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Meetings and events
We aim to organise at least one public meeting together with an AGM and Study Day each year. Many aspects of Catholic teaching and culture have been explored as the following list illustrates.
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You are warmly invited to a study day on
THE EUCHARIST and
The School and Parish Community
February 7th 2012
At Coloma Convent girls' School, Upper Shirley Road, Croydon
12.15pm:Lunch
1.00pm: Learning Gregorian Chant - Workshop with Jeremy de Satgé
2.15pm: Tea
2.45pm: The Eucharist and the school and parish community: Father James Clark
4.00pm MASS - at which we will sing some of the chant learned during the afternoon
The cost of the day is £20 which includes lunch, tea, and workshop materials.
LEARNING GREGORIAN CHANT:
Children can benefit from the relaxation and peace that chant brings
Jeremy de Satgé had an early musical training as a chorister in Sheffield Cathedral Choir.
Later, he sang bass in Clifton Cathedral Choir and decided to concentrate his efforts on music
full time, enrolling at Trinity College of Music, London graduating in 1987 with a Singing (with teaching) Licentiate Diploma (LTCL) and the Fellowship Diploma (FTCL) in singing performance.
THE EUCHARIST: HEART OF THE CATHOLIC PARISH AND SCHOOL
Father James Clark is chaplain at the John Fisher School
This Study Day is organised by the Association of Catholic Women and follows our popular Study Days on Art and Music. It is open to teachers in Catholic primary and secondary schools, leaders of children's liturgy groups, and all who work with young people in Catholic parishes and organisations.
For more information on the Association of Catholic Women, visit our website: www.associationofcatholicwomen.co.uk
We are grateful to the Headmistress and Governors of Coloma for welcoming us to the school for this study day.
All ACW Members may attend FREE and are most warmly welcomed.
For more details or to book email: ACorish@coloma.croydon.sch.uk
or by post Andrew Corish, ACW Study Day, Coloma Convent Girls School, Upper Shirley Road, Croydon CR9 5AS
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Day of Recollection and Prayer 17 March 2012
Details later
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Report of AGM and Study Day - 24 September 2011
The morning session was concerned with the AGM.. Mrs Robinson thanked members for all their support and encouragement and said what a pleasure it was to work with the committee who all brought different skills and expertise to help us in our work Mrs Audley Charles, proposed by Mrs Robinson and seconded by Mrs Real was elected to the committee and the meeting unanimously agreed that Mrs Robinson and Mrs Fordyce should serve a further term. The reports circulated to members detailing pur activities and the financial statement were adopted. The raffle organised by Miss Rachel Bischoff raised £79.90.
In the afternoon, Dr Philip Howard spoke on Blessed John Paul II a personal perspective on his influence on contemporary medical ethics and practices. He began by sayng that he would try in his talk to repay a debt of gratitude for something of what he had learnt over very many years from his parents, mentors, teachers, colleagues and patients.
He said the Hippocratic tradition in medicine is a living tradition which depends on the medical skills and knowledge of doctors and on developments in science and technology. Underlying this is medical ethics, which set out what should and should not be done and medical ethos which goes far beyond these rules and sets out the fundamental motivation for what doctors do. After 35 years in medical practice he thinks he has a responsibility to future generations of doctors, to reflect, within that Hippocratic tradition, on what has gone so wrong that led to the passing of the Abortion Act 1967. Pro-life doctors have tried to hold the line and it is to be hoped they will not be held responsible for the deaths of millions of babies and the growing threat of euthanasia. In his work The Theology of the Body which consists of 129 allocutions and Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II engaged in a radical, powerful re-interpretation of the ethos, the fundamental issues that underlie medical ethics which had been so comprehensively set out by Pope Pius XII. Referring back to Genesis, Pope John Paul II reminds us of the essential dignity of the human person. Male and female, we are all made in the image and likeness of God with immortal souls. At our conception we set out on a journey to eternity. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God they were asserting what they saw as the right of individuals to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. Today we hear it said ‘You cannot tell me what to do’, ‘I do what is right for me’, ‘It’s a woman’s right to choose’. There was an inbalance between what man had known before the Fall. in a state of innocence, and what he came to experience afterwards such as concupiscence and lust. There was not only a sense of alienation within himself but also between man and woman. This alienation is overcome by love. The human body right from the beginning includes the capacity for expressing love. The nature of this love is conjugal, that is it is expressed through the total gift of self. This gift of self joins man and woman in the closest union and makes them capable of generating new life. There is an inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative aspects of this love ordained by God that man cannot of his own volition separate by contraception and sterilisation.
