fell ill!

It snowed last Friday. It was really cold! But it was nice to wake up and see everything covered with snow.

On Tuesday my mum, my sister, my friend Giò and I went to a bridal dress shop ( I don't know how you say it). I was really excited and positive, I was the only one. They were a bit, just a bit, skeptical about the idea of me finding the right dress just in one go. I said I was being positive. They were right. After an hour and a half the shop assistant gave up. She didn't understand what I had in mind, I said I have nothing in mind, ( many people will agree with that, especially Giò). She said it was impossible, that I had something in mind but I didn't say.

It's hard because you think that something will suit you but then you try it on and it doesn't. And that happened with all the dresses I tried ( around 15) but one. Only one was decent, in the sense that I feel I can cope with that if I can't find anything else. What was good was that Giò agreed with me. There was nothing special and she agreed on the one being the possible solution if say I can't find anything else.

We' ve got another appointment on Saturday at 3 with a shop that seems to have more range. At least I hope so.

In the meantime I had an haircut and booked the hairdresser for the wedding.

My sister is BIG! She is 7 months pregnant and she's got a big belly. I felt the baby moving twice! It's so exciting! It seems they' ve got 2 possible names: Nicola or Federico. I'm tired of waiting I want to look at his face and hold him. But I have to wait. Not fair.

Christmas Wishes

Ah yes, Christmas. Hasn't exactly been top on my list or priorities... Have a link to my wishlist. I added a couple of things last night, will try and get round to adding some more...

Nick's Wishlist

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' - Mt 25:31-40

R.I.P. Norris.

Christmas Shopping

I may well be stating the obvious here, but never mind. Having just update my Amazon wish list, I felt I should point out that although Amazon's a useful place to list stuff, it's by no means the best place to buy stuff. I'd suggest using a price comparison website, such as Kelkoo, Pricerunner or Shopping.com to find a better price.

The trip to London on Saturday went reasonably well, even if the Natural History was a little more crowded than I'd hoped for, but it wasn't too bad for a half-term Saturday. I had a few quiet day with Nan, took a walk around Hall Place. I helped Carlos transport a "table top" board, too big for a car to carry, too heavy to manage alone. Jenny and Clive arrived with Amy on Monday, all slightly under the weather but it was still very nice to see them.

The Video Games Live Concert was great, starting with a music video of actors running through a city dressed as Ms. Pac-Man and the ghosts. Purple Tentacle deservedly won the costume competition (they even made a good attempt at moving like Purple Tentacle!). There were even two gaming competitions between pieces. The person who played Space Invaders was disappointing, ignoring the crowds calls to start a the sides. Frogger was played far better, with the two players, playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who went first, which rather threw the announcer at first.

Martin Leung, the "Video Games Pianist" was performing as part of the concert, starting with the Final Fantasy Fanfare (First tune played). The only disappointment was that SquareEnix wouldn't allow game footage to be shown on screen during the concert, (Microsoft, Nintendo and Disney didn't have the same nit-picking attitude, come on, it's free publicity). The final song played was "One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII, which brought cheers and applause. The announcer suggested that we raise our mobile phones, DS's, PSPs, PDAs or i-Pods, as the modern equivalent of waving cigarette lighters during a rock concert. However he didn't expect someone to be waving their laptop. I returned to Nan's house tired, but very happy. I think I'll go to the next UK concert, if I can, it would be nice to go with someone (like my dear siblings (or any other relative), maybe?)

The return trip was slightly marred by the coach being delayed by 25min with no explanation given, and because of the lateness of the delay announcement, I wasn't able to have tea before getting on the coach. The coach actually arrived earlier than I had expected, considering the delay.

I have a busy little day today, signing on (done), appointment with support worker and house group in the evening, tomorrow I'll be going bowling with the Asperger group.

Today my sister Vanessa told me that she is pregnant with a baby boy!!!! She is 22 weeks pregnant. The baby is healthy, quite long and everything is fine. He's due for the 3rd of March. I'm so happy!!

She was hoping for a girl and she had chosen 2 girl names and none for the boy. Her husband Lorenzo wanted a boy and I know that my dad is quite happy too, having spent his whole life with 3 women!!!

This means Mark that now it's our responsibility to give the world some nice little girls!

Visiting People

I neglected to mention that we've managed to do a reasonable amount of visiting people over the summer. On the way back from Pembrokeshire we stayed the night with Nick and Ann in Swansea. Nice meal, courtesy of Ann, followed by a walk down Swansea beach to the cinema to see The Simpsons Movie.

