THE P
Snapdragon
RTAL
January 2013 Page 8
A great privilege
One of the real delights of my Advent and Christmas this year was being invited to take part in services at which the majority of the congregation was children . I had the privilege of being part of penitential services organised for the older year groups of a Catholic primary school and being involved in their late Advent whole school Mass .
Elsewhere I attended nativity plays – ranging from the very traditional , with tinsel and tea towels , to the rather more innovative and imaginative – in which children did what they have done for hundreds of years , namely tell the old , old story of the birth of Jesus in drama and song . It didn ’ t matter that the baby Jesus got dropped in one play and the donkey was picking his nose stage left in another ; with thirty plus four year-olds I wasn ’ t expecting perfection ( though I was quite relieved that it was someone else ’ s son , not mine , behind the donkey mask ).
The gathered adoring parents and grandparents accepted and appreciated the play for what it was : a children ’ s performance given lovingly , with enthusiasm and with the all-important ‘ aaaaw ’ factor . Obviously I ’ m not one of those people who believe that Christmas is just for the children , but how good and refreshing it was to be able to celebrate the birth of Christ child with so many younger members of the local Catholic community .
an endangered species
I suspect that not many of us could boast great numbers of children in our Anglican congregations , but I ’ m guessing that our becoming Catholics of the Ordinariate has resulted in us , as a whole , having even fewer . How many of our groups had ( or could have had ) a children ’ s crib service this year , for instance ? Our Anglican parishes often had their own schools , to which our clergy and others had ready access , and in many cases our clergy were welcomed with open arms into state schools in their parishes to lead assemblies .
The Ordinariate , of course ,
Friends of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham ... supporting Pope Benedict ’ s vision for Christian unity
A FESTIVAL of CAROLS for the Epiphany of the Lord with music and readings by candlelight
Thursday 10 January 2013 at 7.00 p . m . St Mary ’ s , Cadogan Street , London
( Nearest Tube : Sloane Square )
Music during the service will be led by the Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School
( Director : Scott Price ; Organist : Iestyn Evans )
Free Admission . For further information , please contact catherineutley @ friendsoftheordinariate . org . uk
has no schools ( yet ?), and we can not easily establish links with state schools that lie in the parishes where we are based . So are children in danger of becoming an endangered species in the worshipping communities of the Ordinariate ?
co-operation between a Diocesan and an Ordinariate pastor
Our links with local schools may not be obvious and easy , but they are certainly not impossible . We should not , of course , encroach on what properly belongs to the pastoral care of the diocesan parish priest , but where there is generally good co-operation between a diocesan and an Ordinariate pastor , it may well be possible for the latter to assist a ( more than likely ) stretched parish priest in a Catholic school . And with the good will of the parish priest , what is to stop an Ordinariate pastor approaching a local state school to see if any assistance with the RE curriculum or assemblies would be welcome ?
go out to them where they are
It was always true in our Anglican days that we could not expect people , including children , simply to come to us and fill our churches , and that we had to go out to them where they are , get alongside them and invite them . It is even truer for us now . Stripped of the privileges of establishment , and having to carve out space for ourselves within the Catholic community , we will simply have to be much more imaginative in finding ways to connect with people , young and old .
Let us in 2013 invest our energy , resources and experience in this very necessary dimension of evangelisation and keep hold of the tinsel and tea towels for later use .