Dr Howard considers it is a privilege to practice medicine. He does not think it necessary to provide religious arguments for medical ethics as they are derived from natural law and the right use of human reason. Equally he has no doubt that medical ethics and medical ethos must be illuminated by the searchlight of faith. Every human being including the frail, the demented and those in a persistent vegetative state, whom society would wish to ignore, has inherent dignity. Through his Incarnation, Christ united himself with us all when we are well and when we are sick or in difficulties. Whatever we do as healthcare professionals, we must do for Christ. Sadly only too often doctors and nurses fail to see Christ in the sick and especially in the dying. In our everyday lives we will all be judged on how we treat the sick the impoverished, the naked , the hungry, those in prison . Theology of the Body can be summarised in the words of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux when she said ‘Love is to give everything and it is to give yourself’. Perhaps it is the last part ‘to give yourself’ that is the most difficult and yet the most important.
The Day ended with the showing of a most moving film on the life and work of Blessed John Paul II .
10.30- 12 pm – AGM
Afternoon Session
2pm Three decades of the Rosary
2.30pm Talk - Blessed John Paul II – a personal perspective on his influence on contemporary medical ethics and practices.- Dr Philip Howard
Followed by a film about Blessed John Paul II produced by Rome Reports.
Dr Philip Howard is a Consultant Physician and Senior Lecturer in Medicine and Chairman of the Joint Medical Ethics Committee of the Catholic Medical Association and the Catholic Union.
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The Association of Catholic Women Day of Recollection and Prayer
Saturday 26th March 2011
The Universal Call to Holiness
led by Fr Martin Boland (dean 0f Brentwood Cathedral)
In spite of the problems with travel caused by the big demonstration in central London, the meeting was very well attended.
Fr Boland chose “The Universal call to Holiness” as the theme for the Day.
He began by saying that many people today consider that holiness is for others – the saints, monks, nuns and priests. It has become such a lofty, unimaginable idea that they cannot relate it to themselves and to their lives. Fr Boland suggests this is quite mistaken. For centuries in the life of the Church, holiness was a practical, down to earth reality, something men and women could strive for. St Antony, a Desert Father was regarded as the founder of monasticism. He said, when asked “What should I do to please God?” “Do what I tell you which is this. Wherever you go, keep God in mind; whatever you do, follow the example of the Holy Scriptures; wherever you are, stay there and do not move away in a hurry. If you keep to these guidelines you will be saved.” Evelyn Underhill wrote “Holiness is not a peculiar or extremer form of piety. It is, on the contrary, that full and real life of which man is made.” Another understanding of holiness is that which is set apart. In this sense, people, places and objects can also be considered as holy because they are separated off and consecrated to the worship of God.
Thus on the one hand God is seen as majestic and transcendent and on the other as someone who reaches out to men and women in mercy and draws them into a relationship with Him if we accept the redeeming power of the Cross which is central to our understanding of holiness.
We are all called to holiness – it is not just the concern of the few. It recreate us and as
Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote we become “charged with the grandeur of God”. Fr Boland said this should bring us to our knees.