Next day we headed off to Neath where we had lunch with James and Sonia (nice curry buffet type arrangement) before driving all the way back up to Manchester.

The following weekend we went to Nan's 80th birthday bash, visiting two sets of parents en route in Wolverhampton and Corby (Northamptonshire) respectively.

With a mere two weeks of summer holiday remaining to Emma, she set about preparing for the decoration of the dining room. We had a surprise visit from James Hall (formerly my housemate whilst at Sheffield uni, now resident in Cambridge, although his mum lives about half an hour away from us) during the second coat of the walls. As it was getting late, James and I got curry while Emma finished off the final wall. (I should point out that I did offer to finish the painting while Emma & James got curry!)

It's been really nice this summer to see so many people over the summer, and it was very pleasant spending some time with Emma (not teaching for a few weeks was a great help). Decorating's quite therapeutic, and I'm looking forward to trying it with a little less time pressure.

Long time, no blog

Long time, no blog

It appears that I've not blogged since I graduated. Since then I've managed to avoid getting soaked at outdoor theatre, but I did faint and fall in the sea, which was warmer but scarier (mostly for Emma who towed me back to shore - we were kayaking at the time).

Notable events:

Birthdays. Took Emma to Knowsley Safari Park, which was nice. She fell in love with a bunny rabbit.

Holiday. Went camping in Pembrokeshire. I slept badly, was grumpy and fell in the sea. Walking round the coastal path was nice, and we bought a picture to put up in the lounge in anticipation of decoration. Never got round to going surfing.

Cursed decorating plans. The original plan was to do the bedroom, but there was (hopefully past tense, now that a roofer's been out) a very slight leak and it seemed pointless to decorate a room that could get water damage. Then we were going to do the office (remove foul woodchip wallpaper, fix a manky alcove, replaster and paint, build new desk all down one wall, etc.). This plan got thrown out when Emma's mum decided that we should take urgent deliver of a .......

Piano. The piano which Emma learnt to play on, and has lived (unplayed) at her mum's house was intended to be given to Emma when she had a permanent residence. The imminent arrival of said piano meant that we decorated the dining room, where it now lives. Emma's learning to play "Live and Let Die", whilst I'm learning to play.

Dining room. Our first attempt at decorating was a success, and (after much sanding of skirting boards (Emma), three coats of paint on the ceiling, two on the walls, two coats of gloss on the skirting & door, one coat on the radiator (still need to do the second) and a new carpet) the room looks great. Now we just need to chuck out all the bookcases that were in there before, and get some that work in there.

Potted Potter. All seven books in one hour. Same idea as the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Brilliant. We also saw Sandi Toksvig in the bar beforehand.

Pope Benedict is arriving at Loreto today for The Agora' of the young Catholics. Loreto is a Holy Shrine to the Virgin Mary and is also 20 minutes by car from my village. I often go there with my mum and before coming to England my friend Marghe dragged me there to confession and mass. In the past my village organised a pilgrimage to Loreto and I went once. We left at 2 in the morning and we arrived at Loreto at around 830. It was a great experience, tiring but worth doing.

Inside the Holy house, which is believed to be the house where the Virgin Mary was born and received the annunciation, people from all Italy and from all the world come to pray and ask for help. The house is small and always crowded with people. I'm always teary when I'm in there because I can feel the presence of Mary and God very strongly, and I feel it in all those people who are there, who come from afar to bring their pains and sufferings before the Virgin. It's a great place.

My dad, being a volunteer fireman, spent the last month in Loreto to set up the camp and tents and yesterday the rain and the wind blew them out.

This is one of the moment when I really really miss Italian TV. I will miss the mass tomorrow and all the coverage. I've just read on the web that this will be the first time the Pope will answer people's questions on TV. I'll ask my sister to record the mass but it won't be the same.

In my village there are lots of young Catholics from all Europe. They are sleeping in the gym, in the convent and some families offered their houses. My mum said that it's really nice to see all these young people around, they are really cheerful, they play music and sing all the time.

I can feel the energy and the emotions of this big event. I remembered watching the Mass of the World Youth Day in Rome (my sister was there together with some friends) and it was amazing the energy, the joy, the strength, the faith of all those people. It was amazing being able to watch the event on TV, participate and being unite with the people in Rome. I was really moved and teary throughout the celebration. It was a strong moment when I felt part of this big family.