Through the Church, Christ the Shepherd continues to guide and feed His people in the ways of
holiness by ensuring we are instructed in the word of God transmitted by the Scriptures, tradition
and the Magisterium, the teaching authority of the Church and by encouraging the faithful to read the Bible and obtain spiritual nourishment from the Sacraments
We are most grateful to Fr Boland for such inspiring and deeply thoughtful talks. It is hoped we will be able to produce them as a booklet
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*What it means to be a Catholic woman in today’s society - Lynette Burrows 1990
*Thanks for the feminine - John Saward 1990
*The Trial of Jesus - from a lawyer’s point of view - Judge Humphries 1991
*Pilgrimage to Walsingham - Dr Mary Remnant 1991
*Exposé of the hidden face of Catholic feminism -Donna Steichen 1992
*The Media and the Catholic Church - Alenka Lawrence and Joanna Bogle 1994
*Converts speak - Ruth Rees, Fr Graham Leonard 1995
*The Law and Marriage - Jamie Bogle 1996
*Looking forward to Christmas -Rosemary Rendel and Joanna Bogle 1996
*The Betrothal and Marriage of Mary and Joseph - Dom Bernard Orchard 1997
*Presentation of Medieval Music in Honour of Our Lady - Dr Mary Remnant 1998
*Marriage AD2000 and Beyond - Lynette Burrows, Fr Peter Bristow 1998
*Pre-Reformation Church Music - Dominic White 1999
*Edith Stein (St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) - Joan Slater 1999
*The Great Jubilee - Fr Martin Edwards 2000
*Can Catholics paint icons? David Clayton 2001
*Faith and the Pursuit of Beauty - Sarah Janson, Anthony Delarue 2002
*Pope Pius XII - the truth revealed - James Bogle 2003
*St Edmund Campion - Alexander Haydon 2003
*Newman a saint for our time - Fr Michael Lang 2004
* World Youth Day - Lucy Nash 2005
*Editing a Catholic Newspaper - Luke Coppen 2005
*A Journey to the Church from Islam - Aghi Clovis 2005
*Bishop Challoner - a good shepherd for hard times -
Fr Richard Whinder 2006
*Music and Liturgy - Jeremy de Satge 2006
*Westminster Cathedral - more than just a beautiful building - Mgr
Mark Langham 2007
*Shrines of Our Lady in England - Anne Vail 2007
* World Youth Day in Sydney – Monica O'Shea 2008
* Is CTS past its sell-by date”. Fergal Martin 2008
* Teaching the Truth about the Sanctity of Life - Joanne Hill Education Officer London LIFE. 2009
* The Position of the Church in today’s society - Fr Aidan Nichols O.P. 2009
* Experience of the Priesthood in the 21st Century - Fr Colven 2010
* Helping all the way - the work of the SVP - Sr Catherine Hendrey 2010
* Blessed John Paul II - a personal perspective on his influence on contemporary medical ethics and practices - Dr Philip Howard 2011
Study Days
*The Dignity and Vocation of Women - Mulieris Dignitatem - Fr Jeremy Davies 1990
*Rerum Novarum - Dr Sheila Lawlor 1991
*Music in the Liturgy - Dr Mary Berry 1991
*The Problems of Suffering - Dr Forrester, Stella Lilley, Dr Peggy Norris and Sr Florence of the St Joseph’s Hospice 1992
*The Catechism of the Catholic Church - Fr Thwaites, Fr Finigan, Fr Bristow 1994
*The Eucharist and the Church - Fr Roger Nesbit 1995
*Lent A Time for Conversion - Fr Donal Corry 1996
*The Priesthood - Fr Kevin Preston 1997
*Day of Recollection - Fr Christopher Basden 1997
*The Holy Spirit - Fr Paul Hayward 1998
*Repentance - the Basis of Renewal - Fr Dangerfield 2000
*Day of Recollection - Fr Patrick Doyle 2001
*The Carmelite Way - Fr Stanislaus Callanan 2002
* Day of Recollection for Lent - Bishop Hopes 2003
* Day of Recollection. Preparation for Holy Week and Easter -
Fr Dominic Allain and Fiorella Sultana de Maria 2004
*Day of Recollection and Prayer on a Lenten Theme - Fr Anthony Pellegrini 2005
*Day of Reflection and Prayer - Fr Nicholas Schofield 2006
*“Living Lent” A Day of Reflection and Prayer - Fr Stephen Wang 2007
*“In Love and Hope” - Day of Recollection and Prayer - Fr Michael O’Boy 2008
*Study Day on Art and Music for Teachers at Catholic Primary Schools at Coloma Convent Girls School, Croydon, - Speakers Lionel Gracey on Teaching Christ through Art and Jeremy de Satge on Enriching School Masses through Gregorian Chant 9th February 2009
*The Good News of Lent. Day of Reflection and Prayer - Fr Raphael of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. 21st March 2009
* Westminster Cathedral Choir School Study Day on Art and Music for Teachers at Catholic Primary Schools, 24th June 2009.
* “Intimacy with God; the Paschal Mystery in Thérèse of Lisieux and Teresa of Calcutta”. Day of Reflection and Prayer - Fr Michael Dunne 13th March 2010.
* Study Day on Art and Music for teachers in Catholic Primary Schools at Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More, Chelsea.
* The Universal Call to Holiness - Fr Martin Boland (Dean of Brentwood Cathedral) 26th March 2011.
* Study Day on ART AND MUSIC in R.E. at Maryvale 30th March 2011.
Pilgrimages
When possible, we organise pilgrimages to sites of Catholic interest as for instance Our Lady of Consolation at West Grinstead, Stonor, Oxford, Cambridge, Tyburn Convent London, St Etheldreda’s Ely Place and Farnborough Abbey.
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